Because literally nothing that you wrote can be seen as a positive. And "playing as advertised" is cute but undoubtedly the deal was made in hopes he bouces back to some degree.
1+1, first star…just saying.
Still played 12 minutes so your comment might age worse than the thread. I am now, however, really curious what are your expectations for him.
You base what you think of his play by his minutes when you don’t understand the Canes or his coach. He will always choose defense over offense, and center is a big deal for him. He would’ve left Drury over Kuzy the whole time if Drury hadn’t gotten hurt. Koko played hard down the stretch so he’s getting the first look, and it wouldn’t surprise if Drury was next in line. There’s no reason to move Kuzy up if he can score two pts from the “fourth” line and second pp. The Canes have two forwards from the “fourth” line on the second pp, to give you an idea of what the coach is like.
Yes, people are always confused on how deep teams are run/structured. Too many people that think the Leaf method of a few guys that do everything and plugs you hope can hang on is the default method. On a deep and balanced team, the line numbers aren’t as important, someone on a “bottom six” line isn’t a backup and players can be mixed and matched as needed. Kuznetsov gives a more offensive component than others. If they’re protecting a lead, he’d be used less. If they are trailing, he’d be used more. They also use him on the powerplay. For this year while they have the cap space, I like the fit. Only paid a third to get that kind of versatile add. It was pretty savvy while they’re all in.
So he still played 12 minutes in the game Canes trailed almost the whole time and then down to 9 in the game Canes led almost the whole time. Any more theories on how this doesn't reflect his play?
They were holding a short lead most of the game, wouldn’t the answer to that question be obvious.
