- Dec 29, 2016
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Samberg is also a better skater than Pionk, Dillon, and Demelo - and a better defender than Pionk and Smitty -My only beef with Stanley is his insertion into the lineup comes at the cost of somebody better being out. If he were better than everybody else, I'd have no issue with him being in the lineup. It's that simple. Samberg has shown in his smaller NHL resume that he is a better defender and a more agile skater.
I don't think he is any better than Stan at defending - they just have differing strenghts.
If I were to break it down between the two of them:
Stan is a lot more poised out there when defending - he doesn't run around and his outlets are smart and on target - Samberg will get caught running around at times and his outlets are often rushed and stressed - especially if it's busy back there.
Samberg is quicker so he can get to loose pucks faster. Stan is probably better at stopping the cycle - just with his size.
They both are physical at Jets standards - they take the man and can hit - I don't see one being much better than the next.
They both can manage plays on the boards and net front as good as anyone on the team (other than you know who) -
As far as up and down speed goes, they can both get up and down the ice with decent speed - both are faster than Pionk, Smitty or Demelo. But Stan won't look at pretty doing it - but he can go. Samberg has much better mechanics
Backing in is Stan's weakness - he doesn't make the turn as well and that's his height being a disadvantage - he's not agile.
But then again, if you are watching Pionk, he's as bad or worse. Smitty isn't much better. Demelo gets caught a lot too - his turns are OK, but he's as slow as slow gets as a dman when he's backing in. Samberg is OK - and getting better.
Stan has a pretty good stick - and he's using it more now than he has in the past - probably coaching. His wing span makes it tough to beat him one on one - as long as he leaves some gap - and he can with that wingspan - coaching is helping him here for sure - the learning will continue despite how long he has been around.
Samberg has better gap and uses it more - I like how he defends backing in and think he is one of the better dmen on the team in that regard.
If we want to, we can drill holes in most of our D - other than JoMo, they all have problems.
Stan gets a lot of fan attention because he's been around longer and the others are still getting the benefit of the doubt as far as their ceiling is perceived.
Many see him as peaked or close to it - when he makes a mistake, it is heard around the world - but when you reflect, he has shown gradual improvement (w/ last year being an outlier due to the teams over all performance).
What is obvious is that the org is not prepared to give up on him and likely see the improvements - he appears to be worth the time and energy they are putting into him (and patience) as far as they are concerned.
Then again, he could be part of a package on is way out tomorrow - but so could any of the guys battling for that last spot.
I will admit, I'm a self professed Stan fan - I like his attitude, work ethic, and team spirit - and he's a guy that is worth the time IMO.
I also think that if he was as bad as some of the feedback he gets, he would have been long gone by now.
Apologies in advance for the long winded take