- May 30, 2013
- 43,143
- 18,792
I wrote about why Etem should be a good contributor here:
At face value, Miller and Etem are incredibly similar. Lots of tools, good size, good frames, but just haven't been able to put everything together for any extended period. While this is much more true of Etem than Miller, they're both coming up to big seasons from a development standpoint, and there could be some nice return hidden in their fortunes.
Emerson Etem hasn't been properly utilized most of his time as a Duck. This year, he played more than 50 minutes with exactly 8 forwards, only two of which are top 6 caliber. The forwards Etem took most of his shifts with have been Rickard Rakell, Nate Thompson, Ryan Kesler, Tim Jackman, Matt Beleskey, Ryan Getzlaf, Jiri Sekac, and Devante-Smith Pelly. Three of those players in Thompson, Jackman, and Smith-Pelly are untalented plugs that straight up don't belong in the NHL. For a short period of time, Etem played on a "young line" with Rakell and Sekac, where they posted ridiculously strong possession numbers in about average situations. He finished the year a 58% CF% player with Rickard Rakell, and 66.4% CF% with Jiri Sekac. He also finished with 57% CF% with Ryan Getzlaf. Etem has shown he can play with offensive players in unsheltered situations for the first time this year.
This is also the first year Etem has posted strong dCorsi and rel Corsi% numbers, having career years in both metrics. Etem ranked 3rd on the Ducks in CF% rel with +2.7, and 4th with a +31.02 dCorsi among Ducks with at least 30 games played.
Etem most likely won't be the player Ducks fans hoped when he was drafted, but I see no reason why he can't become a strong middle 6 player. Shot chucker, hard to play against, with flashes of elite talent, maybe a 20-20 utility guy. Essentially what Matt Beleskey is right now.
These two young players need to take some sort of step forward this year for the Rangers to have a chance at replicating their President's Trophy season. If put in the right situations, these players can foster their growth and become important forwards down the line, bringing skills the Rangers don't have much of elsewhere. But it's now or never time for both of them I would say.
At face value, Miller and Etem are incredibly similar. Lots of tools, good size, good frames, but just haven't been able to put everything together for any extended period. While this is much more true of Etem than Miller, they're both coming up to big seasons from a development standpoint, and there could be some nice return hidden in their fortunes.
Emerson Etem hasn't been properly utilized most of his time as a Duck. This year, he played more than 50 minutes with exactly 8 forwards, only two of which are top 6 caliber. The forwards Etem took most of his shifts with have been Rickard Rakell, Nate Thompson, Ryan Kesler, Tim Jackman, Matt Beleskey, Ryan Getzlaf, Jiri Sekac, and Devante-Smith Pelly. Three of those players in Thompson, Jackman, and Smith-Pelly are untalented plugs that straight up don't belong in the NHL. For a short period of time, Etem played on a "young line" with Rakell and Sekac, where they posted ridiculously strong possession numbers in about average situations. He finished the year a 58% CF% player with Rickard Rakell, and 66.4% CF% with Jiri Sekac. He also finished with 57% CF% with Ryan Getzlaf. Etem has shown he can play with offensive players in unsheltered situations for the first time this year.
This is also the first year Etem has posted strong dCorsi and rel Corsi% numbers, having career years in both metrics. Etem ranked 3rd on the Ducks in CF% rel with +2.7, and 4th with a +31.02 dCorsi among Ducks with at least 30 games played.
Etem most likely won't be the player Ducks fans hoped when he was drafted, but I see no reason why he can't become a strong middle 6 player. Shot chucker, hard to play against, with flashes of elite talent, maybe a 20-20 utility guy. Essentially what Matt Beleskey is right now.
These two young players need to take some sort of step forward this year for the Rangers to have a chance at replicating their President's Trophy season. If put in the right situations, these players can foster their growth and become important forwards down the line, bringing skills the Rangers don't have much of elsewhere. But it's now or never time for both of them I would say.
