Team is winning but what's with Anders Lee?

[LAIslanderFan]

I could see this all of last year (and made sure to point it out obsessively) and was really disappointed the Islanders signed him to such a long term deal. Lee's best years are behind him. I know some will point to Eberle as well. I don't see the same issue. Eberle makes things happen when he has the puck, he can carry the puck in the zone and he's been good at finding Barzal with his passes. Lee can't skate with the puck, he loses every battle along the boards, because his skating is so bad, that he loses his balance most of the time when challenged. The worst is when he's on the ice in OT (it seems Trotz has figured that out), when he does have the puck, his stickhandling and passing are so bad, he just shoots the puck on net when he's challenged, basically handing the puck to the other team. Putting him on another line won't help, because he needs highly skilled players like Barzal and Tavares to hide his shortcomings. I would go so far as to sit Lee and try someone with Barzal's line other than anyone on the Nelson line (we don't want to have our best line broken up).

 

[PK Cronin]

Hey now. It's amazing how well Cappy developed Nelson. I mean, look at him now.

If you average it out, it's like Capuano and Trotz are just as good as one another at developing players.

 

[MJF]

If you average it out, it's like Capuano and Trotz are just as good as one another at developing players.

Trotz is our closer. The Mariano Rivera of developers.

 

[GrandmaSlices51631]

Given the Lee critique in here , I’m gonna say he has a big game tonight... it’s a real thing on HF isles

 

[ThreeLeftSkates]

I could see this all of last year (and made sure to point it out obsessively) and was really disappointed the Islanders signed him to such a long term deal. Lee's best years are behind him. I know some will point to Eberle as well. I don't see the same issue. Eberle makes things happen when he has the puck, he can carry the puck in the zone and he's been good at finding Barzal with his passes. Lee can't skate with the puck, he loses every battle along the boards, because his skating is so bad, that he loses his balance most of the time when challenged. The worst is when he's on the ice in OT (it seems Trotz has figured that out), when he does have the puck, his stickhandling and passing are so bad, he just shoots the puck on net when he's challenged, basically handing the puck to the other team. Putting him on another line won't help, because he needs highly skilled players like Barzal and Tavares to hide his shortcomings. I would go so far as to sit Lee and try someone with Barzal's line other than anyone on the Nelson line (we don't want to have our best line broken up).

Lee is a natural leader, and would handle any legitimate demotion without a peep. He was chosen to be the captain due to his ability as a leader, close to a 180 degree change from our last captain(see Toronto's thread about the signing for the fans take on his leadership ability). He works best near the goal line, we do not seem to have a partner right now who he can work with. I think some of your post is hyperbole, he is strong along the boards and is more than a handful in front of the net. Unlike Anders, Eberle sometimes forgets to play d, game 1 of his return being a prime example of that.
I expect at least 25 goals and 50 points, and pretty much the same for the next 3-4 years. Plus the intangibles in the locker room and on the ice. He has had to learn how to lose since coming here, he already knew how to win.

 

[nyisleslover]

I know plus/minus on its own has its flaws, but the team is currently a plus 8 when Anders is on the ice. So what does that mean? While his scoring may be down, and his skill set is certainly up for debate, the team certainly isn't SUFFERING because of his play right now. Yes, he is in a slump, but right now I don't see any signs of him regressing from a slow start, which means he either maintains a sluggish pace that probably won't hurt us too much, OR he kicks it in a bit and improves.

Regardless of his points issues on Barzal's wing, it's clear that he has not let his offensive struggles influence his leadership of this team. Could we have said the same of Tavares if he went through the same type of slump? I don't think so. Leadership has to be by example, and that will require more offensive output from Lee before season's end, no doubt, but for now I think that the team's on ice results give him some grace, and in fairness with everything else he has brought, a deserved grace, IMHO.

*on edit: I was trying to say a lot of the things I believe 2LeftSkates expressed nicely in his/her post at the same time I was making mine.

 

[GrandmaSlices51631]

I know plus/minus on its own has its flaws, but the team is currently a plus 8 when Anders is on the ice. So what does that mean? While his scoring may be down, and his skill set is certainly up for debate, the team certainly isn't SUFFERING because of his play right now. Yes, he is in a slump, but right now I don't see any signs of him regressing from a slow start, which means he either maintains a sluggish pace that probably won't hurt us too much, OR he kicks it in a bit and improves.

Regardless of his points issues on Barzal's wing, it's clear that he has not let his offensive struggles influence his leadership of this team. Could we have said the same of Tavares if he went through the same type of slump? I don't think so. Leadership has to be by example, and that will require more offensive output from Lee before season's end, no doubt, but for now I think that the team's on ice results give him some grace, and in fairness with everything else he has brought, a deserved grace, IMHO.

*on edit: I was trying to say a lot of the things I believe 2LeftSkates expressed nicely in his/her post at the same time I was making mine.

Good point here but Lee is definitely trending toward being more of a Dustin Brown role player, he can fit in the middle six but as long as our #1C is Barzal (which I hope is for the next decade) then I don't see him on the top line. As others have said, he could be the X-Factor on a really good third line, net front presence on the top power play unit and leader in the locker room, no buyers remorse yet here but facing the reality Barzal is too fast and dynamic for him.

 

[Hunn]

Lee is great leader and great human being, an essential part of this team core, but he's not a first-line material, plain and simple. Once they find someone else, internally or via trade, to play left wing on Barzal line, Lee will be fine playing somewhat complementary role somewhere down the depth chart.

 

[dlawong]

I watched Lee played closely and I think his not scoring as much is because of:

1. He plays too close to the net way too often and sometimes it is better to be just slightly off to the side of the net to deflect the pucks more efficiently. On the PP he tries to screen the goalies but the shots from the point either gets blocked or were shot wide too often. Once Pulock can perfect his shot accuracy and everyone on the PP point need to understand that getting the puck on net is more important than blasting the shots he will be more productive.

2. Defenders are playing harder on him physically this year and at times getting away with penalties. I sense frustration from him and he need to just review all video tapes and think how he can be more effective in front of the net without getting called for goalie interference and out fighting opposing defenders for better position to either deflect or shoot the pucks.

3. Same with Bailey, his reactions seemed to be a bit slower this time of the year. Not getting enough good sleeps? No matter what is going on with their personal lives, they need to find ways to have better sleeps as not enough can have significant impact on reaction time, vision and focus.

4. Too many shots aiming at goalie 5 holes? Five hole shots works well on breakaways but not always on other circumstances. Shoot over the goalie pads away from glove side likely will yield better result. Practice will help. He also need to push harder to get to scoring positions more often & ask for the puck if he does.

Overall I think he plays differently with Barzal/Ebs than Tavares/Bailey because his line-mates have different skill assets/patterns and need him to play differently. I think he need to simply his game and the goals will come. Ebs typically takes time to get into the game after injuries so it will take a bit time to have that line going.

 

[LeapOnOver]

Why is this hilarious? It's a true story. Brock > JT

Brock 19Pts +- 0 @6aav > J tavares 14pts @11 aav (all while playing on an offensive "power house" PP too.

Comparing Mr. Brocktober to anybody this early in the season is jumping the gun. Let's wait and see how he does in months that are not found in autumn before we start comparing him to Tavares, lol.

 

[Duanesutter12]

He's not a fit on that line. He's never been a fit on that line. There's a reason they tried to sign Panarin first. When the 2nd line cools off (it'll happen), Tito will move up, and he'll be in a better spot playing with Nelson.

Bingo! I've been saying this since training camp. He's just not a good fit with Barzal. You need guys with Barzal that can get themselves open. lee is a post up/corner digger that will never benefit from Barzal's shiftiness. Lee is still an effective player and I would guess his points are going to come in bunches but he's better served on a different line.

 

[Duanesutter12]

Lee will never be able to pick up enough of Barzal’s rebounds.

Because Barzal's shots usually come off of shifty moves or speed and there is no way Lee is going to be around to pounce.

 

[crasherino]

I'm pretty sure this is a regular occurrence with Anders. His goal scoring starts slow at times and is often streaky. Just looking quickly, in '16-'17 he had one goal through November 22nd. He finished with 34.

He's otherwise playing very well and getting time in high leveraged spots. He's even getting time in OT - something that hasn't happened before.

I'd rather look at this in a positive light - we are 15-0-2 and Lee and Eberle aren't really producing. There's no correlation but its nice to see that there are other sources of offense to tap into when other guys go on cold streaks.

I suspect the goals will come in bunches once he pots his next one. He's the same guy we signed in July - both on the positive and negative sides.

 

[DalGoal4Cups]

Comparing Mr. Brocktober to anybody this early in the season is jumping the gun. Let's wait and see how he does in months that are not found in autumn before we start comparing him to Tavares, lol.

I'm saying for 6aav cap hit, compared to tavares 11 mil cap hit, brock does way more than JT. Brock killes penalties t00 at times. plays 3-3, more points, plays the PP. Did I mention tavares translates into "team cancer" in latin? Without Mitch Marner tavares isn't anything special from what I've seen this year.

 

[majormet]

Comparing Mr. Brocktober to anybody this early in the season is jumping the gun. Let's wait and see how he does in months that are not found in autumn before we start comparing him to Tavares, lol.

He is now Mr Brovember... with those OT goals... comparing Nelson to Judas is like when the Isles had Yashin and Peca, different types of players

 

[Quickdraw2828]

Lee is another guy who got rich thanks to Pajamas. Because of the unexpected loss of Tavares we couldn't afford to lose another goal scorer - Lee was holding all the cards. I don't care what Lou says, if we signed Bread I doubt Lee would be on the team. And if Lee was signed it sure wouldn't have been for seven years, probably more like 4 years 26 million.

 

[majormet]

Think Lee needs to play with a slower center, which the Isles really don't have since Judas betrayed us... that is why Staal would fit the bill, if you have him with Lee and Bailey, it would be a slow methodical line that would be a change up from Nelson and Barzal's buzzing lines... Lee is slow and by the time he is in position, Barzal has lost the puck or passed to his dmen

 

[majormet]

Lee is another guy who got rich thanks to Pajamas. Because of the unexpected loss of Tavares we couldn't afford to lose another goal scorer - Lee was holding all the cards. I don't care what Lou says, if we signed Bread I doubt Lee would be on the team. And if Lee was signed it sure wouldn't have been for seven years, probably more like 4 years 26 million.

If Bread was here, Lee would be wearing a Winnipeg jersey LOL... but getting Staal would turn Lee around...

 

[crasherino]

Lee is another guy who got rich thanks to Pajamas. Because of the unexpected loss of Tavares we couldn't afford to lose another goal scorer - Lee was holding all the cards. I don't care what Lou says, if we signed Bread I doubt Lee would be on the team. And if Lee was signed it sure wouldn't have been for seven years, probably more like 4 years 26 million.

I agree with this. Which is why I would have signed Lee earlier in the off season (for something less than 7x7) and let Eberle be the one to dangle in the wind. JMO, but Lee/Panarin is better than Eberle/Panarin as Lee brings something that Panarin doesn't. Panarin and Eberle are similar-ish players - Panarin is just much better.

As it turns out, it didn't matter as we got left at the alter anyway.

 

[Quickdraw2828]

I agree with this. Which is why I would have signed Lee earlier in the off season (for something less than 7x7) and let Eberle be the one to dangle in the wind. JMO, but Lee/Panarin is better than Eberle/Panarin as Lee brings something that Panarin doesn't. Panarin and Eberle are similar-ish players - Panarin is just much better.

As it turns out, it didn't matter as we got left at the alter anyway.

Panarin with Greiss/Lehner might have put us on par with Washington - in other words, cup favorites.

 

[crasherino]

Panarin with Greiss/Lehner might have put us on par with Washington - in other words, cup favorites.

Its EXACTLY what we need(ed), but alas - wasn't meant to be. Would have made the cap management tricky though. No way would we have Leddy on the team now if we signed Bread. Next year with Pulock/Toews/Barzal would become real dicey too.

 

[gadiamon72]

I wonder if Trotz and his staff are coaching Lee to be more of a screen as well as a guy that clears the way for Barzy and Ebs to do their thing. There are many times where deflections redirect the puck to go where the goalie is as apposed to where he is not. Just a thought. I've seen Lee do that many times. Many of his deflections have been goals, but also have not.

 

[Doshell Propivo]

Panarin with Greiss/Lehner might have put us on par with Washington - in other words, cup favorites.

If we're cup favorites with Greiss/Lehner then we're cup favorites with Greiss/Varlamov.

 

[Quickdraw2828]

If we're cup favorites with Greiss/Lehner then we're cup favorites with Greiss/Varlamov.

eh, still not sold. we'll see

and the Bread part was important too

 

[Doshell Propivo]

eh, still not sold. we'll see

and the Bread part was important too

Oh I totally agree with you. I'm not suggesting we ARE cup favorites necessarily. Just making the point that IF we are with Lehner, then we are with Varlamov.