Patrick O\'Sullivan

[BigB]

Patrick O\'Sullivan had 2 assists tonight. Giving him 51 points in his first full NHL season and 24 points in his last 24 games!

He\'s making a believer out of me and I\'d like to know how you guys think he\'ll do next year.

I\'m thinking 67-75 points next year and 80 the year after.

[ultrawhiteness]

i think you\'re right on the money. maybe a regression year somewhere in there before he breaks 80.

cool to see though... we saw this kid develop into an NHLer right before our eyes this season

[Dangles]

yah I think this guy is the read deal, and as Dobber said in an article a while back he is one of those few players with 90+ pt potential. I would agree with your point projection for next year, I can see him getting 70 pts next year and just going up from there.

[notoriousjim]

The biggest shocker is that he broke out this year. He has been knocked for a lack of work ethic, and on a team like LA this year it would be hard to blame him for not caring.

[lockedge]

notoriousjim wrote:

The biggest shocker is that he broke out this year. He has been knocked for a lack of work ethic, and on a team like LA this year it would be hard to blame him for not caring.

Lack of work ethic? When was that said about him? The draft, when he still had his dad breathing down his neck?
Or that one interview with Crawford in 2006?

He\'s hardly a Heatley, Stastny or Kopitar when it comes to work ethic, but he\'s nowhere near bad.

I mean, if you think about it, LA being in the cellar is less of a good thing for Sully because if they get the #1 pick, they get Stamkos, who\'s another C. Now, Sully\'s been playing wing a lot lately, but the more elite forward prospects in LA\'s system, the bigger the chance he could be viewed as expendable. Anyone who ISN\'T working their ass off in LA right now to try and get a nose up on their teammates probably won\'t last all that long on the team.

I mean, There\'s Kopitar, Brown, Frolov, Sully, and Cammy if he\'s re-signed. Stamkos gets added to the picture, and suddenly there are 6 guys who are slated to be top 3 players. Then of course, there\'s Purcell and Boyle coming up the ranks, among others.

I actually think that maybe getting Doughty might be better for the team overall than getting Stamkos, but you really never know, with Stamkos pegged as a poor man\'s phenom.

[Dobber]

Lockedge - the LA Kings boards were all abuzz about his ethic, and I think HFboards too. And I think it was from some poor showings a year ago. This year, there is clearly no problem given his ice time in all situations.

[lockedge]

Dobber wrote:

Lockedge - the LA Kings boards were all abuzz about his ethic, and I think HFboards too. And I think it was from some poor showings a year ago. This year, there is clearly no problem given his ice time in all situations.

See, when I saw him in the OHL, I didn\'t see many games where he wasn\'t a workhorse. In the AHL, while I only saw about 15 games, I only saw 2 or 3 with him not putting forth a concerted effort.

In the NHL, with the kings...in his first year maybe a little, but I think it was mostly a morale rollercoaster getting demoted and promoted a bunch of times, and a lack of familiarity with linemates.
I mean, he should have expected it to be much more competitive than the AHL, and I think that was a problem.
I\'ve never seen a \"flaw\" in his work ethic in the years I\'ve followed him. As I said, I don\'t think he\'s a Dany Heatley or that kind of player, but I have a hard time comparing him to lazy players like Jozef Stumpel, Nils Ekman, Ladislav Nagy, etc.

I\'m no LA local, and I don\'t see him every game; I only saw 8 Kings games last year, and I\'m fairly certain Sully wasn\'t on the team for all of those.
I DO remember being frustrated with the fact that he was 4th lining it last year on occasion(although it\'s basically a statement that no player is entitled to top line time).

But I guess the most important thing now is that he\'s proving himself to be a very solid player this year.