In the summer you were pretty vocal about stars not being good enough.Or the rest of the team has declined that much?
Actually, they were pretty solid last year, this year, well, crap happens.
G is 13th in ES points this year. Couts and Jake are tied for 41st.
And on the PP, Giroux is tied for 55th in points.
Who would have guessed that?
Funny that some can’t admit that Giroux is still great.G is 13th in ES points this year. Couts and Jake are tied for 41st.
And on the PP, Giroux is tied for 55th in points.
Who would have guessed that?
giroux's pk stats are amazing. I highly recommend you check them out. He single handedly is the reason we are no longer the worst pk team in the league.
I like Giroux a lot on the PK, but the change in approach has been the biggest cause for improvement
I agree. Folks forget about Giroux's beginning as a 3rd line center tricking people into thinking Aaron Asham was a legit, offensively capable, nhl player. G broke in being a defensive responsible forward and did it with aplomb, he never lost it (excepting when injured).false, it got better the moment they put giroux on it, which before they made and coaching changes.
The rest of the team is in that backpack that he is "carrying."
Exactly.The rest of the team is in that backpack that he is "carrying."
He is and has been our best player probably top 20 player in the league. Couts is fantastic also. That being said it isnt nearly enough. We cant lose sight that as of today we have the second fewest points in the league and by the middle of January we have no chance at even making the playoffs despite his excellent performance.Exactly.
But not just the team, the entire coaching staff and some management too. If it wasn’t for Giroux, a lot more people would’ve been fired by now. No way they even sniff the playoffs these last few years without him being a monster.
I think Frost will probably start the year in the A based on some comments KS made recently about his physical maturity which really forces G to play center or trade/FA for one.Giroux belongs back at LW, which makes the most important issue the rest of the year the development of Patrick at center, who needs to continue playing more physical, and work on strength as well as conditioning this summer. If you switch G and JVR, to have G nursemaid the rookie center, then you need a physical, defensively responsible RW on that line.
G - Couts - ???
Lindblom - Patrick - TK
JVR - Frost - ???
Laughton - ??? - NAK/Bailey
Three open spots, Voracek fills one if he isn't traded, the draft pick might fill another if he's top 5/or Laczynski-Allison, and 4C could be Vorobyev/Bunnaman/healthy Rubtsov. So it's not going to take a miracle offseason for Fletcher to field a top forward group next season.
I think Frost will probably start the year in the A based on some comments KS made recently about his physical maturity which really forces G to play center or trade/FA for one.
From a personnel weakness standpoint, Nolan Patrick being expected to be a 2C is probably the biggest mistake of this season. It's utterly ridiculous to be so dependent on 20-/21-year-olds to perform at such a high level and compete with Auston Matthews or Steve Stamkos or Evgeni Malkin when they can slide comfortably into 3C/4C roles while we field two top flight centers. Matching up with the other 2Cs in the Eastern Conference needs to be a serious priority.
Patrick has played like a 4c or a bad 3c in his career, let's let him be a good 4C/3C before moving him up.
It wasn't unreasonable after the way he played in the second half of last season.From a personnel weakness standpoint, Nolan Patrick being expected to be a 2C is probably the biggest mistake of this season. It's utterly ridiculous to be so dependent on 20-/21-year-olds to perform at such a high level and compete with Auston Matthews or Steve Stamkos or Evgeni Malkin when they can slide comfortably into 3C/4C roles while we field two top flight centers. Matching up with the other 2Cs in the Eastern Conference needs to be a serious priority.
Patrick has played like a 4c or a bad 3c in his career, let's let him be a good 4C/3C before moving him up.