The Team Leader in Points Per... May Surprise You!

[DanZ]

Nyquist is so very much this problem right now. Say what you will about his goals and points. Majority are on the PP. Last season he was scoring 5v5 constantly. This season, he cant seem to get a decent attempt on net in 5v5.

I am so very disappointed with Nyquists play. I dont see how other people dont see it. Bar the PP making his stats look much better, he isnt the same as last season.

Here are the stats: 50 GP, 20G with 12 on PP, that means 8 5v5 Goals
Last Year: 57 GP, 28G with 6 on the PP, which means 22 5v5 Goals.

He is under half of his 5v5 production last year. That is a big problem and we cannot rely on PP's to win us games.

Opponents are clearly focusing on him now. He doesn't have the time and space he did last year when he was a lesser known player. He also doesn't get to benefit from the secondary matchups that Tatar gets. Sure some more 5-on-5 scoring from him would be nice, but it's also nice to have an ace on the powerplay like we haven't had in years. He'll probably put up 30+ goals and 60+ points. Don't know how you could be disappointed with that. A goal is a goal, a point is a point.

 

[TimoneX]

Precisely. Nyquist isn't a secret anymore, teams know he can do damage on any shift, so they're putting him on the must smother list with the Eurotwins. Enter Tatar, Weiss, & Sheahan. There are only so many weapons an opponent can negate/stifle.

 

[TheOtherOne]

I'm very happy with the current version of Weiss but still skeptical about whether it will continue. Yes his numbers look great for now but the sample size is not great.

It's a weird "problem" to have that despite how hot he is there's just no room in the top 6 to break into. But I don't think it's so much a problem if you just look at it from a different perspective. In the past we've had a mediocre 3rd line and when a guy on it gets hot he gets "promoted" to a more important line with more minutes. But the way we're looking at it now, we have so many guys with talent, that we can just promote the entire 3rd line... give them more minutes, give our vets some rest, look dangerous from all angles. We don't need a traditional hierarchy of lines, we can just run whichever of the 3 happens to be hot at the time. In that sense Weiss can get "first line" or "second line" minutes without actually changing which line he's on. Just roll them when they're hot, give them a break when they're not.

 

[DanZ]

Precisely. Nyquist isn't a secret anymore, teams know he can do damage on any shift, so they're putting him on the must smother list with the Eurotwins. Enter Tatar, Weiss, & Sheahan. There are only so many weapons an opponent can negate/stifle.

This is exactly why this team is scoring so many goals right now. Nyquist/Datsyuk/Zetterberg are still producing despite being the main focus of opponents' defensive schemes; meanwhile, Tatar, Weiss, Sheahan, Helm, etc. are abusing secondary matchups.

With regards to this thread, Weiss looks noticeably more confident with each passing game in my opinion. He's carrying the puck like he never has, making smart passes, and has even shown some stickhandling abilities recently. I'm really liking his game right now. He could be a big X-factor in the playoffs.

 

[TimoneX]

Unlike many here, I'm not worried about Weiss at all. I think we're seeing him return to his mean, which is a rock steady 50pt+ guy. From 06/07 - 11/12 Weiss rarely missed a game and averaged just under 53pts/yr like clockwork. The anomaly has been the string of injuries that kept him off the ice for nearly two seasons. He's still only 31 and signed to a very reasonable contract.

With Weiss finally healthy and in game shape the Wings have another weapon that opponents have to worry about trying to contain. This is the balanced attack that can win some playoff matchups.

Not worried about Nyquist either. He's too dangerous to be contained for long. Like the Eurotwins had to do he'll soon figure out what adjustments have to be made to get rolling 5v5 again even with the increased attention.