If someone overpays, sure. But I'm 10000% okay keeping the guy. Good person to have on the squad. Does a little bit of everything.
If this was MT's team, he'd be dressed at a 12th forward for enforcer reasons.
No, if this was still MT's team, we'd have a real enforcer on the fourth line (perhaps PA native George Parros), perhaps a second one (or agitating SOB who could fight), AND Engelland around just in case.
Many more coaches have this mentality than some people here want to admit though, KIRK. It's why Tarasenko got benched last year. It's why Kadri gets raked over the coals. It's why Dougie Hamilton got benched in the playoffs. It's why Tatar and Nyquist can't get icetime in Detroit. It's why Toffoli's in the AHL. And it's why Yakupov's getting benched right now. And those are just examples off the top of my head. Why people think this only applies to Bylsma, I don't know.
Generally speaking, coaches defer to vets, want you to play within the system, and only make creative plays when they don't put the team at risk.
Let's analyze each example here:
- Tarasenko got benched last year largely because he struggled to find his game after his concussion. Also, Ken Hitchcock is notorious for not giving offensive young forwards their due. Schwartz had to fight that problem last year, as well, and this year's whipping boy in St. Louis is Magnus Paajarvi.
- Kadri clashes with the type of player Randy Carlyle likes, but he was still given the opportunity to shine through last season. He's seeing the fewest minutes among Leafs centers this year, but the difference between last year and this is they've replaced Grabovski (a similar player to Kadri) with Bolland, a Cup winner. So, they're giving Bolland the harder minutes now and it's working.
- Hamilton struggled in camp this year, and was apparently close to being sent down. With Matt Bartkowski out-playing him now, it seems inevitable that Hamilton will be sent down. However, it's not like Julien is preferring older vets to Hamilton. He plays Krug a ton, is trusting Bartkowski now and might use another AHLer in Kevan Miller if Hamilton is sent down. Apples to oranges with our situation here.
- Tatar and Nyquist are both caught in the numbers game with the Red Wings. It's true Babcock is similar to Bylsma here. It's also true that this mantra comes from above, because Holland is a firm believer in vets over kids. The Wings over-ripen their prospects at times, and I would suggest both Tatar and Nyquist are prime examples. Nyquist was actually ahead of Tatar last season, when he found a role on their third line with Andersson and Brunner. But since he could be sent down without waivers, they chose to do so. Tatar is wasting away as a healthy scratch because they KNOW he'd be scooped up if waived. Meanwhile, they're using Mikael Samuelsson and Jordin Tootoo in a platoon as the No. 4 RW. Makes no sense to me (or to most Wings fans, you should check out their board!), but this is classic example of what you're talking about, RRP.
- Toffoli is a little different situation. They didn't like him on left wing, so he had less of a chance to make the team once Matt Frattin was acquired. Sutter is not averse to using younger players, he's more of a hard-edged type though. He likes his grinders. Toffoli did spend quite a bit of time playing in the playoffs, though. In his case, I think it's only a matter of time. But Sutter doesn't favor vets blindly. Simon Gagne can attest to that.
- Lastly, Yakupov. He's in a different situation. He's a right-winger on a team that already has Eberle and Hemsky. None are any good at left wing. None are ideal third liners, which is also true for David Perron--who has to play third line there too. This team just doesn't have a good mix right now and MacTavish needs to make a trade. It's too early to suggest Eakins like veterans over kids. He does like AHLers he's familiar with, though. That much we know: case in point Will Acton, Luke Gazdic, Ryan Hamilton. None of them are particularly young or old, but all are inexperienced when it comes to NHL hockey.
I don't know if any of the coaches talked about above are as consistently pro-vet as Bylsma is, save for maybe Babcock. And that is logical, since this organization has gone out of its way to become more like Detroit ever since dethroning the Red Wings in '09. Hitchcock is another in the same boat, but GM Armstrong has done well to give Hitch enough kids to balance it out. This is what Shero has NOT done in my opinion. Of course, adding Brenden Morrow really screwed Paajarvi (who by all accounts had a strong training camp, and even Hitch praised him).
I still find it hard to argue that we need to get younger, faster, more aggressive and tougher on this team.
