His numbers are a little screwed by Nashville no? Look at Weber's numbers, they aren't very good and he's an elite dman. KK is on a steal of a contract and plays solid defense. I think he could take Stralman's spot if he had to. He's out produced DZ as well, and he's not exactly known for his offense. We won that trade big time.
Weber's numbers aren't good?
You'd rather have Del Zotto-Moore than Klein-Moore? -------------be---------cause-------the Del Zotto-Moore pairing was a disaster waiting to happen just about every night they played together. Del Zotto by the way didn't play all that well in Nashville either. I'm thinking that there's a pretty good chance he doesn't get his $3 mil per year RFA qualification--that the Predators will set him loose to be a UFA.
It's funny how you overlook things you don't want to see. Klein has added a little offense and he is +8 in the playoffs however many minutes he's played--his +8 leads the team and like it or not that's pretty ****ing good--and there's no more of this nonsense about overplaying our top 4 because the bottom pairing now can handle a lot more ****. Personally I think we ripped Nashville off.
Preferably, I'd rather have neither. Klein is a better fit for the Rangers than MDZ though, but I don't think that makes him a better player or a more valuable asset. I think MDZ should've been moved for LW depth or C depth or picks.
Possession stats aren't really the best thing to use to judge someones defensive ability. Obviously they are important but if you are the type of defenseman that is good positionally and with your stick but not a great skater or puck mover you are almost sure to have poor possession stats since it's more difficult to clear the zone. That doesn't mean that player isn't good defensively though. If he's always in the shooting/passing lanes, able to block shots/passes, able to keep guys to the outside and prevent them from driving to the net that's the type of player that plays well defensively but won't have good possession numbers. There are different types of possession. If you're a good puck mover like maybe a Del Zotto sure you'll be in your own zone less but when you are in your zone you're getting beat 1 on 1 all the time, letting guys around you, giving up point blank shots. If you're less good at moving the puck/skating you'll be in your own zone more of course but the quality of chances will be lower.
Blindly stating that possession numbers have a 100% correlation and are the number one determinant of player ability is a misuse of these stats. Imagine the extreme case where player A is in his own zone 50% of the time and never blocks a shot and player B is in his own zone 75% of the time and blocks 33% of shots (and they get out of the zone). In terms of chances allowed defensively these are equivalent situations but just looking at one number of possession you would state A>>>>>B
Good points, but I think Klein doesn't fit the mould of a player in an AV system. He is playing the same role that Aaron Rome was for the Canucks, but at a higher cost and a higher perceived reputation. Klein would be effective in Torts' system though, I assume.
I am a firm believer that strong puck possession players obviously correlate with winning probability. The goal should be to have the best skating team out there and AV seems to agree. Klein receives the least ice time out of all defenders, yet is the most praised it seems!
TL;dr Klein is an interchangeable part with a lot of other NHL defenders for AV's strict system.
Just a wild guess, but my fellow Rangers fans defensive stance on Klein reminds me of Canucks fans stance on Keith Ballard when he first joined the Canucks.
Your dislike of Klein is hilarious.
Don't really dislike him since I don't know the guy personally. I don't think he's that good of a hockey player though. Besides I don't see how suggesting he's doing fine in his 13 min role is suggesting I dislike him. That's exactly how AV is using him in the playoffs.
