Klesla

[rinkrat13]

I dont hear enough about this guy... what do you think of him? opinions of what he'll turn into? (more importantly - his offensive upside)

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[n00dles]

if you're refering to Rostislav Klesla from the blue jackets then...............ummm he is in the league for what, three years now ??

 

[CBJSlash]

He's struggled with inconsistency. Everybody knows that it takes longer for defensemen to mature. Every time he is starting to turn the corner, he makes a boneheaded turnover or he gets injured. He had a scary injury on an icing touch up and it was thought he may have torn his MCL, but it turned out to be a strain. At the beginning of this year he started to be more of a physical presence. With Nash, and the addition of Zherdev, the spotlight will be off of Klesla and hopefully his development won't be rushed. Since Maclean has been behind the bench he has given the young guys a lot of ice time, so hopefully he will get healthy soon. I still think he has the makings of an excellent Top 3-4 d-man

 

[The Jerk*]

I was hoping for a break-out year from him this year especially with the acquisition of Darryl Sydor, that hasn't happened yet. What you have to keep in mind is that this kid is still very young, he's only 21, I still believe that he can be a #1 d-man in this league.

 

[CRAZY_FAN]

He's very young and still not playing a lot on the PP (reason why is points total arent so good)...Give him time he's still a work in progress...

 

[rinkrat13]

Thanks for all the informative posts.... still no one has really touched on his offensive potential. I think he'll have a great all round game sooner rather then later, just not sold on his offensive potential. I say this cuz he really hasn't put up great numbers, and this is going back to junior (in Brampton GP 112 PTS 99 and Sioux City GP54 PTS 16) good numbers but not great.

IMO he'll be a 30 point D in the bigs. Nothing to write home about.

 

[JF Omalycat]

Thanks for all the informative posts.... still no one has really touched on his offensive potential. I think he'll have a great all round game sooner rather then later, just not sold on his offensive potential. I say this cuz he really hasn't put up great numbers, and this is going back to junior (in Brampton GP 112 PTS 99 and Sioux City GP54 PTS 16) good numbers but not great.

IMO he'll be a 30 point D in the bigs. Nothing to write home about.

The kid's got a great shot when his confidence level is up, but I think the organization is trying to stress his defensive development. God knows our team needs it....
Just my opinion, though.

 

[Jovavic]

I think Aaron Johnson will outpoint Rusty in a few season. Johnson, IMO, has a better shot and sees the ice in the offensive zone better than Rusty. I agree with the post from above, 30 points for Rusty sounds ok. He did score 8 goals in his rookie year, so I see him maybe getting that high again. AJ, I think, will top out at 40 points.

 

[V for Voodoo]

I think his offensive potential is being underrated here. He has most of the tools you look for in a defenseman that can put up some points, or run a power play. Combined with his physical package, this is what made him such a highly sought prospect a few years ago.

In my opinion, we saw the best of Klesla in his rookie season, but since then he has had to bear down and improve his all around game, which has limited what he is able to do out on the ice.

Clearly though, his development has taken longer than most (myself included) expected.
I think we'll see the best of him in 2-3 years, as he slowly improves along the way.