Why is Jesper Fast an Automatic ?

[Waivers]

always liked Fast's game, even recently as an example, there were stretches last year where Kreider, Miller, Step, Nash, etc., would be floating around when we were on the road and we looked disengaged - guess who was involved? Fast and Zuccarello, Fast may not be a guy who is always scoring, but he competes, *every*, shift, I have noticed that about him and I appreciate it. He doesn't hurt you, that's for sure.

 

[offdacrossbar]

Pirri can't have a bigger role. He's proven that. He's beyond awful in his own zone.

again with the over dramatic hyperbole. a jonathon specialty.

he can have a bigger role. its simple. let him play his 5v5 minutes and give him favorable zone starts. let him play the power play and again, put him in situations where he will help this team.

if you would look at his body of work, his even strength scoring metrics are very good. kid takes alot of shots, scores on alot of those shots and can score at even strength.

he's not a an average 2 way forward who tries hard to score and then hides behind "great defense" when they cant hit water from a boat.

then again, we have tons of those guys already right...... jon ?

 

[SA16]

No time to write up a whole thing now but blocking shots on the PK is obviously not a bad thing but it's also not nearly as good as it appears. You'd really need a "block and clear" stat to get that but a huge majority of the time a player goes down to block a shot he's out of the play and someone on the other team just picks it up and continues the possession. It's much more important to have an active stick and defend the passing lanes and Fast is super passive on the PK and not very good at this.

 

[we want cup]

I'm amazed by the short memories about fast. Two years ago he went something like 35 games as a PKer with no goals scored when he was on the ice. He is pound for pound tough. Check back with me in 20 games if he isn't playing well but right now he is a vested veteran who deserves respect. Don't you dare set him up as the next Glass.

It's shocking to me how people look at Jesper Fast, a guy who has been shuffled around the lineup more than almost any other player on the team in the last two years, and see someone they can't wait to be rid of. He's young, cost-controlled, a reliable forechecker, a PKer, and never really looks out of place on any line he's been used with. His production hasn't been anything special, but he's usually been either facing stiff competition while playing in the top 6 or saddled with Glass and the ghost of Dom Moore. There's no reason to think that he couldn't put up 40 points while providing a strong defensive presence on a line.

long, awesome post

 

[Tawnos]

No time to write up a whole thing now but blocking shots on the PK is obviously not a bad thing but it's also not nearly as good as it appears. You'd really need a "block and clear" stat to get that but a huge majority of the time a player goes down to block a shot he's out of the play and someone on the other team just picks it up and continues the possession. It's much more important to have an active stick and defend the passing lanes and Fast is super passive on the PK and not very good at this.

One of the central mindsets of PKing is that you prioritize keeping the puck from getting to the net over possession. PKing often involves an implicit concession that the other team will have the puck. Obviously, you want to disrupt possession as much as possible, but you don't try to at the expense of keeping the puck away from your goalie.

So, having that active stick is important. Maybe Fast isnt great at that. So is being able to quickly close gaps at opportune moments. I think Fast has the ability to improve there, but he's got the skating. In the meantime, he's somewhat effective in his positioning and shot block timing.

In comparison, Hagelin was excellent at all 4 of those things.

 

[Dagoon44]

Fast earned my respect a few years ago in the playoffs. Works hard gets dirty and never ever lazy..

 

[mrhockey193195]

I know Fast struggled on the PK last year, but didn't he go almost his entire rookie season without being on the ice for a PP goal?

He's a fantastic even strength bottom-six winger. I'm very surprised that most of this fan base is agnostic to him.

 

[mrhockey193195]

always liked Fast's game, even recently as an example, there were stretches last year where Kreider, Miller, Step, Nash, etc., would be floating around when we were on the road and we looked disengaged - guess who was involved? Fast and Zuccarello, Fast may not be a guy who is always scoring, but he competes, *every*, shift, I have noticed that about him and I appreciate it. He doesn't hurt you, that's for sure.

Exactly. That's the element that we miss with Hagelin. I want more of those players, not less.

 

[Raspewtin]

he honestly shouldn't be

he's not very good, Jooris is more useful to us imo

 

[Mikos87]

Fast earned my respect a few years ago in the playoffs. Works hard gets dirty and never ever lazy..

Last year though... I thought he coasted a bit at times.

But yeah Fast and Grabner are good PK options... high pressure and speed.

So back to the OP question:

He's reliable.

 

[Inferno]

i think people need to separate what Fasth is, from what AV wants him to be. What he is is a damn good 4th liner, even strength, last few minutes of a game kinda guy. what he is not is a top 9er, or a good penalty killer.

separate fact from fiction, and you have a solid piece...one im fine keeping, or moving for a better more useful asset.

 

[Mikos87]

i think people need to separate what Fasth is, from what AV wants him to be. What he is is a damn good 4th liner, even strength, last few minutes of a game kinda guy. what he is not is a top 9er, or a good penalty killer.

separate fact from fiction, and you have a solid piece...one im fine keeping, or moving for a better more useful asset.

His first full year he had some crazy streak of 38 games or something like that on the PK without a goal scored against.. and then it unraveled right before playoff time.

Last year he was weak with Moore who lost a difference making step and Fast was much weaker against top powerplays. His rookie year he was out there against 2nd units mostly.

IMO he's a guy they switch in flight and throw him with Grabner to chase and pressure and not have as the main PK option. Jooris perhaps becomes that guy at the moment.

 

[Mordeth]

Fast can be a really good 4th liner. I don't quite understand the negativity on him here. Its AV's fault for using him in the top6 or top9. He would be an excellent and trustworthy 4th liner.

 

[Bleed Ranger Blue]

i think people need to separate what Fasth is, from what AV wants him to be. What he is is a damn good 4th liner, even strength, last few minutes of a game kinda guy. what he is not is a top 9er, or a good penalty killer.

separate fact from fiction, and you have a solid piece...one im fine keeping, or moving for a better more useful asset.

What a load of bull this is. Do you think AV wanted to play Fast in the top 9? Has the bashing become so far removed from reality that rubbish like this is taken as fact?

The Rangers had awful - simply awful - issues on the defensive side of the puck last season...from the defensemen through the forwards. Awful. Fast, one of the more defensively responsible forwards, received more ice time as a result. Things like this happen in the real world of coaching.