Why do the ducks suck every bit of creativity from our forward prospects. Steel was super creative and now is basically a dump and chase grinder... Same with rakell he used to have creativity and try things with the puck that is gone. It's like all our forwards are so scared to make a mistake that they don't wanna try anything risky that's not a good way to develop prospects that's why we have so many vanilla players and can't develop forwards to save our lives. Hopefully terry keeps playing the way he does even if it leads to some turnovers we need development and skill and pace and lane drivers. If zegras comes and they make him play the same way steel plays I'm over this team f***in grind city. We are great at drafting and not very good at developing, even when you look at players like Fowler he could have been so much better. I wish we hired travis green instead of Carlyle things would be different.
My guess is that creativity can't be fostered if they're often exposed. Back when we had Perry, Kes, and Eaves playing along with Getz, then our youth were sheltered to be creative. Rakell and Kase were thriving. We gave Ritchie a pass just because. Remove that sheltering and you rein in those riskier plays.
We sent Terry down to the AHL after the TDL because we had other talents up. The additions of Milano and Heinen along with promoting Sherwood up allowed Terry to be sent down. We had nothing for Steel last year.
Our team play improved after the TDL. Maybe Milano and Heinen helped improve the team while playing with Getz to take away some burden so that Rakell can start becoming more creative?
| Rakell | | | | | |
| 2019-20 | Games | G | A | Pts | Pts/Game |
| Season | 65 | 15 | 27 | 42 | 0.65 |
| | 56 | 13 | 22 | 35 | 0.63 |
| Last 9 games | 9 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 0.78 |
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Rakell didn't find his scoring groove until the 5th game after the TDL, including a 3-assist game.
I believe a strong blueline with good two-way play across the forward lines can help with creative chances with our more talented forwards. Going into this year, we actually have some talented depth at center and blue line. Couldn't say that for the past two seasons.
In 2017-18 season, Rakell scored 34g + 35a = 69 pts in 77 games. Team GF = 235 goals (18th overall) and GA = 216 goals against (4th overall).
Maybe we needed more vanilla players so that Rakell or Steel don't have to be vanilla. Silf and Heinen are vanilla players, such that they're responsible two-way forwards (except Silf is a sniper). Sherwood is a vanilla player too, but not on the same ilk of Silf and Heinen. D Gudz and D Djoos are vanilla players and better options than Larsson and Guhle on the blue line. Gudz allows Fowler to be more aggressive as Gudz plays his complementary role to Fowler. Fowler can't be #1D as he can't match up and needs to be sheltered to be on the 2nd pairing so he can be most effective. D Curran is the offensive defenseman and pairing him up with Djoos could be another good balance.
As for Steel and Terry, they're very good in the AHL, but need an extra gear in the NHL. Steel may have fallen back to dump-and-chase as it's a reliable move for him.
Remember, Steel is playing under the same coach he had last year in the AHL where he produced. This is why I think Zegras has a chance of breaking into the NHL. Steel may have been overwhelemed last year and Zegras might be on another level. I have hopes that Steel will improve as years go by like he improved between his draft year and his D+1 year. The jump between AHL and NHL might be bigger than originally thought. It happens. Steel is still young and this extended break from the NHL might benefit him mentally and physically.
The most positive thing to identify is that we're not running back the same team we started off in 2019-20. That's the only concrete silver lining I can share. I think we improved our NHL talent, but that's only my opinion. We need talent to win games. It doesn't have to be superstar talent, just an improvement in talent in a few spots and go from there. That also includes player development. If Milano-Getz-Heinen can take away some burden from Rakell-Rico-Silf, then that's a win. If Heinen continues to play 67 games or more, then that's also a win because sometimes availability is the best ability. If Zegras beats out Steel for 3C, then that's also a win. Djoos on the 3rd pairing is already a win! Curran could be that PP fire starter.
We were 11 points away from a traditional playoff spot last season, 29-33-9. That's six wins or four wins and convert four OTL into wins. Did we do enough to win six more games or four wins and convert four OTLs into wins? We were involved in 18 1-loss games last year. Maybe we need a little tweak to be playoff contenders (not Cup contenders outright). We went 5-3-1 after the TDL while missing our top-3 for most of it and beating playoff teams. Small sample, but we could have easily tanked too. Did we improve our talent or did was just play better as a team? Maybe both? I'm not expecting to be a dynamic team. Just a solid two-way team and an improved PP unit. Boring, yes, but it's a step in the right direction of developing a culture of winning. Look at the Stars this year. They're us from 2017-18.
