Player Discussion: Erik Cernak

[Rusty7550]

Don't care. He is Erik the Black now. Nothing you, or actual direct literal translations of a language I don't know anything about, can do about it.

Black = Cierny in Slovak ... So its similar I guess

 

[Rusty7550]

According to many Slovakian sources, someone dont like Erik Cernak.

This is not about Erik. His dad owes a LOT of money to a different people. I heard a lot of people in Kosice dislike the guy

 

[LTIR Trickery]

Yikes. I mean, thats all covered by insurance, but f***ing yikes.

 

[LightningStrikes]

 

[JoVel]

An upset Devils fan somewhere thinks this is the cheapest hit since Kucherov on Vatanen and Cernak is literally Ulf Samuelsson.

 

[Lord Stan 2020]

I realie there is a thing on second season slumps for many nhl players


mcd must be a lot better then we realize though everything last year that pissed me off on sergachev has now moved over to cernak

passinng blindly in ozone around net to other side .... not passing puck to closest guy to get out of own zone but nope lets ice the puck

letting guys skate unhindered into our zone.... letting guys camp out at the net

taking dumb penalties

he has devolved to sustre need rescue mode....

good news is right now he deserves ONLY a prove it deal not even a bridge so that helps us next year

 

[LightningStrikes]

 

[The Macho King]

So he had a Gordie Howe hat trick, and then a few games later had another good offensive game.

Kind of surprising - normally his offense is "shoot puck from point no matter what", but he's been jumping up a bit more.

 

[LightningStrikes]

So what’s the ceiling for this guy?

 

[DFC]

So he had a Gordie Howe hat trick, and then a few games later had another good offensive game.

Kind of surprising - normally his offense is "shoot puck from point no matter what", but he's been jumping up a bit more.

He did that when he first got called up too, the year he jumped in and looked better than Sergachev for a while (Serg has obviously taken massive steps since then). It seemed like he toned his game down to get comfortable, but is now starting to pick his spots again. If I'm not mistaken, that's a lot closer to how he played in Syracuse too.

By the end of this season, Cernak's STILL not going to have 200 regular season games. Kind of nuts, because it feels like he's been here for a while now, but he doesn't even turn 24 until the end of May.

 

[Rschmitz]

So what’s the ceiling for this guy?

If Scott Stevens and Bobby Orr had a baby we would name it Erik Cernak

 

[These Are The Days]

I didn't get to see today's game so I've resorted to the DTMTS highlight package and I'm convinced now we could lose McDonagh to expansion and Cernak would step in just fine. This kid is electric. Rob Zettler.... kudos to you for working with him to bring this out in his game.

 

[copperlion]

He’s quickly approaching Parayko levels this year

 

[The Gongshow]

He's definitely been more active offensively this year, jumping up in a lot of rushes and going for some skates with the puck, but still so damn reliable in our zone and psychically. Guy has easily become one of our core pieces

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

 

[EXTRAS]

Upside?

 

[EXTRAS]

Could cernak be a #2 dman one day? What's his upside?

 

[Sky04]

Could cernak be a #2 dman one day? What's his upside?

I think Cernak has been in the best possible position for him to succeed since joining the Lightning, his upside isn't much higher than what he's currently been the last year or so. I think he's a top tier #3 guy, pretty much the ideal #3 anyone would want on their team.

 

[LightningStrikes]

 

[MattM92]

Cernak is going to have to correct the way he's blocking shots if he can't stay healthy. It's better to let a puck go by you than to miss another 5 games.

 

[LightningStrikes]

Cernak has been solid and a rock defensively for years but last night was terrible.

 

[Lightning1995]

Thoughts on his play this year? My perception is his play has dipped without McDonough. Lightning have tried he and Heddy together a few times now and it hasn’t worked. I’m surprised he and Serge haven’t meshed, with Perbix stepping in. Lightning clearly need him to be a top 4 RHD for a while given the contract and it seems, last night notwithstandin, he and Cole have been a solid pair.

But Coles probably gonzo next year and Cernek needs to play with one of the Lightning top 2 D I would think.

 

[Sky04]

Considering he's played the hardest minutes on this team over the last 4 years if there's one player who could use an extended summer it's him.

 

[Major4Boarding]

Considering he's played the hardest minutes on this team over the last 4 years if there's one player who could use an extended summer it's him.

(Random fan) "I like your tattoos Erik!" (#81): "Those are bruises, bro"

 

[LTIR Trickery]

Heddy has surprisingly been the bad man out this year, if not a little longer. Without him moving the puck for a guy like him or Core everything just kinda goes flat. Cernak is still getting in lanes and playing decently but its not like he leads the breakout a ton.