Player Discussion: Andrej Sustr

[MattM92]

Not an OFD, that's not his game and won't ever be. But I can see him being around 30-40 points at his peak, and a good two-way D if he can get a little stronger and utilize his size well.

I'm curious what people are meaning when they say he needs to use his size. Do you mean throw more body checks? He already uses his size very well with his long reach. He's got an exceptionally disruptive poke check and usually has very good timing with his reach ins

 

[LTIR Trickery]

I'm curious what people are meaning when they say he needs to use his size. Do you mean throw more body checks? He already uses his size very well with his long reach. He's got an exceptionally disruptive poke check and usually has very good timing with his reach ins

More of knowing when to overpower someone - not in the usual RAWR BE CHRIS PRONGER way, but knowing when he should pin a guy on the wall, understanding how to box out/seal the wall on forwards, and so on.

 

[Glide5]

The size thing will come with time. Im just glad he knows how to use his stick and body to be disruptive this early on in his career. very good sign for him.

 

[FDfranklin]

Anyone think he played a really great game last night? I was there in person so it was probably easier to nit pick watching it on TV but in person he looked great.

 

[Werewolf]

Yeah, thought he looked great as well. I'm excited to have this kid in the system as he will get much stronger and fills out his frame. I really hope he develops into a solid #2 cause him and Hedman cover a lot of ground out there when paired together. Plus having Sustr cover so much ground out there really helps Hedman trust that he can push on offensive zone. His development makes me sleep better knowing no good RHD #2 options are out there and Salo prolly doesn't come back. He still needs to develop a solid shot....probably main hole to his game at this point besides experience.

 

[Vasilevskiy]

He looked very good

 

[Callum]

Anyone think he played a really great game last night? I was there in person so it was probably easier to nit pick watching it on TV but in person he looked great.

Looked great, the small stint in the minors helped his game a bit for sure. Looks a bit more confident and seems to back his ability a bit more. Still some things to work on but I think he stays with the big club from here on out.

 

[LightningStrikes]

Joe Smith ‏@TBTimes_JSmith
Keator, who also represents #tblightning D Andrej Sustr [as well as Alex Killorn], says two sides are still working towards a deal before he becomes RFA.

https://twitter.com/TBTimes_JSmith/status/479622180301725698

 

[JFleegs]

Definitely the next guy I want to see locked up

 

[Lord Stan 2020]

the more i see the more i think sustr is bust

 

[MattM92]

the more i see the more i think sustr is bust

Agreed. I just don't see anything of value besides hitting the genetic jackpot and growing to 6'8. I don't see the hockey IQ, the speed, the offense. Nothing. All he's got going for him is reach.

 

[The Macho King]

the more i see the more i think sustr is bust

So pathetic on the walls. I don't think I've ever seen him win a board battle.

 

[Bolt32]

the more i see the more i think sustr is bust

I agree a hundred percent. Nothing pops out at me that makes me believe he will be a solid NHLer. Nesterov has the offensive IQ that you can just see. Barbs even doesn't have a bad pass and most of the time looks like he knows what he is doing. Sustr....he just seems lost, too slow to react and plays like he has the hockey equivalent of downs syndrome.

 

[The Macho King]

I agree a hundred percent. Nothing pops out at me that makes me believe he will be a solid NHLer. Nesterov has the offensive IQ that you can just see. Barbs even doesn't have a bad pass and most of the time looks like he knows what he is doing. Sustr....he just seems lost, too slow to react and plays like he has the hockey equivalent of downs syndrome.

Barbs is fine in two zones, but his horrible play in the Dzone offsets it. He's not better than Sustr.

 

[Bolt32]

Barbs is fine in two zones, but his horrible play in the Dzone offsets it. He's not better than Sustr.

Barbs also is playing the position on the depth chart that he should be playing. Sustr is not.

 

[Todd1a]

I take slater koekkoek over sustr right now. If we get coburn back for the playoffs then press box sustr cooper!!

 

[HoseEmDown]

I'm glad none of you are talent evaluators you have no clue what you're talking about. You're the same people who couldn't see the incredible talent Brian Lee possessed like I could.

 

[Crunchrulz]

Sustr will never be in the Hatcher/Chara mode of the beast defenseman with size. His style of play offensively and defensively are much more like Rathje/Huber. What we see now with Sustr is what we are going to see. With that, there is enough talent coming up the pipeline to overtake Sustr on the depth chart and make him either Trade Bait or a Splinter Magnet.

 

[DFC]

I take slater koekkoek over sustr right now. If we get coburn back for the playoffs then press box sustr cooper!!

L/R

Koekkoek's not competing for Sustr's job. Witkowski is probably the first in line.

Maybe DeAngelo can have a huge training camp. But we're stuck with Sustr this year. When Coburn gets back we'll have babysitters available though. Part of the problem is Barberio is playing on his left.

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

I'm not ready to call him a bust just yet. I was impressed with him his rookie year. This season, I don't know if you want to call it the sophomore slump or what, but there were a lot more noticeable mistakes made by him. Some of that was from injuries in the D group forcing him and Barbs to play more minutes and in harder situations than he did the year before. That was something he did not look like he could handle well and be completely comfortable doing at this point in his career.

I'm holding off calling him a bust though because I think you need a lot of patience with him. Defensemen typically take longer to develop. When Sustr signed here he was regarded as a late bloomer, as it probably took him time to grow into his 6'8" body, and a raw prospect. He's still somewhat inexperienced. When you compare him to Barbs and Gudas, both those guys had a lot more pro experience and had of a lot of time well spent in the AHL honing their skills and developing at a more suitable speed. Looking at Gudas specifically, he already had already spent 206 AHL regular season games, 34 AHL playoff games, and 22 NHL games before the start of the 2013-2014 NHL season, while Sustr only had the time he had spent with Syracuse after signing with us which was 26 games.

So hopefully what you see now is not the end product and with time he'll be better.

 

[2MinutesforGiraffing]

He needed far more time in the AHL and didn't get it. That's my opinion, anyway. Someone needs to stuff him with donuts and teach him to skate.

 

[berlin]

He needed far more time in the AHL and didn't get it. That's my opinion, anyway. Someone needs to stuff him with donuts and teach him to skate.

my thoughts exactly.

 

[Geoff72]

He needed far more time in the AHL and didn't get it. That's my opinion, anyway. Someone needs to stuff him with donuts and teach him to skate.

Exactly, he has played a total of 20 AHL games. I am not ready to give up on him either. Look at Chara early in his career. Forget his first partial season with the Islanders and just look at the next two years. I am pretty sure he was close to -40 over those two years. Look at tape as well. Out of place most of the time and lost looking. D-man take a while to develop, and I am sure the Islanders and the Sens regretted letting him get away.

 

[DFC]

Forget about mistakes. Mistakes can be written off to inexperience. The problem is he doesn't have a single physical tool other than his height. There's no athletic skill where he's above average. Experience won't help that.

 

[Coopers Gum]

Forget about mistakes. Mistakes can be written off to inexperience. The problem is he doesn't have a single physical tool other than his height. There's no athletic skill where he's above average. Experience won't help that.

Hedman is tall as hell, and not physical. But he makes up for it with his skating.

I'm not a Sustr fan right now either. But we all need to keep in mind, he's a very young defenseman - they can't all be Ekblads. Defense is the hardest position to learn.