Players that Disappoint Me (so far):
Voracek
Giroux
Raffl
MDZ
Neuvirth
Mason
Schenn
Weise
MacDonald
Ghost
Neutral:
Couturier
Read
Manning (he is what he is)
PEB and VDV (They are what they are, no better or worse than expectation)
Schultz
Lube
Gudas
Filppula
Impressed:
Simmonds
Cousins (I had really low expectations, not hard to exceed/impress)
Weal (ditto, and small sample)
The Neck
Provorov
I pretty much agree except for Luby, coming off his performance last year in Russia, I expected some offensive skills.
The fact that the young players surprised for the most part, and the veterans disappointed, makes me wonder if the scheme simply exposed some veterans' limitations.
Giroux just looks slow (the hip, age?)
Voracek looks brain dead, I see someone skating around aimlessly, instead of working with his linemates.
Schenn is slow
Ghost to me looks like a combination of the hip and a sophmore slump, losing a little explosion exposed his bad fundamentals, and then he lost confidence - the last few weeks he looks both more explosive and more determined, and more careful in his D-zone.
Watching Weal, I feel like I'm seeing Giroux 3-4 years ago, he's making plays in crowds (how did he get that pass to Simmonds for a wide open shot?), taking on bigger opponents and holding the puck, maneuvering and making plays. Which suggests to me it's less the scheme than the players.
Let's fact it, Konency and Schenn are the only shooters among the forwards, Simmons is great in the crease but doesn't have a killer wrist shot, Giroux, Voracek, Flipper are better playmakers than scorers, Couts is a solid defensive center who's average offensively. Add a scorer or two to this forward group and they'd look much better.
The best shots the last few games have come from Konency and Gudas, great wrist shots at the top corner - Gudas should be encouraged to shoot more from the point, he has the knack of the quick release on his wrist shot that helps get it to the net. One problem all season was wild slap shots that bounce around instead of just getting the puck on net where either someone can deflect it or you can engender a rebound. They improved on this the last few weeks and have been snake bit - do everything right and the puck bounces past a forward in position or the goalie makes a great save (like Bob last night).