Puck Daddy Article (Bozak)

[NightmanCometh]

"Puck Daddy"

I didn't even start reading.

Greg Wyshynski isn't so bad. At the very least he's a lot less snarky than Lambert.

 

[klozge]

Greg Wyshynski isn't so bad. At the very least he's a lot less snarky than Lambert.

I don't learn anything new when I read his articles, though. It's too much opinion and too little information for my liking. Totally okay because it's a blog but just not my cup of coffee. However, I still do listen to MvsW once in a while.

 

[MastuhNinks]

I just don't see Bozak doing that well. I mean, he has NEVER broken 50 points, and that's with Kessel and JVR to leech off of. Even 13-14 when he was on pace to have a great year, it's covered up by an ungodly shooting % of 21.1%. In no way is that sustainable. Hell, even a 14.9% shooting % he had last year when he broke 20G for the first time is unsustainable too. Even if he is extremely selective, which he is, those kinds of numbers aren't sustainable. Plus, without Kessel to generate offense, he can't be as selective anymore. The league average is 9%, so he would normalize to 14 goals, which would make him a 40 point player on the nose. And that's just with everything from last year being equal, like still playing with JVR and Kessel and getting top line minutes and top PP minutes. Problem is, he is completely incapable of driving possession or driving the offense. He just can't.

Tyler Bozak's career shooting percentage is 16.2% in 378 games, it makes zero sense to 'normalize' his shooting percentage to 9%.

That said, please, please someone offer something for Tyler Bozak so the Leafs can get him off this team before we see what he's like for a full season without Kessel. Honest question, has there have been a player as bad as Bozak to be a team's #1 center for 5 years? A full half decade? I mean, there have been some pretty bad teams in this league but it's pretty mind boggling how long this guy dragged Kessel down for.

 

[jmart21]

Something I always find funny:

"Small sample size" is very commonly used as a counter argument to "look at this guy's awesome production".....it's widely accepted that a small sample size isn't enough to come to conclusions regarding someone's play.

EXCEPT, if you're talking about someone that's been unproductive in a small sample size. Ex: Bozak isn't productive away from Kessel, although the sample size is small, Kessel made him look good.

I'll wait to see how he actually does. I mean afterall, a small sample size isn't enough to make a conclusion right HFboards?

 

[Purity*]

Bozak has made a career out of riding Kessel's coattails. Even if you don't believe in advanced stats, just watch him play, he is freaking brutal. He literally does NOTHING GOOD in the offensive zone, the only decent about him is he has an decent wrist shot. Other than that, he can't pass, he can't cycle, he can't do zone entries to save his ****ing life, he can't win board battles, hell he can't even hang onto the puck for more than a couple seconds without desperately looking for Kessel or JVR.

We had some die-hard supporters of Bozak on the Leafs board as well. The lengths that these people went to defend Bozak was utterly insane.

 

[DonskoiDonscored]

Puck Daddy is horrible. Don't even bother.

 

[WillNyeTheHockeyGuy]

Canucks will give horvat and a 5th

No thanks. Are you trying to short change us or something? A 5th? I'm looking for a 1st on top of Horvat at least. I mean, this is Tyler mother****ing All-Star Bozak we're talking about.

 

[Dr Pepper]

It's not Bozak's fault that the Leafs have done absolutely nothing to replace him with an actual top line center....he's certainly been trying his best to show that he doesn't belong there.

I'm not entirely sure why the team has failed to do this, as it's plainly obvious that Bozak doesn't quite fit the bill.

He's had an underwhelming Nazem Kadri nipping at his heels the past few years, and I sure as hell hope they don't have Shawn Matthias pegged as a #1 threat, or else it'll be a very long season here in Leafland.

 

[omglolnub]

Yeah, I'm not saying he belongs in a top 6 (unless there are injuries), but he's a decent/average third line guy, no? Especially if people suggest he'll be a 35-40 point player next year. I don't think he's gonna go full Cory Conacher.

 

[MPGA]

According to these boards Bozak was an elite #1 center just a few months ago.

 

[AD1066]

According to these boards Bozak was an elite #1 center just a few months ago.

I remember people saying he's not a true 1C, but a good #2 miscast in a top line role.

In reality he's a 3rd liner at best, can't generate any sort of offense on his own.

 

[jmart21]

I remember people saying he's not a true 1C, but a good #2 miscast in a top line role.

In reality he's a 3rd liner at best, can't generate any sort of offense on his own.

He's never played any substantial amount of time on his own to justify this conclusion.

 

[BHD]

Lambert basically elaborating on what most knew.

 

[The Thin White Duke]

He's never played any substantial amount of time on his own to justify this conclusion.

I mean he's had 4 years of top line minutes and top PP time, but he only produced when Kessel did. Its not a coincidence that Bozak does nothing when Kessel goes cold but JVR still puts up points.

 

[Swervin81]

Something I always find funny:

"Small sample size" is very commonly used as a counter argument to "look at this guy's awesome production".....it's widely accepted that a small sample size isn't enough to come to conclusions regarding someone's play.

EXCEPT, if you're talking about someone that's been unproductive in a small sample size. Ex: Bozak isn't productive away from Kessel, although the sample size is small, Kessel made him look good.

I'll wait to see how he actually does. I mean afterall, a small sample size isn't enough to make a conclusion right HFboards?

Except the small samples from each season are consistently near the same result. Eventually, multiple small samples add up and become adequate samples.

When analyzing WOWY, there's 3 sides: A with B, A w/o B, and B w/o A. A is Kessel and B is Bozak. Kessel w/o Bozak <<< Kessel with Bozak. And Kessel's improvement away from Bozak is legit. That's been proven beyond a reasonable doubt. That's not a small sample at all since Bozak has been injured at various points, including quite a lot in 2013-14 while Kessel has never missed a single game as a Leaf, so it's definitely a smaller sample to work with when it comes to proving Bozak's uselessness without Kessel, but over time, consistent small samples and patterns can line up and be combined to form adequate samples. And arrive at the conclusion that yes, Bozak is most definitely useless away from Kessel.