Andrew MacDonald

[SDIsles34]

And by the way, I have seen hickey blow up evander Kane and other power forwards. Can't say I've seen amac ever do work and own a larger forward on his entire career.

Probably because hickey is stronger on his skates, stronger physically, takes proper routes to the puck and opposing player and is smarter knowing when to make a hit and seeing the opportunity.

Hickey is deceptively strong and takes great angles. His positioning is one of the best on the team (doesn't say much I guess). If only he was 2-3 inches taller.

 

[13th Floor]

Hickey is deceptively strong and takes great angles. His positioning is one of the best on the team (doesn't say much I guess). If only he was 2-3 inches taller.

Not to mention that all the stats point this way. Second in +/- on the team last year. First in +/- on the team this year. A positive player on a team with a negative goal differential. Then get into advanced stats and it paints the same picture. GF while on ice per 60. GA while on ice per 60. GF/GA while off ice per 60. Corsi. Fenwick.

If this dude was playing with Shea Weber, people would be claiming he's great. Can't see 3 feet in front of their face.

 

[DPSNAGS]

AMAC isnt playing his best but hes a top 4 dman easy. we have 2 nhl defenseman on this squad right now. Hickey is a 6/7 guy. Donovan is a rookie. Carkner/Martinek are barely NHL defenseman.

Maybe the problem with our D is that with Vis out we only have 2 capable NHL defenseman. As much as you may say, hes making bad plays on D, if there was depth on the defense, we wouldnt be having this conversation.

Amac leads the league in blocked shots. Hes not a 3rd pairing guy. 100 percent hell be a top 4 dman elsewhere in the league if isles dont resign him which i believe they will.

 

[enigmatic]

people keep saying hickey is a 6/7 defenseman but never give the facts or reasons why....

 

[ThreeLeftSkates]

Hickey is not the answer.

The real problem is that there is no suitable partner for Travis Hamonic on our roster. If there were, AMac would be a second pairing defenseman, which is a lot closer to his wheelhouse. Heck, he could be partnered with Hickey.

 

[13th Floor]

people keep saying hickey is a 6/7 defenseman but never give the facts or reasons why....

Well, they do. Because he's small, not as good as his draft position, a waiver wire pick up, and because stats misrepresent. LOL.

 

[bigd]

The real problem is that there is no suitable partner for Travis Hamonic on our roster. If there were, AMac would be a second pairing defenseman, which is a lot closer to his wheelhouse. Heck, he could be partnered with Hickey.

I agree but Hickey and Amac both play the left side so one of them would have to play his off side. They tried Strait with Hamonic in preseason but they either weren't impressed with that pairing or they weren't impressed with the Amac - Donovan pairing so Cappy switched them. I still think Strait is better suited to play with Hamonic. He played real well last year with Streit, then with Vis, then in the playoffs with Hammer when Amac went down. He's not the type of player that is going to carry a pairing so pairing him with Donovan didn't go smoothly. And pairing anyone with Carkner doesn't go smoothly. But that's all a moot point if he doesn't get back in the lineup soon.

 

[Sheva7]

AMAC isnt playing his best but hes a top 4 dman easy. we have 2 nhl defenseman on this squad right now. Hickey is a 6/7 guy. Donovan is a rookie. Carkner/Martinek are barely NHL defenseman.

Maybe the problem with our D is that with Vis out we only have 2 capable NHL defenseman. As much as you may say, hes making bad plays on D, if there was depth on the defense, we wouldnt be having this conversation.

Amac leads the league in blocked shots. Hes not a 3rd pairing guy. 100 percent hell be a top 4 dman elsewhere in the league if isles dont resign him which i believe they will.

Dude I dunno what games you watch, but AMac stinks.

 

[blitzkriegs]

The guy is playing way too many minutes and it is exposing his flaws. You don't think the Isles and OTHER teams know that?

Very few players in this league can eat up those minutes and excel at it, let alone for a paltry $575k.

 

[redbull]

I agree but Hickey and Amac both play the left side so one of them would have to play his off side. They tried Strait with Hamonic in preseason but they either weren't impressed with that pairing or they weren't impressed with the Amac - Donovan pairing so Cappy switched them. I still think Strait is better suited to play with Hamonic. He played real well last year with Streit, then with Vis, then in the playoffs with Hammer when Amac went down. He's not the type of player that is going to carry a pairing so pairing him with Donovan didn't go smoothly. And pairing anyone with Carkner doesn't go smoothly. But that's all a moot point if he doesn't get back in the lineup soon.

Strait's not good enough to play with Hamonic. Career Potential: Steady depth defenseman with a little upside. I like Strait, but he's far more Mark Eaton than Adrian Aucoin. Limited minutes, not against top lines, is where he belongs.

I'm not fussed about left-side, right-side. MOST dmen can play either side equally well. The issue with the NHL nowadays is speed. The size of the players, no interference allowed, forwards can race in and get on the puck fast, so dmen need to be BOTH fast AND strong. Big players are often too slow, don't move laterally fast enough to maintain body position (see: Carkner). Small defensemen are quick but are susceptible to being knocked off the puck. So you have a lot of mis-matches when trying to defend and no team has six dmen that don't have flaws.

Hickey's the best skater on the Isles defense and makes very smart, quick decisions. That's why he's effective.

MacDonald struggles with decisions and body positioning, his lateral movement isn't great and he's not strong enough to hold off bodies. He also makes very poor decisions under pressure and cannot pass.

Carkner plays where the puck/opponent used to be, like 5 seconds before. Too bad. The game has passed him by.

Donovan just needs to adjust. He reads the play extremely well, it's clear he's not used to the size, speed and skill of NHL players. He can only work that out IN THE NHL.

Hamonic still makes mistakes and gets caught out of position, isn't the best passer, but he's getting better and better. MacDonald doesn't complement his game at all, except there's familiarity there. But what good is familiarity when it's etched in failure? (Cappy, please read this part a few times if you're on this page!)

Is Seth Jones available?

The real problem is that there is no suitable partner for Travis Hamonic on our roster. If there were, AMac would be a second pairing defenseman, which is a lot closer to his wheelhouse. Heck, he could be partnered with Hickey.

Hamonic seems to be elevating his game this year and taking on more offensive responsibility. He's more aggressive at carrying the puck and is starting to take chances, which is amazing to see. I remember watching Schenn play as a rookie and he started to show some offense and was quickly restrained by Ron Wilson. Not that Schenn was ever going to be Doughty, but it seems to kill his game and his confidence and it's been downhill since.

Hamonic is still pretty young. Two years younger than Strait, a year younger than Hickey, same age as Donovan. He has a good amount of upside still and a pretty raw game.

Visnovsky or Hickey would be perfect partners for Hamonic. They are fantastic in their positioning, rarely cough up the puck and can skate the puck out of danger and are the best first-pass dmen on the team by FAR. They are also smart enough and defensively aware, to allow Hamonic to carry the puck more.

Capuano should be able to recognize that. Maybe one day.

 

[A Pointed Stick]

I said hickey and hamonic together the day viz went down... somewhere in the viz ir thread
. Not that it definitely would have worked but it couldn't be worse than what's going on now. Then again, I'm a nobody fan that doesn't know squat.

I don't disagree about Hickey and Hammy, but Captain Jack won't do it.

 

[crashthenet]

AMAC is a 4/5 guy at best. Asked to more than he is able to do at this level. PP? Really?

 

[blinkman360]

Hickey really needs to get a look with Hamonic. IMO it's the only combo I can think of that has the potential to be consistently reliable. Bump A-Mac down to the 2nd with Visnovsky when he gets back, or the 3rd with Donovan/Martinek.

It's worth a shot at this point. I don't think our defense could look much worse.

 

[rikker]

AMac is making a lot of unforced errors right now, but we all have seen him play very solid. his only weakness, IMO, is handling opponents in front of our net/battling for the puck.

i guess the question for me, is why? why is he panicking and turning the puck over so easy? lack of confidence, maybe? i don't know, but i know he can be much better.

Hickey is small, but he is very smart. he would probably, as already said, look good beside some guy like Chara, or Weber. he's not very physical, but at least he understands how to tie an opponents stick up. 3rd pairing. maybe good on the PP, if he can develop his offensive game.

 

[steveat]

You guys know that AMAC leads the league in blocked shots? I think Cappy is using him wrong..I don't think it has anything to do with AMAC himself. His play is being affected by bad coaching decisions. So do we blame AMAC or blame Cappy?

 

[InformTheMasses]

You guys know that AMAC leads the league in blocked shots? I think Cappy is using him wrong..I don't think it has anything to do with AMAC himself. His play is being affected by bad coaching decisions. So do we blame AMAC or blame Cappy?

You know that you're going to block a ton of shots when your a league leader in ice-time, Log most of the penalty killing minutes and play on a team that yields a tremendous amount of shots (partially due to your own ability to clear the zone so you spend most of your time on the ice in your own zone and your style of play is to block shots first and do everything else second) right?

If he wasn't leading the league in blocked shots it would be yet another problem.

 

[ProspectsFanatic]

Can someone explained to me why he is 4th in time per game in the NHL?

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

Totally respect your opinion Chap and see lots of terrific & detailed posts from you, specifically with our prospects, so thanks for that.

However, still can't agree with you here. (and for your knowledge, I've played the game). I've watched 8 of the 12 games live.

You referenced an ability to "sidestep checks in his own zone" and place the puck to maintain possession and I can't say that is an incorrect assessment, however, this season it has not been a consistent part of his game. (Others blame fatigue from over usage). In past seasons I would refer to Andrew MacDonald as "poised" or "in control" but this season has been a train wreck in that regard.

We should see more bright spots from someone playing so many minutes. If I had any compliments for him, it would be his stick play and ability to jam up passing and shooting lanes (again not consistent this season)

I can think of just a couple things he does not do well:
- Overall defensive coverage
- Communication w/ D partner and picking up his man skating into his zone
- Locking up man in front of the crease, protecting the net.
- One on one defense, driving man towards the boards
- Consistent clearing and break out passes
- Physicality in any capacity
- Offensive awareness, pinches and reads.
- Positioning, taking angles
- Skating ability, agility and acceleration
- Shots to the net, 13 shots in 12 games (averaging 26+ mins per game and getting PP time)

Am I missing anything? (sorry for the rant but I refuse to excuse Amac for performing so poorly)

Good stuff SD. I appreciate the cordial comments as well.

As far as the 'poised' and 'in control' bit is concerned, I actually felt that this wasn't really the case last season coming in from the lockout. I was a good bit disappointed in MacDonald's play until the team's winning streak came. This was the case with a few players (especially Hamonic). The season before that, I felt MacDonald was really a positive figure in this team who was actually overachieving.

Now to your list...
>>>
I can think of just a couple things he does not do well:
- Overall defensive coverage
I'd say this has never really been one of his strong points, then again, it seems like particularly our centers have had a hard time reading who they are to take in various situations. This will then throw off the two Dmen a good bit as well. Or has it been the other way around? Maybe that's a coaching problem or something the coaches have to spend more time knipping in the bud? Seems symptomatic of more than just MacDonald himself.
- Communication w/ D partner and picking up his man skating into his zone
Again, this seems to be more of a problem with all of the Dmen. Also, since Vis, and then Strait, have gone down, Andy and Hamonic have less and less time together and the D pairs have been tossed around a bit. Hard to tell from TV viewage if there's just a lack of communication coming from Andy. I always had the impression that he talks more than most of the guys on the ice.
- Locking up man in front of the crease, protecting the net.
Definitely a weak point. Hasn't it always been? He's just not a physically imposing player. Several of our players have considerable problems in this department.
- One on one defense, driving man towards the boards
Perhaps. I haven't gathered this from the viewings. Usually felt he was pretty good with this as he is strong skating backwards, but now that you mention it, we have seen a couple of players simply skate around him to the outside.
- Consistent clearing and break out passes
That looked really bad in the last game. See, my experience tells me that this is an area I feel suffers considerably when a player is tired or getting too much as time.
- Physicality in any capacity
Well, that goes back to the crease point above. But he seems to play like he knows this is a weakness and he looks to compensate for it with his stick and smarts.
- Offensive awareness, pinches and reads.
Seems like you win some, you lose some. I've actually had the feeling that other Dmen were taking more chances here and Andy ended up backing them up. Have also seen a few times where he really knipped an attack in the bud, but maybe examples of when that hasn't worked out are prevelant in your viewing of him.
- Positioning, taking angles
Sounds like the pinching gripe above.
- Skating ability, agility and acceleration
Still see this has basically his strong point. Better than most on the team.
- Shots to the net, 13 shots in 12 games (averaging 26+ mins per game and getting PP time)
He was brutal in this department last season. Lots of indecisiveness and blocked attempts. I feel he's improved on that. I think people here have to realize that a blueliner isn't always supposed to get the puck right on the net. A lot of coaching staffs want the blueliner sending the puck just wide to make use of the rebound and traffic situations in front of and around the net. One shouldn't forget that the players in front or around the net are also looking for deflection opportunities for those kind of shots, not just those already going on net anyways, in which a deflection might actually be counterproductive since that player is setting a screen for the initial shot. In addition, opposing forwards are so good at blocking shots nowadays that the idea is often to just plain get the puck by the attempting shotblocker and into the general net vicinity. All this said, I think we've actually been seeing some of the best Andy Mac has evered offered in a blueliner capacity since Vis went down. He's really stepped it up a bit there on the PP. Nummerical results in recent games are another thing. I'd actually wonder what Hickey could do in Andy's newfound role?
<<<

Alrighty, I gotta get back to work. Would rather talk hockey.

 

[bigd]

Strait's not good enough to play with Hamonic. Career Potential: Steady depth defenseman with a little upside. I like Strait, but he's far more Mark Eaton than Adrian Aucoin. Limited minutes, not against top lines, is where he belongs.

I'm not fussed about left-side, right-side. MOST dmen can play either side equally well. The issue with the NHL nowadays is speed. The size of the players, no interference allowed, forwards can race in and get on the puck fast, so dmen need to be BOTH fast AND strong. Big players are often too slow, don't move laterally fast enough to maintain body position (see: Carkner). Small defensemen are quick but are susceptible to being knocked off the puck. So you have a lot of mis-matches when trying to defend and no team has six dmen that don't have flaws.

Hickey's the best skater on the Isles defense and makes very smart, quick decisions. That's why he's effective.

MacDonald struggles with decisions and body positioning, his lateral movement isn't great and he's not strong enough to hold off bodies. He also makes very poor decisions under pressure and cannot pass.

Carkner plays where the puck/opponent used to be, like 5 seconds before. Too bad. The game has passed him by.

Donovan just needs to adjust. He reads the play extremely well, it's clear he's not used to the size, speed and skill of NHL players. He can only work that out IN THE NHL.

Hamonic still makes mistakes and gets caught out of position, isn't the best passer, but he's getting better and better. MacDonald doesn't complement his game at all, except there's familiarity there. But what good is familiarity when it's etched in failure? (Cappy, please read this part a few times if you're on this page!)

Is Seth Jones available?





Hamonic seems to be elevating his game this year and taking on more offensive responsibility. He's more aggressive at carrying the puck and is starting to take chances, which is amazing to see. I remember watching Schenn play as a rookie and he started to show some offense and was quickly restrained by Ron Wilson. Not that Schenn was ever going to be Doughty, but it seems to kill his game and his confidence and it's been downhill since.

Hamonic is still pretty young. Two years younger than Strait, a year younger than Hickey, same age as Donovan. He has a good amount of upside still and a pretty raw game.

Visnovsky or Hickey would be perfect partners for Hamonic. They are fantastic in their positioning, rarely cough up the puck and can skate the puck out of danger and are the best first-pass dmen on the team by FAR. They are also smart enough and defensively aware, to allow Hamonic to carry the puck more.

Capuano should be able to recognize that. Maybe one day.

Hickey is way too small for a top pairing. IMO Also Hamonic shouldn't be rushing the puck as much as he does. He stick handles through traffic like he has a brick on his stick. That's definetly not his best attribute. Personally I think Hamonic plays better when he keeps his game simple. He's never going to be an offensive stud and his game will suffer if he tries to go that way.

 

[redbull]

You know that you're going to block a ton of shots when your a league leader in ice-time, Log most of the penalty killing minutes and play on a team that yields a tremendous amount of shots (partially due to your own ability to clear the zone so you spend most of your time on the ice in your own zone and your style of play is to block shots first and do everything else second) right?

If he wasn't leading the league in blocked shots it would be yet another problem.

I used to make that point all the time, what a dumb stat it was. Brenden Witt and blocked shots....well, they never had the puck.

In 2009-10 the top defensemen (top 15 scorers) who had the lowest blocked shot totals:
- Drew Doughty - 76
- Scott Niedermayer - 80
- Nik Lidstrom - DET - 82
- Christian Ehrhoff - VAN - 82

That year, Mark Streit was tied with Lidstrom with 49 pts. Streit had 132 blocks. Our very own Andy Sutton had 204 blocked shots, just behind Seidenberg FLA (traded to BOS at deadline) 215, Ballard FLA - 201.

Teams that suck, who never have the puck, who are pinned in their own zone, block a lot of shots.

That's not a great stat. I't's more misleading than +/- can be.

You guys know that AMAC leads the league in blocked shots? I think Cappy is using him wrong..I don't think it has anything to do with AMAC himself. His play is being affected by bad coaching decisions. So do we blame AMAC or blame Cappy?

MacDonald is a good defenseman, he is overplayed and played in situations that are over his head. A coach that doesn't recognize that is the bulk of the problem. If the coach feels he has no better options, well, that's the GMs issue.

Visnovsky being hurt is NOT AN EXCUSE. He's ONE defenseman. If MacDonald has to play 30min because ONE, offensive dman is hurt, then that means the team has far more problems than a coach can solve.

With that said, I don't think Capuano has many options.

Personally, I'm most comfortable with these dmen on the ice, in any situation, in the following order:
Visnovsky, Hamonic, Hickey, MacDonald, Martinek, Strait, Donovan, Carkner

I'd play Donovan more, because I believe he'll get better, faster than anyone else. (Same for Nelson, but that's another thread)

But Capuano truly has few options. It's a 60min game.

 

[redbull]

Hickey is way too small for a top pairing. IMO Also Hamonic shouldn't be rushing the puck as much as he does. He stick handles through traffic like he has a brick on his stick. That's definetly not his best attribute. Personally I think Hamonic plays better when he keeps his game simple. He's never going to be an offensive stud and his game will suffer if he tries to go that way.

Hickey's smaller than we'd like. Absolutely. So is Toby Enstrom. Carkner has perfect size for a top pairing, but he can't skate or pass. Every team and every player has imperfections, except Crosby, maybe a few others.

I'm not suggesting Hickey should be on Team Canada for the Olympics. But he may be the second Islander chosen, far and away after Hamonic and before MacDonald and the rest.

Hamonic isn't smooth, not his skating or stick handling, but he's effective. He doesn't look like Brian Leetch or Nik Lidstrom or Scott Niedermayer or Paul Coffey rushing the puck, he's a very choppy skater but he is much better than I thought he would be in rushing the puck. I'd like to see him develop that part of his game, would make him far more valuable to the Islanders.

The league is different now. You kinda can't have a pure "stay-at-home" defensive type of player anymore. Players, especially defensemen, need to be excellent skaters and passers, need to make smart decisions and not cough up the puck.

A lot of these bigger, slower dmen are being phased out of the game. They just aren't effective anymore.

 

[SDIsles34]

He must have been tired, not his fault. He's a top 4 defensemen...1-0 Senators

 

[InformTheMasses]

He must have been tired, not his fault. He's a top 4 defensemen...1-0 Senators

LOL

 

[Words Of Wisdom]

Brilliant assist by Amac tonight.

 

[Paulinho]

He must have been tired, not his fault. He's a top 4 defensemen...1-0 Senators

You know it's for the best. We could have been stuck paying that useless sack of **** 4 million a year. At least now the world knows how awful he is. Good riddance at the end of the year. He plays defense like a twelve year old in ea nhl otp video games.