I like Paul, and I’m glad you think very highly of him.
Personally I don’t miss him off the team, as I don’t think as highly of him as a player as many seem to.
I think the best parts of his game would make him an excellent developmental coach like Donovan and Winchester. Perhaps we’ll see him able to help the Sens with his approach to the game in a more practical off ice role.
Nothing wrong with Paul in the same sentence as Tom Pyatt. Pyatt was a solid bottom six guy for a fairly long time, and was a good soldier for us. That’s what Paul is as well.
Anyways, we can agree to disagree, and like I said I’m happy that you think so highly of the guy. Undeniably he’s worked hard enough to have earned a few die hard fans.
I don't think "very highly of him" however my vision for how to build a hockey team is much more developed than it was 20 or even 30 years ago. I think highly of him BUT as a bottom-6 forward. Like I think highly of Calle Jarnkrok for example
Remember 2007 and the "nothing" line? (Niedermayer-Pahlsson-Moen). It's hard to rebuild that kind of chemistry but even though they didn't put a lot of points, they were impacting the game a lot defensively
I just wish we had Paul-Pinto-Brown as our 3rd line.
Tkachuk-Stutzle-Giroux
Greig-Norris-Batherson
Paul-Pinto-Brown
??????-Kastelic-??????
Then have a guy like Marco Kasper as our #1 prospect (or a prospect from that 2022 draft if we traded for Chychrun earlier using that 7th OA pick)
That said, we should be fun to watch this year, high octane offense... Not sure about making the playoffs but scores of games involving Ottawa should be quite high.
Nothing wrong with Paul in the same sentence as Tom Pyatt. Pyatt was a solid bottom six guy for a fairly long time, and was a good soldier for us. That’s what Paul is as well.
Anyways, we can agree to disagree, and like I said I’m happy that you think so highly of the guy. Undeniably he’s worked hard enough to have earned a few die hard fans.
Tom Pyatt played 445 NHL games, his highest point totals was 23 pts. He was not particularly good at anything, pretty average defensively, for a 4th liner. But that's the thing, Paul does better HIGHER in your lineup. Pyatt is the kind of guy that would get destroyed in a 2nd/3rd line role. That's why he was a 4th liner and Paul is a 3rd liner on a contender.
The fact that you use both in the same sentence again (and you used Gambrell the first time? lol) shows the limitation in your analysis, of course you're not going to value Paul that much.
All that being said, recognizing value in players doesn't automatically make you a "die hard fan". I am like the farthest thing from a fanboy.
I am a fan of winning though and can't say I picked the right team so far lol
Pretty much thi. Paul might not be a stud in any one particular skill, but he isn't a liability on any aspect of the game and is above average at each aspect. That makes him the perfect bottom 6 guy that can occasionally move up throughout the line up. Literally everything we're missing and not amount of hoping that Kastelic or any of our prospects become that will help us right now
Yeah, I never wanted Paul to play above the 3rd line. I find he's just a good building block for a bottom-6. Pinto, Paul, Brown and Kastelic would make our bottom-6 really good. Don't need to have the most recognizable names and expensive players in your top-6, gotta spend on your bottom-6 too, they play a good portion of the game and can help you shutdown the other team's stars. It's not going to be Tarasenko, DeBrincat, Kubalik and Batherson who will shut them down.
Whoops, meant to clarify for forwards.
Also, we play a more physical game than Tampa, especially on the forecheck. If Paul played here, he'd be among the top for hits for us, just as he was when he played here and weren't as forecheck heavy as this season. The point is, the notion of Paul not being physical isn't accurate.
Of course for forwards as it's useless to compare hits with D-men who play more minutes in a more "defensive role" lol. You didn't absolutely have to specify
Paul isn't mean, he hits to separate players from the puck, for him it's a defensive play.