Performers

[We Want the Cup 2010]

What other posters who don't defend Karlsson to the moon and back are doing is providing criticism.

Sure his defense can't be worse than last season but it does not mean he is good defensively this year. The only thing I can give Karlsson is he has a very active stick and is able to intercept passes very well. Other than that his pivots are pretty bad, he is well out of position throughout the course of a game and he gets beat wide on a constant basis. This is evident in almost every single game this season and this can't be attributed to his D partner or any other defenceman on the team. Its all Karlsson.

So, we agree, he is improving...

He will never be an upper echelon shut down defender and most ppl realize that at 24 yrs old, he still has things to work on to get better, but to say he is under performing is just wrong.

 

[harvey]

nyah nyah di nyah nyah
haters will be haters

 

[harvey]

loose the negativety.
he's too short - SO HOW SHORT ARE YOU
he has no intensity - SO HOW INTENSE ARE YOU
he has not performed well this year - SO HOW WELL DID YOU DO IN BED LAST NIGHT
I just hate the negativity shown on HFBoards... i know how easy it is to be negative, but some posters need to lighten up

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

The only way Karlsson could ever be an elite shutdown defender is if he grows another 2-3 inches in height, gains a skeletal frame similar to Phillips or Boro, and adds another 30 pound of muscle to his frame. In other words, impossible.

What he does right now with his stick and positioning is pretty impressive. All he really has to do is get his pivots back to 100% and to keep improving on getting in the face of attackers.

It's one thing to demand a certain style of play when a guy has the physical tools to do it. It's another thing entirely when you expect a ballerina to do the job of a linebacker.

 

[Vesa Awesaka]

The only way Karlsson could ever be an elite shutdown defender is if he grows another 2-3 inches in height, gains a skeletal frame similar to Phillips or Boro, and adds another 30 pound of muscle to his frame. In other words, impossible.

What he does right now with his stick and positioning is pretty impressive. All he really has to do is get his pivots back to 100% and to keep improving on getting in the face of attackers.

It's one thing to demand a certain style of play when a guy has the physical tools to do it. It's another thing entirely when you expect a ballerina to do the job of a linebacker.

He could be an elite shutdown defender like Lidstrom. Just play smarter then everyone else. Lidstrom is probably the best outcome we can hope for Karlsson. A 50-80 point dman that can shut down other teams top pairings

 

[Xspyrit]

Karlsson will never be as good as Lidstrom.

Lidstrom is top-3 of all-time

Karlsson - fine.
Turris - Fine.
Mac- Fine
Ryan- Ok.
Neil - OK.
Chiasson - Great.
Legwand - OK.
Stone- Fine.
Lazar - Fine.
Smith - Bad.
Cowen - OK.
Wier - OK./Bad (trending down)
Gryba - OK.
Ceci - Fine.
Zibby - Bad (trending up)
Boro - OK.
Michalek - Ok (trending up)
Condra - Ok.
Greening - Bad.
Phillips - Ok/Bad (trending down)
Hoffman - Ok.

Weird for some of these... Phillips has been impressive. I'm expecting a bottom 3rd pairing D-man out of him, but he plays like a good #2-3... In 10 games, 5 ES GA when he is on the ice, while playing 23:55 per game with though assignments. Hard to not be impressed for an old schooler like me. In comparison, Karlsson has been on the ice for 14 ES GA and only plays 3:20 more (he plays too much IMO)...

So, compared to expectations and talent level

Karlsson - bad 3/10
Turris - good but room for improvement 6/10
Mac- great after he shook off the rust 8/10
Ryan- good, but we need more production from him 6/10
Neil - great for his role, very reliable 8/10
Chiasson - Awesome, even better than I thought 9/10
Legwand - Good, needs to develop more chemistry though 6/10
Stone- Great, but has more to show 7/10
Lazar - good for a 19 y/o 7/10
Smith - Disappointing, hasn't looked like himself so far 4/10
Cowen - Need to build back confidence, has been ok but we still need more 6/10
Wier - Most disappointing player IMO, has been regressing a lot 3/10
Gryba - Slow start but looking better 6/10
Ceci - Very impressive for 20 y/o, has been the best D-man with Phillips. 9/10
Zibby - Slow start, need to produce 5/10
Boro - Does exactly what to be expected of him 8/10
Michalek - Played well, but needs to put more points to appease the fans 6/10
Condra - Good, depth role player 7/10
Greening - Not a chance to show anything, only played 2 games 5/10
Phillips - Impressive 9/10
Hoffman - Has looked awesome at times but so many times no results to show for it... Need some consistency 7/10
Lehner - 8/10
Andy - 8/10


I'd like to hear arguments if people do not agree with those...

 

[Sens Rule]

He could be an elite shutdown defender like Lidstrom. Just play smarter then everyone else. Lidstrom is probably the best outcome we can hope for Karlsson. A 50-80 point dman that can shut down other teams top pairings

Karlsson is 24. Lidstrom was not as good at 24 in the NHL. Lidstrom didn't win a Norris until he was over 30.

Karlsson was horrible vs the Bruins. He cost us 3 goals and the game. He also is brilliantly smart and a huge competitor and he massively improved every single season until the achilles injury. He could easily have 12-15 years left in his career.

It is far too early to wrote Erik off as a bad defensive D. He has so much time to become an elite 2-way D and an all-time great.

He wants to be the best. I put no top threshold on his possible career trajectory at this point. A dozen games into this season... Doesn't seem like he is playing that well towards his potential as a top echlon all-time D. I will give him dozens of more games this year and a few more seasons before I decide his potential. Karlsson still has the potential to be the best D in the world and a top 3 player in the world... For the next decade. He has had a weak start to this season for himself and that means little.

 

[harvey]

Karlsson is 24. Lidstrom was not as good at 24 in the NHL. Lidstrom didn't win a Norris until he was over 30.

Karlsson was horrible vs the Bruins. He cost us 3 goals and the game. He also is brilliantly smart and a huge competitor and he massively improved every single season until the achilles injury. He could easily have 12-15 years left in his career.

It is far too early to wrote Erik off as a bad defensive D. He has so much time to become an elite 2-way D and an all-time great.

He wants to be the best. I put no top threshold on his possible career trajectory at this point. A dozen games into this season... Doesn't seem like he is playing that well towards his potential as a top echlon all-time D. I will give him dozens of more games this year and a few more seasons before I decide his potential. Karlsson still has the potential to be the best D in the world and a top 3 player in the world... For the next decade. He has had a weak start to this season for himself and that means little.

And how true this is. I remember seeing a young Bobby Orr and a young Larry Robinson break into the NHL and seeing their teething pains at the beginning of their careers. We have a gem in Karlsson who has already won a Norris btw.

We need to look at the positives of his performance, cheer him on and watch something magical develop.

We have never had such a talent on this team, and to see the negativity makes me think some people need some happy pills.

 

[Sensinitis]

Some happy pills would be nice nowadays when night starts at 4PM.....

 

[Nordic*]

Revisiting this.

Any Changes?

 

[harvey]

Revisiting this.

Any Changes?

IMHO the opinions of some who posted here are wrong.
however their opinions are such as they cant be swayed from them
so be it. btw at the end of the year we shall see eh?

 

[HoweHullOrr]

Hoffman has impressed me. He has great speed and a good wrist shot.

Somebody here said he was terrible some time ago. Maybe those ppl were mistaken?

Zbad is getting lots of chances, but is not finishing or burying them. Maybe his luck will change?

Ceci has played well and is steady. I'd say he's been the Senator's best defender. Karlsson is great offensively, but has to improve his defensive game. His inconsistency and body language is a bit puzzling at times.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

Karlsson will never be as good as Lidstrom.

Lidstrom is top-3 of all-time

Lidstrom is the best defenseman of all time

 

[pepty]

Revisiting this.

Any Changes?

Ducks not playing today?

 

[Nordic*]

IMHO the opinions of some who posted here are wrong.
however their opinions are such as they cant be swayed from them
so be it. btw at the end of the year we shall see eh?

None of them are objectively right or wrong, they are just opinions, and they're all subjective.

Ducks not playing today?

No, child

You have to be one in order to whine about someone following more than one team.

 

[bacon25]

Didn't see anyone rating the coach, I figure that you can't really rate a player too much due in part to the way they are coached. Obviously a player is responsible for their own individual effort, but they play a team game. I think as the season goes on we will see who is willing to up their level of effort for the team or who just shows up for a paycheck. I also think a lot of players are under performing due in part because we all expected them to be doing much better than they really should be, like Legwand.