My only concern regarding Bannister is I think he may be too favouring of some of his Springfield guys; most noticeably Walker and Perunovich. Conversely, I also wonder if he is biased against Alexandrov.
Walker has been quietly solid this year. Unlike in years past where he would come in with a ton of energy and jam, moving play in the right direction for 2-3 games before falling off, he has surprisingly kept up a steady level of play over a longer stretch then he was previously capable. He's producing well above a 4th line level on his per/60 metrics. I don't think he should be given a bigger role, but Walker has been an above average 4th liner this season.
Doesn't Peru still have to get in more games to avoid becoming a UFA this summer? Any Peru favoritism may be coming from management to keep him under team control rather than Bannister.
I don't love speculating about management telling coaches that certain guys have to be in the lineup no matter what, because at the end of the day it is just speculation. But I had that thought as well when we went 11-7 against Vegas. Whether it is explicitly stated or not, I think Bannister is well aware that the front office doesn't want to lose Perunovich as a UFA due to a lack of games played in a year where we miss the playoffs.
I’ve started talking about it.
Don't ruin this for me.
Neighbours has played about half of his pro games under Bannister and I think that he has rapidly improved a lot of elements to his game since Bannister took over in the NHL this season. I've been pretty happy with the way a lot of our 2nd tier prospects have come along through the AHL when he was coaching there and I've been impressed at the way many have looked at the NHL level in brief looks this season with him at the helm.
Walker was at fault for that, not Perunovich, Walker was on the ice, got up and was watching the puck instead of finding his player, the man with the puck was already covered, Perunovich was marking that player from behind the net all the way over to the wall, and his defensive partner had the lone Vegas player in the slot
He's the top D in terms of Corsi and Fenwick. It's still under 50%, and that's being heavily sheltered. He also has the top expected +/-, for what that's worth. He's also got (by far) the highest offensive zone start percentage, for what that's worth.
If Bannister is largely responsible for Neighbor's growth, that's a pretty compelling argument for keeping him on board to pilot the rebuild and the anticipated influx of young guys. You'd think that is his forte since they had him working in the AHL.
except your 5/6 D are almost always sheltered either offensively or defensively, it is why they are a 5/6, they have a deficit in part of their game
Some will probably think I’m being too harsh on Bannister, but I don’t see how he deserves that much credit for Neighbours’ development. Neighbours already had 10 goals this season when Berube was fired. He was already starting to break out, and I absolutely think he would have continued on this same arc under Berube. Chief loved Neighbours, he raved about him every chance he got and continued to play him even when members on this board thought he sucked. It’s not like Neighbours wouldn’t have reached his potential under him.
With Neighbours specifically, the development I'm talking about is related to the parts of his game unrelated to burying the puck in the net. In the last couple months his passing and decision-making with the puck has improved a lot. I see him effectively finding/checking his man coming back through the neutral zone more than I used to. It isn't just a given that 21 year olds make noticeable improvements in these areas mid-season while still delivering the 'strong' elements of their game at the NHL level.
Most of the problems that were glaring at me since Neighbours turned pro have abated since after the coaching change. Maybe it’s coincidence, but it definitely changed after that point. Bannister may be the reason. It seems more likely that it was more him than Berube, but I would place the most credit on Neighbours. Maybe things just started clicking. Hard to say. But I would lean more towards Bannister over Berube if I had to guess.
This is the crux of the pro-Perunovich argument: well yeah, he's shit defensively even when he's sheltered - but it's only at a cost of league minimum, and look at that offense!
I largely agree. Bannister has generally done I think strong job of doing what we asked of him- helping develop young players and getting more consistent effort out of the team. We had become too inconsistent under Berube towards the end (basically what Army said explaining the move), and Bannister has maybe not delivered the highs but it seems we have had less of the lows.
