Jay Beagle's term isn't bad on a good team, the issue is the rest of your squad is trash (aside from the obvious few). Comparing a Cup contender's signing of a bottom 6 guy with a cellar dwelling team is absurd. Teams like the Caps are searching for "final pieces", a team like VAN prioritizing that signing while having nothing else was like trying to pick out curtains when you haven't built the walls yet. In practice curtains are necessary, and every other team is searching for them, but to spend your time locking them down while your house is still just 4 posts in a field is the issue. The Capitals have a fully furnished house, searching for final pieces makes sense, comparing VAN's weird talent prioritization does not.
Hathaway means well and tries hard, but he's not especially difficult to play against. He's the kind of player that will fight, not then lose a lot of those fights.
So Matt Bradley 2.0?
My point of that he's not really the type of player that turns the tide of a game. He hits a lot, but a lot of his hits you don't really notice. Great hardworking player for sure. However he's not shutting down any stars with his physical game or grittiness. Nor is he going toe to toe with any actual physical threats.
I don't think how chippy your 4RW is really changes how much "bite" the team plays with. That was much more of a general comment about the team buying in and being willing to play with more aggression and be the team that forces the other team to react instead of being caught on their heels.
Hathaway isn't very noticable most nights. He chips in here and there. He's however not the kind of player who is going to noticably the complexion of any team. He's basically the type of player, why if he was only slightly worse, would be a career AHLer.
I beg to differ when I look at the New York Islanders 4th line of Cizikas, Clutterbuck and Martin. They definitely can be game changers for their team and the team does feed off of it. I don't always agree with Don Cherry but believe he was right to call that the best 4th line. Come to think of it I believe Tom Wilson when he was just playing as a 4RW helped to influence the team's play at times.
