Is John Marino for real?

[Sidgeni Malkby]

All I say is, remember Olli Maatta?

I think Marino is awesome, however I wouldn't start getting rid of pieces and building a D corp around him just yet.

 

[Empoleon8771]

All I say is, remember Olli Maatta?

I think Marino is awesome, however I wouldn't start getting rid of pieces and building a D corp around him just yet.

Remember why Olli Maatta didn't live up to the hype he got? Because he got cancer and had 2 shoulder surgeries.

Who has advocated getting rid of pieces and building the D group around Marino?

 

[Peat]

Remember why Olli Maatta didn't live up to the hype he got? Because he got cancer and had 2 shoulder surgeries.

Who has advocated getting rid of pieces and building the D group around Marino?

Arguably everyone who's said "That's Schultz done, Marino's #2 now"?

 

[Empoleon8771]

Arguably everyone who's said "That's Schultz done, Marino's #2 now"?

Saying "Marino has taken Schultz's spot" doesn't mean "building the D group around Marino". I have seen people say they should move Schultz because of Marino's emergence, which I disagree with and I guess that falls into "getting rid of pieces", but the other point is wrong. Planning on Marino being your #3D is not "building the D group around Marino".

 

[Peat]

Saying "Marino has taken Schultz's spot" doesn't mean "building the D group around Marino". I have seen people say they should move Schultz because of Marino's emergence, which I disagree with and I guess that falls into "getting rid of pieces", but the other point is wrong. Planning on Marino being your #3D is not "building the D group around Marino".

Quite a few reasonable interpretations about what "building the D group around Marino" means. I'd say the fact we're probably staking the blue line's success on him playing 20+ good minutes a night might be considered to qualify...

 

[SEALBound]

Remember why Olli Maatta didn't live up to the hype he got? Because he got cancer and had 2 shoulder surgeries.

Who has advocated getting rid of pieces and building the D group around Marino?

Don't forget the hip injury. Remember when he took the nasty fall into the open gate? It was after that I saw the biggest decline.

That said, Maatta had red flags even as a rookie that would be huge red flags right now. We all acknowledged that he wasn't a great skater. He regularly got beat to the outside but often times he could move well enough then to minimize the impact. Now that the skating decline a bit, it just amplified the issues we already knew about. We all like his IQ and positioning. He had a really good stick too. That said, he was also 18 and the expectations were different.

Marino now is showing a ton of promise in the areas that would make one a valuable dman moving forward. Skating is fantastic, IQ is high, offensive instincts are developing nicely. Analytics on him are very good. I don't see the major flags that, looking back, I can think about with Maatta. The only thing you can argue about is does he "fall back to earth"? And that's certainly reasonable...but that's an issue with nearly every player on the roster. Everyone is capable of a down year. It's a gamble. I like the Marino gamble better than the Maatta gamble.

Arguably everyone who's said "That's Schultz done, Marino's #2 now"?

Marino has also done a lot to earn that. Doesn't mean it's true or logical at this time. I think what some may be tying on to that is "hey, instead of paying Schultz over $6mil, why don't we let him walk, replace him with Marino, and use that money on other areas of the roster?"

So there is some context you have to put into place with comments like those.

 

[Peat]

Marino has also done a lot to earn that. Doesn't mean it's true or logical at this time. I think what some may be tying on to that is "hey, instead of paying Schultz over $6mil, why don't we let him walk, replace him with Marino, and use that money on other areas of the roster?"

So there is some context you have to put into place with comments like those.

I did say arguably for a reason. There's a lot of different things people could have meant by it. Lot of different ways people could take it. Some might only see "let asset walk, plan around Marino playing 20+ minutes a night" regardless of context.

And some do basically mean "let the asset walk, plan around Marino playing 20+ minutes a night".

 

[SEALBound]

I did say arguably for a reason. There's a lot of different things people could have meant by it. Lot of different ways people could take it. Some might only see "let asset walk, plan around Marino playing 20+ minutes a night" regardless of context.

And some do basically mean "let the asset walk, plan around Marino playing 20+ minutes a night".

I think that's why part of the defensive build should be a couple guys that can play in the 18-20 range reliably. Letang/Dumo should be 20+, if you can get a Petts-Marino pairing reliably giving you 20, thats great. If not, you need have a 3rd pairing or a "4/5" guy that can eat minutes as well if you see a decline in Marino's play. That maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay be Jack Johnson...but who knows. I'm judging 20-21 roster solely on what I see now. That's a big decision to let Schultz walk unless he's interested in a 2yr, $4mil per year deal. Another "show me" so to speak. Course, Myers got 6x6 so...go get paid Justin.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

Schultz has been a dud for way longer than Marino's been around. Marino being miles better than Schultz just makes moving Schultz even easier--but we still won't do it, because we're too attached to a guy who doesn't move the needle at all for this team.

 

[Peat]

I think that's why part of the defensive build should be a couple guys that can play in the 18-20 range reliably. Letang/Dumo should be 20+, if you can get a Petts-Marino pairing reliably giving you 20, thats great. If not, you need have a 3rd pairing or a "4/5" guy that can eat minutes as well if you see a decline in Marino's play. That maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay be Jack Johnson...but who knows. I'm judging 20-21 roster solely on what I see now. That's a big decision to let Schultz walk unless he's interested in a 2yr, $4mil per year deal. Another "show me" so to speak. Course, Myers got 6x6 so...go get paid Justin.

Fair point of view - although I don't think JJ is the answer to Marino going bad.

I've gotta say though, that me myself, I'm going to keep riding the Marino hype train until I see reason otherwise. He has nothing left to prove other than sustainability.

 

[Richard]

We need Schultz on the powerplay. Once in the zoom there is no one better on the pens from the top of the umbrella.

 

[wgknestrick]

Fair point of view - although I don't think JJ is the answer to Marino going bad.

I've gotta say though, that me myself, I'm going to keep riding the Marino hype train until I see reason otherwise. He has nothing left to prove other than sustainability.

The only thing JJ is the answer to is "Who is our worst D man?"

 

[SEALBound]

The only thing JJ is the answer to is "Who is our worst D man?"

lol...Let me guess, you're not liking Pearson's production either?

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

All I say is, remember Olli Maatta?

I think Marino is awesome, however I wouldn't start getting rid of pieces and building a D corp around him just yet.

Maatta was a special case a]due to injuries/illness and b]the fact his skating was always suspect. The latter was always going to be a concern with regards to preventing him from taking his game to the next level.

Marino has no such concerns.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Wheaties is rebranding to Marino's.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Schultz has been a dud for way longer than Marino's been around. Marino being miles better than Schultz just makes moving Schultz even easier--but we still won't do it, because we're too attached to a guy who doesn't move the needle at all for this team.

Everybody is writing Schultz off, but his playoff production is a huge positive.

That doesnt mean we re-sign him, but we ought to keep him for this playoff run.

 

[ZeroPucksGiven]

Everybody is writing Schultz off, but his playoff production is a huge positive.

That doesnt mean we re-sign him, but we ought to keep him for this playoff run.

I think it's more due to that fact that when you consider our other RHD's:

1) Letang is someone who isn't the bastion of health
2) Marino is a rookie and could easily hit the wall at any moment

The next guy behind them is Ruh, who is best served as a #6 guy

So yeah it'd be dumb to ship out Schultz without another RHD coming back

 

[vikingGoalie]

the thing with Maatta above and beyond his injuries, was that his skating was always suspect and we changed our team identity.
don't forget he started under Johnston, Sullivan took over and JR re-tooled our identity to a fast skating team.
Maatta simply can't keep up with it, he has some smarts and that helps compensate but he was a bad fit for our team identity, imo.

Marino on the other hand skates rather well, and he has some attributes that far exceed anything Maatta ever demonstrated. Marino is a *strong* man, he does not get manhandled and does everything strong, shrug off attackers, get the puck up ice, everything. He also does extremely well under pressure. Maatta never handled forecheckers well, though maybe I'm mis-remembering that part.

Still Marino could have a sophomore slump next season but he has all the tools and the tool bag, barring injury we have a real gem.

 

[Gurglesons]

Maatta was a top four D for us in back to back cup wins so I mean if Marino can do that we good.

 

[KrisLetAngry]

Marino is a top 4 d men that we somehow found.

People reminding me of Maatta I am still hurt by his cancer and injuries he could have been an amazing #2.

Simon despres... I saw him mentioned all I got is .... Rip

 

[HandshakeLine]

Maatta was never going to be a top pairing guy, though, even in his prime. He was being groomed to be top 4.

 

[PensandCaps]

Maatta was never going to be a top pairing guy, though, even in his prime. He was being groomed to be top 4.

had he not got hurt and riddled with cancer, he probably would've been a #2/#3 guy.

he got noticable slower after all that stuff with his cancer/thyroid. that drains a lot of energy out of someone