Totally agree, and along the lines of finding an example, one did come to mind and in checking out the basic stats, it's somewhat interesting, and I hope not predictive:
Sam Reinhart: First 203 NHL GP = 0.22 Goals/Game, 0.28 Assists/Game, 0.48 Points/Game
Former Sabre: First 212 NHL GP = 0.22 Goals/Game, 0.30 Assists/Game, 0.51 Points/Game
Remainder of Career 335 NHL GP = 0.14 Goals/Game, 0.24 Assists/Game, 0.39 Points/Game
I.e. he dropped from a 42 point/season guy to a 32 point/season guy after the first 2-3 years.
It's Brian Holzinger