That line wasn't playing a dump and chase grind fourth line game though. Dorsett carried the puck a fair bit. He had that weird spin move that lead to a chance off the rush, tried to dangle and cut to the net on another rush. It wasn't what you are describing, at least not what I picture as a fourth line grind style game. They tried things.
Etem played his game, the way he knows he has to, he was just wasn't effective at it. Often driving to the corner and such. He is a bit like a pour mans Raymond.
Granlund just isn't that good of a player. At least in my viewings he is not very good. He is smart and defensively conscious, but he isn't very good.
It's also why you wanted to see more from them, as some of the only NHLers, so when they get outplayed by other players, it is very disappointing. For Etem and Dorsett I would say it's one game. For Granlund, I just think we have better options. Mainly Gaunce.
Sure, they played off the rush plenty as well...in a pretty rudimentary north-south take pucks to the net (or in Etem's case - sometimes take pucks to the corner) sort of way. Totally within the bounds of a muck 'n grind 4th line role. I mean, they played like 20 minutes, they did a lot of things.
But by and large, they did plenty of cycling the puck around down low, throwing some pucks toward the net. It was a simple 4th line game. It was just way too much of it because they played way more than they should and will in the real games.
I don't know how you missed the grinding they did, but it was definitely there. Granlund and Etem in particular.
That to me, looked like what i'd expect from an 8-10 minute a night 4th line having a very decent game. They just happened to do it for 20 minutes.
If you take away any context, yeah, that line wasn't 'terrible' last night and all 3 guys skated pretty hard. But if that's what they do against AHL opposition in September, it's hard to hold much hope for what they'll do against NHL players.
And I disagree that they played the sort of game you're describing. They were trying to do things on the rush, just not very effectively. The bigger problem, as you touch on, is that guys like Gaunce/Zalewski/Skille (and Carcone) actually do play that sort of dump/chase/possession style and do it FAR more effectively than this tiny little 4th line did last night.
You call it "taking away any context", when what it's really about actually looking at the context of who these guys are, and what they're expected to do - and remembering that this is an early preseason game with mostly AHL rosters. But ultimately, that's our penciled in 4th line, playing an effective 4th line game in a massively oversized dose.
Of course they tried to do some things off the rush. I don't know why you're under the impression that isn't part of a good 4th line game. If that line carries through the regular season doing that kind of thing, Etem or Dorsett rushing up ice and throwing a bad angle muffin on net for a faceoff or to get a line change...that's still plenty helpful from a 4th line. At some point, you're going to get a lucky bounce doing that and crashing the net. But more importantly, that's one more offensive zone faceoff opportunity, which is good. If they're keeping pucks moving in the right direction, that's very satisfactory.
I'd certainly give you that Skille definitely play a better version of that game than Etem/Dorsett in that instance (and mentioned that earlier as well). That's certainly an issue for Etem (Dorsett's contract and fightpunching role make him secure regardless). Don't agree at all that Zalewski or Carcone were more effective though. Zalewski in particularly didn't really do much of anything. They were both fine, but had the advantage of plying their trade in far more appropriate smaller minutes (and where the derisive comment about playing a half AHL opponent is more applicable).
If you ask anyone to grind away like that for 20 minutes, it's going to stick out like a sore thumb, look ugly and get on fan's nerves watching them just "fill minutes" in that quantity. I don't really know why it was necessary to play that line so much, but they did...and i think you have to consider that part of context when weighing their play in that game.
Gaunce did look good, but you still have to keep in mind that the job Granlund is hypothetically fending off Gaunce for, is like an 8 minutes a night gig with simpleminded North-South linemates and a bit of PK time in there as the only real special teams play.
Hank(18mins)+Horvat(17mins)+Sutter(17mins)=52 minutes from our top-3 Centers. Each well within their ability. That leaves like 8 minutes. And some of that is going to be shorthanded.
I have little doubt Gaunce
could fill that role, and he looked more than ready for it last night. But is that really going to be a place where Gaunce can thrive right now? He was good, but is he going to be good enough to start prying minutes away from Sutter/Horvat at this point? I didn't see
that much from Gaunce last night.
Nor did i see anything to indicate Granlund
can't handle 8 minutes a night with wingers like Etem and Dorsett and chip in with some useful PK time. They managed 20 fairly low-drama minutes.
Agreed to an extent on Rodin - I think the fact he scored a nice winning goal caused him to have a 'great game' when in fact he was only average.
That said, I thought he was much better defensively than you did and that it was a good effort considering the injury he's been through.
I didn't think he was terrible defensively for the most part. But his work around both bluelines had some hiccups, and the flyby stuff is something that will definitely need to be corrected in short order. It doesn't fly for a Vet like Vrbata last year (at least, as far as fans are concerned), and it shouldn't fly for a guy like Rodin.
He obviously gets a bit of leeway on that due to his situation though. It can be a big adjustment, and he's coming off the injury. Lots of room for improvement if he wants to be a regular NHLer though. And unfortunate as it may be in the timing of everything, he doesn't have forever ahead of him to pick it up.
