Here ' s a comment I wrote a while back in regards to how he might slot in , in a couple yearsI ' d say top 6 , he definitely has the offensive talent , but he ' s a bit one dimensional . Whenever he does make the NHL , I would be ecstatic to see him with Nylander at Center and Soshnikov . A very high skilled , potent offensive line that would be especially effective if we were using JVR Matthews Marner as our top line , with Hyman Kadri Brown as a shut down line . I think I might be getting ahead of myself but that top 9 would be lethal if everyone keeps progressing at this pace . Regardless , what I see for him is finishing the year off in Kitchener , and playing a full year at least with the Marlies to round out his game . I would really like to see him with Timashov or Brooks next year . Maybe Lindberg providing a bit of size on the opposite wing . After that , he will be 22 , and have another year of waiver exemption , but I can see him pushing for a spot . I ' ve heard rumblings of some character issues , but I don ' t think that would last long with Babcock . Might just be a Junior phase that he needs to outgrow . Seems to be a nonissue for now . Anyway , that would be in 201819 , so I ' m not sure where we stand contract wise , but if he ' s ready to play in the NHL , he should be on a scoring line with Willy that would likely be our third line . Bracco is a monster on the PP , so start him off with top 9 minutes and 1 st line power play duties . What ' s nice about Bracco is that he could be very effective without needing a lot of minutes , similar to Kessel with the Pens last year in the playoffs . He ' s not really comparable to the Phil , but he could be very effective in a similar role . Give him 15 minutes a night and if he reaches his ceiling he could be good for 0 . 75 pg . That leaves a lot of room for other talent , which we have a lot of coming up , especially on forward .