2015 Offseason & Lineup Discussion Part III

[Ducks DVM]

Getzlaf doesn't shoot enough, but he is busy putting up assists, playing good defense and still potting 20+. If Sekac knows how to score but won't shoot, just WTF is he doing? Because it isn't playing defense or setting up everybody else. If he's a great finisher, then his hockey IQ has to be bordering on room temperature.

He set up people quite frequently. The issue was that the people he was setting up had names like "Etem" and "Rakell". Gretzky would have had pedestrian assist totals playing with those two, it's a little early to be writing him off in the setup department.

 

[Teemu Salami]

Getzlaf doesn't shoot enough, but he is busy putting up assists, playing good defense and still potting 20+. If Sekac knows how to score but won't shoot, just WTF is he doing? Because it isn't playing defense or setting up everybody else. If he's a great finisher, then his hockey IQ has to be bordering on room temperature.

Coming from somebody that loves Sekac. Hope I can make sense of my thoughts:
Thought he made his line have some of the best shifts during a good chunk of games. Possessing the puck, creating a lot of pressure down low and forcing defenseman turnovers and then having the skill to make a play out of it. I'll be damned if people didn't appreciate some of the shifts this guy had even after the "shiny new toy" vibe went away in the Chicago series. Not suggesting he's some amazing, ultra-skilled savior that we should be referring to as "God" because he has dangles and can create a turnover. Or that he completely dismantled the other team every shift, but that's not what 3rd liners, let alone rookies usually do. He just has the ability to make **** happen which not a lot of our bottom-6 players recently have been able to do. Etem could forecheck and do nothing with it or skate in a straight line with the puck, DSP did something once every 10 games that could make anyone produce more than a mild reaction. A player that was clearly ahead of him like Palms did what he did good when he was on, but Sekac is trending in a better direction for the long run (and short run if he does start to score) to me with this style of play.
What I want out of our 3rd, or arguably our skilled 4th line, is to put pressure on the other team with the ice-time they have, make **** happen which creates momentum with hard working shifts, and provide depth scoring. Just lacking the scoring so far... He and Raks must get more shots on the net in general and I think they're talented enough to make those quality shots. For me to maintain this opinion of him he'll obviously need to start to produce otherwise it'll end up being hurtful to our team, and I couldn't defend somebody who puts up Etem numbers consistently with this skill. He has the framework down and now it's about developing his game further offensively to a top-6 level. Not going to comment on his defense because I don't think it's a problem. Our team has breakdowns defensively all year, game 7s for example, and I'm never sitting in my chair saying "if this skilled winger knew how to play above average defense (I consider him just average) we'd be in the promise land". (Oops I did comment on it...)

Sorry, done ranting about a player I appreciate probably too much...

 

[Ducks Nation*]

If they sign Sekac to an extension I will either get his or hagelin jersey for the new 3rd

 

[TheJoeMan]

Getzlaf doesn't shoot enough, but he is busy putting up assists, playing good defense and still potting 20+. If Sekac knows how to score but won't shoot, just WTF is he doing? Because it isn't playing defense or setting up everybody else. If he's a great finisher, then his hockey IQ has to be bordering on room temperature.

Who says he's not doing those things? He might not be a shutdown guy but he wasn't a floater who blew his coverage either. And he did record five assists in his 19 games which is a small sample size, yes, but it was still consistent with what he was doing in Montreal. Basically he was on pace for about 20 assists for a full season which isn't a lot but is on par with someone like Rakell who played comparative minutes and assignments.

All this tells me is he needs more of an opportunity. I don't know where everyone is getting this image that Sekac is some flashy player with no substance. That describes Etem but Sekac. He's a strong skater, protects the puck well and has generated a decent amount of offense playing in a limited role. Going into this season I questioned how effective he'd be because I didn't think he'd be given an opportunity and I appear to be wrong about that so far. I mean, is any of this criticism actually based on instances where he blew his coverage or got poor shots off or was floating in the zone or kept making bad passes? Or is this all just based on the seven games against Chicago where he was neutralized by a championship team playing on the fourth line after not getting game action in over a month?

 

[HanSolo]

Sekac plays decent enough defense on the backcheck and applies consistent forechecking pressure, AND he DOES set guys up. It's not his fault that they don't finish his set ups.

And I'm not proclaiming him as Ducks jesus here, but to say he never does those things is silly.

 

[The Mighty Duck Man]

Well, some faith in the medical staff and Getzlaf would seem appriopriate. If there was a need to do it, there's no reason it wouldn't have been done. With numerous types of injuries there isn't a need for surgery, it's just one option. Both routes have risks and advantages that will be weighed in each exact case. Even if we learn more and things go down a certain way, we'll never be in a position to really argue the wrong call was being made at the time, unless the doctors or Getzlaf come out and say so.

I'll also add, I'm not too worried about Getz (yet) because he kind of has a tendency not to care a whole lot about practices. Pretty sure he skipped every optional skate last year, so taking a maintenance day isn't too surprising to me. I honestly didn't even think of his hernia until I read this thread.

 

[KaseMeOutside]

sekac will be fine
rakell will be fine

not everyone is eichel or mcdavid and can find their place right away, it takes time for most

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

Rakell, now Sekac. Looks like we found another one. Them dangles, man.

 

[HanSolo]

Jiri Sekac-Rickard Rakell-Corey Perry

Andrew Cogliano-Ryan Kesler-Jakob Silfverberg

Nick Ritchie-Chris Wagner-Chris Stewart

Max Friberg-Shawn Horcoff-Mike Santorelli

Hampus Lindholm-Kevin Bieksa

Cam Fowler-Simon Despres

Josh Manson-Sami Vatanen

Khudobin

Tonight's

 

[Ducks Nation*]

Jiri Sekac-Rickard Rakell-Corey Perry

Andrew Cogliano-Ryan Kesler-Jakob Silfverberg

Nick Ritchie-Chris Wagner-Chris Stewart

Max Friberg-Shawn Horcoff-Mike Santorelli

Hampus Lindholm-Kevin Bieksa

Cam Fowler-Simon Despres

Josh Manson-Sami Vatanen

Khudobin

Tonight's

I like this lineup, but why no Hagelin again.....wth

The Ducks even posted an Instagram picture teasing him for tonight.

 

[Carelton CA]

Obviously Hagelin has an injury issue.

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

It's weird that Hagelin hasn't had any game time. But that defense is regular season caliber.

 

[Ducks Nation*]

Eric Stephens ‏@icemancometh 50m50 minutes ago

Carl Hagelin said he's expecting to be in for final two preseason games. No injury issue holding him back. Been practicing regularly.

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

Maybe he's dumb and hasn't picked up on the system.

 

[Carelton CA]

You think Bob Murray would let him sit 4 games without an injury? There's an issue for sure. I would love to know if he has been in any battle drills in practice?

 

[Sojourn]

That's why I said there "can be" a difference. And obviously I disagree. There are very few examples of Sekac getting a lot of quality chances and just putting a muffin into the goalies chest. Emerson Etem is a prime example of someone who lacks finish. Sekac simply doesn't get pucks on net. Cakes barely average over a shot per-game in Montreal and that only improved a little bit when he came over here. His 85 shots would have been the lowest among all of our regular forwards. Even if you extrapolate them over 82 games that's still barely 100 shots and would still rank him incredibly low. Of all nine of his goals last year one was flukey (his first with us) and another two were more Johnny-on-the-spot goals. But he had six legit snipes/dekes. There's really no evidence that he can't finish. What's evident is he's not shooting enough. That's something that needs to be encouraged and improved upon, yes, but this label that he lacks finish is just inaccurate.

The absence of evidence that he is a finisher is evidence. You can argue it any way you want, but a lack of evidence to the contrary is evidence.

 

[TheJoeMan]

The absence of evidence that he is a finisher is evidence. You can argue it any way you want, but a lack of evidence to the contrary is evidence.

What evidence? I've already provided stats that clearly suggest he's not shooting the puck enough. That's not lacking finish, that's lacking either the initiative to shoot or a lack of opportunities. If there are examples of him having a lot of clear chances to score or at least get off a quality shot but puts a nothing shot into the goalie's pads that would be evidence to your claim.

 

[Ducks DVM]

What evidence? I've already provided stats that clearly suggest he's not shooting the puck enough. That's not lacking finish, that's lacking either the initiative to shoot or a lack of opportunities. If there are examples of him having a lot of clear chances to score or at least get off a quality shot but puts a nothing shot into the goalie's pads that would be evidence to your claim.

Lacking the initiative to shoot and/or not recognizing good opportunities to shoot is also synonymous with being a poor finisher. That title isn't limited to simply having a poor shot.

 

[anezthes]

He set up people quite frequently. The issue was that the people he was setting up had names like "Etem" and "Rakell".

Rakell and Sekac are both decent playmakers IMO. They need someone that can finish on that line.

 

[bumperkisser]

Jiri Sekac-Rickard Rakell-Corey Perry

Andrew Cogliano-Ryan Kesler-Jakob Silfverberg

Nick Ritchie-Chris Wagner-Chris Stewart

Max Friberg-Shawn Horcoff-Mike Santorelli

Hampus Lindholm-Kevin Bieksa

Cam Fowler-Simon Despres

Josh Manson-Sami Vatanen

Khudobin

Tonight's

I like these lines

 

[Dr Johnny Fever]

He set up people quite frequently. The issue was that the people he was setting up had names like "Etem" and "Rakell". Gretzky would have had pedestrian assist totals playing with those two, it's a little early to be writing him off in the setup department.

Well, if he has a finish (which seems to be the debate) just how long do you keep trying to set up guys who can't score instead of just scoring yourself?

This is to the rest of you...

I have nothing against Sekac. But people like Sauced nation orgasm over him like he is an established vet. It borders on Ducksgo/Etem level worship. How about we actually see something resulting in consistent offensive production before we declare him Kobe Bryant rather than just a Harlem Globtrotter, NBA wanna be?

 

[91Fedorov]

Last year while with the Ducks, Sekac had a .125 shooting percentage. He was 4th on the team behind only Perry, Getzlaf and Beleskey. In addition, .125 is over 3% higher than the average shooting percentage league wide. I would consider that evidence of finishing ability.

 

[mighty Stanley Duck]

Hags is deffo nursing some injury, which aint good, first Getz now him...fluck!

 

[Sojourn]

What evidence? I've already provided stats that clearly suggest he's not shooting the puck enough. That's not lacking finish, that's lacking either the initiative to shoot or a lack of opportunities. If there are examples of him having a lot of clear chances to score or at least get off a quality shot but puts a nothing shot into the goalie's pads that would be evidence to your claim.

The very fact he isn't taking more shots should tell you something. A natural finisher is not just someone with a great shot. Giguere joked that Teemu Selanne didn't have a great shot, but he was absolutely a natural finisher. It wasn't just the fact he found ways to get the puck past the goaltender. It was also his mentality. He knew he could score if given the opportunity. That's a natural finisher.

You would need to conclude that Sekac is ignorant to his ability to think otherwise. Not only that, you'd have to conclude that the coaches who he played for were also ignorant to it. There is just no evidence he is a natural finisher, and that, in itself, is evidence he isn't. Is he talented? Of course he is. It's the NHL. But he hasn't displayed a natural scoring ability at, well, any level of high level hockey, unless we're counting a Czech underage league. That is all evidence.

 

[Paul4587]

Last year while with the Ducks, Sekac had a .125 shooting percentage. He was 4th on the team behind only Perry, Getzlaf and Beleskey. In addition, .125 is over 3% higher than the average shooting percentage league wide. I would consider that evidence of finishing ability.

Alex Tanguay has a much higher career shooting percentage than Ovechkin. I know which one is the better finisher.

Being a good finisher is as much mentality as it is having a good shot. Perry has an absolute muffin of a shot but he's one of the best finishers in the game. Silfverberg has an absolute laser but isn't much of a finisher.