For sure he has offensive potential, was best player in the Swiss league last year and led all Dmen in scoring. It looks like this may also translate to the NHL, he has not looked out of place during the pre-season thus far and Gorges and Subban both praised his hockey IQ and puckmoving skills. I think he'll stick this year as a 5/6/7 Dman. Hard to predict what he'll do points-wise but, likle Streit was, he's already in his mid 20s so should be productive relatively quickly. With Markov out (how long?), he may even get a shot on the 1st PP unit, although for now they're going with 4 fwds and Diaz is on the 2nd PP unit.
My prediction:
- This year, 28 pts
- 3 years down the line, 42 pts
Some might call that optimistic, and admittedly it's difficult to say given that he hasn't played a real NHL game yet, but based on what I've read and the clips from his Swiss career and the pre-season, he looks like the kind of player who can become a productive 3/4 Dman and PP contirbutor.
Originally Posted by
Excelsior
Does Diaz have any offensive potential? I don't know much about him.
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."
Twitter: @ross10019
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G, A, PPP, SOG, BS, +/-, GAA, W, SV%
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C: Tavares Hintz Larkin Jenner Seguin Schenn Backlund
W: Panarin Marchand Hyman Keller Forsberg Batherson Rust Moore Smith
D: Josi Hamilton Weegar Montour Ekholm Myers Parayko Pettersson Seeler
G: Vasilevskiy Swayman Kuemper