Player Discussion Evgeny Kuznetsov

[CapitalsCupReality]

#tweakthesystem

 

[artilector]

Am I taking crazy pills and the only one seeing cycling nearly totally abandoned? I saw hardly any dumps, nor any armPitt dmen lined up last night.

All lines now try to score off the rush like professional hockey players should. If nothing is there, they go back up top to the D man, looking to.... you guessed it, funnel pucks to the net.

Kuz has had a heavy piano lifted off his back. Heavy being a key word there. No more board work mandated before trying to score.

Could be the linemates (+ uptick in his own confidence, which for him translates into more aggressive skating).

Mojo has decent hockey IQ and can wheel; Williams has great IQ and still decent wheels (due to effort). Plus, Niskanen-powered Orlov adds like 100% to offensive-zone options.

None of these things were there a couple of weeks ago, no? Ovi & Oshie can't really play the Kuzya spin cycle, Kuz himself had low confidence, Orlov did not have the optimal partner...

I mean, it's great if Trotz has really taken the leash off, but especially looking at the other lines it's hard (for me) to detect a big difference in overall offensive zone strategy.

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

Could be the linemates (+ uptick in his own confidence, which for him translates into more aggressive skating).

Mojo has decent hockey IQ and can wheel; Williams has great IQ and still decent wheels (due to effort). Plus, Niskanen-powered Orlov adds like 100% to offensive-zone options.

None of these things were there a couple of weeks ago, no? Ovi & Oshie can't really play the Kuzya spin cycle, Kuz himself had low confidence, Orlov did not have the optimal partner...

I mean, it's great if Trotz has really taken the leash off, but especially looking at the other lines it's hard (for me) to detect a big difference in overall offensive zone strategy.

I love the results of the new system but does anyone think it's like a trick play in football and not to show to much before the playoffs.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Been jokingly saying it early in the year when there was a lot of criticism around Trotz, it's' all part of the secret plan. They're trying different things all year to prove to themselves they can win playing almost any system or strategy. They're changing things and trying new things to keep guys challenged, non-complacent and engaged. I feel like we haven't seen their best yet and hopefully won't until May time frame, just like I believe we'll continue to see different strategies and system tweaks the rest of the year.

 

[442]

Like what I'm reading here. I want a North / South offense that drives everything .... and I mean everything .... to the net.

My only gripe .... wish Vrana was up.

 

[RandyHolt]

Been jokingly....

Joking aside, didn't you say that Kuz had to fix his own issues; that he needed to step up his game, etc... do you think that he just fixed himself, or do you think the system tweaks did it. Forced to choose one, which is it?

I still think its odd that you downplay Trotz abandoning grinding, labeling it a standard weekly tweak. That was sooo not him. Long time NHL coaches don't normally change their stripes at all. Give the man credit.

If that is a tweak, what would be a major change from him IYO?

No longer hitting is a big one too. Our big hitters up front now don't hit. I call it not a tweak... more like something I have never seen in watching hockey for 40 years, and almost enough to tune me out.

It's no secret to anyone that dialing up hitting is going to be his late season secret weapon.

I sure hope his late season tweak is not abandoning all we have seen recently, and go back to demanding grinding and turtling from his offensive stars, like he did last year.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Of course, when a player is playing poorly, it's expected he improve. The coaches said as much. He was down on himself, put too much pressure on himself and was playing poorly. He was coached to simplify his game, get pucks on net and good things happened.

 

[RandyHolt]

Of course, when a coach implements a tiny tweak that derails his best players, it's also expected that the coach improve.

What we see is bigger than Kuz simplifying his game. There is an elephant in the room you may not be seeing. We are blowing the leagues best teams out, and shutting them out. All of a sudden.

That elephant? The system is simplified. Barry abandoned his directive to win games by wearing out the opposition defense. Which led to some nice 3rd period comebacks, but never when the games counted most.

 

[g00n]

Of course, when a coach implements a tiny tweak that derails his best players, it's also expected that the coach improve.

What we see is bigger than Kuz simplifying his game. There is an elephant in the room you may not be seeing. We are blowing the leagues best teams out, and shutting them out. All of a sudden.

That elephant? The system is simplified. Barry abandoned his directive to win games by wearing out the opposition defense. Which led to some nice 3rd period comebacks, but never when the games counted most.

Here's what I see:

As we've discussed they're 'funneling' more and looking for the shot. But that's not the main component. Their system and structure is much more orderly (but flexible) and apparently built on a few simple concepts that allow them to react quickly and play more in a flow state, imo.

I think they're looking to play more of a 3-man game up and down the ice, essentially creating triangles of support especially along the boards but with the goal of "weaving" or getting off the boards as soon as possible. Notice how easily they're exiting the zone AND making it through the neutral zone AND gaining the offensive zone while carrying the puck. This is because they're not just circling around or streaking down the ice hoping for a breakaway while the defenseman is being forechecked. The d-man or whoever takes what ice he can with the puck and finds the NEAREST support player unless there's a clear breakaway pass. Then the passer and another player further support the new puckhandler. The 2012 Bruins were masterful at this.

All they have to do is note where their teammates are and find the third point on the triangle to fill that space. Very simple. Or, if it's just two guys and a man needs help, find the third spot in relation to the puckhandler and the defender to create the support necessary via a passing option while being close enough to defend if necessary. You only have to find your closest teammate and beat one defender on foot or with a pass/chip.

This system fits Kuz perfectly because it means he can do what he does best (find space and find players nearby who are themselves entering space). I don't think it's a coincidence that they began practicing this kind of triangle setup in December, with a forward floating up high in the offensive zone to support the d-men at the point (e4k confirmed they were practicing this when he visited Kettler).

On defense when they do this it almost looks like a 3-2 or 2-3 basketball zone until they start breaking off and covering puckhandlers, then it looks like man to man or a hybrid system. I think they're still looking to maintain spacing to provide support.

But all of this only works if they have players who buy into it and give the right level of effort throughout the shift. That's exactly what's happening now. If the overall goal is to keep filling those spots and supporting each other while looking to get shots from it then there is no more "turtle" unless you slack off. There are only more and more chances to score, which they're taking.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

You guys never go to Kettler? You should, watching the team work on the #system is awesome. The forward between the points is no accident, they practice it. This allows the D to have more passing options and to join the attack by the boards.

This is why you see Orlov or Alzner below the goal line from time to time. It's because the forward between the points is immediately ready to play D if the puck gets turned over. This is how you improve possession time in the offensive zone, by having all 5 guys involved in the play.

We're playing chess right now on the ice, which confuses the hell of the opposing teams because they don't expect that much structure and skill offensively coming from a Barry Trotz team.

It's too early to claim victory. The league has about 40 games to figure out a way to breakdown our strategy. If no one has figured us out by that time, then we'll be the best team in the playoffs. We're ahead of everybody right now, I hope Trotz finds a way to preserve our competitive edge and not let it go like last year. Why am I saying all that in the Kuzy thread? Because Kuzy is part of the competitive edge, we need the PPG Kuzy and the Vezina Holtbeast in the playoffs.

 

[g00n]

You guys never go to Kettler? You should, watching the team work on the #system is awesome. The forward between the points is no accident, they practice it. This allows the D to have more passing options and to join the attack by the boards.

This is why you see Orlov or Alzner below the goal line from time to time. It's because the forward between the points is immediately ready to play D if the puck gets turned over. This is how you improve possession time in the offensive zone, by having all 5 guys involved in the play.

We're playing chess right now on the ice, which confuses the hell of the opposing teams because they don't expect that much structure and skill offensively coming from a Barry Trotz team.

It's too early to claim victory. The league has about 40 games to figure out a way to breakdown our strategy. If no one has figured us out by that time, then we'll be the best team in the playoffs. We're ahead of everybody right now, I hope Trotz finds a way to preserve our competitive edge and not let it go like last year. Why am I saying all that in the Kuzy thread? Because Kuzy is part of the competitive edge, we need the PPG Kuzy and the Vezina Holtbeast in the playoffs.

I think there are two ways to beat it and I haven't seen either yet.

One is to mirror it and then win the one on one battles. Good luck.

The other is to physically punish the Caps and take players out of the play, and make them think twice about skating to space while watching the puck. This is coming....


And yeah, it seems odd this keeps going in a Kuz thread but whattayagonnado. Hard to discuss if he's improving because of a system if we don't know the system lol

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

I think there are two ways to beat it and I haven't seen either yet.

One is to mirror it and then win the one on one battles. Good luck.

The other is to physically punish the Caps and take players out of the play, and make them think twice about skating to space while watching the puck. This is coming....


And yeah, it seems odd this keeps going in a Kuz thread but whattayagonnado. Hard to discuss if he's improving because of a system if we don't know the system lol

I think that will be the surprise by Trotz when the playoffs come. We're forechecking very well, but not punishing teams. The day we order the forwards to finish their checks on the forecheck, we'll start scoring even more.

Our biggest weakness IMO is the lack of scoring from our defense. If our forwards go cold at the wrong time, the D won't bail them out offensively. That's not really a system weakness though.

 

[twabby]

The defense isn't scoring many goals but they still contribute offensively quite a bit, at least at even strength. Carlson, Orlov, and Niskanen are all in the top 15 in terms of points for defensemen at 5v5. It'd be nice if they worked on their shots a little more but in terms of offense from the defense this team is very good.

 

[g00n]

I think that will be the surprise by Trotz when the playoffs come. We're forechecking very well, but not punishing teams. The day we order the forwards to finish their checks on the forecheck, we'll start scoring even more.

Our biggest weakness IMO is the lack of scoring from our defense. If our forwards go cold at the wrong time, the D won't bail them out offensively. That's not really a system weakness though.

Yeah I forgot to mention the forecheck. We were running 3 guys in the offensive zone on the forecheck at times last night. It's been ferocious.

 

[RandyHolt]

Great posts here. Dissecting what we see is not easy to articulate and appreciate those that try to dig into the details. I clearly have been focusing on what I see after gaining the offensive zone.

The game is so fast and very dynamic to simply see one thing and know it's the norm, plus the things that happen in the 3 different zones aren't easy to tie together into one 'eazy' to describe "system". Preparing to switch from offense to defense is always in play. You have to see patterns emerge, and see how the opposition has forced our hand and discount that, to know what we are trying to do. Or, go watch practice.

I have been to Kettler a lot and suspect Eazy was there at a critical time for what we are seeing today. I don't think I have ever seen drills there as described above. Regardless, Eazy clearly has an eye for the game, and I may be rather clueless.

The breakout is much improved for sure. The DM are very much apart of the attack on the rush - the 3 man game we are seeing. Evidenced easiest by Schmiddy on his fall down pass to Willy for a tap in. The DM sure look motivated. Of course, points = $.

I noticed yesterday that Orpik attempted 3 straight shots in about 20 seconds. I am not sure why that stuck out to me, but pushing pucks to the corner certainly seems less a priority today.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

The defense isn't scoring many goals but they still contribute offensively quite a bit, at least at even strength. Carlson, Orlov, and Niskanen are all in the top 15 in terms of points for defensemen at 5v5. It'd be nice if they worked on their shots a little more but in terms of offense from the defense this team is very good.

If I was Trotz and/or Rierden, I would tell them to stop trying to hit the puck through the net. Take a little velocity off to ensure you hit the net and make the goalie make a save. Drives me crazy to see Carlson or Niskanen or Orlov shoot it as hard as they can and miss the net by five feet.

 

[Langway]

Our biggest weakness IMO is the lack of scoring from our defense. If our forwards go cold at the wrong time, the D won't bail them out offensively. That's not really a system weakness though.

The D can contribute, albeit maybe not at a massive level against strong, fresh opponents. IMO if there's a weakness it's the risk of becoming too reliant on transition offense and not developing enough wrinkles or structure during sustained offensive zone pressure. They're still not a team that thinks a tricky low shot can be just as good as a pass to a player driving the net. They don't often drive the net with reckless abandon looking for loose change, which is part of why they don't draw many penalties. (When they attack the way they have been lately, defenders often can't even take a penalty.) But if they can add that sort of simple hunger to their attack they'll become even more dangerous. Beagle did score a rebound goal at the net in garbage time against Chicago but it's not a staple of their offense. It hasn't needed to be but eventually it needs to become a bigger part of their arsenal. They need to be able to resort to that sort of attack mindset for when the up-tempo game isn't there. That way they're less of a perimeter team in those situations.

Adding that level of hunger in the dirty areas offensively is the missing component IMO. They haven't necessarily needed it but if they add that on top of their transition game and puck movement they'll be a truly complete offensive powerhouse.

 

[Raikkonen]

Kuzy had an injured ankle in the beginning of the season. Info from NHL.com

 

[Barry Amsterdam]

20 points last 14 games

 

[BobRouse]

Outside of the Pitt game he really has been our most dangerous player.

When he gets the puck in stride it becomes a game of keep away and no matter how many defenders are back he WILL gain the zone under control.

 

[RandyHolt]

He may not always succeed but he is one of most dynamic and creative passers I have ever seen.

 

[BobRouse]

He may not always succeed but he is one of most dynamic and creative passers I have ever seen.

His skating sticks out to me. The guy doesn't have to take a stride and still accelerates while turning without a single crossover. Its pretty amazing to watch.

 

[ovikovy817]

1st star of the month.

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

1st star of the month.

Should have gotten then extension when he was slumping

 

[twabby]

Should have gotten then extension when he was slumping

Takes two to tango. I'm sure his agent wasn't willing to sign an extension when Kuznetsov's value was at its lowest.