He just can't keep up to the speed of the NHL game, he's a half a step behind in every facet of the game. Great guy but he's an ahl'er, and quite honest there are too many of those in the Leafs lineup.
I agree, Ryan Hamilton suffers from many of the same problems that Mike Kostka does. They simply do not think the game at the NHL speed, and do not have the foot-speed, hands or shot to make up for their considerable IQ deficiency. I can honestly say that every time I saw Hamilton play for the Marlies, he looked like a completely different player than NHL Hamilton. He hasn't brought anything to the table to differentiate himself from even our worst forwards in Frazer McLaren & Colton Orr.
Mike Kostka.. Is just mediocrity defined. I hear people say that "Kostka is
not bad defensively" or he "doesn't make
too many mistakes" but therein lies the problem. 75% of the time he is completely unnoticeable, often a positive attribute for a good defensive defenseman. However, the other 25% of the time he is completely behind the play, killing offensive opportunities and making questionable moves in the defensive zone that
lead directly to goals against.
We have better options. If we're going to be enduring a rookies defensive deficiencies we may as well be reaping the rewards of his offensive contributions and continued development. Why are we investing so much time into a 27-year old rookie upcoming-UFA? Why don't we focus our attention on the dynamic smooth skating 22-year old sophomore defenseman? Jake Gardiner had a tremendous rookie season earning a spot on the NHL All-Rookie Team and was third in TOI/G overall on the 11/12 squad. The treatment to Gardiner has been disgusting --
it might even be worse than the oft-mentioned Ron Wilson-Nazem Kadri fued. Gardiner is an established NHL player who made a significant positive impact just last season. Kadri hadn't proven anything at the NHL level prior to his mistreatment.
