Player Discussion: Cal Foote

bov

Registered User
Nov 13, 2010
7,154
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He should take notes from a player like Cernak, just be assertive and trust yourself to make plays. Still a kid, he deserves time for sure. So many great D men take years to hit their stride in the NHL as we all know. Only red flag is that I haven't seen the flashes of ability that make you think "this guy is going to be the real deal down the road". But I'll give it time, congrats to him for his debut.
 
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BoltSTH

Registered User
Sep 4, 2008
2,414
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Tampa
It would be a lot better if he had a single partner, or a least ones that plays the same of style of D. Last night he was swapping between Sergachev and McD.
 

Sky04

Registered User
Jan 8, 2009
28,958
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Did we keep the wrong Foote?

Too early to tell but he'll need to improve his skating ability drastically to stay in the league. That's not going to happen overnight either, I think the best course for him this year is learn to how to play solid positionally to limit that weakness, if Dotchin, Bogosian and Gudas can do it I'm sure he'll get there.
 

Sky04

Registered User
Jan 8, 2009
28,958
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I think we're all sugar coating it. This is a A-minus prospect who now looks like a C at best.

Yeah it's weird, him and Cernak have really swapped in terms of expectations. Cernak is the only a year older and roughly the same size but has 2 full seasons under his belt and I'm pretty comfortable calling him a top-4 dman in this league.

Only been 1 game but Cernak looks fasssst.
 

Rschmitz

Finding new ways to cheat
Feb 27, 2002
15,750
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Tampa Bay
Cernak always looked "quick" though, his first training camp was eye opening. His torque and agility were really off the charts early on and there were a few that noticed right away that Cernak was a low key legit prospect.

The big difference between the two is that Cernak's bread and butter is his defensive play and that is all he's ever been asked to focus on. Foote on the other hand as a two way guy needs to worry about being effective in two areas to provide value, and defensively he has to rely on his positioning since his first step quickness isn't great. That timing is more important for him than Cernak.

The problem that I see and others are noticing is for game 1, that first step quickness was far worse than advertised. He's going to get eaten up in this league with those first three strides
 

DFC

Registered User
Sep 26, 2013
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I think the worry is that it's really not just one game. This is the same thing that's been holding him back since we drafted him, and it just doesn't seem to be improving.
 

The Macho King

Back* to Back** World Champion
Jun 22, 2011
48,612
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Never really noticed him and that isn't a bad thing for his first game.
He had that bad turnover but other than that eh. He was clearly sheltered but that's fine.

First game and I think while he didn't look great, we should probably slow down the reactionary assessment.
 

The Gongshow

Fire JBB
Jul 17, 2014
25,356
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Toronto
While his skating ability is concerning, it's only been one game. Theres gonna be some nervs plus adjusting to the NHL level of competition, this isn't the minors anymore.

Not every Rookie is gonna be good to great right away. Hell, Hedman took years to get to where is today (years in the league, I'm not comparing them to age)
 
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hollandhouse

Registered User
Aug 28, 2016
32
5
Tampa
He only payed 10 minutes. That just stands out to me. - in a bad way. I dont expect him to be in the starting lineup much longer or consistently.
 

Lightning1995

Registered User
May 16, 2016
3,970
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Looks like Schenn is in tonight, think that means Foote heads to the taxi squad.

Staff must not have liked what they saw
 

bov

Registered User
Nov 13, 2010
7,154
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It was going to be 2 of Schenn/Foote/Rutta to start the season no matter what, first game means next to nothing in the bigger picture.
 

TheDaysOf 04

[ 2 6 ] [ 4 ]
Jun 23, 2007
52,501
22,361
NJ
Looks like Schenn is in tonight, think that means Foote heads to the taxi squad.

Staff must not have liked what they saw
Not necessarily. Coop said the other day he wanted to get Schenn and Borgman into games. It remains to be seen how Coop with rotate the 3 of them, but I don't think they want Foote sitting out games for long.
 

HoseEmDown

Registered User
Mar 25, 2012
17,452
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I think we're all sugar coating it. This is a A-minus prospect who now looks like a C at best.

How many Crunch games have you watched since he joined? His skating issues are way overblown, he's not a good skater but not a bad one either. The way he plays he doesn't need to be great skater, it would help him become even better but he can still be good with less than ideal skating. His skating isn't too different than Cernak, it's just the way each play that makes them look different.

Cernak does everything with aggression, so it looks like he's much faster because he's going full speed at all times. Foote plays a more calculated game, so his mind is going faster than his feet. When a player goes into the corner Cernak is trying to put them into the 5th row were Foote is staying a few feet back looking to use his reach and stick to get the puck. So what he lacks in foot speed he makes up in positioning, reach and stick work. He's more like Hedman were instead of using his size to be physical he uses it to disrupt the play and create turnovers.

The knock I have on Foote is that while playing smart is good he's too passive sometimes. When a player skates near the creases he doesn't play the body and usually does a weak stick lift. Foote has a lot offensive abilities that he hasn't shown yet. He makes smart pinches because he knows he doesn't have the speed to recover if he makes a bad one. He's not an A prospect but not a C either, he's a B, most likely a 4 but can still be a 3.
 

TheDaysOf 04

[ 2 6 ] [ 4 ]
Jun 23, 2007
52,501
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NJ
One thing to remember is while none of this has been ideal for anybody, it certainly makes things much harder on a rookie player trying to make the league. The last real game Foote played before Wednesday was March 11th 2020. That's a 10 month gap. No rookie tournament, no normal training camp schedule, no multiple preseason games. That makes things very difficult for a guy with zero experience to make that transition. I've been critical of Foote myself, but let's see how things play out.
 

Lightning1995

Registered User
May 16, 2016
3,970
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Not necessarily. Coop said the other day he wanted to get Schenn and Borgman into games. It remains to be seen how Coop with rotate the 3 of them, but I don't think they want Foote sitting out games for long.
Schenn will have to be exposed to waivers when they bring Foote back up unless it’s for an injury. Right now not a big deal. As Dman start getting hurt around the league it’s a risk. So why not just give Foote 4-5 for a real look before making this move?

Only logical answer is that he’s a liability right now.
 

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