Nikita Gusev is already getting scratched..

[My3Sons]

Meh, lots of the usual suspects piling on about NJ's bad start. The Gusev conversation is just an excuse for the bashing. The trade was a low risk move with the potential for some reward. NJ wanted to try to compete for a playoff spot this season to make Hall happy. At the time they acquired Gusev it seems unlikely there were better options available for the price paid. They were hoping he could be a top six RW, even if flawed, and the contract is irrelevant. NJ won't have cap problems this year or next so who cares.

He's been bad away from the puck, to the point where the coaches believed he needed to sit despite being one of the few guys on the team scoring. Maybe he turns it around maybe he doesn't. Trying to turn this into some sort of referendum on the team is weak. The weakest parts are the comments about being told he was the next Panarin and the like. Show me more than one or two fans saying anything of the sort. Again, just a straw man set up to bash the fanbase.

The whole team has struggled out of the gate Gusev included, it's not that complicated or that big of a deal. I've watched him live and full games and he has rare offensive zone gifts. If the team can find the right linemates for him and get him to buy in enough to be passable in the neutral and defensive zones they'll get what they wanted. If he just wants to get paid and pad his stats he'll be back in the KHL by the end of the season.

 

[DVision44]

Thankfully these are coachable things, if he wants to put in the time and effort to study the tape

That's exactly what they said and that it's no big deal for him to sit and watch.... actually they said sitting with Elias can only be a plus...

 

[Marv Merchants]

You really have no idea what you're talking about and you want me to watch the games? ok... nice reply

Truth hurts doesn't it. You let media and others create your opinion

 

[Marv Merchants]

Devils lose 7-6 w/o Gusev in the lineup, blowing another 2 goal lead.

gUsEv Is ThE pRoBlEm

 

[Tad Mikowsky]

Devils lose 7-6 w/o Gusev in the lineup, blowing another 2 goal lead.

gUsEv Is ThE pRoBlEm

looks like they had no trouble scoring without the Russian possession black hole.

 

[Blender]

gUsEv Is ThE pRoBlEm

Said no one ever. The Devils losing tonight doesn't mean he has been good.

 

[shtorm2005]

Perfect scapegoat.

 

[Marv Merchants]

looks like they had no trouble scoring without the Russian possession black hole.

Looks like teams have no problem scoring without the possession blackhole.

 

[Mr Positive]

teams always looking for the next Panarin

 

[Icejoker]

That's exactly what they said and that it's no big deal for him to sit and watch.... actually they said sitting with Elias can only be a plus...

And what did Elias learn him ?

 

[Zine]

So Gusev is benched and forced to watch a 6-7 loss as an example of how much better his teammates are at defense?
Well, ok then NJ. Just don't break anything else while your looking around.

 

[HBK27]

You're missing the point. Hughes goes pointless and gets promotions while Gusev played better offensively than Simmonds for example and Simmonds got promoted to pp1. If you can't see how ass backwards that is then i don't know what to tell you

Everybody has a specific role on the PP and Gusev is not going to be parked out in front of the net like Simmonds.

You also can't just base decisions on points - Hughes was playing better but not getting rewarded with points prior to being put on the PP1. Was clearly the right decision as he scored 2 of the 3 goals and was a factor in the 3rd. This after the team hadn't scored a PP goal all season.

 

[HBK27]

Perfect scapegoat.

He's not being made a scapegoat.

Zacha was a healthy scratch at the beginning and came back to be one of NJ's best forwards this season.

Bratt was a healthy scratch the previous game and returned last night with 2 goals and 5 SOG, after recording only 4 SOG's in 8 games to start the season.

Sometimes the jolt of being a healthy scratch, taking a step back and watching a game can have a positive effect on a player which is what they are hoping with Gusev.

 

[HBK27]

So Gusev is benched and forced to watch a 6-7 loss as an example of how much better his teammates are at defense?
Well, ok then NJ. Just don't break anything else while your looking around.

Another person looking at the headline and having no understanding of what happened last night beyond the score.

Devils were the much better team and out shot Tampa 42-23. Yeah, there were some bad defensive plays but it was more a mix of awful goaltending and fluke goals that sunk them. The team defense as a whole was not that bad.

 

[MXD]

So I get to New Jersey to see Kucherov vs Gusev live and this happens ?
Thanks

You're the only one to blame for your awful plans.

 

[Zezel22]

Weird dynamic with Hynes and Shero - seems that they are close but Hynes routinely butchers the players and roster that Shero constructs, the team is performing way under where they should be and I agree comments like this are very cavalier. The Hynes situation makes no sense to me at all.

 

[Pens x]

Here's the answer: you don't like the player? You don't sign him and thats the end to every such story. If you sign a grown guy and force him to change his game when you've had every chance in the world to scout him properly, you're not a smart person and that's the whole point.

Ray Shero is not a smart man.

 

[Marv Merchants]

Everybody has a specific role on the PP and Gusev is not going to be parked out in front of the net like Simmonds.

You also can't just base decisions on points - Hughes was playing better but not getting rewarded with points prior to being put on the PP1. Was clearly the right decision as he scored 2 of the 3 goals and was a factor in the 3rd. This after the team hadn't scored a PP goal all season.

Obviously you never watched any of those 6 games if you say Hughes was just snake bitten.

You're just like middle aged people who lie about reading the article and just go off of fake news headlines.

 

[HBK27]

Obviously you never watched any of those 6 games if you say Hughes was just snake bitten.

You're just like middle aged people who lie about reading the article and just go off of fake news headlines.

I've watched every minute of the Devils season so far - like I said, he got off to a poor start and was playing better towards the end of that 6 game stretch. That's not the same as me saying he was snake bitten during the entire stretch.

I criticize you for just going off goal totals for assembling a PP1 unit and now you're trying to turn that around on me? Nice try buddy.

 

[Hi ImHFNYR]

I criticize you for just going off goal totals for assembling a PP1 unit and now you're trying to turn that around on me?

This is the right answrr

 

[Filthy Dangles]

And please don't tell me about, how great is Hall defensively, I've been following (sort of) him since his 1st season in Edmonton and know everything about it.

That’s because people conflate having good underlying numbers like positive impact on shot share with being ‘great defensively’ when that might not be the case.

When a guy like Hall isn’t scoring, he’s still gonna be consistently transporting the puck into the offensive zone with his skating, making plays and being hard and disruptive on the forecheck and on loose pucks. Those things are positive and make him not a liability on the ice even when the puck isn’t going in.

Gusev hasn’t done those things when he isn’t scoring like Hall has, he has been a liability. So call it whatever you want, not necessarily ‘defense’ but a bunch of things with and without the puck.

But again it’s not just defense and play without the puck or play in your own end...

 

[Marv Merchants]

Gusev sits 2 games & Nj blows 2 leads in a row


BuT gUsEv Is ThE pRoBlEm

 

[Absolut]

Meh. They stink defensively with Gusev or without Gusev. He is not a problem nor is he the solution.

 

[Marv Merchants]

Meh. They stink defensively with Gusev or without Gusev. He is not a problem nor is he the solution.

Gusev was performing everyone on g/toi. It's called utilization, good coaches know how to properly utilize players. You don't use a wrench to do a hammer's job.

 

[42]

Gusev sits 2 games & Nj blows 2 leads in a row


BuT gUsEv Is ThE pRoBlEm

I must have missed the memo or something but what's with the random uppercasing of letters?