The singer comes up way before the hockey player.
To be serious just half a sec especially because it's you... full marks to JJ this year. I won't say he's "turned it around" because I don't think he's ever really been that great to begin with but he's playing within himself this year in a system that the players have bought into and supported each other though, if that makes any sense and I gotta give you a tip of the hat for calling for that likelihood this offseason.
I think he's rebounded closer to what his "average" level of play was. When you looked at his entire body of work then a complete plummet like last season, it was likely he wouldn't continue to be that bad. Not saying he's back to his prime level of play, but he's certainly not a liability like last season. I would suffice to say that his current level of play is what I expected out of him to begin with. That doesn't mean I think he's not over paid or signed for took long. I do. He's a $2-3mil player that you sign for 2-3 years. Not 5.
What I harped on a lot was, everyone kept saying "our defensive is bad because Jack Johnson is bad" when I kept saying "no, it's a team effort. Team defense is bad. There's a complete lack of support, guys rarely look like they know who their man is, guys are caught looking often, and there's little to no breakout plans. That's not solely a Jack Johnson thing. That's a team thing. Even though JJ really sucks right now".
I was confident that if we dedicated ourselves to quality defensive play and structure that you would see a turn around in everyone's game. Jack Johnson just seems to have benefited more than most...but also because he started out much lower than most so he had much more to gain.
Eh, I think JJ this year has been basically exactly what he was in 2016-2017 for the BJs. I don't think JJ reached a new high or anything, I think people just forgot that he was showing that he can be a really effective physical DFD in 16-17 before his wheels just completely fell off. JJ was actually a completely fine player analytically from 2014-2017 (+0.11% xGF% relTM) and was good overall in 2016-2017 (+2.07% xGF% relTM), he was just really bad in 2017-2018, then JR gave him a laughable contract and he was heinously bad in 2018-2019.
I don't think anyone should have expected JJ to rebound to the level he has, but where he's playing right now isn't new for him. I think his current level is sustainable because he was able to sustain this level for 3 seasons from 14-15 to 16-17, while playing in a higher role that he shouldn't have been playing in.
Agreed. I think you pair him with the right guy and you can have a quality pairing. I worry about when Schultz comes back though. Not sure I want a JJ-Schultz pairing getting anything more than protected 3rd pairing minutes. But if you have Petts-Marino killing it, that becomes an option.
@SEALBound
Sure we want an HBK line... but with Guentzel out there's zero chance of it happening this season or these POs. Rutherford simply isn't going to acquire enough wingers for that to happen. So we're gonna have to suck that up, and hope that L1/L2 can score enough and that L3/4 chip in enough that we can win the games we need to win.
Oh, I agree totally. This is a lot like the 2016 playoffs without Geno for a bit and 2017 without Sid for a bit or Letang at all. There's going to have to be guys that step up at the moment of truth. Every cup winning team needs that out of a couple guys in addition to their stars playing like stars. What I don't want is essentially the 2014 and 2015 model where you have the Sid and Geno top 6 lines and then you have two completely garbage bottom 6 lines that are essentially place holders while Sid and Geno rest. That's not going to win us many playoff series. We need a bottom 6 that can contribute. I doubt the BART line moves. That means you need some combination of players that will be able to produce on the 3rd line at a rate that's equal or better than our likely opponents. Doesn't have to be HBK levels but it needs to be more than what Simon-Bjugstad-Horny showed us last year.
I do think Jake gets replaced. Let's say it's Toffoli to make things easy. That leaves us with, ideally:
McCann-Sid-Toffoli
Kahun-Malkin-Rust
Simon-Bjugstad-Horny
ZAR-Bleuger-Tanev
In that case, I think JR would be wise to use Galchenyuk to acquire a bottom 6 player to bolster that 3LW spot. Could be a Namestnikov, could be a Vesey, could be a Chris Tierney. Could be a Marcus Foligno. In my late might wet dreams, Anthansiou. Something that gives us a better chance of them outproducing SBH.
I don't think that is that lofty of a dream.
