Newsday: Pulock taking next step

[The Winter Soldier]

You have to add this beauty OT winning goal to his thread. Like it.

 

[Phil120362]

That was one play. If you can't tell that he's improved his defensive game from 3-4 years ago, I call BS on you being an Isles fan.

Prolly a wild fan,wanted Nino for Pulock

 

[Kevin27NYI]

29 points in 60 games. plus 12.

Tremendous year for the young man. Huge fan of him and his potential.

 

[PK Cronin]

I think he's been terrific, but some of the goal totals people expected is so funny.

 

[seafoam]

I think he's been terrific, but some of the goal totals people expected is so funny.

I wouldn’t say they were funny. Lets not forget that Pulock had five goals in the preaseaon and Trotz’ usage of him (shutdown guy) really only picked up after the first couple of weeks in the season.

I think we all thought Pulock was going to be Trotz’ “Carlson”, not his “Niskanen”.

 

[PK Cronin]

I wouldn’t say they were funny. Lets not forget that Pulock had five goals in the preaseaon and Trotz’ usage of him (shutdown guy) really only picked up after the first couple of weeks in the season.

I think we all thought Pulock was going to be Trotz’ “Carlson”, not his “Niskanen”.

Some people were suggesting 20+, no? It's possible that was people in real life, but 20+ is definitely funny to me.

 

[WangMustGo]

Does trotz know how to develop defenseman or what? Pulock is a stud.

 

[Slurpeelover27]

I also expected a lot more goals from Pulock this year, but I am very happy with the way he is being developed. Dmen almost always take much longer to develop and learning to play defence first should be the way to go. Once a player is more confident in their all around game then they will be able to utilize more and more of their assets and skills. Pulock is not on the 1st powerplay yet, but I think it is only a matter of time. To me he is already clearly better than Leddy. Next year he will make significant improvements to his point totals while also playing an all around better game. I don't think he is the quickest, but for a big man he has progressed very nicely.

He is trending towards being a great dman and that is fantastic to see.

 

[Islesfan22]

I think he's been terrific, but some of the goal totals people expected is so funny.

Well he scored a ton in preseason so I’m sure double digit goals were definitely expected. I was expecting more then 10 probably about 15 this season. His defense has improved a lot so not complaining. One of the big reason why I think Pulock doesn’t have more goals is because he misses the net to much.

 

[PWJunior]

Well he scored a ton in preseason so I’m sure double digit goals were definitely expected. I was expecting more then 10 probably about 15 this season. His defense has improved a lot so not complaining. One of the big reason why I think Pulock doesn’t have more goals is because he misses the net to much.

Whether or not the offense manifests, he's taken massive strides in his own zone. The best is yet to come, but he's trending towards Aucoin 2.0 and I would be thrilled with that.

Pulock was all offense when drafted and the hope was for a PP specialist and hopefully competent enough defensively to be a top-4 guy. He's now our top pairing guy doing a ton of heavy lifting... so a big win so far.

 

[Slurpeelover27]

Well he scored a ton in preseason so I’m sure double digit goals were definitely expected. I was expecting more then 10 probably about 15 this season. His defense has improved a lot so not complaining. One of the big reason why I think Pulock doesn’t have more goals is because he misses the net to much.

Agreed. Once he improves his accuracy he has a real chance to one day score 20 goals. As he is playing so well defensively he can be played in any situation and the opportunities will be there. Huge part of doing well in the NHL is opportunity.

He will be an RFA after next year so plenty of incentive for him to kill it next year. I expect at least 10 (hopefully 15) goals from him next year, although, it seems under Trotz system it is difficult for any dman except for 1 to stand out. Toews looks to have some good potential as well. They should both jump over Leddy in the depth charts next year. One of Boychuk or Leddy will probably have to go in a year or 2. Those 2 are overpaid at 6 and 5.5 million per year with a number of years left on their contracts.

 

[BrockLobster]

Top pair guy w toews for years to come...in my eyes.

 

[PWJunior]

Agreed. Once he improves his accuracy he has a real chance to one day score 20 goals. As he is playing so well defensively he can be played in any situation and the opportunities will be there. Huge part of doing well in the NHL is opportunity.

He will be an RFA after next year so plenty of incentive for him to kill it next year. I expect at least 10 (hopefully 15) goals from him next year, although, it seems under Trotz system it is difficult for any dman except for 1 to stand out. Toews looks to have some good potential as well. They should both jump over Leddy in the depth charts next year. One of Boychuk or Leddy will probably have to go in a year or 2. Those 2 are overpaid at 6 and 5.5 million per year with a number of years left on their contracts.

I see no reason to trade Leddy unless we get an upgrade on him. He may not be a top pairing d-man, but he is a legitimate top-4 LD who is elite at skating the puck out of the zone and through the neutral zone. He is not overpaid, I think his contract is solid and we have him for 3 more years after this one. Pair him with a rock solid RD like Boychuk now and maybe Dobson later, he's a keeper. If we trade him, I think you'd be surprised how strong his value would be.

Boychuk is certainly long in the tooth and it could get ugly quickly, Dobson and Wilde are the heir apparents for his spot. If Manchuk can hold it together next season to let our young RD's develop one more year, we could have 2 NHL ready (or very close to ready) with full ELC's in tow. The options are intriguing. Trade one for help elsewhere? Hmm.

Mayfield's awful deal (for him) is like the cherry on top, looking like one of the best value contracts in the league. The defense will be the backbone of this team.

 

[Lame Lambert]

7 points in 7 games for our #1 D. Looks like Pulock is going to be a 2nd half player.

 

[PK Cronin]

7 points in 7 games for our #1 D. Looks like Pulock is going to be a 2nd half player.

Just adjusting to a real system and coach. He'll be good at the start next season.