The Tomas Plekanec Thread

[Spirit of 67]

Lol a thread dedicated to the 4th line centre is as Leafian as it gets.

No. Fretting over the first game of the 4th line C is so Leafy.

 

[thewave]

I thought he was fine. Did everyone forget how Moore plays already?

It was like Crosby out there compared to what Moore does. Moore does about nothing with the vision of a Potato so I am pretty damn happy actually.

 

[Mess]

First impression not so good..

He looked old and slow and really not much of an improvement on Moore.

Couple of penalties, a give away for the goal against and much of an impact offensively.

Hopefully it was nerves and he settles in better and can make a difference, as this was our only addition to strengthen us.

 

[Liminality]

One thing people need to remember is he's 100% for certain not going to be put into a position to succeed. Don't think he got any offensive zone faceoffs in his debut and I wouldn't expect him to in the future. He faced mostly against Johnson's line last night but also played some against Stamkos and Point.

 

[Bluelines]

I think there was a definite red, blue and white low level of play in his game last night that needs to be corrected and improved upon considerably. Throwing a careless elbow won't get him points with the coach, its the details that Babcock stresses, giving the 2nd best PP a PP because of a lack of focus will drive Babcock nuts, one game though.

I remember many years ago a GM, can't remember if its was Baseball or Hockey, that said he avoided trades with teams that were having a bad year because he felt that the attitude of a losing team would follow that player. He said that he would target winning teams because winning teams would give him players with winning pedigree. Not sure I agree with that entirely, seems to be a simplistic approach to a complicated situation, if Karlson was coming here I'd be pretty happy with that, even though the Sens have had a pretty poor year. What I do agree with is if you've been on a poor team for 3 months, and your focus is just to get the season over, it might take you a few games to get your competitive juices flowing again and wash the stink of your previous team off you.

 

[Bluelines]

Anyone remember the Bozak vs Plec debate on this forum a few years ago?

 

[Bluelines]

When I saw the Plec trade the very first thing that popped in my head was, they did it to go head to head with Bergeron's line. The Habs and B's have had a lot of playoff battles over the years and Plec was in the middle of it. Also Plec is a very good face off guy and Bergeron is a great face off guy, Plec gives us a fighting chance vs the alternative Moore who has no chance on the dot vs Bergeron.

 

[MJ65]

It's just one game guys

 

[A1LeafNation]

He can start by cutting down the penalties.

That habs style of crappy hockey aint gonna cut it here.

 

[Mr Knies Guy]

When I saw the Plec trade the very first thing that popped in my head was, they did it to go head to head with Bergeron's line. The Habs and B's have had a lot of playoff battles over the years and Plec was in the middle of it. Also Plec is a very good face off guy and Bergeron is a great face off guy, Plec gives us a fighting chance vs the alternative Moore who has no chance on the dot vs Bergeron.

Interestingly enough I think there’s a common misconception regarding Moore’a suggested lack of prowess in the dot- he’s a career 54.9, including 53.7 this year which is a full % point better than Pleks.

I think Moore gets a lot of unnecessary hate. Is he a great player? Definitely not, but imo he’s a serviceable 4th C that is very good on draws.

Now do either compete with Bergeron on draws? Nah, not very close but then again, not many do.

In terms of overall ability though, Pleks is clearly better.

 

[Bluelines]

Interestingly enough I think there’s a common misconception regarding Moore’a suggested lack of prowess in the dot- he’s a career 54.9, including 53.7 this year which is a full % point better than Pleks.

I think Moore gets a lot of unnecessary hate. Is he a great player? Definitely not, but imo he’s a serviceable 4th C that is very good on draws.

Now do either compete with Bergeron on draws? Nah, not very close but then again, not many do.

In terms of overall ability though, Pleks is clearly better.

You've educated me on Moore, I thought he was a bit of an average guy on the dot but clearly he's pretty good.

 

[thewave]

Anyone remember the Bozak vs Plec debate on this forum a few years ago?

Who won? I think Pleks makes better use of lesser players and has the better 2way vision (The better hockey player) while Bozak seems to provide more raw O and production. Same tier of player but different purposing I guess you could say.

Much better than the crappy Boyle get last year.

 

[Mr Knies Guy]

You've educated me on Moore, I thought he was a bit of an average guy on the dot but clearly he's pretty good.

I agree though, Pleks was definitely acquired as an upgrade on Moore and with the Bs in mind. That’s very clear and I don’t mind it tbh

 

[bbgobie]

Interestingly enough I think there’s a common misconception regarding Moore’a suggested lack of prowess in the dot- he’s a career 54.9, including 53.7 this year which is a full % point better than Pleks.

I think Moore gets a lot of unnecessary hate. Is he a great player? Definitely not, but imo he’s a serviceable 4th C that is very good on draws.

Now do either compete with Bergeron on draws? Nah, not very close but then again, not many do.

In terms of overall ability though, Pleks is clearly better.

So everyone has been down on the guys stats without even looking them up? Damn, that doesn't sound like the Leafs board at all

 

[Suntouchable13]

Not much you can do when you have Komarov on one side and another guy who has been a healthy scratch most of the season on the other.

 

[thewave]

I agree though, Pleks was definitely acquired as an upgrade on Moore and with the Bs in mind. That’s very clear and I don’t mind it tbh

If you watch Moore closely you start to understand that he does not understand... He is sort of clueless but not really clueless clueless, kind of like Bozak clueless without the production. Pleks was NEEDED and should probably drop Bozak to the 4th line if he fits in well.

 

[Mr Knies Guy]

Who won? I think Pleks makes better use of lesser players and has the better 2way vision (The better hockey player) while Bozak seems to provide more raw O and production. Same tier of player but different purposing I guess you could say.

Much better than the crappy Boyle get last year.

I loved the Boyle get last year but mostly for the size upgrade it afforded us; he’s vastly inferior to Pleks and Moore on draws over their career, and you simply can’t discount the importance of winning more than half the draws in a game and what it does for possession metrics.

 

[Rude Dog]

Not much you can do when you have Komarov on one side and another guy who has been a healthy scratch most of the season on the other.

This. Komorov kills every line he is on.

 

[bodechek]

first game with a new team. It will take some time to adjust and he will do fine.

 

[Brown Dog]

It's just one game guys

Yeah, one **** game!

 

[LeafalCrusader]

Give him a few practices to get used to a new coach and new teammates.

 

[thewave]

I loved the Boyle get last year but mostly for the size upgrade it afforded us; he’s vastly inferior to Pleks and Moore on draws over their career, and you simply can’t discount the importance of winning more than half the draws in a game and what it does for possession metrics.

I don't really believe in FO% mattering a lot. There really are only a couple situations where it does matter and one of them is the PK. The other is in the defensive zone in general. +/- 3 @ 50% matter so little in all honesty. Say the differential is 6%, there are other factors like, is that C better at taking draws in his own end? under pressure etc. Convert it out and say the player takes 300 defensive zone FO's. It means he would win 18 more draws if 53% vs. a guy that was 47%. How often do people score after winning a draw in the offensive zone? 5% of the time? 5 in 100 chance 18 times per season?

It's just doesn't really matter very much and maybe leads to 1 goal against or perhaps 2 per season that wouldn't go in otherwise but, then you could argue if the player was 3% worse on draws but superior defensively in general, maybe it doesn't matter whatsoever.

Basically, if the guy gets 50% and is a good player defensively in all situations, you're gold.

 

[Muston Atthews]

Looked pretty damn solid to me save the two penalties. Finishing checks and skating well

 

[ottomaddox]

What's the deal with random capital letters?

Random is random.

Every other word is a capital.

It's a theme. It's supposed to look disjointed (my slant on his play so far).

I promise that when his play gets better, I will change the title. I hope he proves me wrong.

 

[Once]

If you watch Moore closely you start to understand that he does not understand... He is sort of clueless but not really clueless clueless, kind of like Bozak clueless without the production. Pleks was NEEDED and should probably drop Bozak to the 4th line if he fits in well.

I find Moore has tunnel vision, rarely did I ever see him find Kappy when Kappy was in a good position. He just tries to show off his speed and failed 'spinoramas'. He isn't bad on the draw though.

I think Pleks adds more stability on that line..similar to what Boyle did, but maybe a bit more offensive production. We will see the value of this trade in the post-season.