Is Tomas Plekanec underated?

[MsChanandlerBong]

He's one of the best two-way forwards in the NHL, so yeah I think he's underrated most of the time. He just came off a slow season (production-wise)...his ability to notch 50-55 pts against the best players in the NHL while playing with the likes of Gionta and receiving his tough minutes...it's not an easy role.

 

[Sweeney]

2013-14 SELKE TROPHY VOTING -- TOP 10
Player Pts. (1st-2nd-3rd-4th-5th)
Bergeron, BOS 1,283 (112-21-2-2-0)
Kopitar, LAK 840 (20-66-26-15-3)
Toews, CHI 624 (2-36-57-20-7)
Backes, STL 415 (3-5-31-59-18)
Hossa, CHI 66 (0-5-2-2-15)
O'Reilly, COL 58 (0-0-3-10-13)
Plekanec, MTL 45 (0-0-4-5-10)
Pavelski, SJS 32 (0-0-2-3-13)
Couturier, PHI 30 (0-1-2-1-10)
Getzlaf, ANA 22 (0-1-1-2-4)

 

[Mr Jackpot]

Bergeron, BOS 1,283 (112-21-2-2-0)

Plekanec, MTL 45 (0-0-4-5-10)

...

They are not in the same solar system.

And btw a Selke candidate by definition is a player that has a chance to win the Selke, Plek has zero chance to win the Selke, he has some votes but he's not a Selke candidate.

 

[ECWHSWI]

He's one of the best two-way forwards in the NHL, so yeah I think he's underrated most of the time. He just came off a slow season (production-wise)...his ability to notch 50-55 pts against the best players in the NHL while playing with the likes of Gionta and receiving his tough minutes...it's not an easy role.

pretty much, I think people tend to forget that... whenever we play the Pens, he's the one facing Crosby, when facing the Flyers he's the one going against Giroux, and it's the same against the Ducks, Kings, Leafs (Kessel line), Hawks, NYI, Bolts, and so on...

 

[Mr Jackpot]

Regarding Plek playing big minutes to shut down the opponents, if he was at the same level or better than the opposing centers, he wouldn't need to shut down anyone, other teams would need to shutdown Plek. Plek is just not good enough offensively and doesn't have the size to compete with other centers.

What about we find or develop a center that is close, equal or better than other top centers around the league?

 

[ECWHSWI]

Regarding Plek playing big minutes to shut down the opponents, if he was at the same level or better than the opposing centers, he wouldn't need to shut down anyone, other teams would need to shutdown Plek. Plek is just not good enough offensively and doesn't have the size to compete with other centers.

What about we find or develop a center that is close, equal or better than other top centers around the league?

oh! he's overrated cause he's not the best C in the league, I see...

 

[MsChanandlerBong]

Regarding Plek playing big minutes to shut down the opponents, if he was at the same level or better than the opposing centers, he wouldn't need to shut down anyone, other teams would need to shutdown Plek. Plek is just not good enough offensively and doesn't have the size to compete with other centers.

What about we find or develop a center that is close, equal or better than other top centers around the league?

Sorry, but how can you spew bullsh*t like this and not expect people to call you an idiot. "He's just not good enough offensively"...There are, as you saw on that list, 7 centers in the entire NHL who are arguably better at this role than he is, so essentially everyone except those 7 are garbage to you. The reason he gets so much ice time is because no one of the habs can replace his role...eller is good defensively but not on that level, and his offense isn't there...eller is the closest we have to a plekanec and it isn't that close. Think before you speak.

 

[Mr Jackpot]

Sorry, but how can you spew bullsh*t like this and not expect people to call you an idiot. "He's just not good enough offensively"...There are, as you saw on that list, 7 centers in the entire NHL who are arguably better at this role than he is, so essentially everyone except those 7 are garbage to you. The reason he gets so much ice time is because no one of the habs can replace his role...eller is good defensively but not on that level, and his offense isn't there...eller is the closest we have to a plekanec and it isn't that close. Think before you speak.

at his role I mean wtf, you think Kopitar, Toews, Datsyuk has a role to shutdown the opponent?? I mean wtf, Plek has a role because he doesn't produce enough period, I mean whats so hard to understand with that, Jesus ****ing christ, dont put Plek in the same category as Bergeron, Toews, Datsyuk and Kopitar wtf is wrong with you guys, if he would get 70 pts+ per year he wouldn't need to shutdown the ****ing opposition.

 

[DAChampion]

If Plekanec played DD's coddled minutes he would score 75 points and go +30.

 

[Mr Jackpot]

If Plekanec played DD's coddled minutes he would score 75 points and go +30.

There we have it right there, this is where Plek is overrated, people thinks that he could get 75 pts with DD minutes.

 

[MsChanandlerBong]

There we have it right there, this is where Plek is overrated, people thinks that he could get 75 pts with DD minutes.

You do realize he hit 70pts and 69pts before, right? My goodness.

 

[ECWHSWI]

There we have it right there, this is where Plek is overrated, people thinks that he could get 75 pts with DD minutes.

with a 40 goal winger on his side ? I say 80, easy.

 

[Smokey Thompson]

I watched him play against Boston and New-York, he was invisible, and now we even have stats that indicates he isn't good in any aspect of the game.

So you watched him against Boston.... Then you can tell me how many goals clutch Krejci scored that series. Now tell me who shadowed him all series long.

There is your answer... And yes Plek is underrated.

 

[MXD]

Usually rated correctly by people who know their stuff.

Which is -- not by many people around here.

 

[CHaracter79]

If you take Patrice Bergeron for example, who I am not comparing to Plek, AND give him Moen and Gionta as linemates for a 48 game strike shortened season, can you tell me for sure that Bergeron would get 35 points in 44 games while be the top checking forward on the team and the forward with the 7th highest PP time

hes a .62 carreer PPG player playing on one of the least offensive teams in the league, getting sub par PP time, whilst playing the shutdown role against top lines from other teams.

and getting 5 m per..

Perhaps our #1 center should produce more like a #1 center

 

[Rosso Scuderia]

Let's just pretend that Plekanec is overrated so the OP can be happy. He doesn't want to have a conversation, he just want us to have the same opinion as his.

 

[Lshap]

Regarding Plek playing big minutes to shut down the opponents, if he was at the same level or better than the opposing centers, he wouldn't need to shut down anyone, other teams would need to shutdown Plek. Plek is just not good enough offensively and doesn't have the size to compete with other centers.

What about we find or develop a center that is close, equal or better than other top centers around the league?

You might want to rethink your premise.

You're measuring Plekanec only by the points he produces. You're ignoring the opposition points he prevents. He spends a huge chunk of his ice time keeping the other team from scoring, a job everyone in the league acknowledges he's very good at.

 

[417]

I happen to think that he's quite overrated by Habs fans...

But that doesn't make him a bad player, he's quite useful actually and a tremendous professional.

I think fans from other teams view him for what he is...a solid 2 way player who doesn't excel at any particular part of the game (although he's a great PK player, so I guess he does excel at something), but does everything well.

 

[Kafka]

It depends who is evaluating him.

A lot of "fans" in Montreal thought Kovalev and Ryder were great players. I wasn't one of those. Why? Because these guys defensive contribution, or it's lack of, was equal to their offensive contribution. In the end, they were providing as much goals as they cost. Plekanec however, is the kind of two-way centerman that is precious on a second line. This game is not only about scoring goals... it's about preventing the other team from getting them. Just watch who Plekanec is facing game after game (home games). You'll see why he is so precious.

 

[CHaracter79]

I really dont get what the issue is here really..

Why are we even comparing Plek to players like kopitar and toews.

Plek is our 2nd line Center.

Are there any second line centers that bring what he does... 5-60 points a year and closing down top line centers at the same time?

 

[Account Terminated]

If Plekanec played DD's coddled minutes he would score 75 points and go +30.

Err, not sure if you missed it but DD's line plays against top-6 opposition, as proven by a thread posted not too long ago with statistics on who DD's line played against on every given night, against every team. I'd say it's far from "coddled".

With that said, I'd love to see Plekanec with a 35-40 goal scorer on his wing, just to get a glimpse at what he could do with that.

 

[jpchabby]

at his role I mean wtf, you think Kopitar, Toews, Datsyuk has a role to shutdown the opponent?? I mean wtf, Plek has a role because he doesn't produce enough period, I mean whats so hard to understand with that, Jesus ****ing christ, dont put Plek in the same category as Bergeron, Toews, Datsyuk and Kopitar wtf is wrong with you guys, if he would get 70 pts+ per year he wouldn't need to shutdown the ****ing opposition.

I don't think anyone is seaying he's as good as Toews, Bergeron and Datsyuk.

What we're saying is, considering the way we use him, which is solely giving him the job of shutting down the opposition and not really any offensive responsibilities, it's not okay to ask him to score 70 points a year.

He already did get 69 and 70 points when he played with better players on his side. But in the last years, we've paired him with Travis Moen, a washed up Brian Gionta, Brandon Prust, a non-motivated René Bourque, etc. We gave him crappy players to play on his line, and you expect him to get 70 points?

Toews and Bergeron both get to play with better players than that, of course they'll score more points.

I don't understand the point you're trying to make... Plekanec sucks? He sucks denfensively? He sucks offensively? Because whichever it is, you're just wrong... Plekanec is efficient at every job the coaching staff gives him, and you have to look past the obvious stats (only points/goals/+-) to judge that kind of things.

 

[jpchabby]

Err, not sure if you missed it but DD's line plays against top-6 opposition, as proven by a thread posted not too long ago with statistics on who DD's line played against on every given night, against every team. I'd say it's far from "coddled".

With that said, I'd love to see Plekanec with a 35-40 goal scorer on his wing, just to get a glimpse at what he could do with that.

Me too.

But then again, Plekanec shoots a lot... When we paired him with Vanek (when Vanek first arrived), I don't remember it working that well... I guess someone could correct me on that though. But I remember in the 2010 playoffs that him and Cammalleri (shoot first kind of guy) worked very well and Cammy scored in the first minutes of every freaking game :p

Maybe pair him with a guy that's not purely a sniper, and not purely a playmaker either?

 

[lillypad33]

I don't think anyone is seaying he's as good as Toews, Bergeron and Datsyuk.

What we're saying is, considering the way we use him, which is solely giving him the job of shutting down the opposition and not really any offensive responsibilities, it's not okay to ask him to score 70 points a year.

He already did get 69 and 70 points when he played with better players on his side. But in the last years, we've paired him with Travis Moen, a washed up Brian Gionta, Brandon Prust, a non-motivated René Bourque, etc. We gave him crappy players to play on his line, and you expect him to get 70 points?

Toews and Bergeron both get to play with better players than that, of course they'll score more points.

I don't understand the point you're trying to make... Plekanec sucks? He sucks denfensively? He sucks offensively? Because whichever it is, you're just wrong... Plekanec is efficient at every job the coaching staff gives him, and you have to look past the obvious stats (only points/goals/+-) to judge that kind of things.

I think that the best way to describe Pleks is by using the word "Solid"
He's never going to wow you with the things he does, but he's pretty darn good at everything he does.
Pleks is great at nothing, good at everything, and bad at nothing.
He can play on any line and will make the guys around him better.

 

[Miller Time]

Yes.

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