brent burns.?

[MastahPlaya]

he aint half the player erat is

 

[thestonedkoala]

The problem most of you are doing is ASSUMING what YOU think is best for a player when you don't really understand or see what the coaches and the GMs and the scouts see in the player.

Burns has been quoted as not really liking the forward position because of basically how different it was in the NHL and how fast you had to do things while on defense he had time and better decision back there (I believe, right ceber??? or uh Wild fans, it's been a while since I listened to that interview) and the coaches and guys are really salivating at his potential on the blueline.

Burns might have looked okay at forward but personally he looked more comfortable on the blueline, he unleashed some nice shots, initiated some checks (which most of the Wild defensemen don't DO! Even Mitchell and Henry are a bit soft and have off games) and the guy is only 19 YEARS OLD.

Just let him get settled and see how he progresses.

To me he looks pretty good and another good factor is he is a right handed defenseman, which I believe are hard to come by.

But to me, you guys just don't seem to understand what the GMs and the scouts and the coaches who have been doing this probably longer than any of you have been alive, see in Burns.

I'm just happy to have the guy playing on the right side and unleashing some nice shots on goal and maybe picking up an assist when a guy like Wallin or someone crashes the net.

 

[Wild Bill]

I don't think anyone is claiming to know as much about Brent as TT, DR and JL here. Most people here are grading him on his point production, which is the wrong approach when looking at 18 year-old rookies IMO.

Personally, I agree with you. He did seem very comfortable in back. He played very well when things were slowed down for him. Anticipated better (hitting) and his shot seemed more controlled (lower).

Not many can make the huge jump he did, on top of playing two different positions on a team one year removed from the Western Conference Finals. The maturity and acceptance he showed last year was much more to me than if he scored 100 pts in junior hockey.

I like his chances of sticking around.

 

[ceber]

Burns has been quoted as not really liking the forward position because of basically how different it was in the NHL and how fast you had to do things while on defense he had time and better decision back there (I believe, right ceber??? or uh Wild fans, it's been a while since I listened to that interview)

I think his quote was more along the lines of liking D more because he got more ice time and got to handle the puck more than something about not liking forward, but I think you've got the gist down. (I seem to remember him jokingly saying something like "I don't care, put me in net, I just want to play.") I'm in agreement with the rest of your post, too.

I think it's tough for a young forward to play for the Wild because of the defensive responsibility you need to display if you want to get consistent ice time. There's not much time to catch your breath out there, and there's not a lot of time to think about what you need to do when you don't have the puck. The experienced guys sometimes say it's nice to play that system (like Daigle has). They say you know what's expected and you just have to do it if you want to play, but for a kid breaking into the league I imagine it's got to be a huge challenge. I don't think Burns looked all that bad when he was at forward, honestly. He looked really raw, but talented.