Man, I don't understand this hate. Lazar's strengths are beyond points. I'll admit his point production has not been impressive. But a 19 year old that can be put out on the PK against top units, and see shifts late in a tie game is certainly exceptional. Those are both areas where even top players like Hoffman and Ryan both struggle.

If everyone's hate on Lazar is really tied to his draft position, which it shouldn't IMHO, you can think of Stone as Ottawa's freebie 1st round pick, and the hockey gods needed to balance it out with Lazar as a 3rd liner.

Nothing in Lazars skill set has ever screamed top line scorer to me, but all around two-way play has always been there. It's unreasonable to expect a guy without the skill of a top 6 to suddenly become one IMHO.

He's the future Zack Smith and that's just awesome. Boucher just said "I'll take 3 Smiths on my team any day." I can't wait until he's up again, and I'm sure he'll be a guy that responds amazingly to the demands and energy of Boucher.