- Pettersson and Kuzmenko were OK. Hoglander got a big shot there and he was definitely trying but just totally out-of-sync with what his linemates were doing. I really don't know where he fits on a full healthy team.
Hoglander - playing his way off any front line consideration. Stop and start a lot of the time and stickwork was clumsy. Don't know where you go from here with this player. If he isn't providing offense then a real liability. Like it or not Beauvillier is on this line.
Yeah. I hate it, because he was such a fun exciting little player when he first arrived. But really have to echo these sentiments and concerns about Hoglander. It'd be an overreaction to a single preseason game...but at the end of the day, the problem isn't new. Same old story. Looks like the same misfit player who can't find a real spot in our lineup.
I don't really think plugging him into that "top line" role is the best thing for him any more than sticking him on a "bottom line" grinder role. But that's sort of the problem that has emerged with him and persisted for quite a while now.
He just doesn't seem to mesh with anyone, or fit any particular role on the team. He has a hard time reading off linemates and seems inclined to try to do "too much" himself. He overhandles the puck when he should really be making quick, simple one-touch plays to just keep possession alive, work the cycle, get the puck down low, get to the net or do a better job of rotating to a position that supports the cycle.
He's just not a skilled enough, creative enough, or strong and fast enough player to make the sort of moves and plays he seems to want to make. That results in too many plays that just effectively die on his stick and kill any momentum his linemates might be making. He also tends to float himself too often to positions that don't give his linemates a good option to cycle the puck. Kind of strands them on an island attempting to work a 2-man cycle that gets outmanned and again...the possession tends to die.
We saw as a rookie that with the right sort of linemate (Bo Horvat) and the right sort of simple straightforward game, he has the potential to be a really useful, pesky little middle-6er who pots 20G for you. But he seems to have regressed from that player, and doesn't really have a clear fit on this roster.
I think it's time to seriously start examining what to do with Hoglander. I guess in the short-term, you just plug him in to a couple other spots and see if some random chemistry pops up. Maybe he randomly works with Pius Suter or something?
But ultimately, i think you've gotta start looking at whether you can even get anything useful for him in trade. I'm not sure you can, but it's pretty clearly coming time to find out.