Performers

[derriko]

Am I really the only person to think Ryan has been majorly underperforming? I would attribute that primarily to playing out of position and having an underperforming center, but the dudes had 2 good periods offensively on the year.

Yada yada he has improved defensively. He got the contract and money he got because he scores goals. Get him off the pk and start him in the o-zone every chance you get.

 

[Pierre from Orleans]

Karlsson fanboys are so sensitive. He has been pretty mediocre defensively. He gets walked constantly and his pivots haven't really improved

 

[Super Cake]

Am I really the only person to think Ryan has been majorly underperforming? I would attribute that primarily to playing out of position and having an underperforming center, but the dudes had 2 good periods offensively on the year.

Yada yada he has improved defensively. He got the contract and money he got because he scores goals. Get him off the pk and start him in the o-zone every chance you get.

Your not alone.

It is only 7 games in, so i am not going to start worrying about it yet.

But he does need to pick it up. We are going to be paying him 7 million dollars next season. For that type of money, i expect him to put up some offense as well as defense.

 

[StefanW]

I am a huge fan of Ryan, and I think he has underperformed so far. It is only seven games in, so I'm not really worried. He was tested on the second line with 93, who has done absolutely nothing so far this season. I actually believe the experiment was worthwhile because two strong lines are better than one, but I'm glad it is over.

 

[VikingKarlsson]

Karlsson fanboys are so sensitive. He has been pretty mediocre defensively. He gets walked constantly and his pivots haven't really improved

Who has been a better defenceman on this team? Karlsson plays the most minutes against the best players of the opposition. Give him a break.

The rest of the defensive core is either to young or just God awful to even compare them to Karlsson. Even mediocre Karlsson.

I mean Cowen doesn't even play for the sens anymore. Borocop is one dimensional big hitter. Phillips needs to retire. Ceci is still very young. Weirsy plays hard half the time. Methot is injured. Gryba a is a big slow defensive dman. Ha lets keep bashing the only defenceman on the team that actually can play with the best players in the world. Remember Karlsson dominated the Olympics.

Anyways... This fan base is all about the "what have you done for me lately" type... It's really sad.

 

[StefanW]

Who has been a better defenceman on this team? Karlsson plays the most minutes against the best players of the opposition. Give him a break.

The rest of the defensive core is either to young or just God awful to even compare them to Karlsson. Even mediocre Karlsson.

I mean Cowen doesn't even play for the sens anymore. Borocop is one dimensional big hitter. Phillips needs to retire. Ceci is still very young. Weirsy plays hard half the time. Methot is injured. Gryba a is a big slow defensive dman. Ha lets keep bashing the only defenceman on the team that actually can play with the best players in the world. Remember Karlsson dominated the Olympics.

Anyways... This fan base is all about the "what have you done for me lately" type... It's really sad.

You were doing pretty good until you decided that the best way to respond to someone bashing Karlsson was to just bash everyone else.

Karlsson is clearly head and shoulders over any other D on the team. If you compare him to the rest of the team, and most other teams, he has been more than good. If you compare him to the standard he set prior to his injury then no, he has not been up there yet. We are only 7 games in, so a few people do need to relax about things like that though.

Ceci has been tremendous so far this season. He has been asked to play a top 4 role at a very young age, and he has handled himself well.

Borocop's hitting is a huge part of his game. However, his value increased tremendously when he focused on playing a simple game in position and staying out of the penalty box. He is not a top 4 guy at all, but every team needs 5/6 D. He has been playing well above where people thought he would be.

Gryba is a slow defensive D. No argument. He is a run of the mill 5/6 guy that every team has. That is not a knock or a compliment. He simply is what he is.

Wiercioch has been pretty bad for the most part. He can make up for being soft as butter by making great passes, but we have not seen enough of that in his game so far.

Cowen has also been pretty bad.

The most outrageous comment in your post was that Phillips should just retire already. The man is playing the second most D minutes on our team, and he has elevated his game big time from last season to now. With the injury to Meth we would be totally screwed right now if it was not for Phillips playing great minutes for us. He has basically slapped a big ol' "Shut the ___up" sign on the hater comments with his play.

 

[We Want the Cup 2010]

Karlsson fanboys are so sensitive. He has been pretty mediocre defensively. He gets walked constantly and his pivots haven't really improved

Karlsson is 4th in the league for TOI... with Chris Phillips and, even worse, Jared Cowen as his partner. He has 5 points in 7 games for a team that was terrible defensively last year. I think he's doing just fine.

This team is not a cup contender, some people need to adjust their expectations. Have patience, and enjoy the ride. The team is young, and a few years away until they will be at their best with this core.

 

[HockeySens]

Who has been a better defenceman on this team? Karlsson plays the most minutes against the best players of the opposition. Give him a break.

The rest of the defensive core is either to young or just God awful to even compare them to Karlsson. Even mediocre Karlsson.e

I mean Cowen doesn't even play for the sens anymore. Borocop is one dimensional big hitter. Phillips needs to retire. Ceci is still very young. Weirsy plays hard half the time. Methot is injured. Gryba a is a big slow defensive dman. Ha lets keep bashing the only defenceman on the team that actually can play with the best players in the world. Remember Karlsson dominated the Olympics.

Anyways... This fan base is all about the "what have you done for me lately" type... It's really sad.

Just because he has played the most minutes doesnt mean he has been the best. And who cares about the olympics.now? Its a new season and this isnt team Sweden. Imo, Ceci has been our most consistent and boro has been solid albeit as a third pairing guy but still solid. Phillips has been better thn last year.

Besides, I havent seen Karlssons game breaking offense yet. Sure he leads us in points but so does in +-(with a minus).

Maybe its just me having a high standard for him but he is expected to be this teams best player and so far he hasnt been.

As for Ryan, hes been ok, had a gofd game against COL i think and few good periods here and there but I still expect a bit more from him especially since he is getting paid 7.5.

Imo our best performers/most consistent so far are our goalies, Ceci, Turris,Chiasson and maybe Boro.


Need a bit for more from Ryan, way more from zibby and cowen/wier

 

[Pierre from Orleans]

Who has been a better defenceman on this team? Karlsson plays the most minutes against the best players of the opposition. Give him a break.

The rest of the defensive core is either to young or just God awful to even compare them to Karlsson. Even mediocre Karlsson.

I mean Cowen doesn't even play for the sens anymore. Borocop is one dimensional big hitter. Phillips needs to retire. Ceci is still very young. Weirsy plays hard half the time. Methot is injured. Gryba a is a big slow defensive dman. Ha lets keep bashing the only defenceman on the team that actually can play with the best players in the world. Remember Karlsson dominated the Olympics.

Anyways... This fan base is all about the "what have you done for me lately" type... It's really sad.

This is what I mean when I say too sensitive. It's like he should be immune from any type of criticism.

What do the other defenceman have to do with Karlsson?

Karlsson is 4th in the league for TOI... with Chris Phillips and, even worse, Jared Cowen as his partner. He has 5 points in 7 games for a team that was terrible defensively last year. I think he's doing just fine.

This team is not a cup contender, some people need to adjust their expectations. Have patience, and enjoy the ride. The team is young, and a few years away until they will be at their best with this core.

What does the teams defense last year have to do with Karlsson's play this year?

I don't think I mentioned anything about his offence. I was strictly pointing out his defense. You said it yourself the team is not a cup contender so there is obviously room for improvement and that the area of improvement for Karlsson is his defense.


Just because people call out his defensive mistakes does not automatically mean we are "bashing" him. We are just calling a spade a spade

 

[MtRundle]

Happy With
Turris
MacArthur
Stone
Chiasson
Lazar
Ceci
Boro
Phillips
Hoffman
Good/OK
Ryan
Neil
Legwand
Karlsson
Gryba
Smith
Lehner
Anderson

Not Happy With
Zibanejad
Milan Michalek
Wiercioch
Cowen

Dunno/haven't seen enough
Condra
Greening

When Methot gets back some time in the next few weeks I think we'll see a much better Karlsson.

 

[Vesa Awesaka]

Previous season = last season.

He's already better than last season...

i think he might be worse

 

[BigBush*]

i think he might be worse

who the **** are you talking about
karl seems to be carrying this team on his back every game

 

[Do Make Say Think]

Karlsson's just not running and gunning like he's used to in the past

I think a lot of it is due to coaching and part of it is the C: he's trying to round out his game a bit more

I'm appreciative of the effort but it's hard to deny he hasn't been as impressive, offensively speaking, as he was even last year.

However that likely makes us a better team

 

[Vesa Awesaka]

who the **** are you talking about
karl seems to be carrying this team on his back every game

I see Anderson and Lehner carrying the team on their backs. I dont think karlsson has been absolutely terrible i just think hes shown he can better. I still dont think hes dynamic offensively as hes been in the past and theirs still defensive gaffs in his game.

 

[BigBush*]

I see Anderson and Lehner carrying the team on their backs.

Ya them too

 

[We Want the Cup 2010]

This is what I mean when I say too sensitive. It's like he should be immune from any type of criticism.


What does the teams defense last year have to do with Karlsson's play this year?

I don't think I mentioned anything about his offence. I was strictly pointing out his defense. You said it yourself the team is not a cup contender so there is obviously room for improvement and that the area of improvement for Karlsson is his defense.


Just because people call out his defensive mistakes does not automatically mean we are "bashing" him. We are just calling a spade a spade

Last years teams defense has a lot to do with Karlsson, because it is the exact same group this year minus Boro in for Methot... and their has been a noticeable improvement. If you haven't seen any growth in Karlssons defensive attention to detail this year over last, then I don't think you have a good eye for the game, or you are basing your argument on the Chicago game where the entire team looked overwhelmed with Chicago's pace.

I will reiterate, that Karlsson is on the ice almost half the game playing against the other teams best players (tired players are more prone to mistakes, see Legwand at end of games)... not sheltered like Weircioch or Ceci, and without an adequate partner who is no doubt dragging him down.

 

[Dionysus]

Chiasson has been a pleasant surprise. Ceci has been impressive, goaltending has looked good. Mika struggling with producing points, fairly solid defensively though. Trying to divide every player on the team into subjective categories based on personal expectations is sure to cause disagreement.

 

[Pierre from Orleans]

Last years teams defense has a lot to do with Karlsson, because it is the exact same group this year minus Boro in for Methot... and their has been a noticeable improvement. If you haven't seen any growth in Karlssons defensive attention to detail this year over last, then I don't think you have a good eye for the game, or you are basing your argument on the Chicago game where the entire team looked overwhelmed with Chicago's pace.

I will reiterate, that Karlsson is on the ice almost half the game playing against the other teams best players (tired players are more prone to mistakes, see Legwand at end of games)... not sheltered like Weircioch or Ceci, and without an adequate partner who is no doubt dragging him down.

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.

 

[GimmeMyJetpack]

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.

 

[coladin]

Karlsson's just not running and gunning like he's used to in the past

I think a lot of it is due to coaching and part of it is the C: he's trying to round out his game a bit more

I'm appreciative of the effort but it's hard to deny he hasn't been as impressive, offensively speaking, as he was even last year.

However that likely makes us a better team

I think you are on to something here.

 

[Nordic*]

LOL @ Weircioch in the "performers" section and Karlsson in the "underperformers" section. What the **** games are you watching???

Wiercioch, compared to what is expected of him, has performed up to par. He simply isn't better than he's shown. Karlsson is.

Karlsson is underperforming compared to his standard of play. I don't see how anyone thinks that he is on par with how he has played in previous seasons.

It's still early on though.

To my standard or expectation, Karlsson can be a whole lot better. Defensively he has been better but there is something lacking in his offensive game. His shot and accuracy are not very good right now and it's hurting our team. Hurting only because the expectations are so high, maybe unrealistically high.

In my rating, he is underperforming, perhaps a backhanded compliment to how good he is. Erik Karlsson that I know scores with 30 seconds to go and NJ. Or at least hits the freaking net.

Just because were karlsson fans doesnt mean we cant say hes been playing below his average. His play hasnt been that of a franchise dman imo. Anderson has been over performing imo. Seems most people expected Lehner to take the net. That isnt going to happen with Anderson playing so well

If you don't think Karlsson has underperformed then you don't think very highly of Karlsson in the first place.

If you think Phillips has overperformed then you are not expecting that much of him to begin with.

I agree, Karlsson hasn't played up to snuff this year, only early though.

Karlsson fanboys are so sensitive. He has been pretty mediocre defensively. He gets walked constantly and his pivots haven't really improved

 

[YNWA14]

If Karlsson has been better this year why has he been on the ice for the most goals against of anyone on the team (more than half the goals Ottawa has conceded)? Why is he the only defenceman on the team with a negative +/- (that has played more than 2 games)? This is despite the goalies playing back to their ridiculously unsustainable levels of 2 years ago.

Karlsson has still been good offensively, but he is awful in his own zone.

Personally I hope that he really improves on his decision making and his play, but the reality is that we need a defenceman that can make up for his defensive deficiencies ala Methot 2 years ago.

 

[Answer]

I just learnt another word for USELESS, this season, and that is Zibanejad..

He needs to wake up and start doing something

 

[Micklebot]

If Karlsson has been better this year why has he been on the ice for the most goals against of anyone on the team (more than half the goals Ottawa has conceded)? Why is he the only defenceman on the team with a negative +/- (that has played more than 2 games)? This is despite the goalies playing back to their ridiculously unsustainable levels of 2 years ago.

Karlsson has still been good offensively, but he is awful in his own zone.

Personally I hope that he really improves on his decision making and his play, but the reality is that we need a defenceman that can make up for his defensive deficiencies ala Methot 2 years ago.

For what it's worth, your rational above is pretty weak. He's been on the ice for the most goals against because he plays more mins by a substantial margin, and faces the toughest competition. Many of the teams weaker D (Boro, Gryba, Wier, Cowen) haven't really played enough mins to consider a decent sample; at this stage, goals for vs goals against is virtually useless because of the noise in the data (for example him steping on the ice to see Legwand cough up the puck and Jagr score in OT, though that one doesn't affect +/- as it was on the PK).

Karlsson hasn't been perfect, but he also hasn't been aweful. The problem is average isn't good enough right now.

 

[Sensinitis]

If Karlsson has been better this year why has he been on the ice for the most goals against of anyone on the team (more than half the goals Ottawa has conceded)? Why is he the only defenceman on the team with a negative +/- (that has played more than 2 games)? This is despite the goalies playing back to their ridiculously unsustainable levels of 2 years ago.

Karlsson has still been good offensively, but he is awful in his own zone.

Personally I hope that he really improves on his decision making and his play, but the reality is that we need a defenceman that can make up for his defensive deficiencies ala Methot 2 years ago.

Pot,

Meet kettle