TheGoodShepard1
Dongle Digits. Fire Newell Brown
- Nov 26, 2017
- 10,152
- 14,673
Credit to @Kalv who brought it to my attention on our board, but through his first 82 games (through Sunday, not counting tonight's -5 Patrick Kane disasterclass which we will not be discussing, thank you very much), he went 6+26=32 and was a -24 through his first "full season."
His is a really awkward evaluation. You can see the natural tools are there and the coaching staff is trying their damndest to shelter his minutes (he gets no PK time at all, try to force him as many OZone starts as possible, is rarely out there when the group is trying to protect leads and very seldomly when the game is tied with less than five minutes to go), but Anaheim is so incredibly thin organizationally on defense that he's playing a role he's clearly not equipped for yet and it's exacerbated in situations like the one they're facing with an injury to Josh Manson that causes him to play him even more tough minutes because they trust no one on the bottom pairing.
At any rate, I wouldn't say he's overwhelmed, but I do think he's hit the rookie midseason wall which works in tandem with the fact that he's not consistently ready for the minutes he's being fed (plus he does tend to just look lost/unfocused in his own end at times). You just hope that he can get out of this season with his confidence intact and the new regime (which I assume is coming with a new coach) can hopefully provide him with some cover and let him settle into a role he's more suited for. I am still a big believer and think that he still possesses the tools to be a really good NHL player for a long time.
His is a really awkward evaluation. You can see the natural tools are there and the coaching staff is trying their damndest to shelter his minutes (he gets no PK time at all, try to force him as many OZone starts as possible, is rarely out there when the group is trying to protect leads and very seldomly when the game is tied with less than five minutes to go), but Anaheim is so incredibly thin organizationally on defense that he's playing a role he's clearly not equipped for yet and it's exacerbated in situations like the one they're facing with an injury to Josh Manson that causes him to play him even more tough minutes because they trust no one on the bottom pairing.
At any rate, I wouldn't say he's overwhelmed, but I do think he's hit the rookie midseason wall which works in tandem with the fact that he's not consistently ready for the minutes he's being fed (plus he does tend to just look lost/unfocused in his own end at times). You just hope that he can get out of this season with his confidence intact and the new regime (which I assume is coming with a new coach) can hopefully provide him with some cover and let him settle into a role he's more suited for. I am still a big believer and think that he still possesses the tools to be a really good NHL player for a long time.
Hope Drysdale becomes Pronger, lol. 
