Past performance does not predict future results.
That's the trappings of relying so heavily on just one stat, especially a rate stat like goals or points per 60. Rate stats favor sheltered players. It is not a guarantee that they will continue to produce at that rate when given more minutes. Zohorna's per 60 stats may be better than Harkins, but it is not an adequate predictor that Zohorna will a) continue to produce at that rate and b) produce at that rate against tougher competition.
You play them until they lose their steam so much that they become worse than your alternatives. Then you replace them with someone better at that time. Until you get to that point, you DO NOT screw with what's working. Still waiting on the sample size of him being a bad Pittsburgh Penguin.
Besides, he's not all offense anyway. I gave you his other stats. He can help in other areas. Sullivan hasn't explored his defensive potential at all yet.
I hope Harkins does become a good offensive producer, but I don't think there's any good reason to expect it.
Odd that three organizations have evaluated this player and come to the same conclusion.
Hextall and Sullivan's decision making means nothing to me. They have been proven wrong, stubborn and stupid too many times to trust.
Next up is Sutter, who was a toxic coach last year. Z admittedly didn't play well there, but we're talking about 67 minutes of ice time as a Flame. People seem to be trashing me for using small sample sizes, but flex that Calgary card a lot, as if it means more than his Pittsburgh time.
And finally we got Toronto. Excellent stats and metrics there in a tiny sample. Nothing to dislike. The same GM wanted him back this summer.
This narrative about him being worthless because organizations drop him is weak as f***.
I'm not sure that Zohorna moves better than Carter. Maybe once he gets up to speed. But in tight spaces? He's all limbs.
Come on. Of course he does. Watch him backcheck. Watch him forecheck. It's a totally different level of urgency. Carter's in cruise mode these days. He's an observer.
And yeah, Z's all limbs, but he uses them very effectively to help with takeaways, possession and scoring chance generation. That's his primary job as a Forward in the O-zone. There's nothing to complain about if it's working. Who cares about appearances? We need the puck, nothing else.
Again, you're fixated on Zohorna and this roster move when in all likelihood he's going to be on the roster and quite possibly in the lineup on Tuesday night. And if not, it's quite possible that an even better player will replace him.
I'm fixated more on optimal lineup deployment, since we need all the smart decisions we can get in order to make the playoffs. If Z was shit in camp I'd be totally fine with him being waived before guys who outplayed him. But that didn't happen. He didn't get outplayed when he played here before either.
Like I told the other guy, even if Z clears and plays Tuesday, it'll likely be for 1 game before he's sent to the AHL. Who cares? I'm interested in him becoming a 3rd or 4th line regular winger who PK's or PP2's. I feel he can help us with scoring and defense at ES, and possibly can develop into a useful PK'er, if given a chance.
It's just not that hard. Smith and Eller are great PK'ers, but Nieto is not. He's one with a lot of minutes logged doing it, but that doesn't make him effective. He can be replaced.
Not sure who the 4th PK F is. Acciari perhaps? Another replaceable PK'er. Not an expert at all.
It's really not that risky in our situation to experiment with these things. That's how you learn more about players, and make decisions based on more than just guesswork.
