I felt like sleeping in on Sunday, so I PVR'd the game and knew the score before I watched it. So instead of just watching the game and see who would win, I pretty much exclusively watched DP's every move. This is what I noticed:
- firstly, as much as I'm an optimist and want to have faith that the Pens scouting staff made the right pick, I have silently shared, to a degree anyway, the attitude that Mr. Burgundy has that "I hope we're proven wrong" and that DP ends up being sensational. I know it's too early to know what the outcome will be, but I'm just mentioning my uncertainty about the pick to show that I don't have any bias against this player...
- DP actually played his best game of the tournament today. Jacob was correct in DP's play today in the sense that he sometimes barely left the ice, and there's no question he was rationing his energy during his shifts. As I'm writing this, I've got the TSN post-game show in the background. Bob McKenzie just said he thought DP was one of the 3 best bright spots of the team, and also that he was probably spread a bit too thin with too much ice time. Nonetheless, DP both impressed at this tournament, and was also relied upon a bit too heavily. This is in part both a great thing for DP in terms of experience and the confidence shown in him, and maybe a bad thing if wore him out a bit too much. Also, this is in part a great thing because it shows that DP was amongst the cream of this year's defensive crop, and OTOH it may show that the field this year was not particularly strong, IMO.
Nonetheless, I'll expand on the positives and negatives of DPs performance:
- He definitely showed that when the game is on the line and he or the team is thrust into a more important position, he seems to both elevate his intensity, but at the same time really keeps his cool. He was fantastic today in terms of all the simple defensive plays: reversing the puck, moving it up the ice himself when warranted, jumping into the play when warranted, etc. There were games earlier in this tournament when I would have considered him a bit more of a high-risk player because he would jump in without necessarily having support or try to do too much like beating guys 1 on 3 or 4. But today, he played an almost mistake-free game. I don't believe he had any turnovers and was constantly pushing the pace and creating chances, and he never panicked or forced a play that wasn't there. I believe this is why he got SO, SO much icetime.
- DP was very, very cognisant of staying back. If Ekblad or whoever had moved up, or as the lone Dman on the PP, he would always fall back. Today, there was a 2-on-1 against Canada with DP being the lone Dman. He played it in a way that would make Harrington or Maatta proud. He went down to the ice on one knee with his skate blocking the passing lane behind him, and his stick flat on the ice blocking the lane in front of him. He was leaning slightly more towards the player with the puck, and absolutely neutralized this play. (I either don't recall them getting a shot off on this play, or it was at an extreme angle that was no threat). It was great to see this from DP, especially under the circumstances of how much TOI he was getting and the score in the game.
- As the 3rd period came to a close, it was as if DP was taking it upon himself to make something happen. He was credited with 6 shots on goal tonight, and the majority came in the 3rd. DP does not force a shot when he doesn't have a lane and at no point were any of his shots blocked near the blueline in this or other games that would lead to a rush against. But Russia did a great job of boxing out guys in front of the net, blocking pucks just before they got through, and clearing out rebounds. If DP doesn't have a shot, he will make the pass to someone who does, or fake to get into a better position, and/or be ready to get it right back for a shot. He did, however, miss the net a bunch of times on the shots. He probably had at least 5 or 6 additional shot on goal attempts this game, so while it is great to see him have a shooter's mentality, we would like to see him get more of those shots on the net with better accuracy, and perhaps with greater velocity and/or looking for team mates' sticks. So there are some holes here, but overall very positive.
- DP is extremely smart and aware positionally in his own end. He's always looking behind him and has his head up, trying to be aware of where the opponents are on the ice, and trying to get between them and the goal to take away lanes or sticks. This is also positive because it shows a very high level of vision, awareness and hockey IQ (as do the other positives I mentioned above, or below), which are things you can't teach. This is why DP is trusted on the PK, and why he's out there to protect leads, etc.
- DP has excellent gap against forwards. I do, however, think he will get burned against some of the faster forwards in the pros, unless he continues to improve his speed (TBD) and reads against them (which he has the hockey sense to do). He is VERY good with his stick and made a great play to block a shot by putting his feet together, almost in that 10 and 2 position, as he saw the player taking that shot, and preventing it from going through. Because he doesn't have particularly good size or reach, he needs to learn when to use his stick and when to use his body. More often then not in this tourney he was very rarely beat 1 on 1, but there were a couple of times in this tourney when he played the puck instead of the body. He needs to learn when to use his stick and when to put his hands or chest into the forwards logo and play the body to break up the rush. His gap control and skating allow him, positionally, to do this, but he needs to gain that strength and physicality to do that. I know he has it in him, but this is where he'll need some seasoning and development (and strength).
- All in all, I think this tourney will be be both a strong confidence booster for DP (because of how well he played and how much he was trusted by the coaching staff); and the bitterness of losing should be a significant motiving factor for Pouliot to want to excel in other instances going forward. In other words, it should light even more of that fire under his ass which causes him to play better, and it's great to know that his composure is there (or perhaps actually improves) when the stakes are higher.
- The other positive thing about this tourney and DP's performance is that this definitely has re-enforced and/or increased his "value" as a prospect or an asset. Yes: if you ask me today, I would still probably trade him 1 for 1 for FF, or perhaps TT or Tom Wilson, and we know how Trouba and Hertl have progressed. But that's all hypothetical. We may not have gotten the BEST player at our position, but at long as we got a damn good one, that's what's really important. And for all we know, DP could be the guy who gets traded for a top forward who's as good or better than some of those other guys, or makes another one of our Dmen expendable for the same purpose. Too early to tell and it's still hypothetical, but DP definitely raised his stock and value in this tournament.
Today was his best and most complete game of the tournament. It was great to see him perform this way under these circumstances. It would be great to see him both improve further on this, and to be able to "bring it" like this every night. This is what becoming a pro is all about. Judging by the way he performed and the determination and intensity he showed when things got more serious and the stakes were higher, I do believe this kid has what it takes to work hard to become a good player and improve in the areas that we will put him in, particularly under the tutelage of John Hynes and whatever else developmental guys like Guerin, Fitzgerald and others want to see from this player. So like Mr. Burgundy says, in another way: I hope we're proven that we made the right pick; although I do have to admit I am more optimistic about that possibility than I was one week ago.
(sorry for the long post. I imagine some who can't see the games may appreciate the report)
