GoldenSeal
Believe In The Note
Alright, let me ask you this, since this is essentially your premise, what coach/player combo has had a player significantly increase their production because of a certain offensive system or great coach/player development?
Yakupov, Stewart, etc. are seriously flawed hockey players. They haven't been productive in most places, their issues aren't with Hitch.
Do you really think a coach will magically increase production in players? Do you think that Hitch and Shaw were able to magically make the defensive players better on the defensive side? You don't teach offense, those are skills that have to be developed or concepts that have to be understood.
Absolutely. Yak was obviously not coached and is 'damaged' in that aspect. His plus sides, however, make it worth creating a position for him that would benefit the team and coaching him into that position. He's fast, he has a solid shot and he can dodge and duck with the best of them. Coaching should look at that and determine what positive he brings to the team and coaching him to that positive. In my mind Yak is a 3rd liner who, if certain skills were taught into him, could possibly make him an emergency 2nd line player. The problem with all of this is...
The offensive strategy of this team is stuck doing outdated things that don't translate into today's NHL.
It doesn't help that Hitchcock can't put together and stick with a winning lineup to save his soul, either. This is two separate problems, but it does affect Yak and his coaching. I'm not a blind Yak fan and this point can be put onto other players as well; Jaskin, etc.
I don't agree that Yak = Stewart on his best day. Nail was a top draft pick and had the workings of a sound career in the NHL. The Oilers drafted him and threw him on the ice, obviously unready for the task at hand and he didn't do well. That does happen when you derail a prospect's development.