Letestu Needs to Be Removed From the PP

[Bryanbryoil]

Letestu has no business being on an NHL power play. His flash of lightning from last year expired a long time ago.

How stupidly stubborn is our coaching staff!? I am starting to turn on Todd because he absolutely refuses to pull Letestu off the power play. Lately he has been making the dumbest hockey IQ decisions known to a power play, get him off already.

Adding to this it absolutely boggles my mind when I see Letestu out on those 5 on 3's.

There's been 2 constants on the top PP unit this year, McDavid and Letestu. Draisaitl and Lucic have rotated on and off that unit as have Klefbom, Sekera and Benning IIRC.

 

[sepHF]

I've said it a couple times but i'll say it again: why does Letestu get so much heat here for his PP ability when he's 3rd on the team in PPP and outproducing Draisaitl while making a fraction of the money?

Shouldn't the ire be pointed at 8.5m Draisaitl who just scored his first PPG of the season the other day? The guy with 3 ppp?

 

[missinthejets]

I've said it a couple times but i'll say it again: why does Letestu get so much heat here for his PP ability when he's 3rd on the team in PPP and outproducing Draisaitl while making a fraction of the money?

Shouldn't the ire be pointed at 8.5m Draisaitl who just scored his first PPG of the season the other day? The guy with 3 ppp?

It's probably because other than McDavid he gets the most PP time on the team.. so if he's basically a fixture on PP#1 it stands to reason he's going to be high up in PP points just by virtue of being on the ice all the time when they do score.

There are a lot of guys who need to be better on the PP, but Letestu has massive limitations as a player which make it harder for the other players to function on the PP. The simple fact is that Letestu is put in a position to be a key figure on the PP when he is totally miscast in that role.

I don't think anyone considers it personal against him, it's much more a criticism of the coaches for not trying to put a more skilled player in that position.

 

[nabob]

It's probably because other than McDavid he gets the most PP time on the team.. so if he's basically a fixture on PP#1 it stands to reason he's going to be high up in PP points just by virtue of being on the ice all the time when they do score.

There are a lot of guys who need to be better on the PP, but Letestu has massive limitations as a player which make it harder for the other players to function on the PP. The simple fact is that Letestu is put in a position to be a key figure on the PP when he is totally miscast in that role.

I don't think anyone considers it personal against him, it's much more a criticism of the coaches for not trying to put a more skilled player in that position.

Building your top PP unit with your very offensively limited 4th line center as the trigger man and main cog is terrible coaching. All momentum dies when the puck touches his stick and despite being set up for more onetimers than anyone else I can only remember him finishing one or two all season.

 

[missinthejets]

The real frustrating part is Letestu did spark the PP last season. No one else was getting the job done there and he got an opportunity and took advantage of it. Perhaps teams didn't take him seriously as a threat and he caught them off guard, I don't know, but the bottom line is this year it ain't working, time to try something else. They haven't ever tried anyone else there to see if it works or not, that's all I want to see. Just try making a change.

That's the biggest issue with this team right now in my mind, the coaches are reluctant to change things that aren't working and it has had an impact on the mental state of this team. In sports coaching always has to be fluid. Teams area always trying to counter what works for their opponents and you need to stay ahead of that. Can't just stubbornly keep saying it worked before it'll work again dammit!

 

[sepHF]

It's probably because other than McDavid he gets the most PP time on the team.. so if he's basically a fixture on PP#1 it stands to reason he's going to be high up in PP points just by virtue of being on the ice all the time when they do score.

There are a lot of guys who need to be better on the PP, but Letestu has massive limitations as a player which make it harder for the other players to function on the PP. The simple fact is that Letestu is put in a position to be a key figure on the PP when he is totally miscast in that role.

I don't think anyone considers it personal against him, it's much more a criticism of the coaches for not trying to put a more skilled player in that position.

Him and Draisaitl get basically the exact same PP min per game, Letestu has 13m mins over the entire season but Draisaitl missed games due to his concussion.

The whole unit needs to be better plain and simple - i just think it's unfair Letestu gets so much flak when most others are struggling as well. Just seems to me like he gets a lot more heat then the rest of the players when he's only being out produced by McDavid(generational) and RNH(career season) on the PP. I don't think taking him off is going to fix the unit. Klefbom and Draisaitl should get just as much if not more criticism than Letestu based off their production and contracts.

and I agree he's limited and not as skilled as some other players but he's probably the best option as a forward with a RH shot. I wouldn't be against trying Strome or Puljujarvi in his spot for a bit but as I said I dont think its gonna magically fix things.

 

[Broilers]

Letestu should be traded and removed from the team

 

[nabob]

We had one PP last game. Drai won a 2 on 1 puck battle, got the puck to Letestu, Letestu promptly turns the puck over, which leads to a partial breakaway where Letestu takes a stupid slashing penalty because he is too slow to keep up to the Nashville player. Puljujarvi does that and he's automatically benched for the next game. Why does this 4th liner get more leeway than any other player on the roster?

 

[oobga]

I've come to the conclusion that the solution is not less Letestu, it's MORE Letestu. Letestu on the 1st line. Letestu in net. Letestu and 4 Letestu clones on the PP.

Sincerely,
Todd McLellan and Jay Woodcroft

 

[nabob]

Heeeeeeeee's baaaaaaaaack!!!

 

[Bryanbryoil]

What in the ****!?!?!?!?! Seriously? Nurse gets one ****ing game on the top unit? There are only 2 solutions to this, trade Letestu or fire the coaching staff. I for one am looking forward to the 2nd unit one upping the top unit yet again.

 

[oobga]

What in the ****!?!?!?!?! Seriously? Nurse gets one ****ing game on the top unit? There are only 2 solutions to this, trade Letestu or fire the coaching staff. I for one am looking forward to the 2nd unit one upping the top unit yet again.

There is seriously something wrong with the brains of our coaching staff. They all need to get checked out.

 

[Soliloquy of a Dogge]

Heeeeeeeee's baaaaaaaaack!!!

These coaches are the most idiotic human beings on this planet. McLellan, Woodcroft and Johnson are just determined to f*** this team over at every chance. We're forever destined for mediocrity as long as they're behind the bench.

Nurse looked excellent on that top unit last game and he gets demoted to the 2nd unit. Can't make this shit up. By the time the game rolls around we'll probably see McLellan's other favorite, Benning, in Nurse's place on that 2nd unit.

More proof that these people can't coach, can't analyze anything and just throw crap against the wall repeatedly while making sure Letestu gets his preferential treatment.

 

[Del Preston]

Letestu has to be related to someone on the coaching staff.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Letestu has to be related to someone on the coaching staff.

Hopefully it's a one game showcase before he's traded. Then they can re-sign him in the offseason to anchor our top PP unit and take McDavid off the PP altogether.

 

[Spawn]

I don't even mind Letestu on the PP.

But the fact that any changes they make to the top unit last at most a single game before they swap back to the exact same unit as last year despite consistently failing is truly pretty mind boggling.

They're 1 for 20 on the PP in the New Year. What is the impetus to keep going back to this unit that hasfailed to such an incredible degree.

Has special teams ever sunk a team as badly as ours have this year? 29th on the PP, 31st on the PK. If we were league average in both categories I wonder where this team would be.

 

[Jet Walters]

I remember hearing the Condors coach on the radio a week or two ago talking about what a difference Pakarinen made for their PP when he was down there. We need a RH shot at the point that actually gets a PK's respect and attention. Jesse in for Letestu and Pakarinen in for Klefbom would be my thinking. Hell, throw Khaira in for Lucic too.

 

[Jet Walters]

I don't even mind Letestu on the PP.

But the fact that any changes they make to the top unit last at most a single game before they swap back to the exact same unit as last year despite consistently failing is truly pretty mind boggling.

They're 1 for 20 on the PP in the New Year. What is the impetus to keep going back to this unit that hasfailed to such an incredible degree.

Has special teams ever sunk a team as badly as ours have this year? 29th on the PP, 31st on the PK. If we were league average in both categories I wonder where this team would be.

If we had average special teams and average goaltending to this point we'd be in the playoffs.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

It is amazing how a 4th liner who has zero points and is a -6 over his last 10 is given sooooo much rope. I'm having ptsd flash-backs to Toby Petersen here... In most any other case he'd be struggling to justify staying in the lineup, but here he is being gifted 1st unit PP time.


I'd be tempted to say it's just them showcasing him, bit then why isn't Maroon also on the top unit?

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Maybe if we trade Letestu Todd and co. will just quit? Two birds with one stone! Then bring him back if we so choose to play the role that he was signed to do in the first place, 4th liner and pk.

 

[Soundwave]

At this point really there's only two possibilities

1.) Chia is scared to pay Nurse/Jesse too much money on their extensions so he has ordered Todd to keep them off the 1st unit PP.

or

2.) McLellan and Woodcroft have slowly gone insane over the winter.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

At this point really there's only two possibilities

1.) Chia is scared to pay Nurse/Jesse too much money on their extensions so he has ordered Todd to keep them off the 1st unit PP.

or

2.) McLellan and Woodcroft have slowly gone insane over the winter.

Or

3.) McLellan and Woodcroft are secretly agents for Letestu.