Countdown to Camp - Matt Duchene

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

everyone is more effective alongside Mitchell.

Well yea, all you have to do is give it to Johnny Malkin and he'll do the rest. Johnny Malkin doesn't have any giveaways, he just gives his linemates the opportunity to prove their worth defensively.

 

[InjuredChoker]

Well yea, all you have to do is give it to Johnny Malkin and he'll do the rest. Johnny Malkin doesn't have any giveaways, he just gives his linemates the opportunity to prove their worth defensively.

ha, that's a good one. might have to use that in the future.

 

[agentblack]

Oh the mysteries of Dutchy's linemates.

Damn now that i think of it we never did see Flash--Dutchy--Mueller all together, even once. Thats a damn shame.

 

[Former Ladder]

All Dutchy needs is a puck retriever, preferably one who is fast and has a decent shot, to play on his LW. Those two could play together and when Iggy catches up and gets into the offensive zone, dish it to him for the shot-goal.

I'm interested to see what kind of shape Grigs come into camp with. He could be a possibility there if others aren't ready/better suited. I'd personally like to see Everberg there but that may be wishful thinking.

 

[The Kingslayer]

Oh the mysteries of Dutchy's linemates.

Damn now that i think of it we never did see Flash--Dutchy--Mueller all together, even once. Thats a damn shame.

Terrible things tend to befall Matts linemates. Flash has an exploding heart, Mules got his brain scrambled and is now at the walk of fame handing out flyers in a Jesus costume, David Jones went on a 3 yr bender etc. Im expecting Iginla to get shot in a drive by or something this season.

 

[The Kingslayer]

All Dutchy needs is a puck retriever, preferably one who is fast and has a decent shot, to play on his LW. Those two could play together and when Iggy catches up and gets into the offensive zone, dish it to him for the shot-goal.

I'm interested to see what kind of shape Grigs come into camp with. He could be a possibility there if others aren't ready/better suited. I'd personally like to see Everberg there but that may be wishful thinking.

Everberg was able to keep with the both Dutch and Mackinnon when he played on their lines. it would be a shame if Everberg wasnt on opening night roster but Cliche is.

 

[InjuredChoker]

All Dutchy needs is a puck retriever, preferably one who is fast and has a decent shot, to play on his LW. Those two could play together and when Iggy catches up and gets into the offensive zone, dish it to him for the shot-goal.

I'm interested to see what kind of shape Grigs come into camp with. He could be a possibility there if others aren't ready/better suited. I'd personally like to see Everberg there but that may be wishful thinking.

frolik

 

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

frolik

Frolik would've been awesome for Dutch IMO. Could've carried a lot of the defensive responsibilities, but also kept up with Dutch offensively. Oh well, I'm kinda hoping Tangs and Iggy find their chemistry and Dutch finds a way to mesh with them.

 

[Former Ladder]

Frolik would've been awesome for Dutch IMO. Could've carried a lot of the defensive responsibilities, but also kept up with Dutch offensively. Oh well, I'm kinda hoping Tangs and Iggy find their chemistry and Dutch finds a way to mesh with them.

I just think they are both too slow, which forces Duchene to slow his game down and negates one of his biggest strengths in his speed. I would prefer to see Grigs between them than Dutchy if Tangs and Iggy play on the same line. But then Duchene's linemates become third liners.

 

[henchman21]

Grigs isn't any faster...

Comeau will probably get a look with Duchene and Iggy at some point because he is solid on the forecheck and can help Dutchy in that area.

 

[agentblack]

I just think they are both too slow, which forces Duchene to slow his game down and negates one of his biggest strengths in his speed. I would prefer to see Grigs between them than Dutchy if Tangs and Iggy play on the same line. But then Duchene's linemates become third liners.

Yeah but guys like EVB, Comeau have pretty decent skill. If they work at all with Dutchy I wouldnt hesitate putting both Iggy and Tangs with Greg. There was a brief moment those two played with Mitchell and did really well, Greg is bigger and id imagine his vision and passing are already lightyears ahead of ole Malkin.

If Rantanen has any inkling of looking like he could be a gamer that makes that trio even more of a possibility.

 

[Former Ladder]

Grigs isn't any faster...

Comeau will probably get a look with Duchene and Iggy at some point because he is solid on the forecheck and can help Dutchy in that area.

That's what I meant though. Grigs skates around the same speed as Tangs and Iggy so they can play a similar style and maybe find some good chemistry whereas Duchene is already entering the offensive third as Iggy and Tans are hitting the neutral zone.

 

[henchman21]

If Rantanen has any inkling of looking like he could be a gamer that makes that trio even more of a possibility.

I'd venture to guess that when Rantanen makes the team this season (I think he comes up around Feb/March) he will be paired up with Duchene.

That's what I meant though. Grigs skates around the same speed as Tangs and Iggy so they can play a similar style and maybe find some good chemistry whereas Duchene is already entering the offensive third as Iggy and Tans are hitting the neutral zone.

I see.

Duchene has shown he can play with slower linemates in the past... Mueller, ROR, etc are not burners by any means. I think where Duchene struggles is that very few players can read off of him and he isn't great at reading off other players. Hopefully, Rantanen and him click long-term.

 

[agentblack]

I'd venture to guess that when Rantanen makes the team this season (I think he comes up around Feb/March) he will be paired up with Duchene.

Yeah thats my thinking, you could do Comeau--Dutchy--Rants and move Tangs w/ Greg and Iggy
combined with that GNC line ...thats pretty damn solid

Then the 4th looks like any combo of Mitchell , Winch, EVB, cody ...not too shabby

 

[RockLobster]

Biggest thing I'd like to see from Duchene this year is getting out of his own way, mentally. Too many times last year I saw him do the "monkey off the back" gesture when scoring a goal, which to me signifies that it gets to him if he's got a sizeable scoreless streak going.

He's way too talented to be as inconsistent as he's been.

 

[The Kingslayer]

Biggest thing I'd like to see from Duchene this year is getting out of his own way, mentally. Too many times last year I saw him do the "monkey off the back" gesture when scoring a goal, which to me signifies that it gets to him if he's got a sizeable scoreless streak going.

He's way too talented to be as inconsistent as he's been.

Yah his self esteem issues need to stop being an issue. A few yrs ago he said something about not letting kesler take liberties on him. Duchene needs to get back to that kinda thinking and stop getting geeked out that Iginla is on his line. Stop catering to Iggy and play your game Matt.

 

[agentblack]

Him being an Av probably adds to the already high pressure he is under. But that added pressure is all self generated. How would any of us feel if we could play like him and we got picked to play for the Avs. Id want to score a million goals for this team, lol

I think he needs to really think about whats expected of him, whats realistic, and how much of that is in his head.

Also he needs..imo.. to find other ways to help the team on the ice. So that means working on his def game. I know boring, but if can be productive in that sense maybe he feels better about his overall game, instead of im not scoring every other game, im a terrible Av.

 

[chet1926]

The biggest thing for Matt this year is going to be consistency. He needs to be a 70+ pts player. The only way you can do this is if you are consistently putting up numbers. He can't have 10+ game stretches where he doesn't score a goal, he is too talented for that garbage. A lot of this falls on him, he needs to have his head on straight from day one, and he can't let himself get inside his head when things aren't going perfect. He is way too hard on himself and gets down too easily and it affects his game in a negative way.

Another thing I never want to see again is putting 4th line caliber players with our #1 center. I mean last year one could argue that he could have easily had another 10-15 pts had he not been saddled with players like Talbot, Caron, Mitchell etc. for over half the year. Hopefully we now have enough talented top 6 players to consistently give Matt top 6 caliber wingers. Between Iginla, Tanguay, Rantanen and Grigorenko we should have plenty of options so that players like Mitchell never sees top 6 ice time again.

I expect Matt along with MacKinnon to be the guys on offense this year. Anything else in my opinion is a failure on their parts, they are just too talented to not be big time offensive threats every night. Teams should have to worry about how they are going to limit Duchene and MacKinnon. Last year they didn't have that worry. This year needs to be different.

 

[tigervixxxen]

Duchene only scored 3 fewer goals last year from the year before. That really wasn't the problem. Losing 20 assists was. If his goal scoring remains a but streaky then so be it, I'm confident he can consistently at least get to 20. He out of anyone needs one person he can work with to play with. It's one thing to put it all on him, which it is responsibility but the team also needs to try and get the best out of him. I read a good point somewhere recently that Duchene sometimes goes between having a goal scorer or a playmaker mentality. Obviously he should do both but I think it contributes to some of his inconsistency because he's approaching the game in different ways.

 

[agentblack]

The biggest thing for Matt this year is going to be consistency. He needs to be a 70+ pts player. The only way you can do this is if you are consistently putting up numbers. He can't have 10+ game stretches where he doesn't score a goal, he is too talented for that garbage. A lot of this falls on him, he needs to have his head on straight from day one, and he can't let himself get inside his head when things aren't going perfect. He is way too hard on himself and gets down too easily and it affects his game in a negative way.

Another thing I never want to see again is putting 4th line caliber players with our #1 center. I mean last year one could argue that he could have easily had another 10-15 pts had he not been saddled with players like Talbot, Caron, Mitchell etc. for over half the year. Hopefully we now have enough talented top 6 players to consistently give Matt top 6 caliber wingers. Between Iginla, Tanguay, Rantanen and Grigorenko we should have plenty of options so that players like Mitchell never sees top 6 ice time again.

I expect Matt along with MacKinnon to be the guys on offense this year. Anything else in my opinion is a failure on their parts, they are just too talented to not be big time offensive threats every night. Teams should have to worry about how they are going to limit Duchene and MacKinnon. Last year they didn't have that worry. This year needs to be different.

A even slightly better pp should help. Like 5 more pp pts put him at 60, which is ok for an all around bad offensive year. Cause if im not mistaken he was still pretty decent 5 on 5 right? But I still stress that he needs to find other ways to contribute esp now that ROR is gone. Roy loved ROR because of his game, so he put him in every situation possible. For good reason he doesnt see Matt the same way. But Matt isnt Kessel, he can be a very good two way player if he wasnt so concerned with hitting a certain gpg or apg number and be like "well i did my job, night everybody"
I mean when guys like EVB and Cody are on the pk over him, that should be alarming to Matt.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

Terrible things tend to befall Matts linemates. Flash has an exploding heart, Mules got his brain scrambled and is now at the walk of fame handing out flyers in a Jesus costume, David Jones went on a 3 yr bender etc. Im expecting Iginla to get shot in a drive by or something this season.

Lol at David Jones 3 year bender

 

[tigervixxxen]

A even slightly better pp should help. Like 5 more pp pts put him at 60, which is ok for an all around bad offensive year. Cause if im not mistaken he was still pretty decent 5 on 5 right? But I still stress that he needs to find other ways to contribute esp now that ROR is gone. Roy loved ROR because of his game, so he put him in every situation possible. For good reason he doesnt see Matt the same way. But Matt isnt Kessel, he can be a very good two way player if he wasnt so concerned with hitting a certain gpg or apg number and be like "well i did my job, night everybody"
I mean when guys like EVB and Cody are on the pk over him, that should be alarming to Matt.

I don't see that's how Duchene is. He doesn't only care about offense. He knows how to be a two way forward, he did it with Canada. The PK thing has nothing to do with him, that's how Roy does it. Landy didn't get much PK time.

 

[agentblack]

I don't see that's how Duchene is. He doesn't only care about offense. He knows how to be a two way forward, he did it with Canada. The PK thing has nothing to do with him, that's how Roy does it. Landy didn't get much PK time.

I didnt watch alot of CAN's games, so im not sure how good he looked but maybe now that Roy doesnt have his crutch he uses Matty more in roles where he can use his abilities on the other side of the puck.

I think he can get himself out of slumps faster by not focusing so much on that aspect of his game, the only way to do that is be put into other game situations where he can use his strength and speed to his advantage.

I realize alot of that is on Roy but Matty cant give him that choice. He needs to make it impossible for Roy not to go to him.

 

[RockLobster]

Duchene only scored 3 fewer goals last year from the year before. That really wasn't the problem. Losing 20 assists was. If his goal scoring remains a but streaky then so be it, I'm confident he can consistently at least get to 20. He out of anyone needs one person he can work with to play with. It's one thing to put it all on him, which it is responsibility but the team also needs to try and get the best out of him. I read a good point somewhere recently that Duchene sometimes goes between having a goal scorer or a playmaker mentality. Obviously he should do both but I think it contributes to some of his inconsistency because he's approaching the game in different ways.

I don't disagree with any of this.

But ultimately, this upcoming season will be his 7th (and WOW, has that time flown by), and no longer can we excuse some of the mishaps as "growing pains" or him being "young and learning". We all know he's a special talent, we all know what he is capable of, he knows it too. I'm hoping we see a bit of a "chip on my shoulder" attitude this year and he comes in and shows what he can do. Does that mean I expect him at a PPG pace? No, not necessarily, but if he happens to fall into a bit of a scoreless streak, be helpful in other areas (defensively, face-off, possession, hits, etc.) and then go back to basics for the offense.

I think sometimes when he gets in his scoreless streaks, he tries to do way too much offensively, and he doesn't fully utilize his teammates as he should. Hopefully as he's growing up, he can break that bad habit.

 

[tigervixxxen]

Yeah he definitely doesn't get the "he's still young" free pass. Duchene needs to really take the team as his and make a difference. Crazy to think he'll be VERY close to 500 NHL games after this season, 7 years is a very long time. But until someone else goes out and does it Duchene has still proved to be our best points producer.