Losing Sammy, Bert and CC have been addition by subtraction.
We've been able to give Tatar, Nyquist and Kindl looks they wouldn't have gotten.
Andersson too.
Losing Sammy, Bert and CC have been addition by subtraction.
We've been able to give Tatar, Nyquist and Kindl looks they wouldn't have gotten.
I forgot about the SOs. That's true.
But I think his injury is the kind that will never really let him get into his best at this point in his career.
Andersson too.
Andersson too.
I guess you can say he's been a "Kindl Surprise" this year.
No?
Alright, I tried.
Kindl looked mediocre in his first 100 NHL games = Just needs consistent playing time/still has upside
Smith looks average his first 36 games = Overrated/Bust.
Come on.
Andersson took Helm's spot. Pretty big downgrade.
Babcock called Helm the best 3rd line center in the league, so that is obvious. If you look at it that way.
But if I remember right Tatar was called up 1st and Andersson later. Of course Andersson is nowhere near Helm.
It's funny.
I'm a big supporter of playing the kids but I understand there will be growing pains and a learning curve.
Seems like a lot of people here want the kids to play and expect them to be finished products already.
That's not how it works with where we draft, and even our best players were not close to the players you see today when they first broke on the scene.
"Kindl Suprise" is good, but I'm still hoping for Jakub "the E-Reader" Kindl to catch on.
He's turned the page on his early-career struggles. This is a new chapter in the Kindl story.
I am not really in that crowd you're talking about. But I have been wondering clear back to the Griffins during the lockout where Smith's top end gear went? This is the worst I have seen him skate since his freshman year at Wisconsin. I am assuming he did something in the off-season programming that hurt it a little or he is carrying some kind of nagging injury, hoping he can pick up some of the explosion I have seen from him in the past it is missing and I cannot explain it.
Andersson took Helm's spot. Pretty big downgrade.
It's funny.
I'm a big supporter of playing the kids but I understand there will be growing pains and a learning curve.
Seems like a lot of people here want the kids to play and expect them to be finished products already.
That's not how it works with where we draft, and even our best players were not close to the players you see today when they first broke on the scene.
I'm still really high on Smith and see little value in evaluating his career potential so early in his career, but I'll say this in defense of others: I think people expected Smith to come in and commit the same defensive mistakes he has been...but at the expense of offense. I don't think anyone expected a player touted so highly for his skating, puck-moving, creativity, and offense to have 1 point and 0 goals through his first 20 games of the season and have a habit of putting the puck off the glass instead of making the outlet pass.
Granted, I personally blame Babcock for Smith's lack of offense/puck-moving.
I'm still really high on Smith and see little value in evaluating his career potential so early in his career, but I'll say this in defense of others: I think people expected Smith to come in and commit the same defensive mistakes he has been...but at the expense of offense. I don't think anyone expected a player touted so highly for his skating, puck-moving, creativity, and offense to have 1 point and 0 goals through his first 20 games of the season and have a habit of putting the puck off the glass instead of making the outlet pass.
Granted, I personally blame Babcock for Smith's lack of offense/puck-moving.
Kindl is tentative.
Some of it is orders from coach.
Some of it is that things move faster than he expects.
He's going to get a lot better. I just hope the Wings live through his mistakes instead of benching him and trading for bums like Quincey instead.
He's not moving he puck badly though. He's just not getting the bounces. When you watch Smith, his offensive IQ is so visible. He reads plays very well. He's jumped in a few times and gotten a few good looks. Just didn't bury them. He also is pretty good on knowing when to pinch to keep a play alive. He's definitely going to start producing at some point.
My bad. For whatever reason I thought Bertuzzi was injured a lot lately. He should be a better winger for Datsyuk than Abdelkader.I remember reading an update that the pain from his back is now affecting his leg(s). If that's true I don't think he's coming back (given his age and previous back issues), one more year on LTIR and then he hangs em up.
Sad way for his career to end and I'd love to be proven wrong, he is still (somewhat) useful.
To be honest I did not know anything about Andersson before he came up to the Wings.Andersson couldn't skate at this level last year, he was woeful in his callup. I am happy he continues to improve there, plus they are finally using him on the penalty kill. When guys are that excellent at it in the AHL level I hate when they don't get tried out in that job right away. Will be pulling my hair out if upon callup Ferraro and Sheahan aren't used in that role. That befuddled me to no end last year when Andersson was up of course the skating could have played a role there. If he can pick up just a little more speed this off-season he is an interesting player going forward. If he cannot than there are likely better options on the horizon and he will likely lose his spot. Andersson and Lashoff try hard, but there are still serious limitations to their games at the NHL level. Andersson is a lot closer to sorting his out though.
By the way since Andersson seems to be up for good, can we please get him a normal number now.
I think Smith is a bit overrated on this board.It's funny.
I'm a big supporter of playing the kids but I understand there will be growing pains and a learning curve.
Seems like a lot of people here want the kids to play and expect them to be finished products already.
That's not how it works with where we draft, and even our best players were not close to the players you see today when they first broke on the scene.
Kindl is 26. Don't they say it takes a long time to develop a Dman, specially of his size?
Kindl is 26. Don't they say it takes a long time to develop a Dman, specially of his size?