Its weird because when we replaced him with Manning we had a losing record but I'm sure that had nothing to do with the switch except for the fact you know when we went back to Persson we started winning again. I'm not even mad he went down because we now have a line up that won't see Manning in games but don't (the team and anyone buying into it) try and tell me he didn't help the record immensely. It is the same reason why the team has continued to win with Jones in the line up they both offer similar things for the line up and one another. Persson/Jones works with Klefbom because they both are capable of making individual plays both in the offensive and defensive zone. Instead of bumping/chipping the puck everytime they get it (Manning/Benning/Russel) they make plays that lead to better break outs and better utilized offensive zone time for the forwards. Cycles don't end because one of the nobrand D we were icing continually throwing it back into the corners every time the forwards worked got control and through it back to the point. There was better back and fourth between Persson and Klefbom in the Ozone than there ever was when Russel was playing in that spot. Acting like he didn't contribute to that 8-1-1 record is dumb.
I’m not acting like he did not contribute but I can say that he was not a key contributor to the wins, but he did contribute nonetheless. However it’s no different than blaming Manning as the reason we lost games he participated in.
No question from me that we are better off with Jones up and Persson down, Russell on the bottom pair on his strong side and Manning sitting.
The fact remains that Tippett, Playfair, Holland and K Gretzky feel Persson needs to work on his game as he’s only had 10 games in the NHL, and it’s coming at him too fast now. From what Ive seen I agree.
Strudwick who played a decade in the league said he is winded in practice drills and he should not be.
Given none of us see practice and Strudwick does and given his direct experience in being in NHL shape I’d say his making a qualified statement about Perrsons conditioning which is probably fairly accurate.
It’s not a failure of the player, merely a step in his development. It’s not a failure of the organization as it’s what good orgs do, recognize when players start to get in over their head and adjust so the player is set up for success, rather than do what we always used to do, play the shit out of them in slots where they are bound to fail.
Good decision to send him down and it will only benefit both him and the team.