What in hell is going on with Duclair?

[Bonsai Tree]

Last night I tried to focus on Duclair's play. What happened to him? He is not the player he was last year. Even with Tippett's arguably bad management of this player, he should be playing much, much better. Perhaps he needs a stint in Tucson to get his mojo back. IMO he bears the responsibility for his play.

Click to read more...

 

[kihekah19*]

Last night I tried to focus on Duclair's play. What happened to him? He is not the player he was last year. Even with Tippett's arguably bad management of this player, he should be playing much, much better. Perhaps he needs a stint in Tucson to get his mojo back. IMO he bears the responsibility for his play.

I don't recall ever seeing a pro athlete so snake bitten. Everytime I see a positive from Duke and I think he may just have a good game, all hope seems to vanish shortly thereafter.

Can't tell you what's going on - complete mystery to me.

 

[rt]

He's snakebitten and instead of having a coach actively helping him break out of his funk he has a coach who's actively punishing him for it and digging the hole deeper, and deeper, and impossibly deeper. Sort of like how the same coach has handled the entire team for the last half decade.

 

[ClassLessCoyote]

Sophomore slump?

 

[Bonsai Tree]

He's snakebitten and instead of having a coach actively helping him break out of his funk he has a coach who's actively punishing him for it and digging the hole deeper, and deeper, and impossibly deeper. Sort of like how the same coach has handled the entire team for the last half decade.

In your hunt for a big oak tree to lynch Dave Tippett you conveniently neglect the player's responsibility for his play. Lots of players play well despite hating their coach, despite being mishandled by their coach.

I saw Duclair take the first penalty shot in a tied game last week. I saw him play even after 2 dumb penalties last night. Despite the angry internet mob that wants to can Tippett, this is on Duclair

 

[The Feckless Puck]

Last night I tried to focus on Duclair's play. What happened to him? He is not the player he was last year. Even with Tippett's arguably bad management of this player, he should be playing much, much better. Perhaps he needs a stint in Tucson to get his mojo back. IMO he bears the responsibility for his play.

I think he is the player he was last year - in all respects - and he's just not having the bounces go his way.

The hoary old axiom in sports is that if a team believes that they can give up on someone considered to be a bright young prospect, there is usually a reason for it that doesn't come across on the fans' TV. I've always wondered whether the Rangers saw something in Duke's game that made him expendable.

Still, for me he's something of an enigma. It's obvious he has a scoring touch but there's this perplexing feeling of disconnect I get from him at times, especially away from the puck. It feels like when he has someone talented feeding him - like Domi - it's as if a switch is thrown and current starts coursing through him, but when he doesn't there's just no electricity there.

I dunno. I'm not a coach, so I don't really know for sure.

 

[kihekah19*]

In your hunt for a big oak tree to lynch Dave Tippett you conveniently neglect the player's responsibility for his play. Lots of players play well despite hating their coach, despite being mishandled by their coach.

I saw Duclair take the first penalty shot in a tied game last week. I saw him play even after 2 dumb penalties last night. Despite the angry internet mob that wants to can Tippett, this is on Duclair

For certain, he's been given at least two penalty shot attempts, to help get him off the schneid, not to mention plenty of ice time despite his play.

 

[_Del_]

Two bad penalties last night (I watched late. We had a concert). You could tell by his body language that he knew he is in for it.

I think it's confidence thing, as I said before. I think the coach has some responsibility for this. When you constantly bench and demote people for mistakes (but never veterans), you can't be surprised that people overthink and are hesitant and appear to regress. They act surprised that Chychrun and Duke look hesitant now. Well, you cooked that into them.
Some players are strong enough mentally to take that, but many good players aren't. Eriksson and Turris couldn't keep up with the Tippett factor. I think there are arguably others, but those two are undeniable. Just read an article about Gardiner under Carlyle. Same thing. It has an effect even on good players. You can't just say, "a good players wouldn't be affected". Maybe an ideal player wouldn't, but many are. Tipp says, "Don't give me the confidence thing. You have to go grab it". Not a lot of young players are going to make a successful transition that way. Certainly, some will, but not most. That's basically a direct quote, but I could find the exact quote if I needed to.

I don't think it's all on Tippett, but it's a bad situation to be putting young players in and another reason Tippett might be a fantastic coach in a vacuum, but not a great fit for this team.

 

[diceone]

Duke was playing really well last night - up until that first penalty.

After that he seemed like he knew he was done. It was frustrating to watch because he was playing well at the beginning of the game.

 

[cobra427]

Sophomore slump?

Agreed mostly. Duclair is a one dimensional player so far. Anyone playing with Domi will get more points. Maybe Tip put Duclair in a great position to succeed last year and that was part of why he had a good year. He will find his way over time but this is on him not the coaches. This is a great example of where Tip gets zero credit for his success last year but gets blame this year for his poor performance. You can't have it both ways

 

[Mosby]

Send him down to Tucson to regain his confidence.

 

[TheLegend]

Send him down to Tucson to regain his confidence.

At this point that would destroy what confidence he has left.

 

[XX]

I saw him play even after 2 dumb penalties last night. Despite the angry internet mob that wants to can Tippett, this is on Duclair

Yeah, on the 4th line, for a little over 8 minutes in the game. What a joke. He's clearly playing scared like Boedker was in his early days thanks to DT.

 

[Bonsai Tree]

Yeah, on the 4th line, for a little over 8 minutes in the game. What a joke. He's clearly playing scared like Boedker was in his early days thanks to DT.

He started the game on the second line IIRC. Played himself onto the 4th line. Don't be an apologist for Duclair's poor play.

 

[XX]

He started the game on the second line IIRC. Played himself onto the 4th line. Don't be an apologist for Duclair's poor play.

I'm not trying to claim he's playing well. He's playing poor. The difference is that I'm not condemning him to his fate. I expect him to be put in a position to succeed and to be coached up, not simply punished by a neanderthal coach. This is exactly how you ruin young players. It's playing out right in front of you. And you're okay with it.

He's not going to find his game if he does one dumb thing and is forced to play with Ryan white for half his usual time a game.

 

[Ebb]

I'm thinking it is a combination of Tippet, slump, and not really wanting to be on a team that force feads defense over offense. He's just going through the motions (like a number of players on the roster). It kind of defeats the purpose of having a natural scorer when he's thrown onto a line of grinders (despite his lapses).

I think he would be able to recover if given some time in Tucson, despite it knocking down his confidence. At least he'd have folks that can help him score down there. I'd also like to see if moving him to the LW might help (I have noticed if that's been the case yet since he spends so much time in the box for penalties he commits along with those of other players/bench minors)

 

[ParisSaintGermain]

His good moments have not made any difference in games, his bad moments have been decisive. This is what Duclair's season is at so far.

He will bounce back as soon as his good moments matter, or as soon as his mistakes are non relevant. Likely will be a combination of the two to be honest.

 

[XX]

He's stuck in a negative feedback loop. DT just needs to stick him on a skill line and give him an actual run of games. The 'reset' didn't really make it past the first penalty he took.

 

[AZviaNJ]

He's earned his spot in the dog house.

Ice time is down due to turnover ratio up 2.5x and shooting percentage down 6x.

15-16 16-17
TOI 14.32 13.01
Shooting % 19.0 3.6
Shots pg 1.23 1.08
TO's pg 0.22 0.58

 

[PhoPhan]

The shooting percentage dropoff is becoming a little concerning, but I'm not worried about turnovers. They usually indicate increased time with the puck on his stick more than any decrease in puckmoving ability.

 

[RemoAZ]

Go back and watch his highlights from last season. He had instant chemistry with Domi and looked great with him and not nearly as good without him. Neither guy started off as well and Tippett hasn't left them together long enough to get going. He's a shooter that needs to play with players that can get him the puck. What line combo that doesn't include Domi do you feel confident he can have success with, especially considering Tippett's musical lines? I truly believe he's a guy a good offensive coach could help get back to producing fairly quickly.

 

[Ebb]

What line combo that doesn't include Domi do you feel confident he can have success with, especially considering Tippett's musical lines? I truly believe he's a guy a good offensive coach could help get back to producing fairly quickly.

Rieder - Holland - Duclair? Rieder has speed and is solid defensively and Holland is "decent-sized" to help screen a bit (but probably not as well as Hanzal or Doan)

 

[CC96]

Just ****ing play him with Hanzal and Domi for more than 1 period. Problem solved.

 

[Sinurgy]

I think he's experiencing the dreaded sophomore slump.

 

[SniperHF]

with Hanzal

A pretty significant problem this season has been his underwhelming performance so far. Not sure putting Duclair with him is as much a help as it was last year.