He played great. But. He DOES actually tend to skate himself into trouble sometimes. Like 4 extra stickhandles rather than just laying it off to an open player. Tonight was much more pronounced than last couple games. Maybe he saw tonight the team had a legit chance at winning so he wanted to take over a bit (which he did). But sometimes I was like dude you have an open player for a simple pass to the point or something. But he does tend to get tunnel vision for the most dangerous pass available. Even if it’s not completely there. Or he will hold onto it himself.
messily coached. Especially in the nhl where he will have talent around him.
I think that's a fair point and it is an observation I recall from scouting videos of him in the DEL. Spezza had a habit as well of trying to force the dangerous pass at high speeds.
I would point out that he must be pretty tired playing 31 minutes tonight and in the high 20s the other two games, at a pretty high intensity. That kind of physical toll will have an impact on decision-making. This was also an important game for Germany and he must have felt pressure to produce given the lack of secondary scoring -- all 4 goals came with him on the ice.
Beyond that, one reason I'm not that concerned is that I thought his decision-making specifically on the powerplay (where he had a chance to catch his breath) was exceptional. He made great reads, didn't force much, and was extremely patient with the puck along the half-wall. That shows me that he has a good IQ for the game and doesn't have to play at max speed all the time to be successful.
Finally, I just think that this is easily coached at the NHL level -- provided you have the right (patient) coach to do it. As much as I like Sanderson's composure, I'd actually prefer to see him continue to push the envelope offensively and take more risks at the junior level. I think it's easier to tone down the game-breaking stuff in the NHL than it is to increase it.
