Player Discussion Brandon Davidson 2017-18

[AddyTheWrath]

Mods not sure if this deserves its own thread but I searched for it and the only current(ish) one is the waiver pickup discussion. Felt we needed a proper Player Discussion thread for him but merge this into the other one if necessary.

Really liked his game tonight. Hopefully McLellan can see that he doesn't deserve to sit in favour of Benning every game. Has had a couple of off games but he's been much better than Matt and considering he's not even playing that often, I'm sure he has more to give, and we've even seen glimpses of it in season's prior. He even has some offensive awareness and a decent shot - I wouldn't be opposed to trying him on the powerplay instead of Klefbom. Nothing left to lose really.

Davidson is home grown talent and I truly hope he gets the opportunity to work on his game and succeed here. Hard not to root for the guy after everything he's been through and the attitude he displays in his interviews.

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[ZJuice]

I was really glad when we grabbed him back off of waivers.

 

[oobga]

Seems he can't have 1 bad game without getting the boot down the chart. Just one of those guys McLellan doesn't seem to like for whatever reason. Maybe it changes, but I doubt it.

 

[Tyrolean]

I was really glad when we grabbed him back off of waivers.

It was really stupid to trade him for DD. Luckily we got him back after the expansion draft as well.

 

[Spawn]

Meh.

He was great tonight, but these were the first 2 goals he's scored in a 2 years...

Let's not pretend like he's some sort of stud who just hasn't gotten the chance he needs. Davidson is a 26 year old fringe NHLer. He can give some good games but the consistency and skill isn't there to be anything more than a fill in guy on a decent team.

People forget that it was this time last year that Benning was the stud and Davidson had lost his spot on the roster.

 

[walktheboulavard]

Matt Benning hasn't had a game as good as the one Davidson had tonight in his entire NHL career. Chia needs to be fired along with Mcllealan. One can't/won't put talented players in a position to utilize their abilities and the other consistently loses value in every trade. Davidson needs to to be in this line up; enough with losing good players for nothing already.

 

[MessierII]

It was really stupid to trade him for DD. Luckily we got him back after the expansion draft as well.

An OT playoff goal>>>Brandon Davidson’s career.

 

[Canovin]

Meh.

He was great tonight, but these were the first 2 goals he's scored in a 2 years...

Let's not pretend like he's some sort of stud who just hasn't gotten the chance he needs. Davidson is a 26 year old fringe NHLer. He can give some good games but the consistency and skill isn't there to be anything more than a fill in guy on a decent team.

People forget that it was this time last year that Benning was the stud and Davidson had lost his spot on the roster.

I don't remember Benning ever being a stud last year. However I do remember Davidson being a stud prior to getting injured

 

[Aerchon]

Davidson two years ago was awesome.

Davidson last year was still good but not as good as Benning.

Benning was good in the second half of last year but not as good as Davidson was.

Davidson has been better than Benning this year and Benning has not been good this year either. Although Benning is being scapegoated a bit. He has been saddled with covering for Klefbom who has been MUCH worse. Even recently worse. Not sure how Benning gets hate with that useless tit Klefbom somehow getting a free pass. Benning does all the heavy lifting on that pairing while Klefbom runs around getting out of position regularly with no offensive results despite that.

Benning is a right handed shot which will always give him an advantage over Davidson but hopefully Davidson gets more opportunities moving forward.

 

[LaGu]

Benning does all the heavy lifting on that pairing while Klefbom runs around getting out of position regularly

And that's where you lost me. Klefbom has been bad this year but he has also been playing more and heavier minutes than Benning, especially at the start of the year. I am watching the same game as you and I am suffering as the rest of us but to crap on Klefbom while giving a pass to Benning is pretty far from the reality imho and shows bias to be honest.

 

[MessierII]

And that's where you lost me. Klefbom has been bad this year but he has also been playing more and heavier minutes than Benning, especially at the start of the year. I am watching the same game as you and I am suffering as the rest of us but to crap on Klefbom while giving a pass to Benning is pretty far from the reality imho and shows bias to be honest.

I think Klefbom deserves every bit of flack as he’s hands down our most disappointing D man or even player for that matter.

 

[Aerchon]

And that's where you lost me. Klefbom has been bad this year but he has also been playing more and heavier minutes than Benning, especially at the start of the year. I am watching the same game as you and I am suffering as the rest of us but to crap on Klefbom while giving a pass to Benning is pretty far from the reality imho and shows bias to be honest.

As I posted Benning does not get a pass. He should be on the bench behind Davidson. Made that pretty clear.

Klefbom has been a pile of crap this year overall. Sure he has improved over the last 10 to 20 games from the putrid Peewee level to a solid bottom pairing NHL defender but overall his year is disastrous.

I've stopped watching every game in thier entirety but I see Klefbom grossly out of position at minimum once a game and typically multiple times. Next time you watch notice how often Benning by himself or with a forward are the only ones in position in the defensive zone. Klefbom role is to pinch and create offense but he is not generating enough offense to offset his defensive lapses, positioning, and poor timing/instincts when and how to jump into the play.

Can't believe Klefbom was trying to get Davidson to pass him the puck from the perfect scoring area. You know Klefbom would have botched it if Davidson passed it to him.

 

[CornKicker]

my favorite part of Davidsons game is both goals he scored were from under the top of the circles which mean he was pinching to create offensive mismatches which has been sorely missed this season from the back end. good reads and positioning by him offensively. I have a lot of patience for keeping Davidson around and letting him continue to develop.

 

[Ritchie Valens]

my favorite part of Davidsons game is both goals he scored were from under the top of the circles which mean he was pinching to create offensive mismatches which has been sorely missed this season from the back end. good reads and positioning by him offensively. I have a lot of patience for keeping Davidson around and letting him continue to develop.

He also played that 2 on 1 beautifully late in the game and broke it up without Calgary getting a shot on goal.

 

[CornKicker]

He also played that 2 on 1 beautifully late in the game and broke it up without Calgary getting a shot on goal.

I notice him using his body to cut off defenders while he makes a play with the puck, he isn't huge but uses his body effectively to give himself space to make a play. sure he makes mistakes but he battles every play and can play the right side as well. both goals were scored from the right side....well the second one he moved from the right into the slot but same idea.

 

[LaGu]

As I posted Benning does not get a pass. He should be on the bench behind Davidson. Made that pretty clear.

Klefbom has been a pile of crap this year overall. Sure he has improved over the last 10 to 20 games from the putrid Peewee level to a solid bottom pairing NHL defender but overall his year is disastrous.

I've stopped watching every game in thier entirety but I see Klefbom grossly out of position at minimum once a game and typically multiple times. Next time you watch notice how often Benning by himself or with a forward are the only ones in position in the defensive zone. Klefbom role is to pinch and create offense but he is not generating enough offense to offset his defensive lapses, positioning, and poor timing/instincts when and how to jump into the play.

Can't believe Klefbom was trying to get Davidson to pass him the puck from the perfect scoring area. You know Klefbom would have botched it if Davidson passed it to him.

I think he has been the most disappointing player this year, so much is certain. I do not think he has been the worst player though and Benning is definitely not carrying him. Both mess up and both sometimes cover (or try to cover) for the other. When a player for whom people have high expectations struggle people get picky, there have been several occasions this season where I read about Klefbom's mess-ups in GDTs or PGTs but when I watch the game and see the situations it is not really accurate to put all blame on him. This happens also to Benning by the way, as recently as a couple of games ago, and I have seen it with Pulju and Drai as well this season (although Drai has an active and ardent defender right now his so people are less on his case).

Anyhow, I won't go on to derail this thread. Davidsson is awesome and I am happy for him. Hopefully he will get a few more games after this to show his worth and get comfortable. I'd love for him to get back to his ... was it 2016 ? ... form. He couldn't do any more than he did yesterday, called to play 2 G, solid in general.



Edit: Point in case by the way, you cannot believe Klefbom "tried to get Davidson to pass him", two things: first it shows confidence, which is good, and second he is in a very good position to shoot and he indicates to Davidson that he is open. This is not a negative and Davidson is fully grown and will decide for himself what to do. If his lane would have been blocked for whatever reason it would good to have that option to pass.

 

[Stoneman89]

Only reason Benning is in the lineup up is that he's a right hand shot. And the pictures he has of McLellan.

 

[Mr Positive]

Davidson has been up and down but after last night hes certainly earned a longer look.

 

[nightfighter]

Only reason Benning is in the lineup up is that he's a right hand shot. And the pictures he has of McLellan.

I still believe in Benning's potential because he showed enough last year to prove he's an NHL'er. However he needs to get a lot stronger to fight off forecheckers and keep people from the prime scoring areas because right now he is getting bullied.

 

[ujju2]

Always really liked this player. While he's probably done developing given his age, he's still a solid third, maybe second pairing guy.

Nurse-Larsson
Sekera-Russell
Klefbom-Davidson

 

[AddyTheWrath]

Meh.

He was great tonight, but these were the first 2 goals he's scored in a 2 years...

Let's not pretend like he's some sort of stud who just hasn't gotten the chance he needs. Davidson is a 26 year old fringe NHLer. He can give some good games but the consistency and skill isn't there to be anything more than a fill in guy on a decent team.

People forget that it was this time last year that Benning was the stud and Davidson had lost his spot on the roster.

How much of that is because of the lack of opportunity he's gotten though? He was great in 15-16 and it looked to be his breakout year, but it got cut off due to injury. Was decent-okish for one year after (certainly not terrible), and then he got traded and hasn't gotten a good look since.

Of course we need some consistency and skill on the back end but how is he going to show consistency when he only plays 1 in every 5 games? I think it's pretty evident that he's been better than Benning at least and with all the injury rumours on our back-end, there's certainly room for him right now. It's not like we have anything more to lose this season anyway. It would be great if we could actually evaluate some of our own players properly, and we have the opportunity to do that right now. I think he deserves the chance to be a regular for at least a few games to see what level he can play at.

 

[Aerchon]

I think he has been the most disappointing player this year, so much is certain. I do not think he has been the worst player though and Benning is definitely not carrying him. Both mess up and both sometimes cover (or try to cover) for the other. When a player for whom people have high expectations struggle people get picky, there have been several occasions this season where I read about Klefbom's mess-ups in GDTs or PGTs but when I watch the game and see the situations it is not really accurate to put all blame on him. This happens also to Benning by the way, as recently as a couple of games ago, and I have seen it with Pulju and Drai as well this season (although Drai has an active and ardent defender right now his so people are less on his case).

Anyhow, I won't go on to derail this thread. Davidsson is awesome and I am happy for him. Hopefully he will get a few more games after this to show his worth and get comfortable. I'd love for him to get back to his ... was it 2016 ? ... form. He couldn't do any more than he did yesterday, called to play 2 G, solid in general.



Edit: Point in case by the way, you cannot believe Klefbom "tried to get Davidson to pass him", two things: first it shows confidence, which is good, and second he is in a very good position to shoot and he indicates to Davidson that he is open. This is not a negative and Davidson is fully grown and will decide for himself what to do. If his lane would have been blocked for whatever reason it would good to have that option to pass.

Seems like you are trying to deflect Klefbom's failings on to Benning.

They both suck this year with Klefbom clearly having a much more disappointing season.

He was clearly oblivious to the situation on the ice where Davidson scored. Moving the puck to him would have allowed the goalie to see the puck and stop the puck. That's assuming Klef would have even hit the net.

Klefbom imo is clearly still having injury problems. He avoids contact and can't shoot worth a damn.

If we keep him this offseason I hope he heals up and returns to form.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

Always really liked this player. While he's probably done developing given his age, he's still a solid third, maybe second pairing guy.

Nurse-Larsson
Sekera-Russell
Klefbom-Davidson

He’s a solid 6/7 D man

 

[nabob]

Davidson two years ago was awesome.

Davidson last year was still good but not as good as Benning.

Benning was good in the second half of last year but not as good as Davidson was.

Davidson has been better than Benning this year and Benning has not been good this year either. Although Benning is being scapegoated a bit. He has been saddled with covering for Klefbom who has been MUCH worse. Even recently worse. Not sure how Benning gets hate with that useless tit Klefbom somehow getting a free pass. Benning does all the heavy lifting on that pairing while Klefbom runs around getting out of position regularly with no offensive results despite that.

Benning is a right handed shot which will always give him an advantage over Davidson but hopefully Davidson gets more opportunities moving forward.

Benning hasn't played a decent game in over two months. Your bias against Klefbom is showing. He has had a down year while playing hurt all season, yes he has been injured - it's a fact, but he has always been and always will be a superior player to Benning who wouldn't even be in the NHL if he was a left handed shot. He was a Cinderella type story last season, there were zero expectations for him. So when he was ok in the first half of the year everyone was very happy about it. But he was awful in the 2nd half, awful in the playoffs, and has been even worse through more than half of this season.

Maybe we could grab Marincin off waivers to replace Benning, they're about equals

 

[LaGu]

Seems like you are trying to deflect Klefbom's failings on to Benning.

They both suck this year with Klefbom clearly having a much more disappointing season.

He was clearly oblivious to the situation on the ice where Davidson scored. Moving the puck to him would have allowed the goalie to see the puck and stop the puck. That's assuming Klef would have even hit the net.

Klefbom imo is clearly still having injury problems. He avoids contact and can't shoot worth a damn.

If we keep him this offseason I hope he heals up and returns to form.

Not at all, Klefbom has been bad and he was bad before being paired with Benning. Same goes for Benning though and imo he has been worse (which in no way shape or form makes Klefbom's play less disappointing). I never blamed anything on Benning, you however did the exact opposite in blaming Klefbom for Benning's struggles.

Of course he was not oblivious, Davidson had it but if for whatever reason he didn't want or could shoot Klefbom let him know he was there. That was the right thing to do a he would have had a great chance from there if the pass would have been good forcing lateral movement from the goalie. Again, these aren't kids playing, they decide what to do in each situation and Davidson obviously made the right choice. Anyway, this I won't argue further, he did the right thing and you find a way to blame him for it. No arguing with that.