The problem is that he is not going to get "out of the way" of a shot from the point. You cant always help it and as the stakes go up the more he will sacrifice.
From 4 years ago. Not something that is not considered at all and something to be naive about.
Tyler Yaremchuk:
I get a little nervous when McDavid is out killing a penalty because obviously the last thing this teams needs is for him to get hurt blocking a shot. Given how much they play McDavid at even strength and on the powerplay, I think McLellan can leave him on the bench during penalty kills. In general though, I don’t mind skilled players killing penalties if they’re good at it. I like that McLellan trusts players like Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Kailer Yamamoto enough to put them on the PK.
Chris the Intern:
I love seeing Connor on the penalty kill. Playing him more will always be better than us. My one concern with this is that I really don’t want to see Connor blocking shots out there. I mean, him getting injured from blocking a shot is the last thing we need, right?
Baggedmilk:
I like the idea of Connor out on the penalty kill but I also hate the idea of him blocking shots. I get why you’d want him out there, that’s obvious to anyone with eyes and a brain, but I get nervous when I think about him sacrificing his body to prevent power play clappers from the point.
Also, Gregor from this year:
"Of course some will argue that the penalty kill is no place for a superstar, that the risk of injury is too great and the player’s energy is better spent in other manpower situations. My own take is I don’t mind it at all. Of course I’m old enough to remember the days when it was commonplace for teams to use their top players on the kill, and nobody excelled at it more than the Edmonton Oilers of the 1980s. That squad, which was pure dynamite on the counter attack, recorded the 4 most
productive seasons for shorthanded goals of all time, and 7 of the top 14."
The difference is the shots are harder than they have every been