Player Discussion Tim Stützle - (C) - Part VI

[Agent Zub]

he needs to do what Alfredsson and Karlsson did. Bulk the f*** up.

even though it will make him slower.

 

[LuckyPierre]

Zero PP goals. Fifth amongst forwards in PP points. Justifiably relegated to the 1B PP unit.

Speaks to his tendency to try unnecessary shit at inopportune times, starting with his one-man-show zone entries which have largely been atrocious.

Confidence slips from there and leads to poor, rushed decision making when in the offensive zone. He either foregoes shooting in lieu of a low percentage pass, or tries a high speed cutback and loses an edge or goes down with any application of force from a defender.

I say all this to point out that he has the tools to avoid most of the poor outcomes if he would stick to the fundamentals like straight line skating, passing to the open option, and electing to shoot when the light is green.

He’s more skilled in the simplest situations than everyone else, but unnecessarily puts the game in hard mode and ends up in a feedback loop of failure upon failure.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

He needs to get back to basics imo and just focus on more of a North South game and work hard. Good things will happen.

 

[Pierre from Orleans]

I don't see any physical issues with him. Perhaps a wrist injury of some sort but that doesn't negate poor decision making.

He has a terrible tendency to hold onto the puck for too long. Prime example of it was yesterday along the boards where he was trying to maneuver in a tight space and elected to do a curl back only to run into one of the Ducks defenders. He does this very often and its very easy to defend against which I'm sure most teams are keying on. That curl back move makes him very succeptable to falling on the ice.

He just needs to keep it f***ing simple and someone needs to grill him on it. Not every possession needs to be a highlight reel move. Guy has all the tools to be an elite top centre in the league he just needs to fix what goes on between his ears.

 

[Micklebot]

So, I'd like to see Greig get some PP time on unit 2, I think he can be that pest in front of the net and provide more benefit on the entry than Kubalik

Two PP units where we can mix things up...

Tkachuk
Batherson-Giroux-Norris
Chabot

Greig
Tarasenko-Stutzle-Pinto
Chychrun

 

[Boud]

He reminds me of Spezza a little bit from when he entered the league. Highly skilled center who makes boneheaded mistakes and high risk plays that cost the team. Spezza was always better at controlling the play though, Stutzle looks like he's fighting the puck and he's not playing with a heavy stick. I also miss seeing the intensity he used to play with. He used to play physical and skate like a freight train. Now he dipsy doodles in the neutral zone and in zone entries until he loses the puck. It's almost like he lost his identity as a player this season. He forgot what made him successful.

He'll turn up for sure and I'm not too worried about him but it's certainly frustrating to watch him out there try the same things that fail every night.

 

[bicboi64]

He reminds me of Spezza a little bit from when he entered the league. Highly skilled center who makes boneheaded mistakes and high risk plays that cost the team. Spezza was always better at controlling the play though, Stutzle looks like he's fighting the puck and he's not playing with a heavy stick. I also miss seeing the intensity he used to play with. He used to play physical and skate like a freight train. Now he dipsy doodles in the neutral zone and in zone entries until he loses the puck. It's almost like he lost his identity as a player this season. He forgot what made him successful.

He'll turn up for sure and I'm not too worried about him but it's certainly frustrating to watch him out there try the same things that fail every night.

Couldn't agree more. I hope Stu slows it down and uses his passing vision to push the play. Tired of seeing him dangle his way through the whole team.

 

[Wondercarrot]

He’ll be fine I think, but his shitty body language, rolling eyes, and complaining/glaring at everyone every time things don’t go his way is getting tiresome.

I love Stu but it’s time for him to grow up and just play the f***ing game.

 

[bicboi64]

he needs to do what Alfredsson and Karlsson did. Bulk the f*** up.

even though it will make him slower.

Incoming Stu and Chychrun workout and meal prep video

 

[Adele Dazeem]

This is absolutely not the kind of guy you give up on. The defense will only improve and we know what he can do offensively.

Even if he tops out as your "glass cannon" offensive centre, while some combo of Norris/Pinto/Greig/Other round out your Top 3 lines, that gives many potent options come a best of 7 series.

Stay the course! It seems to me that we're finally gaining real traction in The Process.

Don't think you'll find any serious supporter wanting to move on from Stutzle. Expectations are sky high because his talent level is sky high.

most disappointing has to be Norris

Norris is coming back from an injury, he gets a pass this season. If he plays like this next season, there's a big problem.

 

[Micklebot]

I don't see any physical issues with him. Perhaps a wrist injury of some sort but that doesn't negate poor decision making.

He has a terrible tendency to hold onto the puck for too long. Prime example of it was yesterday along the boards where he was trying to maneuver in a tight space and elected to do a curl back only to run into one of the Ducks defenders. He does this very often and its very easy to defend against which I'm sure most teams are keying on. That curl back move makes him very succeptable to falling on the ice.

He just needs to keep it f***ing simple and someone needs to grill him on it. Not every possession needs to be a highlight reel move. Guy has all the tools to be an elite top centre in the league he just needs to fix what goes on between his ears.

Some injuries have a way of affecting your decision making, you might pass up on shooting opportunities if you have a wrist injury and don't trust your shot, with a core injury, you might be a bit slower making decisions if you question whether you're able to do the things you'd usually do, things stop being instinctual and you have to think about whether you can still do what you normally could/would

There are some injuries you can play through with no impact, there are others that completely change how you need to play,

 

[Dan Patrick]

 

[SensFactor]

Definitely mental, he cant get away with all the stuff that DJ let him get away with. He has to play on both ends of the ice and not force plays. He's only 22 and will snap out of it. He still leads the team in points.

 

[JD1]

He’ll be fine I think, but his shitty body language, rolling eyes, and complaining/glaring at everyone every time things don’t go his way is getting tiresome.

I love Stu but it’s time for him to grow up and just play the f***ing game.

Yep. I couldn't agree with this more

And what really concerns me is how much harder it is to play in the playoffs. He's stopped maturing into a stud. He's started regressing into a wimp

 

[Hale The Villain]

He needs to get stronger. Can get pushed over by a slight breeze and his shot isn't a threat right now.

Once he has his balance and is able to drive around defenders he'll be a superstar.

 

[Sun God Nika]

Same, he looks lost and is very frustrated. Using him as a major shakeup might be a big boo-boo. I don’t want it to be another Mika Zibanajed

The fact that the thought of even trading him comes to the minds of some here is so disappointing

 

[bert]

He needs to get stronger. Can get pushed over by a slight breeze and his shot isn't a threat right now.

Once he has his balance and is able to drive around defenders he'll be a superstar.

Its funny at this age it should be going the opposite way. Its weird. Makes me think there is a core injury.

 

[Pierre from Orleans]

Some injuries have a way of affecting your decision making, you might pass up on shooting opportunities if you have a wrist injury and don't trust your shot, with a core injury, you might be a bit slower making decisions if you question whether you're able to do the things you'd usually do, things stop being instinctual and you have to think about whether you can still do what you normally could/would

There are some injuries you can play through with no impact, there are others that completely change how you need to play,

That's true but I don't see him playing through an injury that would affect his ability to make decisions on the ice. He just makes the same mistakes which mostly stem from him holding onto the puck for way too long.

 

[Micklebot]

Its funny at this age it should be going the opposite way. Its weird. Makes me think there is a core injury.

He's got the Kinesiology tape running up his back and neck seemingly all the time,

 

[Cosmix]

So Stuetzle is in his 4th year. His offensive numbers in his first three years in the league were crazy good. I really expected continued development and him starting to solidify his position as a top 10 player in the league.

I'm looking at this player right now and I'm asking myself "can you win with this as your 1C?" And I'm not sure of the answer which is asinine considering my thoughts on the player in September

We laugh and make fun of the Leafs because they can't win in the playoffs because they're soft. Do you see Stuetzle stepping up as it gets more physical?

I think he has stepped up on occasion; as he gets more experience and the team around him improves, I expect him to start to dominate like a top 10 player in the league. He's still young.

 

[LiseL]

Both. No doubt he's had some injury/health issues, he's always banged up somehow and covered in muscle tape or what ever it's called. Mentally, ... immature I'll say. Not a bad thing because it's still very early in his development. It's very rare to have a 20 year old speaking, thinking, acting like a 30 year old and even when they do it doesn't necessarily translate to lasting on ice success (Gudbranson, Ekblad, look at a lot of the underage draft picks in the CHL).

Buddy's under the microscope now. There's no hiding away, there's no slipping past an opposing team's game plan. He signed his contract, he's in 'the show'.

Time to grow some hair on those Fleischklößchen

He just turned 22 and this is his 4th year in the NHL. I expected more progress this year, not regression. His 'creativity' leads to a lot of turnovers, also can't seem to stay on his feet. Often seems lost when playing away from the puck. Hopefully, repetition will resolve some of these issues.

 

[K1900L]

The fact that he falls and gets pushed down so easily was called out by many within his first 20 games in this league.
Now that not much has improved 240 games later, one genuinely has to ask if the coaching staff was doing their job or if they blatantly overlooked the trouble it could create.

 

[senswon]

If he can limit the turn overs at both blue lines, he'll be a more dangerous player... the positive is he's already begun making quicker, simpler plays off the cycle he just needs to let the game come to him and if not dish that mf

 

[Ice-Tray]

We have become extremely impatient it would seem.

It is far to early to give up on our young players, especially when we are pretty much universal in the belief that they needed a new coaching voice in the room.

Stu is not a player you trade, ever. He is not aloft, he is driven, extremely talented, coachable, and frustrated. He looks for calls but shy from contact or engagement.

Like it or not our team has entered a bit of a reset of management and coaching, and we’re going to have to extend patience to our young 20 somethings.

 

[Answer]

I think that's a big part of it. Under DJ he could pretty much do whatever he wanted. Under Martin he has to be sound positionally and defense minded.

Its taking him some time to figure it out.

He has been struggling from game 1 of the season