Player Discussion: PLD

[Hunter368]

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[Gm0ney]

Shouldn't this be PLD part II? Seeing 2 identical thread titles frightens and confuses me.

 

[10Ducky10]

Anxious to see what he brings against Toronto?

 

[kanadalainen]

He could be better in T.O. than he was in MTL.

 

[Trinity]

I think this will be his coming out party.

 

[rubikscube]

Dubois has 6 points in 9 games and adds a physical presence that no one else in our top 6 sans Wheeler provides.

Why people are down on this guy I don't understand.

 

[Hunter368]

Dubois has 6 points in 9 games and adds a physical presence that no one else in our top 6 sans Wheeler provides.

Why people are down on this guy I don't understand.

I love him as a player, also adds a greater defensive presence. He’s exactly what we need and he’s not even fully set in with our systems or chemistry with line mates

 

[surixon]

I posted this in the game day thread but it is pretty relevant here:

PLD is used to being the player lugging the puck and making things happen all over the ice as that was his role in Columbus. He had the puck a lot and he did a lot of things on his own. He is now on a team with a bunch of talent and he is trying to alter his game to fit around that talent.

On his current line he is playing with Ehlers and Conner, two players that love the puck on their stick in the offensive end and love lugging it around. There is only one puck to go around and its hard to have a line with three players trying to lug it around all the time. He is now trying move from playing the puck rushing game that he played in Columbus to a more positional give and go/support offensive game so that Ehlers and Conner can continue to do what they do well there. If you watch closely he puts himself into good positions in the offensive end and has made some good reads and has had some great chances in tight on that line. He is still learning to read off of both players and sometimes is caught between decisions but he will figure things out with more reps.

If people are looking for him to carry the puck a lot then they will be waiting a while for that as that isn't what that line needs. He is morphing his game so that Ehlers and Conner can continue to play to their offensive strengths. Having said that Conner and Ehlers need to do a better job finding him in the offensive end, he's often open and ready to shoot or to provide an outlet when one of the two is pressured. I am sure that will also come with more reps.

 

[Finnflash]

I posted this in the game day thread but it is pretty relevant here:

PLD is used to being the player lugging the puck and making things happen all over the ice as that was his role in Columbus. He had the puck a lot and he did a lot of things on his own. He is now on a team with a bunch of talent and he is trying to alter his game to fit around that talent.

On his current line he is playing with Ehlers and Conner, two players that love the puck on their stick in the offensive end and love lugging it around. There is only one puck to go around and its hard to have a line with three players trying to lug it around all the time. He is now trying move from playing the puck rushing game that he played in Columbus to a more positional give and go/support offensive game so that Ehlers and Conner can continue to do what they do well there. If you watch closely he puts himself into good positions in the offensive end and has made some good reads and has had some great chances in tight on that line. He is still learning to read off of both players and sometimes is caught between decisions but he will figure things out with more reps.

If people are looking for him to carry the puck a lot then they will be waiting a while for that as that isn't what that line needs. He is morphing his game so that Ehlers and Conner can continue to play to their offensive strengths. Having said that Conner and Ehlers need to do a better job finding him in the offensive end, he's often open and ready to shoot or to provide an outlet when one of the two is pressured. I am sure that will also come with more reps.

Well said. Excellent description of what is.

 

[Adam da bomb]

I posted this in the game day thread but it is pretty relevant here:

PLD is used to being the player lugging the puck and making things happen all over the ice as that was his role in Columbus. He had the puck a lot and he did a lot of things on his own. He is now on a team with a bunch of talent and he is trying to alter his game to fit around that talent.

On his current line he is playing with Ehlers and Conner, two players that love the puck on their stick in the offensive end and love lugging it around. There is only one puck to go around and its hard to have a line with three players trying to lug it around all the time. He is now trying move from playing the puck rushing game that he played in Columbus to a more positional give and go/support offensive game so that Ehlers and Conner can continue to do what they do well there. If you watch closely he puts himself into good positions in the offensive end and has made some good reads and has had some great chances in tight on that line. He is still learning to read off of both players and sometimes is caught between decisions but he will figure things out with more reps.

If people are looking for him to carry the puck a lot then they will be waiting a while for that as that isn't what that line needs. He is morphing his game so that Ehlers and Conner can continue to play to their offensive strengths. Having said that Conner and Ehlers need to do a better job finding him in the offensive end, he's often open and ready to shoot or to provide an outlet when one of the two is pressured. I am sure that will also come with more reps.

Is pld an overpay when what we needed was a Danault? A d first centre who can play the support role offensively but doesn’t need to be a driver?

 

[jokesondee]

delete

 

[jokesondee]

I love him as a player, also adds a greater defensive presence. He’s exactly what we need and he’s not even fully set in with our systems or chemistry with line mates

Agreed. Other than everyones horrid game against Montreal, Dubois has been on the + side of +/- in every game he's played with us. He's been physical, tough on the boards, winning puck battles, making smart decisions, and playing solid defense. Lest we forget he's also had two o.t. game winners. The points will come. Cant wait until he catches fire. Gonna be fun!

P.S. swap Ehlers and Wheeler for a game or two pomo and lets see what happens.​

 

[Hunter368]

Is pld an overpay when what we needed was a Danault? A d first centre who can play the support role offensively but doesn’t need to be a driver?

Habs fan rag on Danault constantly this year if you read their GDT and post game threads.......they seem to be only too happy to see him leave. He's a defensive 3C.......with poor offensive game

 

[Adam da bomb]

Habs fan rag on Danault constantly this year if you read their GDT and post game threads.......they seem to be only too happy to see him leave. He's a defensive 3C.......with poor offensive game

Yea but ehlers is already doing the heavy lifting offensively you can use a d first centre who will cost much less than pld will.

 

[surixon]

Is pld an overpay when what we needed was a Danault? A d first centre who can play the support role offensively but doesn’t need to be a driver?

I think once he gets comfortable he will be a driver, he will just do it in a different way then how he did it in Columbus. I mean on Toronto both Tavaras and Mathews tend to let their wingers in Marner/Nylander lug the puck most of the time as well. What they do is they get open, assert themselves into the play when needed and finish the play off. Crosby and Bergeron have managed to stay elite centers into their 30's in large part to superior positioning and ability to read when to assert themselves into the play. Both of these players rarely have the puck on their stick for long periods of time these days and both let their wingers control a lot of the play.

It is the bolded where Dubois is still learning his line mates tendencies and once he does he will look a lot better imo.

Also we can always alter the lineup to move Ehlers up and then you will need Dubois to do the heavy lifting.

 

[Adam da bomb]

I think once he gets comfortable he will be a driver, he will just do it in a different way then how he did it in Columbus. I mean on Toronto both Tavaras and Mathews tend to let their wingers in Marner/Nylander lug the puck most of the time as well. What they do is they get open, assert themselves into the play when needed and finish the play off.

Also we can always alter the lineup to move Ehlers up and then you will need Dubois to do the heavy lifting.

That doesn’t sound like a driver that sounds like a finisher like kc. I imagine if ehlers moves up kc drives the offence.

 

[Hunter368]

Yea but ehlers is already doing the heavy lifting offensively you can use a d first centre who will cost much less than pld will.

Watch Danualt play, he kills most offensive plays for his team when he's on the ice.......the guy is a offensive black hole.

Jets needs PLD to be that phyiscal, two way big body centre who can score 55-65 points.........that's what the Jets need. Assuming PLD delivers that, he will be a grand slam win for the Jets.

 

[surixon]

Watch Danualt play, he kills most offensive plays for his team when he's on the ice.......the guy is a offensive black hole.

Jets needs PLD to be that phyiscal, two way big body centre who can score 55-65 points.........that's what the Jets need. Assuming PLD delivers that, he will be a grand slam win for the Jets.

Yup not every center needs to have the puck on their stick all the time like a McDavid, Barzal, Petterson etc. You can also be an extremely effective and dangerous center playing a strong positional game where you pick your spots well and are sound defensively. Centers like Crosby, Barkov, Bergeron, Tavaras, Kopitar are all elite centers that play more of an anticipation, give and go, pick their spot type of game.

 

[jetsforever]

I keep forgetting that PLD is actually the young one on his line - plenty of room to improve!

 

[JetsFan815]

I posted this in the game day thread but it is pretty relevant here:

PLD is used to being the player lugging the puck and making things happen all over the ice as that was his role in Columbus. He had the puck a lot and he did a lot of things on his own. He is now on a team with a bunch of talent and he is trying to alter his game to fit around that talent.

On his current line he is playing with Ehlers and Conner, two players that love the puck on their stick in the offensive end and love lugging it around. There is only one puck to go around and its hard to have a line with three players trying to lug it around all the time. He is now trying move from playing the puck rushing game that he played in Columbus to a more positional give and go/support offensive game so that Ehlers and Conner can continue to do what they do well there. If you watch closely he puts himself into good positions in the offensive end and has made some good reads and has had some great chances in tight on that line. He is still learning to read off of both players and sometimes is caught between decisions but he will figure things out with more reps.

If people are looking for him to carry the puck a lot then they will be waiting a while for that as that isn't what that line needs. He is morphing his game so that Ehlers and Conner can continue to play to their offensive strengths. Having said that Conner and Ehlers need to do a better job finding him in the offensive end, he's often open and ready to shoot or to provide an outlet when one of the two is pressured. I am sure that will also come with more reps.

He was only the puck carrier on his line last season. Prior to that he had a lot of success playing with Panarin who loves to have the puck on his stick, even more than Ehlers.

I am satisfied with the play of that line and of Dubois... yeah he's not lighting the world on fire with points but his underlying metrics have been solid since he moved back to C on the 2nd line and he is getting a good solid 2-3 shots on net a night which is good. He's probably not gonna put up as many points and goals as Laine but with Scheifele on the team there isn't pressure on him to be PPG centerman.

 

[RustyCat]

I posted this in the game day thread but it is pretty relevant here:

PLD is used to being the player lugging the puck and making things happen all over the ice as that was his role in Columbus. He had the puck a lot and he did a lot of things on his own. He is now on a team with a bunch of talent and he is trying to alter his game to fit around that talent.

On his current line he is playing with Ehlers and Conner, two players that love the puck on their stick in the offensive end and love lugging it around. There is only one puck to go around and its hard to have a line with three players trying to lug it around all the time. He is now trying move from playing the puck rushing game that he played in Columbus to a more positional give and go/support offensive game so that Ehlers and Conner can continue to do what they do well there. If you watch closely he puts himself into good positions in the offensive end and has made some good reads and has had some great chances in tight on that line. He is still learning to read off of both players and sometimes is caught between decisions but he will figure things out with more reps.

If people are looking for him to carry the puck a lot then they will be waiting a while for that as that isn't what that line needs. He is morphing his game so that Ehlers and Conner can continue to play to their offensive strengths. Having said that Conner and Ehlers need to do a better job finding him in the offensive end, he's often open and ready to shoot or to provide an outlet when one of the two is pressured. I am sure that will also come with more reps.

Interesting take. Based on this I have to wonder what would happen if he and 55 are switched? I am not saying that will happen but stylistically it certainly changes things.

 

[surixon]

He was only the puck carrier on his line last season. Prior to that he had a lot of success playing with Panarin who loves to have the puck on his stick, even more than Ehlers.

I am satisfied with the play of that line and of Dubois... yeah he's not lighting the world on fire with points but his underlying metrics have been solid since he moved back to C on the 2nd line and he is getting a good solid 2-3 shots on net a night which is good. He's probably not gonna put up as many points and goals as Laine but with Scheifele on the team there isn't pressure on him to be PPG centerman.

Excellent point re Panarin. I must confess I really only started to take note of him last year. The fact he played well with Panarin gives me more confidence that once he gets comfortable that he will have a good amount of success with Ehlers and Conner.

As @Hunter368 said all he needs to do is be a good two/way physical 60 to 65 point center for us.

 

[Joe Hallenback]

What I have taken away watching him is he tends to be in the right position on the ice. Playing with Ehlers and Connor, teams will tend to force the play to Connor's side on break outs because he is weak at it and PLD is really supporting that side of the ice when he can. Ehlers is really good at moving the puck out either by skating it out or passing it out but Connor struggles with D pressure.

Remove the Montreal game and that line is starting not only to move the puck out but get chances on the offensive side. Connor had a nice goal last night and I expect to see them get more offense as the season goes as they get the easier matchups.

In the offensive zone PLD uses his size and reach to great effectiveness and if things are not going his way offensively he will dish out punishing body checks.

Is he as good offensively as Schief? Likely not but he might be much better defensively so its a trade off and nice one to have as a 2nd option

 

[abax44]

He does that 1 handed, willy-nilly swat/poke check like Laine did, but is somehow very good/effective at it.

 

[Adam da bomb]

What I have taken away watching him is he tends to be in the right position on the ice. Playing with Ehlers and Connor, teams will tend to force the play to Connor's side on break outs because he is weak at it and PLD is really supporting that side of the ice when he can. Ehlers is really good at moving the puck out either by skating it out or passing it out but Connor struggles with D pressure.

Remove the Montreal game and that line is starting not only to move the puck out but get chances on the offensive side. Connor had a nice goal last night and I expect to see them get more offense as the season goes as they get the easier matchups.

In the offensive zone PLD uses his size and reach to great effectiveness and if things are not going his way offensively he will dish out punishing body checks.

Is he as good offensively as Schief? Likely not but he might be much better defensively so its a trade off and nice one to have as a 2nd option

As long as he accepts a team friendly contract the way schief did.