Pre-Season Game #4/ Chicago Blackhawks @ Detroit Red Wings 6:00 PM ET

[Flowah]

Kind of a Jarnkrok case. Development curve has been almost non-existant.

Hes smart enough. Saw some very hockey smart plays last night.

Problem is, as you said, he is way too slow. Speed is the name of the game these days and he doesn't seem to be able to keep up. If he cant keep up with a bunch of nobodies that Chicago iced last night, he's going to get murdalyzed by NHLers.

 

[Rzombo4 prez]

Hes smart enough. Saw some very hockey smart plays last night.

Problem is, as you said, he is way too slow. Speed is the name of the game these days and he doesn't seem to be able to keep up. If he cant keep up with a bunch of nobodies that Chicago iced last night, he's going to get murdalyzed by NHLers.

XO is a very good example of why you can't just presume that skating (in this case acceleration) will improve. He has everything else to play at the NHL level but he just couldn't make meaningful gains with his feet. Russo looks slightly better in that department, but still has some hard work ahead of him in that regard.

 

[Z40]

Kind of a Jarnkrok case. Development curve has been almost non-existant.

You mean, "the next Zetterberg."

 

[Frk It]

You mean, "the next Zetterberg."

He looked really good in Sweden, just never made any strength or skating gains.

If Z never made strength or skating gains he wouldn't have made it far either.

 

[Inspiration]

XO is a very good example of why you can't just presume that skating (in this case acceleration) will improve. He has everything else to play at the NHL level but he just couldn't make meaningful gains with his feet. Russo looks slightly better in that department, but still has some hard work ahead of him in that regard.

Why do we assume that Russo can still improve while Ouellet's development is nearly done? Ouellet is younger than Russo.

 

[Pavels Dog]

Why do we assume that Russo can still improve while Ouellet's development is nearly done? Ouellet is younger than Russo.

I've only half paid attention to the games so far in pre-season, but Russo's skating looks like less of an issue than XO's to me.

 

[Frk It]

I've only half paid attention to the games so far in pre-season, but Russo's skating looks like less of an issue than XO's to me.

I agree. I don't really see an issue with Russo's skating.

 

[HIFE]

After last night's game I believe we'll see Smith benched again early this season and another shot given to XO or Russo, etc.

The shift where Smith gave his patented huge giveaway up the slot then proceeded to scramble around the d-zone and take a penalty, just terrible. His skating up ice with the puck looked no better or even worse than last season. I've hoped in and defended Smith for years but am over it now. He's simply not smart enough to play at this level.

 

[Rzombo4 prez]

Why do we assume that Russo can still improve while Ouellet's development is nearly done? Ouellet is younger than Russo.

I am not sure that the capacity to get better is there, but he already has better acceleration than XO so he has a shorter distance to go to get to a respectable NHL level. XO's feet look exactly the same as they did three years ago. It goes to show you that not only do you need to be a very good hockey player to make it, you also need to be a great athlete.

 

[TheMule93]

It should also be noted that Russo is already better than Oulette

 

[RedMenace]

Unrelated to any of the current discussion, but another reason to love Steve Ott:

https://www.nhl.com/news/red-wings-...an-larkin-steve-ott/c-282354162?tid=281396148

In case anyone is wondering, it happened during this game.