Recalled/Assigned: Smith and Hirose to GR: Mantha and Nielsen activated

[Oddbob]

And you think there's more offensive potential in guys like Perlini, Erne, Ehn, Glendening, Filppula, Nielsen, Helm and Abdelkader, which Hirose has outproduced in points per game, and also in on-ice expected goals for?

Just compared him to guys who have played at least same amount of minutes on last 2 seasons than Hirose. You can't compare his production in any other way, so I compared it with the only way.

Where did I say that? Filppula, Helm, Ehn and Erne all provide value in non offensive roles. 3 of them can PK, and one can provide physicality on the 4th line. Point is, that Hirose is not good enough at what he does to make up for what he is not good at. Also he is more a top 6 player and doesn't fit a bottom 6 role unless he learns to play two way. Abby and Abdelkader are AHL good at this point, but we know that Abby at least won't get the Ericsson waiver treatment, as long as he is considered a leader in the room with a letter on his jersey. I also don't think they will do that to Nielsen either, although at this point it is warranted.

 

[datsyukfan]

Where did I say that? Filppula, Helm, Ehn and Erne all provide value in non offensive roles. 3 of them can PK, and one can provide physicality on the 4th line. Point is, that Hirose is not good enough at what he does to make up for what he is not good at. Also he is more a top 6 player and doesn't fit a bottom 6 role unless he learns to play two way. Abby and Abdelkader are AHL good at this point, but we know that Abby at least won't get the Ericsson waiver treatment, as long as he is considered a leader in the room with a letter on his jersey. I also don't think they will do that to Nielsen either, although at this point it is warranted.

At this point Taro should be considered as a top 9 forward because the goal should really be to have 3 scoring lines which we don’t. It’s no secret that AA has looked his best when Taro’s been up playing on his line. Taro makes plays and has the Best offensive IQ on the team. Is he the best player? No. But in terms of thinking the game IMO he has the best hockey IQ which to me is extremely valuable

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

At this point Taro should be considered as a top 9 forward because the goal should really be to have 3 scoring lines which we don’t. It’s no secret that AA has looked his best when Taro’s been up playing on his line. Taro makes plays and has the Best offensive IQ on the team. Is he the best player? No. But in terms of thinking the game IMO he has the best hockey IQ which to me is extremely valuable

Lower hockey IQ for me than Larkin, Mantha, Bertuzzi, Zadina and Filppula up front. I think he has a good hockey IQ, I think the reason we talk about it so much is a lack of a lot of other tools. There are a lot of other players this applies to that are stars over in Europe and the AHL which is kind of my opinion on what Hirose really is. He still has some time here to make a case, but I think he gets passed quickly by the more talented guys.

 

[jkutswings]

I'll take a first line of Helm-Nielsen-Abdelkader with 20+ minutes of ice time...

...if it means all three get dealt by the deadline. (Helm for value, and the other two for addition by subtraction.)

 

[Retire91]

I wish they would just leave the kids up. At this point there is no reason to play Nielsen any longer.

 

[Rzombo4 prez]

Lower hockey IQ for me than Larkin, Mantha, Bertuzzi, Zadina and Filppula up front. I think he has a good hockey IQ, I think the reason we talk about it so much is a lack of a lot of other tools. There are a lot of other players this applies to that are stars over in Europe and the AHL which is kind of my opinion on what Hirose really is. He still has some time here to make a case, but I think he gets passed quickly by the more talented guys.

Taro has a good head for the game offensively and a good understanding of space, pressure and timing. His highest and best skill, however, is clearly his hands, which are really, really nice. His strength and lack of mobility obviosuly offset the effectiveness of his head, hands and eyes. I also think he tries to intentionally slow the game down a bit too much. He needs to learn to play at a variety of paces and speeds to really become effective at the NHL level.

 

[ArmChairGM89]

Taro has a good head for the game offensively and a good understanding of space, pressure and timing. His highest and best skill, however, is clearly his hands, which are really, really nice. His strength and lack of mobility obviosuly offset the effectiveness of his head, hands and eyes. I also think he tries to intentionally slow the game down a bit too much. He needs to learn to play at a variety of paces and speeds to really become effective at the NHL level.

I think his skating is holding him back from playing a faster game.

 

[Rzombo4 prez]

I think his skating is holding him back from playing a faster game.

I very much agree. I keep thinking I am watching a poor man's Hudler for that very reason.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

I very much agree. I keep thinking I am watching a poor man's Hudler for that very reason.

Hudler was a lot stronger was a part of this. One of the reasons Taro cannot engage as often is how hard he gets blasted off the puck. For instance he makes a lot of smart bump plays in his own zone or neutral zone, problem is the D-man completely cleans him out so while he makes the right read he never really rejoins the play. Faster or stronger, he needs both of those departments in my opinion.