what if we tried renaming Michalek McCullough and made him from the valley
I liked Condra, and his cap hit is a much better fit for the bottom 6, so no argument here, but Condra in the top 6 was a bit like Michalek with in the bottom 6; no production. They have different strengths and weaknesses.
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I'd say he's above average defensively, but certainly not a specialist in that regard. I think part of what you are seeing (with regards to him being overatted defensively) is defending against some people calling him poor defensively. He won't hurt you in that regard. I agree that when he's not producing offensively, he's just sortof there, but to be honest, that describes a lot of NHL players.
Even though Michalek went on to put up PPG numbers on the top line, Condra and Michalek both finished with 7 even strength goals. Go figure.
What I find funny is that some call Michalek a scrub but he actually had a comparable season to MacArthur point-wise. I don't see anyone calling MacArthur a scrub. Michalek may be streaky but last year he was there for the team when we needed him the most.
Wait in 3 years when he'll be older and will regress a little bit and Lindberg, Paul and more young guys will be looking for a spot on the roster. MacCarthur is also a pretty streaky guy and that's been since his days in Buffalo. He plays a different style of game than Michalek and his streaks go mostly unnoticed but Mac started the year strong and then went ghost until he came back from his injury and that has been the case for the bigger part of his career. I don't think comparing Michalek and Mac is right but I wouldn't be surprised to see MacArthur in a couple years become the new whipping boy because he'll be making 4.6M and some kid will be able to do the same job for half the price...
That's the reality today..
Wait in 3 years when he'll be older and will regress a little bit and Lindberg, Paul and more young guys will be looking for a spot on the roster. MacCarthur is also a pretty streaky guy and that's been since his days in Buffalo. He plays a different style of game than Michalek and his streaks go mostly unnoticed but Mac started the year strong and then went ghost until he came back from his injury and that has been the case for the bigger part of his career. I don't think comparing Michalek and Mac is right but I wouldn't be surprised to see MacArthur in a couple years become the new whipping boy because he'll be making 4.6M and some kid will be able to do the same job for half the price...
That's the reality today..
IMO Michalek is the kind of player who needs a playmaker in order for him to be most effective offensively, he can't really create plays for himself. If you put him in the top 6 but on a line with no playmaker than he isn't going to produce as much, Zibanejad & Ryan I don't think are really considered playmakers. Chiasson isn't a playmaker & is more like Michalek so putting them together would be more for defensive purposes. If you put him in the bottom six most likely there won't be a setup guy in the bottom six either so he won't produce offensively there either but is a very good defensive player. When we saw Michalek play with Turris & Stone two guys who are both good playmakers Michalek produced. When he was with Spezza the playmaker, he also produced offensively.
This yr it will depend on where DC needs Michalek's style of play & experience. Having Prince on this team, another playmaker, could actually help out Michalek in the bottom six if Lazar isn't able to get his offensive game going. Prince - Pageau - Michalek could be another offensive line or Prince - Lazar - Michalek if they want a little more bulk at centre. Should be an interesting yr for Michalek.
Condra was really great last year (for his role). But............he was also playing for his next contract. It's a pretty big risk when someone has basically a career season on the last year of a contract. Good chance he won't duplicate that performance.
I don't understand people who say that Michalek was able to put up almost PPG with Stone and Turris in a bad way. Put Chiasson there per example and he doesn't even get half the points. When a player is able to play with guys like Stone and Turris it's absolutely a good thing. Not any player is able to come up in a top 6 role and produce like that, and complete talented guys like Turris and Stone, and not only that but also handling the task of playing against the other teams top line all night is a tough task not only offensively but defensively.
No **** that Michalek can't produce with lesser players it's normal. Hoffman was on the bottom 6 and recorded 4 points in 22 games and all I hear is about his 27 goals. How come nobody talks about Hoffman being only good with Ryan and Zibby but ai always hear about Michalek not being productive in a bottom 6 role. (And he's still way above average defensively)
This Michalek thing is so stupid, honestly the guy comes up and plays PPG to help us make the playoffs and some people still take it negatively which is beyond ridiculous. If it would've been a kid like Prince or Puempel doing that he would've been the second coming of jesus christ but it's Michalek so he didn't do anything right - no, not at all it was Stone and Turris doing all the work for him and Michalek was sitting behind Hammond eating donuts.
Lol, you sound a little crazy here man. A good 20 games on the teams/leagues hottest line doesn't erase his play for the last 2 years.
A lot of people feel Michalek isn't a big part of the team and will be passed in the depth charts as soon as this year
If he scores 30 goals fans will love him but chances are he scores around 10 again
michalek is streaky and inconsistent, and when we make the playoffs he doesn't do anything. Rely on him for some penalty killing and checking, that's about it. He won't score 30 goals again.
Yep so much this ,Condra was a great role player ,but it was time for him to move onI kinda think for most players contracts are overrated. Some guys might play for them like say Semin. I think say Condra and Pageau who were up on contracts are just pretty darn good and would play the same way regardless.
I think Condra is a pretty good hockey player. But suited for a 4th line not a 3rd due to lack of offence. We needed to replace him for more offence on the third line. Tampa is stacked at forward... But we saw how weak their 4th line was in the playoffs, they could not play 4 lines, they went to 10-11 forwards. Condra eats quality minutes and can kill ot on their 4th line. He is good enough to help a weak group be an effective 4th line. Can really help Tampa go 4 lines deep come playoffs. For us he was a 3rd liner and we aren't topping off a Cup quality team now. We are building a playoff quality team and our third line is better overall with Prince/Michalek then Condra because they can score too. Plus Pageau is blossoming as a centre. He should have wingers to score for him. Condra on the 4th here... Too many bodies to figure out. In a year or two yes. Now... He is gonna look good in his role in Tampa.
I could see that, IMO Prince could become a better playmaker than Hoffman which would be more suited for playing with Zib and Ryan, while Hoffman playing with two of our best defensive guys in Pageau and Lazar would allow him to take a lot of risks offensively.
There is zero chance Lazar starts in Bingo he wore a letter last night and there were multiple regulars playing last night. Not sure why anyone thinks this is happening but its not.
McCormick over him too yikes.
I agree with you on Chiasson, although he does look new & improved from last season & is working hard to get into the lineup so far this preseason I also think he is on a short leash in Ottawa with this head coach, not to mention some fans. Should be interesting to see how this plays out because I also think it has come down to Chiasson vs Prince for that last forward spot. IMO Lazar has been fairly quiet throughout this camp, we haven't heard very much from him at all & I don't believe he has scored a goal yet. He's another guy where expectations should be higher but he is flying under the radar so far this preseason, Cowen only wishes he were this lucky.
EDIT: Not only does Michalek have the same amount of Shot/game than Stone, but he also played 130 minutes of PK time in 66 games (2 Minutes per games) while Stone has played 111 minutes of PK in 80 Games (1,4 minutes per game). So with less ES TOI/game, Michalek was still able to post as many shots/games as Stone... Kinda funny for a guy who has ''zero shots'' isn't it?[/B
I'm not sure getting rid of every mediocre player on an NHL team is possible though.
Michalek and Condra might play some of the same roles, and there are some that Condra does better, but Michalek does things Condra can't.
Condra couldn't come into the top 6 last season and put up near PPG numbers when MacArthur went down.
I think a good activity is for some people to imagine that Michalek is making 2.99 million per rather than 4M per and wonder if they'd still fixate so much on him. It is just so strange how much a slightly overpaid but good middle 6 player who played a big part in Ottawa's big run last season gets hated on. He's not bad enough to justify the amount of constant discussion about him, so it has to be him being slightly overpaid based on past performance that fuels people disliking him so much.
Yep, that argument goes out of the window... And that's all the Michalek naysayers have against him : not much substance.
If you're going to criticize him, criticize him fairly. Don't need to hyperbole players to crap to prove a point.
Michalek is not a flashy stickhandler... so what? As long as he gets the job done I won't mind. Oh and another valid critic : he is streaky offensively. OK but all non-PPG players are... I'm not expecting a just above average NHL salary (~3.0) player to be super consistent.
What I find funny is that some call Michalek a scrub but he actually had a comparable season to MacArthur point-wise. I don't see anyone calling MacArthur a scrub. Michalek may be streaky but last year he was there for the team when we needed him the most.
I didn't mean to compare their style of play. I know they play the way differently, I was just trying to show the similarity in the impact they had on the scoresheet. I also remember when he went MIA before his injury. I like CMac and hopefully he doesn't have to endure the same **** Michalek has to.
It is what it is man. If MacArthurs play drops off by the end of his contract and he gets pushed out of the top 6 and stops producing in the bottom 6 then yes he'll be criticized.
It sucks making millions of dollars and being in the spot light but it is what it is. Like you said that's the reality today