Letang vs Gervais

SaveHextall

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Nov 21, 2006
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I've seen Gervais a little bit. He was impressive with the Isles last year but has struggled so far this year and hasn't gotten much ice time from Nolan. He will probably go down once Campoli returns from injury.

I've never see Letang play, but everything I read describes him as talented but very raw. I saw he posted sick numbers in the Q and even played 7 games with the Pens this year, scoring twice.

Who's the safer pick? More upside? Potential bust? NHL player comparisons?

Thank you in advance.
 

Seph

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Sep 5, 2002
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Actually, Campoli has been back from injury for a while now and simply hasn't been able to crack the lineup with Gervais there. The primary reason Gervais is getting smaller minutes is that he is 21 years old on a defense with 5 other guys all over the age of 28 and Nolan is a guy who likes his vets. He has shown some rookie mistakes, but has also shown a remarkable ability to make up for his mistakes so that they have not hurt the team.

I haven't seen a whole lot of Letang, but from what I've seen, Gervais is the safer pick, Letang the higher upside.
 

DJ Spinoza

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Aug 7, 2003
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I've only seen Gervais a few times, but Letang has a very high offensive ceiling. He has some work to do on his positioning and defensive play, but he can be a dominant offensive defenseman someday if everything goes right (it rarely does).

Some other Pens fans have seen him more in Juniors and can comment more or correct me. I would probably agree that Gervais is a safer pick, but I don't know much about him. I doubt he has a higher ceiling. But, usually when you talk about players with higher ceilings, everything doesn't always work out.
 

Seph

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I've only seen Gervais a few times, but Letang has a very high offensive ceiling. He has some work to do on his positioning and defensive play, but he can be a dominant offensive defenseman someday if everything goes right (it rarely does).

Some other Pens fans have seen him more in Juniors and can comment more or correct me. I would probably agree that Gervais is a safer pick, but I don't know much about him. I doubt he has a higher ceiling. But, usually when you talk about players with higher ceilings, everything doesn't always work out.
I don't think Gervais' offensive ceiling is as high as Letang's, though he did score 16g last year in the AHL in only 15 games, only 1 less than Andy Delmore for 2nd in the league, and while normally a comparison to Delmore isn't a good thing, for defenseman goal scoring that's pretty impressive.

However, from what Gervais' shown me thus far, he plays more like a defensive defenseman than an offensive one. He's not a banger, but he doesn't take unnecessary risks, and plays steady. When he does make the occasional rookie error, he is usually able to recover and fix it on his own. His coverage is solid, though again, his inexperience shows from time to time. I suppose I'd take Letang for offense, and Gervais for defense. But I think overall, I'd go with Gervais, but then again I haven't seen enough of Letang.
 

desmond

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Feb 27, 2002
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Bruno's play has steadily improved this year - looks like he will be a decent top four dman. He still lacks confidence to attack but that will come soon.
 

KH1

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Gervais has quietly been one of the better defensemen in the AHL over the last few seasons, and it's not a surprise to me that he's now putting it together in the NHL.

He's made some rookie mistakes, but he plays a very steady defensive game despite his reluctance to get into physical battles. It's not by luck that he held onto his spot in the Isles defense and Campoli was sent packing to Bridgeport. He's got a very bright future ahead of him.
 

QMJHLguru

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Dec 11, 2004
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Gervais is the safe pick as a solid defensive dman, while Letang will provide more offensive output along with playing a solid defensive game.
 

buzz

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Saw Letang play at mile one he was miles ahead of anyone else.Like a man playing kids was really impressed.
 

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