Time is up for Eriksson-EK

[DeagleJenkins]

What sense does it make to rag on his linemates, when his linemates were better than he was? Stop making stupid excuses for the kid. He wasn't good enough. Period.

Nobody is saying that it's time to get rid of the kid, but if he doesn't show significant improvement this season? Odds are he won't be around for the following season.

in what way was he bad? he did well on faceoffs, shot plenty, lead the team in hits if i recall correctly, played fast and physical. numbers aside what more are you wanting?

 

[Wabit]

in what way was he bad? he did well on faceoffs, shot plenty, lead the team in hits if i recall correctly, played fast and physical. numbers aside what more are you wanting?

Foligno (185) and Dumba (136) were ahead of JEE (134) in hits; it was a big dropoff after that to Zucker (80).

 

[DeagleJenkins]

Foligno (185) and Dumba (136) were ahead of JEE (134) in hits; it was a big dropoff after that to Zucker (80).

Thanks for looking it up, i just recall at one point he was leading or top 2. either way being 2 hits behind being top 2 in hits. he played his role effectively. now hopefully as 3C he can get more offensive. he looked good at world juniors. hopefully it can translate faster than grannys game did.

 

[Aurinko]

in what way was he bad? he did well on faceoffs, shot plenty, lead the team in hits if i recall correctly, played fast and physical. numbers aside what more are you wanting?

Maybe you just accidentally missed 80% of this thread?

 

[DeagleJenkins]

Maybe you just accidentally missed 80% of this thread?

Nope, been commenting since the beginning, just reread it. Still unclear what you want from this kid. GA/60 is your issue with him? hardly a reason to dump a kid after one year.

 

[2Pair]

in what way was he bad? he did well on faceoffs, shot plenty, lead the team in hits if i recall correctly, played fast and physical. numbers aside what more are you wanting?

I thought Ek was solid on the PK with Winnik, but outside of that, what did he do well? Winning faceoffs is better than losing them, and it's a good sign that he can win them at a young age, but if you can't be trusted in deffensive situations, being able to win a faceoff is nothing to get excited over. Hits are about as worthless a stat as you can find.

A player that can't provide offense and can't be used in a deffensive role, doesn't bring much to the table.

Having said all that. I do think that the kid will show some progession this year, and hopefully be a quality 3rd liner or better by the end of the season.

 

[Aurinko]

Nope, been commenting since the beginning, just reread it. Still unclear what you want from this kid. GA/60 is your issue with him? hardly a reason to dump a kid after one year.

Sry just lose temper when I spend hours with the stats, post one I think is significant and most don't care to read or comment it.

He is generating low quality offense (stat I criticized was his relative effect to teams GF/60, which looked really bad). I'm now quite convinced that his defensive role was too strict and the slow linemates & lack of chemistry made it even worse, but when talking about top prospects I expect to see something much better. There are things that can be chanced and things that can't; Replacing him is something that could be considered. On the other side I see the possibility and possible reward when giving new guys a chance... (I bet I'm not the only one who saw Murphy and Seeler as the highlights of the season)

 

[a79krgm]

If he doesn't put up decent numbers this year, I'll put the blame on the Wild ore-gain-i-zation and their lack of ability to develop young talent.
But, I'll wait some more. Koivu took a lot of time to develop.

 

[Sarge58]

Like other young players they are learning the speed of the game and how to use their skills, I did notice an increase in his confidence and physicality as the season progressed he does however need to better his shooting and passing, but like I and others have said he's still a pup hockey wise.

 

[nickschultzfan]

It will be interesting if Greenway get time at center.

 

[DeagleJenkins]

Sry just lose temper when I spend hours with the stats, post one I think is significant and most don't care to read or comment it.

He is generating low quality offense (stat I criticized was his relative effect to teams GF/60, which looked really bad). I'm now quite convinced that his defensive role was too strict and the slow linemates & lack of chemistry made it even worse, but when talking about top prospects I expect to see something much better. There are things that can be chanced and things that can't; Replacing him is something that could be considered. On the other side I see the possibility and possible reward when giving new guys a chance... (I bet I'm not the only one who saw Murphy and Seeler as the highlights of the season)

Understandably, i get that. I normally dont look to into stats as those can have so many variables. I prefer the eye test and what i see with him is must better than those numbers. Also top prospect is kind if a bad term in regards to him as he may be one of OUR top prospects but to fit your thought process of what a top prospect should be he is not near that considering if you took all 31 teams and grouped their top 5 prospects together. He is good, will be a solid player but is not a top tier prospect that will excel with whoever you give him. That is a select few.

 

[DeagleJenkins]

I thought Ek was solid on the PK with Winnik, but outside of that, what did he do well? Winning faceoffs is better than losing them, and it's a good sign that he can win them at a young age, but if you can't be trusted in deffensive situations, being able to win a faceoff is nothing to get excited over. Hits are about as worthless a stat as you can find.

A player that can't provide offense and can't be used in a deffensive role, doesn't bring much to the table.

Having said all that. I do think that the kid will show some progession this year, and hopefully be a quality 3rd liner or better by the end of the season.

Im not sure how you can say he cant be trusted in a defensive roll as he was 4th line all last year pretty much. I suppose BB putting them in the offensive zone for many starts skewed your view of his roll. Learning curve aside he looked good defensively, back checked hard, was physical the entire length of the ice which matters WAY more than you seem to think. The stat of hitting may not be a much needed thing but for how much we all bitch about our bigger bodies not hitting why would we write it off on this kid just because it doesnt fit an arguement?

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

I thought he was fairly reliable defensively.

 

[2Pair]

Im not sure how you can say he cant be trusted in a defensive roll as he was 4th line all last year pretty much. I suppose BB putting them in the offensive zone for many starts skewed your view of his roll. Learning curve aside he looked good defensively, back checked hard, was physical the entire length of the ice which matters WAY more than you seem to think. The stat of hitting may not be a much needed thing but for how much we all ***** about our bigger bodies not hitting why would we write it off on this kid just because it doesnt fit an arguement?

Defensive role as in being used in a shutdown matchup. Guys like Haula and Cullen could be used against other teams top 2 lines, freeing the Staal line to take advantage of offensive matchups. Ek wasn't being used like that. Being solid or reliable against other teams 4th lines, is pretty much meaningless.

 

[DeagleJenkins]

Defensive role as in being used in a shutdown matchup. Guys like Haula and Cullen could be used against other teams top 2 lines, freeing the Staal line to take advantage of offensive matchups. Ek wasn't being used like that. Being solid or reliable against other teams 4th lines, is pretty much meaningless.

Maybe you should go watch some more, he may not have been top notch at shutting down but he was playing well defensively vs top lines. Koivus line was thrust into that roll more often by BB but JEE did it also.

 

[Dickie Dunn]

I don’t recall anyone disputing your stats, it was the conclusion you drew from them that was at least for now, a bit premature.

 

[2Pair]

Maybe you should go watch some more, he may not have been top notch at shutting down but he was playing well defensively vs top lines. Koivus line was thrust into that roll more often by BB but JEE did it also.

I watched enough to know that Boudreau wasn't putting him out against other teams top lines.

 

[DeagleJenkins]

I watched enough to know that Boudreau wasn't putting him out against other teams top lines.

How often do you see a 4th line go against a top line? 3rd line is used to shutdown a top scoring line not the 4th. even with that he uses koivu in the shutdown roll.

 

[2Pair]

How often do you see a 4th line go against a top line? 3rd line is used to shutdown a top scoring line not the 4th. even with that he uses koivu in the shutdown roll.

Ek was on the 3rd line for 50-60 games.

 

[DeagleJenkins]

Ek was on the 3rd line for 50-60 games.

pretty sure cullen took 3rd line duties quite quickly and he was demoted well before the 50-60 game mark.

 

[2Pair]

pretty sure cullen took 3rd line duties quite quickly and he was demoted well before the 50-60 game mark.

Maybe you should go watch some more

 

[DeagleJenkins]

Maybe you should go watch some more

if i had all 82 games on hand id go check it out for you. i dont know the exact moment but 3rd line or 4th i already said BB deploys koivu in the shutdown role.

 

[2Pair]

if i had all 82 games on hand id go check it out for you. i dont know the exact moment but 3rd line or 4th i already said BB deploys koivu in the shutdown role.

What does Koivu have to do with any of the discussion?

 

[DeagleJenkins]

What does Koivu have to do with any of the discussion?

you said you didnt see him defend vs top lines, a big reason you did not and will not see it is because BB deploys koivu for that duty. that is what he has to do with this discussion.

 

[2Pair]

you said you didnt see him defend vs top lines, a big reason you did not and will not see it is because BB deploys koivu for that duty. that is what he has to do with this discussion.

Haula and Cullen did it while Koivu was on the team.