Novak - Why does he get no love?

[Craig Ludwig]

I don't get to see that many Preds games, but can someone tell me what Brunette has against Novak? It seems to me like the Preds need a bit more offense, he is gifted offensively, and here we have Novak last night with the least amount of ice time OF THE WHOLE TEAM. Is he that bad defensively? Why don't they just look at trading him after playoffs if they're not going to use him, I'm sure there are several other teams out there that would welcome his offense.

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[Armourboy]

I don't get to see that many Preds games, but can someone tell me what Brunette has against Novak? It seems to me like the Preds need a bit more offense, he is gifted offensively, and here we have Novak last night with the least amount of ice time OF THE WHOLE TEAM. Is he that bad defensively? Why don't they just look at trading him after playoffs if they're not going to use him, I'm sure there are several other teams out there that would welcome his offense.

Dunno it hasn't been a thing all season. I don't know if he was hurt, not feeling well, just not playing well or what but its a new development.

He's definitely not great defensively, and Hal Gill mentioned that he would probably get mostly offensive zone starts. Dunno why its a big deal now though when he has played all season long outside the injury.

 

[triggrman]

He got crushed a couple shifts in a row. He was to do better staying out of those positions.

 

[nine_inch_fang]

He was overwhelmed last night. Hopefully, it was just first game nerves or whatever.

 

[Flgatorguy87]

He was brutal last night. He's going to need to step up, along with a few of our other less experienced guys, or this series will be over shortly.

 

[triggrman]

I actually though Evangelista was one our best forwards last night.

But our forecheck overall was terrible.

 

[Flgatorguy87]

I actually though Evangelista was one our best forwards last night.

But our forecheck overall was terrible.

Vange was certainly a high point. They give almost no time to forecheck. They exit quickly and efficiently.

 

[triggrman]

Vange was certainly a high point. They give almost no time to forecheck. They exit quickly and efficiently.

Right, but they have some guys that have historically struggled with that, that made it look easy, which tells me there's something we need to adjust on our forecheck.

 

[Southstarpreds]

Novak spent the whole night getting put on his pockets. In order to score he has to stay on his skates.

 

[Predsanddead24]

The Canucks having last change also probably didn't help his ice time either.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

It's kind of what I expect from Novak, though, so I don't judge him too harshly. He's just not a guy built for playoff hockey. But at $3.5M on his next contract, just being a sort of soft-ish source of 45-55 points in the regular season is fine. He has skills, but not really the bite or strength to be expected to play a significant role in the playoffs. Maybe if he was on a PP1 he could do more, but we've already got those slots filled.

It would have been more problematic if we had extended him longer term at $5-6M, as sometimes we wondered that his production was starting to argue for. But he tailed off enough and signed for less, so I think it still works out fine, even if he is not going to be a big playoff guy.

 

[triggrman]

It's kind of what I expect from Novak, though, so I don't judge him too harshly. He's just not a guy built for playoff hockey. But at $3.5M on his next contract, just being a sort of soft-ish source of 45-55 points in the regular season is fine. He has skills, but not really the bite or strength to be expected to play a significant role in the playoffs. Maybe if he was on a PP1 he could do more, but we've already got those slots filled.

It would have been more problematic if we had extended him longer term at $5-6M, as sometimes we wondered that his production was starting to argue for. But he tailed off enough and signed for less, so I think it still works out fine, even if he is not going to be a big playoff guy.

I don't buy that, he's just as built as Evangelista who was likely our best forward last night. He's got to be more aware of what's going on and stop putting himself in bad spots.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

I don't buy that, he's just as built as Evangelista who was likely our best forward last night. He's got to be more aware of what's going on and stop putting himself in bad spots.

I don't know if you think I meant physically, but I didn't. I mean it's just not his style. Regardless of his size. He isn't as willing to go to the same places on the ice as Evangelista is. He also didn't have a lot of energy or creativity last night either, but he usually has more of that, so I do expect him to play somewhat better than he did regardless. But he's past the age where I'd expect any fundamental shifts in his playing style.

 

[triggrman]

I don't know if you think I meant physically, but I didn't. I mean it's just not his style. Regardless of his size. He isn't as willing to go to the same places on the ice as Evangelista is. He also didn't have a lot of energy or creativity last night either, but he usually has more of that, so I do expect him to play somewhat better than he did regardless. But he's past the age where I'd expect any fundamental shifts in his playing style.

Oh he went to those places but wasn't aware he was there and got creamed. That's what I'm saying, he needs better awareness.

 

[Softball99]

While they were talking about Novi on 102.5 I wondered about Fabbro as 7th D...