It's pretty hard to hit the ceiling when you can't got off of the floor.
I'm curious as to what you see in Despres game? His inability to win battles? His constant turnovers? His inability to make a quick, let alone, accurate pass out of the zone? His constant fumbles at the blue-line?
Exactly what do you see that makes you believe he has upside potential?
The argument can be made that Lovejoy was not much of an upgrade. The argument cannot be made that it wasn't an upgrade.
Is this a joke?
Despres is a 6'4, 220 pound defenseman who skates better than any defender on the team outside of Letang. He was one of the guys that did have a good breakout pass. He was one of the few guys that could skate the puck out of the zone and carry it.
Don't get me wrong, that's not to say that his game was without flaws. When he was first drafted, his biggest knock was the lack of a physical game; well, we can see the mean streak that he developed. He was probably the Pens' most physical defenseman this season. His biggest flaw this season was definitely his decision making with the puck. But you know, that's be be expected. He's what, 23 years old? And it takes far longer for a defenseman to come into their own than an offenseman, since it's so much more of a cerebral game.
He's a young defenseman with good instincts, gifted with the raw physical tools that only a handful of players in the NHL have. He was never given a fair shake by Pens management, and Lovejoy has shown to be inferior in just about every way. Lovejoy is slower, less physical, loses most board battles(like the one last night to 5'6 Marty St. Louis that led to the OT goal), and their defensive positioning is probably on par. There are only two things that I can realistically give Lovejoy over Despres. First, he's more consistent. Despres definitely had his share of bad games this season, but that's because he's a 22 year old defenseman, still developing. It's bound to happen, and his good games far outshone anything that Lovejoy has done. Second, is the decision making that Lovejoy has with the puck. But even then, it's a very, very marginal gap, if there is one. A pointless icing last night by Lovejoy contributed to the game winning goal last night.
If that's Despres on St. Louis last night, he's not coming out from behind the net like that. He's getting planted. If it's Despres on Hayes instead of Martin, Hayes would be getting hit.
I first thought Lovejoy may have been an upgrade for this season, at least. I was wrong.
