I think we should be playing Kuz at center not wing. We need a 1 -2 punch down the middle. Grabovsky is not a highly skilled center and is not worth keeping. With the money we save on Grabovsky and by trading some assets, we should have enough cap room for a UFA scoring winger to play alongside him. Agree or disagree?
Evgeny Kuznetsov: Part 3
- Thread starter Langway
- Start date
Devil Dancer
Registered User
- Jan 21, 2006
- 18,462
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At this point I just hope the kid's exciting to watch. He isn't going to make them into contenders, they need a real D infusion to do that, but hopefully he can do something to make them a bit more watchable. Plus he'll give me someone to root for other than 8, 19 and 52 (yes, I still like seeing 52 score).
artilector
Registered User
- Jan 11, 2006
- 8,351
- 1,187
Agree. I'd much rather keep paying 4.5m for Laich than ~5m for Grabovsky. Clearly, Grabovsky is not cutting it... I think he's slipped to 2nd on the team in ES points and ES points/60. First in Corsi among forwards, but screw those New Age stats. It makes sense to let him go to make room under the cap -- wouldn't make sense to obtain it by losing key cogs like Neuvirth, Erskine, Brouwer -- and especially Erat, because if I understand correctly the law of large averages, he's due to score a boatload of goals next season (it all evens out with time), once the floodgates burst open.
Yeah, i think Kuz is a great center from what I've seen, better than wing. When he plays 2C, grabovski becomes expendable anyway. We can't waste him on the 3rd line.
FloridaCap
Beaglechuk Mania
- Jun 30, 2012
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1Gold Standard
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- Jun 13, 2012
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Not sure if any of you guys saw this before, but a Canadian musician and film maker did a doc in 2005. There he interviewed a 12 year old Kuznetsov with his family. 2.50 minute mark.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT3M_sQGTNc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT3M_sQGTNc
I'd say mental aspect is a skill of a grown professional..
I guess OV has mental toughness and great physicality from his very young years via parents. They were pros in the end.
I do recognize talent as a different thing than mental+physical+technical. Maybe I'm wrong. Anyway players should not be estimated by talent alone ofc.
1Gold Standard
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- Jun 13, 2012
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Guy was talented even before OV won his Calder!
It was a great documentary... not just the Kuznetzov story.
NobodyBeatsTheWiz
Happy now?
'Hockey sense', as nebulous as that term is, cannot be learned. It's undoubtedly a natural ability.
NobodyBeatsTheWiz
Happy now?
LOL. What? How did you not pick up on mine
In all seriousness though, McPhee did mention Kuz as a possible C last year AFAICR.
Semin has excellent hockey sense. He makes some stupid decisions, but not because he lacks the sense to know otherwise.
artilector
Registered User
- Jan 11, 2006
- 8,351
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I think overall Semin had better hockey sense. Ovi is obviously better (the best) at finding scoring opportunities and generally made decisions quicker, but overall Semin's positioning and passing was better.
NobodyBeatsTheWiz
Happy now?
Ovie anticipates what defenses are going to do much better than Semin, hence his ability to find soft spots that Semin didn't come close to. Semin had more of a "I'm going to stickhandle around you or shoot the puck through you" approach.
One the passing front, I think the assist numbers speak for themselves. Ovie has 6 40+ assist seasons. Semin has 2.
Again, I'd say Semin has overall better stick and puck skills than Ovie. Ovie's got the advantage in every other category.
trick9
Registered User
- Jun 2, 2013
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Not right after the Olympics. His team (Traktor) still holds the final playoff spot in the KHL so if they make the playoffs i don't think he'll come over this season.
If they miss the playoffs though, at earliest i think he could come in a month or so. Assuming his KHL team doesn't have problems with that.
SashaSemin28
My Krasnaya Mashina
SimplySensational
Heard of Hough
Errr the point of the cup of hope is that the team that wins gets the first overall pick, seems like they would want that.
I don't think the Cup of Hope is a yearly thing. Also:
http://tedstake.monumentalnetwork.com/2014/02/09/brouillette-and-wey
"We need to heal and regain many players who have been injured back into our lineup. That will be most helpful to us as a franchise. And perhaps we will add a young player who was a high draft pick into the lineup at some time too after the break. Time will tell."
http://tedstake.monumentalnetwork.com/2014/02/09/brouillette-and-wey
"We need to heal and regain many players who have been injured back into our lineup. That will be most helpful to us as a franchise. And perhaps we will add a young player who was a high draft pick into the lineup at some time too after the break. Time will tell."
SashaSemin28
My Krasnaya Mashina
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