Carlsson is one of the reasons and hopefully Zegras is back in a couple of weeks or so. Terry was bad last night after looking like he has found his game but I think it’s the line-mates more. Groulx is barely an NHL’er sadly.
The loss was disappointing but to me Leo only getting one point was also disappointing. I can’t even yell at Strome because he scored twice. Talk about an ultimate troll job. Lol
Leo set him up 3 or 4 times with brilliant passes. People say he is not flashy or can’t skate. I’m like whaaaaa?
Very frustrating season with the reffing again but just going to keep my mouth shut. There is really nothing more to say.
Leo being not flashy and can't skate is probably pre-draft propaganda, especially when compared to Fantilli highlights. Leo has a lot of flair and skating, but a lot of his actions are very subtle that get the flair, but not the splash-flash. All of those subtleness makes for brilliant passes b/c he's assessing the ice when he's got the puck. And b/c he's assessing the ice for many options, he doesn't need to outskate his options to where he's got limited or just one option before him.
As for Groulx and his line, Groulx was actually playing the 2nd line role as the minutes reveal. When Mac centered the "third line", he was getting 2nd line minutes. In a sheltered role for the Groulx line, Terry becomes freer. Put into an actual 2nd line role and that line obviously gets tampered down.
Groulx isn't a top-6 center and was never projected to be a top-6C. It's unfair to say, "Groulx is barely an NHL'er sadly," when he is a bottom-6C grinder. It's not Groulx's fault there's several injuries that has put him into a top-6C role. Z and Mac are out due to injuries. Rico is Carlsson's training wheels. Strome is not a centerman.
The team could put Rico as 2C. What do we have then?
xxx - Carlsson - Strome
Vatrano - Rico - Terry
Jones - Lundy - Silf
Johnston - Carrick - Leason
Choices to play 1LW are Groulx or McGinn. Or we put Jones at 1LW and Groulx or McGinn at 3LW. Either way, you're making the Carlsson line inept to salvage Terry.