I think you sell him short.
Iafallo didnt score for two months.
Kempe is not a C, never learnt to take faceoffs. Who can blame him.
Kempe is 3rd on the team in takeaways and many of his goals are scored because of it. Thats defense.
He is having a scoring drought, his FIRST this season. Now if he had sucked this whole season, okay, but saying he gets romanticized because of flash over substance/performance, than i respectfully disagree. I even smell European bias again.
Right, and Iafallo has been moved up and down the lineup because of a lack of production--but when he's not scoring, he's doing a whole heck of a lot of positive on the ice. Kempe spent months as the 2C and to be fair it's likely he'll end up where most of us thought he would be THIS year, at about 40 points, but when he's not scoring, he's been a roller coaster of effectiveness.
He's 3rd in takeaways partially because of his excellent speed--he's able to get in on players and close quickly and use reach to retrieve the puck. I agree that's part of defense. However, away from the forecheck, he's a tire fire and that's putting it kindly. Defense isn't
only takeaways, it's about reads and positioning as well.
I'm only responding to your idea that he's not getting an opportunity to succeed. That's a fallacy. Johnny Utah earlier in the year was also bemoaning his lack of playing time, and my response then is the same it is now--he's not getting MORE playing time because he's not proving he can handle the defensive load of two-way play. Maybe that's unfair to expect early in his career--I don't really disagree with that since he was thrust into the spotlight with the Carter injury--but it
is a fact. He's got a -2.35 corsi for rel despite facing softer competition than anyone but a couple of depth players. He only starts 20% of his shifts in the dzone, which is by far the softest on the team. Yet somehow, when he's on the ice, he's giving up the highest rates of shots against than any forward on the team, and is a drain in that regard on anyone he plays with. Yes, he absolutely can score, and yes, he has offensive talent, but you have to prove you can be better than Andy f***ing Andreoff defensively if you want to play up the lineup, because when your offense goes dry, you need something to hang your hat on. Right now, he's got nothing but a black hole for his hat. That's not Euro bias, that's cold hard facts.
And I'm not saying he can't improve, he's here learning from one of the best after all, but call it like you see it. His performance outside of scoring has been a mixed bag, and it's not for lack of opportunity. To me, it's for lack of experience, being thrust into a bigger role than he was prepared for. But I think he'll be a better player for it in the long run; I just don't think he's been as good as people want to champion, which is where my comment re: flash over substance came from.
