JimEIV
Registered User
- Feb 19, 2003
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I thought so too. Bratt play a good game so did Tatar. But that's about it.Jimmy Vesey looked like one of our most dangerous offensive players last night.
I thought so too. Bratt play a good game so did Tatar. But that's about it.Jimmy Vesey looked like one of our most dangerous offensive players last night.
I 100% agree... there just aren't many positives right now.
Although right now I am looking more at the captain than Jack. With Jack I am willing to give him some time after an injury...it will take a little bit to get back into some sort of groove I think. It seems whenever a player misses a chunk of games it takes them a few or more to get back up to speed.
But Nico...I am just flabbergasted by how non-existent he's been.
I was specifically talking about the power play, there is more than enough ability to not be a 29th ranked PP unit.I am not trying to be a dick...I am really not. But this thought has popped up more than a few times over the last few years...at some point you have to be honest and admit that there is not as much skill as you think there is.
I know no one wants to hear it but the guys we've banked the future on simply haven't produced. Can't keep blaming circumstances, coaching the weather or whatever at some point you have to come to grips that some of these guys just aren't as good as we expected.
Nico is on 7.8 goal pace for the year... seriously he is...I can't even wrap my head around that. This is almost Cory-watch level bad
I am not trying to be a dick...I am really not. But this thought has popped up more than a few times over the last few years...at some point you have to be honest and admit that there is not as much skill as you think there is.
I know no one wants to hear it but the guys we've banked the future on simply haven't produced. Can't keep blaming circumstances, coaching the weather or whatever at some point you have to come to grips that some of these guys just aren't as good as we expected.
Nico is on 7.8 goal pace for the year... seriously he is...I can't even wrap my head around that. This is almost Cory-watch level bad
I was specifically talking about the power play, there is more than enough ability to not be a 29th ranked PP unit.
I thought the answer was stupidly trading Bratt? Now we’re stupidly trading Nico?I honestly feel like we need a major shakeup but unfortunatly for us, I don't see it happening. We can't have an invisible captain who generates absolutely nothing out there, especially when we're trying to help him out by having our supposed best player on his wing. He's been very "meh" since the start of the season and with the arrival of Jack by his side, he's not looking any better. Is it his constant injuries that have him playing a more reserved game, is it the fact that he feels too much pressure to be the captain of a rebuilding team that has his mind elsewhere, is it that we saw the best of Hischier because he was centering a guy who was playing lights out and won the MVP but when paired with normal players he's just average himself... I don't know. What I do know is that he is not of concerned when the opposition hands out their game plan and that's kind of alarming when he's supposed to be one of our key blocks for the foundation we're trying to lay down.
Nico is our captain and at the moment, we're playing like our leader... Half assing everything with very little care in the world. I would entertain offers on Nico to bring in some size and fire. A feisty guy that can play on our top line and when we need a spark, he can swing things around with a big hit or just getting in someones face. We're as soft as I've ever seen this franchise be for what is now 32 years of me rooting for this team. When I saw Bastian the other game throw a check and the opposing player actually fell flat on his ass, I told myself "man, I haven't seen that in months!". How is that normal when playing the fastest sport out there where collissions happen on a regular basis? Teams take note of that and as a player, when you know the other team isn't going to push back, it just gives you even more confidence to roll all over them.
I thought the answer was stupidly trading Bratt? Now we’re stupidly trading Nico?
I don't think that there are drastic changes that need to be made here. I think the team, whether they want to admit it or not, is guilty of falling into valleys during the game and they're not structured or experienced enough to combat it.
The team plays a live by the sword/die by the sword type of hockey where it's a lot of back and forth, generating and scoring off the rush. And if that dries up the way it somewhat has and you have no PP to speak of to help supplement, well, you kind of end up on the losing end of more games than you win. On top of that, if your defense can't properly perform, then a team like the Wild who are red hot will make you pay. Graves hasn't looked as good in the past month as he did in October. Smith has taken several steps back. Subban is what he is at this point. That collective unit has regressed this past month and it's important to figure out why.
It's frustrating because the team has shown they can be competitive. There is skill here to make things work. I think the changes should be obvious with putting Jack at center and divvying up the talent/skill across the lineup. In addition, make the changes that are needed to the powerplay.
I don't know, it's hard right now. I really don't think there are any passengers here on the team, I think that much of the struggle right now is in between the ears with confidence and confusion. They have a chance to turn around quickly tonight and make us forget about last night. Hopefully we get that and some peace of mind heading into next week with two very winnable games at home in Ottawa and Philly.
I like your write-up. It definitely FEELS like they are far from being a playoff team, but it might be recency bias.
Ty Smith’s play is an underrated big blow this season. I was banking on him taking a step forward and he’s been arguably the worst dman in the entire NHL. Literally tied for the worst xGF% among dmen in the whole league. It’s a killer.I don't think that there are drastic changes that need to be made here. I think the team, whether they want to admit it or not, is guilty of falling into valleys during the game and they're not structured or experienced enough to combat it.
The team plays a live by the sword/die by the sword type of hockey where it's a lot of back and forth, generating and scoring off the rush. And if that dries up the way it somewhat has and you have no PP to speak of to help supplement, well, you kind of end up on the losing end of more games than you win. On top of that, if your defense can't properly perform, then a team like the Wild who are red hot will make you pay. Graves hasn't looked as good in the past month as he did in October. Smith has taken several steps back. Subban is what he is at this point. That collective unit has regressed this past month and it's important to figure out why.
It's frustrating because the team has shown they can be competitive. There is skill here to make things work. I think the changes should be obvious with putting Jack at center and divvying up the talent/skill across the lineup. In addition, make the changes that are needed to the powerplay.
I don't know, it's hard right now. I really don't think there are any passengers here on the team, I think that much of the struggle right now is in between the ears with confidence and confusion. They have a chance to turn around quickly tonight and make us forget about last night. Hopefully we get that and some peace of mind heading into next week with two very winnable games at home in Ottawa and Philly.
Jimmy Vesey looked like one of our most dangerous offensive players last night.
This is a team compromised of mostly good but not great players. All of whom basically play the same type of pass-first, off-the-rush, perimeter game. They also lack structure and are one-dimensional as a whole.I don't think that there are drastic changes that need to be made here. I think the team, whether they want to admit it or not, is guilty of falling into valleys during the game and they're not structured or experienced enough to combat it.
The team plays a live by the sword/die by the sword type of hockey where it's a lot of back and forth, generating and scoring off the rush. And if that dries up the way it somewhat has and you have no PP to speak of to help supplement, well, you kind of end up on the losing end of more games than you win. On top of that, if your defense can't properly perform, then a team like the Wild who are red hot will make you pay. Graves hasn't looked as good in the past month as he did in October. Smith has taken several steps back. Subban is what he is at this point. That collective unit has regressed this past month and it's important to figure out why.
It's frustrating because the team has shown they can be competitive. There is skill here to make things work. I think the changes should be obvious with putting Jack at center and divvying up the talent/skill across the lineup. In addition, make the changes that are needed to the powerplay.
I don't know, it's hard right now. I really don't think there are any passengers here on the team, I think that much of the struggle right now is in between the ears with confidence and confusion. They have a chance to turn around quickly tonight and make us forget about last night. Hopefully we get that and some peace of mind heading into next week with two very winnable games at home in Ottawa and Philly.
Ty Smith’s play is an underrated big blow this season. I was banking on him taking a step forward and he’s been arguably the worst dman in the entire NHL. Literally tied for the worst xGF% among dmen in the whole league. It’s a killer.
I thought the answer was stupidly trading Bratt? Now we’re stupidly trading Nico?
This is a team compromised of mostly good but not great players. All of whom basically play the same type of pass-first, off-the-rush, perimeter game. They also lack structure and are one-dimensional as a whole.
So how do you define “drastic”? Because to me the forward group needs an over haul in much the same mold as what Fitz is doing with the D.
Goaltending has also been inconsistent, even from Blackwood. These rebounds he’s giving up regularly are really bad and appears to be costing us just about one extra GA every night for the last couple of weeks. Time will tell if Mack ever actually becomes consistent enough to be the goalie everyone seems to think he is.
That said, I also didn't expect the PP to be worse in these first 20 games than last year's first 20 games. Don't know if anyone caught that graphic during the broadcast last night, but we are actually operating at a worse clip than last year. After adding in guys like Dougie and Tatar. That is something that is completely unacceptable in my eyes. And I have a tough time faulting the players there. It's clear to me that there is confusion on what to do once they're in the zone (even the entires can be an adventure). It leads to them freezing, overthinking, and becoming way to easy to defend. Therein lies the biggest issue I have with the team through the first quarter of the season.