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Player Discussion: Ross Colton

JoVel

JoVel

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I was honestly not expecting any jump in his production from his rookie year but he's definitely been a pleasant surprise yet again. Being just barely below 0.5 ppg is a lot more than you could ask for. And some people here were calling for his head for being greedy and getting a 1.125 mil contract instead of just 1 mil lmao.
 
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Outl4w

Outl4w

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He has elevated his game and seems h3 could be a 3rd line gourde/Coleman replacement for now.
 
DFC

DFC

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He looks like a guy who's going to find the net in the playoffs. Scores most of his goals in close, muscling for position. I feel like all of his goals last playoffs were big ones. Wouldn't shock me to see 7 or 8 this year, which, if I'm not mistaken, is actually more than Gourde produced.

Gourde was more about momentum-change than actual production in the playoffs. He was great. But I think sometimes we remember him scoring a lot when that wasn't really the case. Colton is very likely to produce just as much secondary scoring, but he probably won't impact the game as much when not scoring.

That said... man, Hagel-Colton-Paul feels like a good playoff 3rd line. Let's hope they keep getting better.
 
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DrMartinVanNostrand

DrMartinVanNostrand

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DFC said:
But I think sometimes we remember him scoring a lot when that wasn't really the case.
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Tragically, for the longest time I best remembered him for *not* scoring that opportunity when Holtby flubbed the puck in front of his net in Game 7 when it was still 1-0. When Gourde didn't bury that, I knew we were cooked and that Holtby was squarely in our heads. What a painful and miserable rest of the night it was after that. But it also made it super appropriate three years later in another ECF G7 where Gourde scored the only goal. Serious redemption that night for him.
 
DFC

DFC

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DrMartinVanNostrand said:
Tragically, for the longest time I best remembered him for *not* scoring that opportunity when Holtby flubbed the puck in front of his net in Game 7 when it was still 1-0. When Gourde didn't bury that, I knew we were cooked and that Holtby was squarely in our heads. What a painful and miserable rest of the night it was after that. But it also made it super appropriate three years later in another ECF G7 where Gourde scored the only goal. Serious redemption that night for him.
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Gourde is the guy who really "figured it out," to me. He was always that tenacious guy who LOOKED like he would thrive in the playoffs, but then come playoff time he just couldn't push through. He looked a little too much like Vlad Namestnikov for my liking, but, of course, then came 2020, and we saw his game finally translate to the playoffs, and he was a big part of both cups.

I got some flack before for thinking we haven't quite seen Anthony Cirelli turn that same corner yet, but I stand by it. I know he's unlikely to score at a 50 per 82 pace in the playoffs, but I want to feel like he has the same impact on the game in the playoffs as he does in the regular season, and we haven't seen him do that yet. Last year was a bit of a write off because he was bad in the regular season and then just barely visible in the playoffs. And we never know the truth about how banged up guys are. But, to me, that's a positive, because we would be that much better with Cirelli playing to his full potential.
 
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BoltzManConstant

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DFC said:
Gourde is the guy who really "figured it out," to me. He was always that tenacious guy who LOOKED like he would thrive in the playoffs, but then come playoff time he just couldn't push through. He looked a little too much like Vlad Namestnikov for my liking, but, of course, then came 2020, and we saw his game finally translate to the playoffs, and he was a big part of both cups.

I got some flack before for thinking we haven't quite seen Anthony Cirelli turn that same corner yet, but I stand by it. I know he's unlikely to score at a 50 per 82 pace in the playoffs, but I want to feel like he has the same impact on the game in the playoffs as he does in the regular season, and we haven't seen him do that yet. Last year was a bit of a write off because he was bad in the regular season and then just barely visible in the playoffs. And we never know the truth about how banged up guys are. But, to me, that's a positive, because we would be that much better with Cirelli playing to his full potential.
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I like to think that "turning the corner" is a thing that can still happen for a guy with four years of major playoff experience under his belt, but I don't know. I tend to think the shift in Gourde was more from slotting in the perfect linemates, and I just don't think that's something that's gonna happen for Cirelli.
 
DFC

DFC

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BoltzManConstant said:
I like to think that "turning the corner" is a thing that can still happen for a guy with four years of major playoff experience under his belt, but I don't know. I tend to think the shift in Gourde was more from slotting in the perfect linemates, and I just don't think that's something that's gonna happen for Cirelli.
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I don't think it was, honestly. I mean, it gave him SO much more confidence than he had the previous season, and I'm sure that helped. But he was also so much more tenacious than in previous years. It felt like he just got shrugged off and abused in the playoffs. Then all of a sudden he fought through it. He was also like 29 years old when it happened, and I think a lot of times even if guys have long since "peaked" in the regular season (22 or 23 years old), they need to find their man-strength to come through in the playoffs, and that happens later. Most cup winning cores are a little closer to 30 than 20.

I think this year could be a lot different for Cirelli. As of now, it looks like he will be in a shutdown role -- I can't imagine 18-71-17 being anything else. And he's always thrived in that role.
 
BoltzManConstant

BoltzManConstant

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DFC said:
I don't think it was, honestly. I mean, it gave him SO much more confidence than he had the previous season, and I'm sure that helped. But he was also so much more tenacious than in previous years. It felt like he just got shrugged off and abused in the playoffs. Then all of a sudden he fought through it. He was also like 29 years old when it happened, and I think a lot of times even if guys have long since "peaked" in the regular season (22 or 23 years old), they need to find their man-strength to come through in the playoffs, and that happens later. Most cup winning cores are a little closer to 30 than 20.

I think this year could be a lot different for Cirelli. As of now, it looks like he will be in a shutdown role -- I can't imagine 18-71-17 being anything else. And he's always thrived in that role.
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One thing I'm not sure of on Gourde, is was he always ripped or is that just the last few seasons? At the boat parade he looked like the only guy on the team that lives in the weight room, but I hadn't noticed either way before. If that changed, I can see it allowing him to play differently in the playoffs. If not, I'm still going to give it to the change in linemates, and the fact that it went from Gourde alone battling his ass off to all three forwards as the difference-maker.

As for Cirelli, you could be right if this line sticks, but I'd put my money on last year's first and second lines reappearing by the playoffs. The third line is clearly meant to be the shutdown; doing the same for the second and then having the Maroon bus line just makes us so top-heavy that Coop won't run with it. But who knows, I'm wrong all the time.
 
Stammertime91

Stammertime91

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Well, expect the guy to make even more this offseason.off-season. Definitely top 6 material, especially the way he's looking recently.

Him and Paul are great winger replacements for the top 6 going forward.
 
JoVel

JoVel

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Stammertime91 said:
Well, expect the guy to make even more this offseason.off-season. Definitely top 6 material, especially the way he's looking recently.

Him and Paul are great winger replacements for the top 6 going forward.
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He's signed till 2023.
 
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