Matt Irwin- What if he turns the corner?

[FeedingFrenzy]

My guess is Irwin has the 5/6 job to lose.. Can he have a break-out year? What are you fans expecting from him? 3rd pairing D.. For myself, 5g/22a isn't out of the question. He had 2g/17a in just 62 games last year. Where does he need to improve (in your mind) in order to lockdown his position as the 5/6. Could he be traded with Nemo at some point? Maybe he continues to play like he did in the PO's.
Irwin is the "sleeper" the more I think about it. If he improved and is progressing, what are our expectations for him? What would make you Happy so to speak? He has 2 yrs under his belt and this being a contract year might motivate him atad more.

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[hotcabbagesoup]

Can somebody say Stanley Cup Playoffs?!!! Yea baby.

 

[Kcoyote3]

One huge thing, he needs to learn how to shoot the puck. Not blindly, but his shots are almost never on target. Error corrected this, and I hope Irwin can too.

Also he makes pretty dumb mistakes in positioning.

 

[5H4RK5]

Just needs to shoot 1000 pucks a day while being defended and with a small spot to hit on the net the bottle on top if one miss occurs start all over.

 

[Gene Parmesan]

His biggest issue is his skating. He will never be more than 5/6 unless he improves his acceleration and speed and lateral agility.

 

[bigwillie]

His biggest issue is his skating. He will never be more than 5/6 unless he improves his acceleration and speed and lateral agility.

Agreed. And his skating issue is what makes his shot so poor too. He's almost never moving when he shoots, making it an easy block for defenders.

If he does improve his lateral agility and learns to shoot while moving, his shot, which on its own is actually pretty damn good, will start getting to the net a lot more, and he'll start helping to create a lot more offense.

 

[sr228]

One huge thing, he needs to learn how to shoot the puck. Not blindly, but his shots are almost never on target. Error corrected this, and I hope Irwin can too.

Also he makes pretty dumb mistakes in positioning.

Irwin is actually really good when it comes to not only his actual shot but his accuracy, it's been his best asset going back to UMass.

 

[Kcoyote3]

Irwin is actually really good when it comes to not only his actual shot but his accuracy, it's been his best asset going back to UMass.

Then maybe it is as mentioned above where he isn't moving enough when he shoots. Because every game I watched from him his shots were into the shins of defenders or teammates.

 

[one2gamble]

Then maybe it is as mentioned above where he isn't moving enough when he shoots. Because every game I watched from him his shots were into the shins of defenders or teammates.

indecisiveness

 

[sr228]

Then maybe it is as mentioned above where he isn't moving enough when he shoots. Because every game I watched from him his shots were into the shins of defenders or teammates.

He definitely needs to improve his footwork and be better at finding lanes but the latter part kinda goes for all of the Sharks d-men now that Boyle is gone.

 

[bigwillie]

He definitely needs to improve his footwork and be better at finding lanes but the latter part kinda goes for all of the Sharks d-men now that Boyle is gone.

Agreed on this front. Vlasic and Braun are bad at this too. I'm not even sure if Scott Hannan knows how to shoot a hockey puck. Demers and Burns are the only ones who aren't mediocre.

 

[CrazedZooChimp]

Then maybe it is as mentioned above where he isn't moving enough when he shoots. Because every game I watched from him his shots were into the shins of defenders or teammates.

I haven't noticed it with Irwin, but one big issue Ehrhoff had (and lots of guys have) is that they take too much of a wind-up and the shot gets off slowly. Ehrhoff got much better when he started taking a smaller wind-up. Maybe a similar issue? But like I said, I haven't really looked at Irwins shots enough to tell.

 

[JodyShelleysNo1Fan]

Every time I see him on the ice, I'm reminded of a softer version Douglas Murray.

 

[Levie]

I thought him turning the corner was making it into the NHL. I'm honestly surprised he made it that far.

 

[The Ice Hockey Dude]

I'm not sure what additional upside he has at this point. He is a no. 6 or 7 depending on who he's paired with.

He needs to work on his foot speed, quickness and getting shots through or the puck deep. The former would help the latter for sure.

 

[SactoShark]

I thought him turning the corner was making it into the NHL. I'm honestly surprised he made it that far.

That's exactly what I was thinking reading through this. But on the other hand, he is only 26.

 

[Nighthock]

I'll hold my judgment until he actually learns the definition of defense

 

[SnarkAttack]

Every time I see him on the ice, I'm reminded of a softer version Douglas Murray.

I've thought a lot of bad things watching Irwin, but this isn't one of them.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

I've thought a lot of bad things watching Irwin, but this isn't one of them.

I'm reminded of an over-the-hill Mike Rathje.

 

[Kcoyote3]

I'm reminded of an over-the-hill Mike Rathje.

He's a slightly better version of Jim Fahey.