masta8
Registered User
- Apr 26, 2018
- 355
- 94
First, 15-17% shooting percentage tends to be unsustainable. League average is actually 9%. Only 20 of 509 that played 41 games or more, had a shooting percentage of 17 or higher. Only 51 of those 509 had over 15%. That represents the top 10% of shooters in the NHL. Also AA was 4th in goal scoring. You forgot about Tatar. But whatever. Being 4th with 16 goals is pretty pathetic. And what about those 10+ game stretches (yes there were many of them) where he didn't score a goal? He scored in less than 20% of the games he played in. That's not an elite goal scorer. That's not even a very good one. I fully expect Ras and Svech to replace his goal scoring.
Second, you might not say that, but the stats say that AA played a majority of his time on one of three different lines. Mantha played most of his time split between 4 different line combinations and Larkin played between 7 different combinations. So, what you saw and what the reality were might not be the same.
Third that was the number Russia offered him, he reportedly wanted between 2.5 and 3. That's way more than what he's worth and him trying to play off the KHL shows he doesn't want to abide by the how the CBA was set up by jumping leagues.
Lastly, its funny that Mantha, who is a confident person could take ownership, and Z can, and Larkin can, but somehow AA gets a pass. People are giving up on him because he's showing all the signs of letting his ego and his laziness greatly overshadow his abilities. Attitude problems have sunk a lot of careers and he's not shown he's grown up since was a teen in the CHL.
First, I am not talking about the NHL as a whole and there shooting percentages, AA has had a very good shooting percentage his whole professional career prior to this year. 15 and 17% in the first two NHL seasons and 13.7 and 14.8% in his two AHL seasons. For a player who has increased his shots per game each season and as you like to mention about increased ice time.. what makes you believe he will continue to have a shooting percentage around this year's percentage and regress in goal scoring again?
Second, please send me the data where AA played on three different lines and Mantha played on 4 different line combinations. I watched almost every game this season and if Mantha wasn't with Z on the first line, he would be with Larkin on the 2nd. AA, would be a left winger for Larkin, to centre on the 4th line, to being a right winger for Nielsen.
Third, of course Russia would offer a higher number then his value, how else would they get a young Canadian to leave the NHL to play in Russia? I never saw one Red Wings reporter mention him asking anywhere close to 3 million in his bridge deal offer. But after scoring 18 goals and having one of the best points and goals per 60 minutes in the NHL I would have been looking for more then 1.38 million too....
Lastly, what ownership are you referring to? I vividly remember AA's locker room clean out interview at the end of the season and a reporter asking him if it was frustrating that he was going from 20 to 13 to 17 minutes a game without any consistency and him responding with how it's a business and you have to be ready to play when called and do whatever you can to help the team... I find it puzzling that you refer to AA having an ego but usually people with egos have trouble getting along with teammates and like I mentioned on last post he seems to get along with everyone the team. The only issue I have with him is possibly overconfident with his abilities. I am also certain majority of the NHL players are more confident in there abilities then there play dictates.
There is really no reason to trade AA at this point in his career. His trade value is at an all time low. The best we could really hope for at this point is a 2nd round pick which would have a very small chance that the pick ever even reaches AA's level. He is still an RFA so I would give him another 1 or 2 year deal and see how it plays out. He can still score goals and can continue to be a valuable 3rd line scorer if nothing else. He is also still very young with a load of potential and could find his game. He really needs to get his act together this offseason and train really hard to become more defensively responsible.
This is exactly what I think needs to happen. I would offer him a 1-2 year deal, see what kind of player he can become, and if his play isn't up to par then look elsewhere. At the worse, he can become a third liner with goal scoring ability, most quality teams have three strong lines that can produce so wouldn't have an issue. I strongly believe with a full training camp and less contract distractions he will have a season similar to 2016-17 then 2017-18.