Neat. But he has looked solid in every game. In games where he wasn't noticeable, no one was really standing out. This team is desperate for some offense and confidence and he can provide both. I can see him being young and needing to take a break, but to say he's being scratched because he hasn't played well in the past few games is weird to me, since the whole team has looked like ****.
No need to be condescending. And i respectfully disagree that he has looked "solid" every game. He loses a ton of battles on the boards and 2 of his 3 assists have come in garbage time. He's had a few good shots here and there, but really hasn't stood out otherwise and he's gotten a fantastic opportunity playing with our 2 best forwards.
He isn't outplaying anyone in our top 9 and with MSL (finally) moving back to his wing position, someone has to be the odd man out. Who are we going to bump down to make room for Duke in the top 9? Stempniak? He's been our best player outside of Nash. He should be getting more playing time, not less and certainly not at the expense of a rookie who has looked mediocre at best.
I'm a big fan of Duke. I think he's going to have a great future with this team. But from what I've seen thus far, he's going to need some more seasoning. His attitude and skills will eventually translate into a very good NHL player, but right now, he's just not ready. I think a lot of people are REALLY trying to see the good things Duke is bringing, but overall he hasn't been very good.
And for what it's worth, the fact that no one else looks very impressive, doesn't really mean much in terms of Duke. We KNOW what Hags, MSL, Kreider, etc can do. They don't need to prove that they can play at the NHL level no matter how crappy they look right now. Duke NEEDS to be proving he is worthy enough to stay here and imo he hasn't done that yet.
I'm not ready to bump down Hags or Stempniak or anyone else at the expense of Duke yet.
