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I read things online about Florida Panthers fans worrying that Owen Tippett is not yet ready to be a top-six forward when others who were selected after him in the 2017 draft are already impact players, such as Nick Suzuki (13th), Robert Thomas (20th), Filip Chytil (21st), Kailer Yamamoto (22nd), Henri Jokiharju (29th), Alexandre Texier (45th), Maxime Comtois (50th) and Drake Batherson (121st) - and those voices aren't going to quiet down now that he's been relegated to the taxi squad once more with a production of just 1 goal, 2 assists, 3 points and 4 penalty minutes in 15 games.
However, keep in mind he's still just 22, barely has 51 AHL games under his belt, that the Panthers have six players with 16 or more points (a 0.75 point-per-game clip) who all deserve their ice time and the team is tied for sixth-most wins (15) in the NHL, sitting relatively comfortably in a playoff position in the division that houses both of last season's Stanley Cup finalists.
He was a point-per-game player in the OHL, he was almost a point-per-game player as a rookie last season in the AHL (19 goals and 40 points in 46 games) and was slated to play in its All-Star Game until he got injured the game prior.
The "good" news for Florida fans is he's expansion draft protected because his Entry-Level Contract slid for two seasons and will now expire in 2021-22 (and rookie contracts are exempt from being selected by the Seattle Kraken)... unless the team comes to an agreement with Kraken GM Ron Francis to accept Tippett as payment for not selecting someone else, but I doubt it; his skating and shooting ability make him a candidate for at least a middle-six role à la Mike Hoffman.
He's suited up for Team Canada a number of times, only medaling in 2015 at the U-17s, and this is what he looks like wearing the nation's red (away) uniform, on card #64 from Upper Deck's 2017-18 Team Canada Juniors set:
And here he is wearing the white (away) #74 jersey with the Panthers, on card #642 from the 2017-18 O-Pee-Chee set (and Marquee Rookie sub-set) by Upper Deck:
He signed both cards in blue sharpie with #74 tagged at the end. I received them in the mail during the 2018-19 season.
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