a forward is supposed to cover for him, not his partner, but i guess that's on karlsson because he can notice if a forward is in a position to cover for himIt was also mentioned on the radio this morning how difficult it must be for a Karlsson defence partner to have to skate all the way across the ice to cover for him then be stuck in their own end for a while before getting off & how gassed they must be.
Weber looked like hot garbage without Suter a few years back
It's easy to forget how young Karlsson is
I'm of the mind that a reliable partner will get him to relax a bit, right now he's probably acutely aware of how any **** up on his part is going to be costly but, at the same time, he's an instinctive player, not cerebral: he's the kind of player who needs to be at ease. This might change as he matures of course.
Playing with Phillips or Boro just isn't working and evne once he does get a competent partner, it will still take a while for him to get comfortable
I think management needs to start looking at getting him someone soon because Methot cannot be relied upon. That's if the team wants to make the playoffs. If not might as well see how the year plays out and gain more experience but we are not going anywhere with Phillips or Boro on the top pair, it ain't happening.
Karlsson should play with Cowen until the two meld as a pair. Enough pissing around. Anyone here has a problem with the possibility of mistakes? Take a look at our current options. Methot will likely go on long term IR again soon, and then have to look at surgery. He is done for this season and we likely will not have him next season.
pretty much thisCan't disagree it would be nice if Murray could find a top pairing guy in the near term, but extremely unlikely.
What Murray might like to move isn't going to bring back a top pairing guy, no way no how.
Besides top D-men aren't usually available via trade even if Murray was willing to move one or two of the young players.
IMO this team isn't going to make the playoff, too many holes and most of them in the forward ranks.
we tried cowen and karlsson and it was not pretty
it seems like cowen and ceci is decent
Can't disagree it would be nice if Murray could find a top pairing guy in the near term, but extremely unlikely.
What Murray might like to move isn't going to bring back a top pairing guy, no way no how.
Besides top D-men aren't usually available via trade even if Murray was willing to move one or two of the young players.
IMO this team isn't going to make the playoff, too many holes and most of them in the forward ranks.
Fair enough but I'm having serious doubts about Methot's long term viability if his back is this messed up
I doubt we have anyone in the system we could want to take over his spot too
I'm thinking it might be time to look at moving some players we'd maybe rather not to deal with this issue
Karlsson should play with Cowen until the two meld as a pair. Enough pissing around. Anyone here has a problem with the possibility of mistakes? Take a look at our current options. Methot will likely go on long term IR again soon, and then have to look at surgery. He is done for this season and we likely will not have him next season.
Move Methot, Wiercioch out for what ever we can get. Bring up Claesson and put him on the second line with Ceci, Move Cowen up with Karlsson, Let Phillips and Boro fight it out for third line defensive minutes on the left side.
I thought we played very well tonight. Quick was outstanding in goal; that's the reason we lost IMO.
Phillips' ice-time actually decreased compared to the past few games. 17 minutes, given the fact that Cowen got 15 minutes despite his 7 minutes worth of penalties is encouraging. Basically the ice-time was spread evenly among the LDs. This is encouraging. Hopefully means Phillips gets gradually phased out.
Cowen was a monster; Boro was his usual solid self; our bottom 6 played really well. Again, encouraging.
I have a feeling if they stick to this there's still a chance for a turnaround. And I know this makes me sound like Jim Carrey.
Good 1st. Mental breakdowns leading to goals.
standard sens.
He's got two more years after this at $4 million so I'd say it's pretty darn bad considering he already plays like a fringe third liner.
Problem with throwing Cowen into the fire is it might be terrible for his continued development.
I am sure that was/is the long term plan, an EK-JC pairing.
However throwing young D into first pairing responsibilities before they are ready potentially assures failure.
The best solution is to find help via the trade route, but what team gives up top pairing capable Dmen for spare parts or potential?
If Methot is gone for long stints or even the season as you suggest, then be prepared to see Phillips as EK partner for most of the remaining games.
we tried cowen and karlsson and it was not pretty
it seems like cowen and ceci is decent
a forward is supposed to cover for him, not his partner, but i guess that's on karlsson because he can notice if a forward is in a position to cover for him
They have been a god pairing, but Ceci is significantly more predictable and carries a bigger part of the load in the D-Zone than EK presently does.
Now if EK removed some of the risk in his game, Cowen might be the answer, if not the team would just be setting Cowen up to fail IMO.
Anyone else notice that sick rush by Lazar in the 3rd?
The guy just took off and blew by both teams. I didn't know he was that fast!
Chicago had to do it with Seabrook and Keith. Doughty was thrown into the fire as well. Right now nobody is willing to go through the failure as fans. This has nothing to do with the players. We are afraid of being fans of a losing team, we are afraid of seeing our team make mistakes and falter. They are young... Cowen will not be harmed by playing with Karlsson. Not if the coach is good enough to keep them mentally aware. To have them not dwell on the negatives and look at the positives. The reality is, we do not have any other options than Cowen. This team is going to make mistakes either way. But Cowen will develop more, with more minutes than Phillips ever will.
It is funny, we want our forward prospects to have more minutes to develop when they show potential, but we want to hold those minutes from our Defenders? Ceci can hold the fort on the second line as a right winger, we need a left winger with him, whether Phillips or Boro. Karlsson needs a defender that can move the puck, who is big and ugly on defense... that is Cowen.
He played Greening?!!
Cameron really has few options roster wise with MacArthur's illness, Michalek on IR and Methot's issue.
While I would expect subtle changes in play, until Murray can find a way to rid the team of 3 or 4 guys and get some new blood I doubt much will change.
IMO Smith, Michalek, Legwand, and even Neil just are providing much other than filling up the 4th line.
Tim Murray said it best, veterans are great to have on a young team but they have to be able to play.
Unfortunately the Sens veterans really aren't contributing much on the ice even if they are great mentors.
imo the difference between Karlsson playing with Phillips or Boro and Karlsson playing with Methot (or Kuba back in the day) was he could trust his partner to make a pass or skate the puck out, and the opposition had to respect that. When Karlsson plays with Phillips, the forecheckers can pressure Karlsson much harder.
Karlsson needs to adapt better to playing with those guys, that's on him for sure. That said, with this team being offensively starved, I'm sure he feels he needs to create more offense now than ever before. And that really is the problem; we are asking him to create offense at a higher rate while increasing the pressure on him by limiting his options. It's not that he's playing fine but his partners suck, it's that expectations on him rise because his partner sucks, and the rest of the team can't create enough offense without him.
I think we would probably be ok with Karlsson playing with a guy like Phillips or Boro if we just told him not to worry about offense, just play D and wait for the PP. He could probaly be an even player, but we're not asking that of him, we're asking him to create offense on his own, while handicaped by his partner.
Now that the disappointment of losing is gone, I can rationally say I was really happy with how we played last night. Kings only had 1 shot more than us (good considering some weird penalties called against us) and the score was essentially 4-3 if you don't count the empty netter. Considering they were the defending champs I'm really impressed. We probably win last night againt any other team besides LA or Chicago. Not to mention player usage was SO much better.
LOL!
The one thing I noticed was a far faster and more aggressive forecheck, whoch led to turnovers and more puck posession in the Ozone. That was about all that was new that I saw.