Terrible product on the ice.
I'll agree with you there, but like Tripod said, this isn't the end result. It is all part of the process, which doesn't happen over night. Ask the hardcore Sixers fans about that...
Terrible product on the ice.
Our youngsters don't look that good. Others teams youngsters from the same drafts are looking better. The cup team was tough and skill and played with balls but those players had that in them. This group just skates and shoots.I'll agree with you there, but like Tripod said, this isn't the end result. It is all part of the process, which doesn't happen over night. Ask the hardcore Sixers fans about that...
He makes his linemates better, but he's not a miracle worker.
Dale Weise would beg to differ.
I think that Hakstol may have lost some confidence in him, but is trying to turn his playmaking/2-way (not that he is 100% responsible in his own zone) game into a checking role game that just doesn't suit his play style.
While he plays he does make stuff happen. His speed and tenacity are noticeable, but his speed is what is most apparent. .
I don't remember this place being so ****ing whathe****y as it has been the past year or two, some of the threads these days are just impossible to read. I dislike the tension everywhere. Thank God for cpt Dave Poulin's creative mind haha
I'd say the opposite, Konecny looks very comfortable in a checking role. He's fiesty and likes to hit people (at times I question his sanity as he has targeted some really big guys, an exercise in futility), has a lot of energy and chases the puck, and like Laughton, theoretically should be able to exploit those turnovers they force better than guys like VdV and PEB. Leier isn't nearly as aggressive a checker as Konecny, more likely to stick check than try and separate a player from the puck.
I'd like to see another winger with Laughton and Konecny than Leier, someone with both speed and playmaking abilities, Weal has the latter but not the former. I think they could become a high energy checking/third line that could be really disruptive with the right LW. Or move Laughton to LW and put Frost at center - that would be a true speed line.
I do think that Laughton/Kocecny should play more minutes, this team needs their speed - but I also think both players offensively aren't as good as advertised at the NHL level. That may come with experience, but right now I think they're in the right role, just underutilized.
Yes I see what you're saying. I feel though, going back to Jr., he never excelled in a checking role. Early on in JR. He played that checking style and once he moved up and put his offensive game into focus, he showed what he could do. Right now he's on pace to do about the same or even less for point production as he was last year.
Konecny is offensively talented, just not in the way he is used. He works well with Laughton, but not in the role he's given.
Sure, but the goal isn't to get Filppula and Simmonds points, so wasting Couturier with them makes no sense. He can help the team so much more with better linemates, as he has all season.
He makes his linemates better, but he's not a miracle worker.
Right, so putting one of your top scoring forwards with wingers like Filppula and Simmonds, who are so bad right now that not even Couturier can make them passable at 5v5, isn't a good idea. All that does is weaken the lines that actually have a chance to score.dude, the goal is not to get players points the goal is to win games. When you have 3 scoring lines that takes a toll on the other team, they can't put out their top pairing dmen or their shutdown line on everyone . That means at some point in the game one of your top 3 lines is going to be getting a very favorable matchup.
Right, so putting one of your top scoring forwards with wingers like Filppula and Simmonds, who are so bad right now that not even Couturier can make them passable at 5v5, isn't a good idea. All that does is weaken the lines that actually have a chance to score.
Raising their play and making them a passable scoring line are two very different things.a fan of couturier would say he is the center that can raise their play. I think we are at the point now where couturier is quite clearly capable of elevating his linemates play.
Raising their play and making them a passable scoring line are two very different things.
He can make them look better than they are, but they'll still be a waste of his level of play.
And I'm saying it wouldn't be enough to make them a line that can score. We'd still be a two line team (and probably less than that since we'd no longer have Couturiers offense).But that is the beauty of it, we don't need them to be a scoring line, we have two lines ahead of them capable of that. That 3rd line would be our best defensive line , and a line quite capable of racking up points. When you have 3 lines that can score you don't need 1 line to carry the load.
No it wouldn't, deep teams don't rush good but not great prospects.
That's the luxury of depth.
I kind of disagree i think this is way more on Hextall. TK had the skills and i think was probably physically ready but imo would have benefitted from more seasoning. In junior he could get by on skill alone but in his rookie year I think he had no idea how to play the pro game and got frustrated. Plus I see two issues on the team that are hurting TK but also are more on Hextall. Although TK should be a top six player none of our top three centers are plus skaters that can keep up with him. He would be way ahead of the play kind of waiting for everyone to catch up. He is best with Coots but so is everyone else. Two his best position is rw and you have V and Simmonds ahead of him. I liked him with 21 who is our only (maybe Giroux) C that can skate with him. I think Raffl would be a natural for that line but he seems to have good chemistry with V.Konecny earned his way onto the club though. I don't see how he was rushed. He forced Hextall's and Hakstol's hand because his play was good, which is why it is completely baffling to see Hakstol so badly mishandle his use. Konecny needs to play with other top six forwards and not be forced into a bottom six role. I still have high hopes for him, but as long as Hakstol remains, Konecny will never get a fair shake by the club.