Everyone is moaning that we lost our version of Chicago's '09-'10 Kris Versteeg (you know, that 20g 30a 50pt 3rd line player). What those people are missing are the similarities between Kassian & another member of that 3rd line that played a major role in the Blackhawks Cup win.
That 6'3" 205lbs guy came in as a 20 year old (December D.O.B.) and promptly put up 11g 8a 19pts -9 in his first 25gp at the AHL level. He got recalled and put up 6g 5a 11pts & 33 hits in 29gp on the 3rd highest scoring team in the NHL that year but when the playoffs rolled around?
He "only" put up 2g 3a 5pts in 17gp but he had 41 solid, heavy hits and one of his two goals was the GWG of game #2 in the Stanley Cup final. He played a big, albeit underrated, part of the 'Canes' Cup win in '05-'06.
That's Kassian's floor - Andrew Ladd. His ceiling? Who knows? But if people want to throw around names like Yzerman & Sakic in the same sentence as CoHo (crazy to me - Chris Drury is more like it) then people could throw the name of Brendan Shanahan into the conversation on Kassian (just as crazy).