This is the biggest problem IMO. How many times does the opposition come at him on a 2 on 1 [which is another problem with Klefdum pinching so often despite clueless offensively] and he just freezes? Like I dont care if he goes on 1 knee, belly flop ala Russell, just do something. He just stands and stares cluelessly.
Totally agree. He sucks on 2-1's. You figure, if he was motivated to improve, that he could perhaps get some tips on using his body to block shots or passes from Russell, the league leader on blocked shots. They guy is just useless.
It's unfair to blame this guy for anything. He is what he is, a young inconsistent NHL defenceman who is barely being paid anything. It's Chia who expected everybody to automatically improve to fill the Sekera void this year.
Completely disagree. He isn't being blamed for the entire defence corp's issues, but he certainly needs to be held accountable for 1) poor skating; 2) being pushed off pucks by opposing forwards and subsequently stripped of the puck which then ends up in our goal; 3) piss poor hockey IQ for blind passes along the boards that end up as turn overs. They guy has had 50 games to work this crap out. How hard is it? I cut and suture people every day for a living. If on the first surgery I notice that my sutures don't hold and people bleed, do you think that maybe I could figure my sh*t out by the 50th surgery? Laughable.
He is very young for a defenceman so I believe he still has time to fill his frame with more muscle. He's one of few defenceman on this team not afraid to grind it up at any given time.
Totally not true. He is a poor skater. Put 10-15 more lbs of muscle on him and he will suck even more. To be honest, that it is true of most players on this team. Compare to Calgary where the Flames players are always buzzing around and skating fast. Watching Maroon trail a play back into our zone or watching draisaitl trying to get back to the bench makes you think they just raced Bolt in the 100m sprint.
I haven’t given up on the kid but currently he should not be in the lineup.
Nurse Larsson
Sekera Russell
Klefbom Davidson should start next game.
110%. But Klefbom sucks too. Time to package that guy up and dump his salary. Again, another clueless millionaire who doesn't want to work on his game. Same mistakes 50games into the season means you are either cosmically stupid or just don't care to improve your game. Either way, that's a fatal flaw.
He's been absolutely terrible this year and at no point last year was he ever as good as Davidson was the previous year.
Absolute truth. McLellan is the biggest idiot for not playing Davidson more. Better shot, better physical play in our own end, fewer mistakes.
I think there's a very clear difference between Nurse's struggles from last season and Benning's struggles this season.
Nurse was consistently getting the puck, getting his head up and giving himself a chance to make the correct play, but ended up making a late or wrong read. That's the kind of problem a lot of young defensemen have.
Benning, on the other hand, consistently gets the puck and sweeps it in some direction without even looking. That, to me, is an actual sign of having low hockey IQ. Combine that with his below average size and poor skating and I have a hard time being too optimistic about his future.
Couldn't have said it better.