Thoughts on Tyler Bozak?

[gtforepro]

Good game last night. I was just wondering how Bozak's been for you guys? I didn't really see much about him lurking your board. My kids and I met him at a card shop about 8 years ago and he was super nice to them, so they still rock Bozak 42 Leaf jerseys. Just curious.

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[TheDizee]

hes ok but i hope he has another gear to kick it into soon. i think part of the problem is steen has been a mainstay with him all year and steen has been pretty poor this season.

 

[gtforepro]

Found the pic on facebook. Not sure if he really has another gear, but I remember him getting more timely, important goals than he should have.

 

[Falco Lombardi]

I feel like he hasn't been at all what was advertised. I was told by a couple of Leaf fans I've known for awhile that he'll put up a fair amount of points, but he's a defensive liability.

It feels like just the opposite. He's been fine defensively, playing primarily with Steen who is quite solid in his own end, but the points don't seem to be there, or they're "empty calorie" points where they come with the Blues up or down multiple goals.

If the O'Reilly trade was done sooner, he probably isn't a Blue.

In short, he's been solid if unspectacular, but I'd rather have the cap space.

 

[BlueDream]

He's okay. He's currently on a 41-point pace right now. Which is good for a 3C that can move up and fill in on the 2nd line as well. He wins faceoffs and kills some penalties. And has some decent offensive ability.

Nothing special but I don't have many complaints as long as they don't tie Steen and Maroon to him.

 

[LGB]

It made sense when we signed him, but with the ROR trade and emergence of Sundqvist I think we'd be better off without him. The cap hit just doesn't match the production, which probably won't be trending up.

 

[Vladys Gumption]

He's looked a lot better since they moved him away from Maroon the boat anchor.

 

[TheSilverSkeeter]

He has pretty much met my expectations of a 35-40 point player who's ok defensively and good at faceoffs. He's been pretty unremarkable for the most part, but as a 3rd liner, that's fine. He chips in enough to be a useful player. It's just a shame that he's being paid about 25-30% more than he should.

 

[HighNote]

He's looked a lot better since they moved him away from Maroon the boat anchor.

Unpopular opinion: Maroon has actually been pretty good lately.

 

[gtforepro]

Thanks. Glad to hear he's doing okay. Yeah, it's all about value for the money in the cap world I guess...good luck the rest of the way.

 

[Halak Ness Monster]

Maybe slightly overpaid? But he is doing the job we needed him to do when we signed him.

 

[Frenzy31]

It isnt just Steen, but Schwartz couldn’t score on an empty net unil recently.

I think is production will go up with Schwartz returning to form and Perron. He hasn’t had anyone on his line.

And 40 -50 points is solid second line production.

 

[Meatball]

We have a great group of centers and he adds to it. I was excited about the signing, and I still have reason to be.

Hope he scores more as the season rages on.

 

[ScratchCatFever]

I think the jury is still somewhat out on him. As several have already mentioned, hopefully he can find another gear and produce a little bit more down the stretch. Overall I can't knock on him too much, thought I do feel we could've found a way to replicate his production thus far in a player that would've cost about $1.5 million less to sign.

 

[Honeycutt]

I think the jury is still somewhat out on him. As several have already mentioned, hopefully he can find another gear and produce a little bit more down the stretch. Overall I can't knock on him too much, thought I do feel we could've found a way to replicate his production thus far in a player that would've cost about $1.5 million less to sign.

What ufa centers were available? Of those who is producing more than bozak? What's their salary?

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

I like Bozak fine as the 3C. Yes, he's overpaid, but that's what an UFA veteran contract should look like.

If Schenn is still playing Center, I want to move Bozak in the off-season. ROR-Schenn-Thomas as the centers. But my preference is to re-sign Schenn and deploy him as a winger, and keep Bozak. In that case, I want to move Steen. I'd like to see Bozak show a higher post-season gear, and I suspect we'll see just that.

 

[BlueDream]

Unpopular opinion: Maroon has actually been pretty good lately.

Maroon has been serviceable, as in he hasn't been bad or killing the play all the time anymore. He's still not very good though. There's not one area you can point to and say "Maroon has made an impact here."

 

[GoldenSeal]

I was originally not liking getting Bozak but he's grown on me and he's been maybe not the most elite player we thought he'd be, but he's been pretty damn solid. I'm happy with the guy. Now Steen, on the other hand... the hell happened to him?

 

[TK 421]

Meh signing but having proven depth is great insurance if you're PO bound which we are back to being.

 

[Meatball]

I like Bozak fine as the 3C. Yes, he's overpaid, but that's what an UFA veteran contract should look like.

If Schenn is still playing Center, I want to move Bozak in the off-season. ROR-Schenn-Thomas as the centers. But my preference is to re-sign Schenn and deploy him as a winger, and keep Bozak. In that case, I want to move Steen. I'd like to see Bozak show a higher post-season gear, and I suspect we'll see just that.

The great thing is we can potentially see this for the post season! When Perron comes back:

Schenn-ROR-Tank
Schwartz-Bozak-Perron

Not sure how the rest shakes out, but that's a formidable top six if everyone plays to their capability. Looks every bit as good as the one Vegas deployed last season, bodes well for us.

 

[Brockon]

The main issue for me is that Bozak hasn't been given linemates to produce better than his current scoring totals.

Our PP, where he has had decent success in the past is still an area in need of improvement - I can't really hold that against him personally.

Given the role he's playing for us, I'm happy with what he has given. Of course, I'd love to see better scoring numbers or a lower cap hit on the contract but, as previously stated you overpay for UFAs on the free market, especially players signed ON FA OPENING DAY. That contract could have been much worse, had we not been viewed as a playoff team, I suspect the ask would have been more had Arizona been the team that signed Bozak.

 

[Novacain]

While the Bozak signing hasn’t gone perfectly, I also don’t regret it. I viewed him as a replacement for Sobotka, and man oh man is he better hen Sobotka.

 

[Default]

He's meh. If we could trade him for something that would be fine with me, but if not it's fine.

 

[HighNote]

Maroon has been serviceable, as in he hasn't been bad or killing the play all the time anymore. He's still not very good though. There's not one area you can point to and say "Maroon has made an impact here."

I agree that he isn't that good. He's a third liner at best, but I do believe he's made an impact in the O-zone. He's doing a much better job of using his size and hands along the boards and in the corners. He reminds me of Berglund or Jaskin with how he's able to protect the puck and cycle it, which leads to increased puck possession and longer shifts for the other team's D, wearing them down. That's the one thing about his play over the last few weeks that has stuck out to me, whereas before (the first half of the season or so) I would agree with you in that there wasn't really any area of his game that was noticeable in a positive way.

 

[simon IC]

I feel like he hasn't been at all what was advertised. I was told by a couple of Leaf fans I've known for awhile that he'll put up a fair amount of points, but he's a defensive liability.

It feels like just the opposite. He's been fine defensively, playing primarily with Steen who is quite solid in his own end, but the points don't seem to be there, or they're "empty calorie" points where they come with the Blues up or down multiple goals.

If the O'Reilly trade was done sooner, he probably isn't a Blue.

In short, he's been solid if unspectacular, but I'd rather have the cap space.

The bolded, really? He has been okay at best, defensively. I don't see a lot of hustle from him in his own zone. Perhaps because I tend to focus on players defensive abilities, his shortcomings might be exaggerated in my eyes. This is the only reason I can think of as to why our evaluations differ. I didn't like the Bozak signing when it happened and I still don't. I mean, if you don't score, don't hit and don't defend, what do you do? 5m+ at 3 yrs is a lot to pay for a face-off specialist, and ROR is better at it.