Whitney will likely be a third pairing d-man spending minutes with the Smyth line ,hitting them with long bombs and saving them a lot of extra skating.
We will see a 40 point d-man but his name is J Schultz.Whitney will be good for 18 points maybe,I see more points out of Petry than Whitney.
I believe Rolly will use a fast transition game supported by upspeed penetration,meaning we will need fast versatile puck movers who initiate quickly and accuratly on a consistant basis.
Whitney is not a skating d-man he is one of the top 3 first pass d-men in the NHL,he is capable of defeating an elite forecheck and running the offense on nearly any team in the NHL but not here.Not anymore.The stumble last year was a direct result of trying to insert Whitneys traditional skillset and strengths back into a lineup that had adjusted into a fast three transition team while he was gone,when he retook the helm the system fell apart,and the harder he tried the worse it got,till near the end when we backed him off again.Whitney did his job well enough but it wasnt the job the team required at that point.Now we want to use all three zones as transition areas on every possesion whenever we can manage it.
We have to many sets of sticky hands now who need the puck to initiate their skillsets,the days of hitting the long stretch pass are over because we dont really want that except on the seniors line where they need the break and can create well from that pass.
Whitney is an elite d-man but his strengths do not fit here anymore not if we want to give him a chance to maximise his skillset and strengths.Unless he can suddenly begin to rush the puck into the red areas in his own zone in the face of the forecheck he wont break into our top 4 d-men.At his salary and with what he could give to another team where he can utilise his full skillset he is sure to be traded soon.
Whitney will only get 2nd PP time as well.I think he is a franchise type of d-man who can catalyse a very fast break offense based on pure speed.There are teams out there building exactly like that who need a player like Whitney right now.
I dont think any trades are happening for us in the foreseeable future that will include Whitney--so I expect him to play well as he always does when healthy,he has the ability to make a difference every time he is on the ice,although I dont like the long pass I think for some reason he will connect with Yakupov on some level and work his way to the second pairing by midseason.We definately have a better chance of winning the Stanley Cup with Ryan Whitney on our squad.It is Ryan who has to make a sacrifice and take a huge hit for the team to play where he best fits now,that is leadership ability and veteran presence like Smyth displays.
There wont be any adjustment time and Rolly is a proactive.reactive mentality who will make immediate adjustments for 60 mins whenever and wherever he sees a need.I expect this coach to really press the men to stay on task and focused each and every night.
The Irony is this,when you get to the playoffs and you are Mac T and you need to adjust for a specific team and series it is a dream to own an elite passer like Whitney and he can be the difference in winning a Stanley Cup without a doubt because he gives you the knuckleball when you need to change it up from a 3 transition game and he is one of the best at his trade in the NHL.
I think this season will make things clearer,if Ryans pedigree is accurate and he is 100% healthy then we need him to take control and evolve into a top four role ASAP this means any adjustment he needs to make to be able to fill that role systemwise needs to happen immediatly in GM#1,remember no cushion this year.
If Ryan is not 100% healthy we need to sit him down for as long as it takes to get better,no more best trys.
Everyone better forget about the Letters right now and get ready to rock and roll,Ryan Whitney has the ability to lead an NHL team and carry any letter asked of him,so lets bury that one till next year.Until otherwise presented Shawn Horcoff is our Captain and we need to let that issue go until it is altered by managment,there is a season at hand and we need everyones full attention.
Whitney is top end talent and we need him to play that way,letter or no letter.This is a potential Stanley Cup year here,we need the best in the NHL at every position.
