The best thing that Richard has going for him is his shot and his work near the net. He has the ability to score from mid-range. Later in the year, most of his goals were scored in net-mouth scrambles or rebounds. And that’s a positive attribute, but there’s also an element of randomness to the fact that these types of goals went in when framing his productivity levels. Really translatable goals: catch-and-release shooting, in-stride shooting off the rush, goals that freeze the defender with a quick cut to the middle, etc. these goals aren’t prevalent in his game. Part of where his game breaks down in this area is his first step and burst off of pass reception is really weak (though, his pass acceptance, particularly pucks that come in near his feet, is a strength). In addition, Jake’s hands in space aren’t amazing. They’re good, but right now they aren’t good enough to overcome this flaw. So, this makes him a really limited-use player right now. He’s not a very good player in transition compared to his production level. It does look like catch and release shooting, for instance, can work itself into his game…but without it, he really gets stuck in being a sub-6 foot player being primarily a net-front presence and that’s not going to work out.
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