GDT: Ducks @ Red Wings - 430pm PT - Most Important Game of the Season #58

[Sojourn]

the power play has no movement, no tip play set ups, doesnt seem to go down low and test dmen... its the most vanilla boring power play ever... not even sure what the plan is.

Literally no movement tho, we dont have a big shot outside of montour.

Montour has a big shot, but I'd hesitate to call it an asset right now. He still needs to work on getting it on net in a dangerous fashion. That's probably why I'd favor Lindholm on the 1st unit right now, because I think he'd be better at making passing plays as an alternative to the shot, and he's doing a good job lately of just getting pucks through.

 

[AngelDuck]

The only two players on the team that truly know what they're doing right now with the man advantage are Rakell and Henrique. Even Getzlaf holds the puck for way too long at times allowing defenders to recover instead of one touch passing it. Perry is kind of whatever, his job is to just go to the net and stand there. You have Fowler who is shooting when there is no lane to the net and passing when there is a lane to the net. Henrique is the Bonino-replacement puck recovery guy and he does a great job supporting the puck. Rakell is the only one who even TRIES to find space in the slot instead of just staying at the point or on the boards

I won't even go into the 2nd unit because it's a complete disaster, mostly because of Kesler and Silfverberg

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

Montour has a big shot, but I'd hesitate to call it an asset right now. He still needs to work on getting it on net in a dangerous fashion. That's probably why I'd favor Lindholm on the 1st unit right now, because I think he'd be better at making passing plays as an alternative to the shot, and he's doing a good job lately of just getting pucks through.

I dont mind fowler, but he needs to work on changing his lane to get shots through... shouldnt be hard for him to learn hes a great skater and thats what he should be doing on the pp. Just let him do what scott did on the powerplay.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

The only two players on the team that truly know what they're doing right now with the man advantage are Rakell and Henrique. Even Getzlaf holds the puck for way too long at times allowing defenders to recover instead of one touch passing it. Perry is kind of whatever, his job is to just go to the net and stand there. You have Fowler who is shooting when there is no lane to the net and passing when there is a lane to the net. Henrique is the Bonino-replacement puck recovery guy and he does a great job supporting the puck. Rakell is the only one who even TRIES to find space in the slot instead of just staying at the point or on the boards

I won't even go into the 2nd unit because it's a complete disaster, mostly because of Kesler and Silfverberg

The 2nd unit is basically the kase does everything unit

 

[AngelDuck]

I dont mind fowler, but he needs to work on changing his lane to get shots through... shouldnt be hard for him to learn hes a great skater and thats what he should be doing on the pp. Just let him do what scott did on the powerplay.

You can't have Fowler do what Scotty did on the PP when you have 4 forwards out there. Also Cam is just not as smart of a player

 

[Sojourn]

The point of the entire sentence is that he needs to be both.

I'll be honest, I have a hard time gauging his defensive game right now because defense isn't a one-man thing. It's about the five players on the ice, and more significantly playing with your D partner and supporting each other. Fowler is, literally, partnered with one of the most mistake prone defensemen, brain dead players I think we've ever seen in Anaheim's history.

If Fowler does what he's supposed to do, he can count on Bieksa to f*** it up and he has to try to clean up the mess. If he doesn't do what he's supposed to do, because Bieksa is garbage, then he's taking himself away from where he needs to be and ultimately not doing his job properly. There is no winning for him right now. He either tries to stick to his job and trust Bieksa to do his own job, which he clearly can't do, or he tries to minimize Bieksa's impact on the game by making plays he shouldn't be making, which he also clearly can't do.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

You can't have Fowler do what Scotty did on the PP when you have 4 forwards out there. Also Cam is just not as smart of a player

Well i dont think getz should be on the point, i think we should have fowler + montour... if bm isnt going to do anything use this time to try different things and get younger players expierences in bigger situations

 

[The Duck Knight]

The point of the entire sentence is that he needs to be both.

But he doesn't have to be a great 2way D to justify the contract. As long as a guy puts up close to a 50 point pace on D they are going to be paid 6m+ on their UFA deals. He's a better 2 way player than a few guys getting paid similarly (Shattenkirk/Yandle/Green/Schultz/Petry/Goligoski/Leddy). He's being paid exactly what he should be for what he is. Ideally a team's 2nd best dman that is being asked to be a #1. If he were a clear cut #1 he'd be making 8m+.

 

[Sojourn]

Well i dont think getz should be on the point, i think we should have fowler + montour... if bm isnt going to do anything use this time to try different things and get younger players expierences in bigger situations

I'd prefer Lindholm on the point, if we want Fowler to play rover.

I just think Montour can get too aggressive sometimes, and he can't do that if he's the last man back on the PP, especially if the other guy back there is Getzlaf with his love of the casual pass.

 

[Spazkat]

But he doesn't have to be a great 2way D to justify the contract. As long as a guy puts up close to a 50 point pace on D they are going to be paid 6m+ on their UFA deals. He's a better 2 way player than a few guys getting paid similarly (Shattenkirk/Yandle/Green/Schultz/Petry/Goligoski/Leddy). He's being paid exactly what he should be for what he is. Ideally a team's 2nd best dman that is being asked to be a #1. If he were a clear cut #1 he'd be making 8m+.

Barring any new contracts that get signed over the summer, for next year Fowler's 6.5 will make him the 17th highest paid defenseman in the league. If we're going to pay him like a top 20 D in the NHL, you can't blame people for expecting to see that level of play out there on the ice.

 

[Sojourn]

Barring any new contracts that get signed over the summer, for next year Fowler's 6.5 will make him the 17th highest paid defenseman in the league. If we're going to pay him like a top 20 D in the NHL, you can't blame people for expecting to see that level of play out there on the ice.

Eh. It’s a long-term contract. When he first signed his bridge contract, people said it was too much too, and that was only 4m. The value in the contract is in the salary over the term, because salaries will continue to rise but his contract will not.

A couple of years into that contract will show a pretty significant change in the pay rank.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

Other thing that bothers me, at this point with the defense as awful as it has been there is really no excuse for lindholm+manson to be under 22 mins in any games, they should really be closer to 24-25 mins.

If your not going to get fowler a decent partner at least change the min distribution

 

[Deuce22]

Eh. It’s a long-term contract. When he first signed his bridge contract, people said it was too much too, and that was only 4m. The value in the contract is in the salary over the term, because salaries will continue to rise but his contract will not.

A couple of years into that contract will show a pretty significant change in the pay rank.

Very true, however the term makes it risky. If his play plateaus or regresses, he becomes basically unmovable.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

Very true, however the term makes it risky. If his play plateaus or regresses, he becomes basically unmovable.

I think the contract is fine... he should be a 2way 40 point guy for majority of that contract... and by the end of that contract hell likely be around 40-50 range in pay.

Assuming we don't find more "vets" to play alongside him

 

[Deuce22]

Other thing that bothers me, at this point with the defense as awful as it has been there is really no excuse for lindholm+manson to be under 22 mins in any games, they should really be closer to 24-25 mins.

If your not going to get fowler a decent partner at least change the min distribution

I think it is safe to say that the majority on this board and Duck management do not see things the same way.

 

[dracom]

Very true, however the term makes it risky. If his play plateaus or regresses, he becomes basically unmovable.

Jeez, you’re acting as if Fowler is some AHL caliber scrub. The Fowler hate on here is completely undeserved.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

I think it is safe to say that the majority on this board and Duck management do not see things the same way.

Well yeah we got to get bieska his 20 mins -.-

 

[Sojourn]

Very true, however the term makes it risky. If his play plateaus or regresses, he becomes basically unmovable.

It's risky, because it's 8 years. I think the contract was always going to go one of two ways: It would become a good value over time, or the term beyond 5-6 years would make it painful. I'm not sure I agree it would be unmovable, unless he fell completely off a cliff. It's $6.5M, and we're already seeing top 4 defensemen creep up on $5+M.

My point is really more that we can't look at the first year of the contract and start ranking where it fits on the salary scale.

 

[Deuce22]

Jeez, you’re acting as if Fowler is some AHL caliber scrub. The Fowler hate on here is completely undeserved.

No hate. AHL scrubs don't sign 8/$52 million contracts.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

No hate. AHL scrubs don't sign 8/$52 million contracts.

Is bieska even an AHL scrub at this point? whats below that ? cause we paid him 4 mil a year

 

[The Duck Knight]

Eh. It’s a long-term contract. When he first signed his bridge contract, people said it was too much too, and that was only 4m. The value in the contract is in the salary over the term, because salaries will continue to rise but his contract will not.

A couple of years into that contract will show a pretty significant change in the pay rank.

Precisely. Just in the next 2 summers Carlson/Trouba/McDonagh/OEL will all almost certainly get more pushing Fowler down to the 21st highest paid D. That's right in the range of where I'd rate him. (20-25, Lindholm too)

 

[Deuce22]

Is bieska even an AHL scrub at this point? whats below that ? cause we paid him 4 mil a year

But he was hilarious pretending to be a security guard.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

But he was hilarious pretending to be a security guard.

Even his videos regressed he was way funnier as the ice crew guy.

 

[Elvs]

But he was hilarious pretending to be a security guard.

They should have filmed a skit where Bieksa acts as a top 4 defenseman.

 

[AngelDuck]

Precisely. Just in the next 2 summers Carlson/Trouba/McDonagh/OEL will all almost certainly get more pushing Fowler down to the 21st highest paid D. That's right in the range of where I'd rate him. (20-25, Lindholm too)

There's no way Fowler is in that discussion playing like he has this year