Guadana
Registered User
Cmon. Gusev is slow and well below average in puck battles. He plays very well with his stick but if he is under physical forecheck he barely can survive. I like player a lot and I have nothing against him, he just isnt there in some aspects of the game. I believe he can produce on NHL level, but gms and coaches should want to find specific players for him and live with his weak sides. Un-ly he is Russian player and GMs in NHL are not so toleranted with this type of Russian players. I would say they are not so toleranted with this type of Euro players overall.Gusev plays different hockey than most NHL coaches are used to, and NHL coaches usually hate what they don't understand...
Lucky us, Gritsyuk is waay better skater with much better puck protection and overall puck battling. He is returning to the D zone and can start really fast with his first steps. So even with less creativity and stick skills(he is good in this aspects, its just Gusev who is top in this aspects) he still has much more chances to be better regular top-6 NHLer who will survive against top-6 NHLers.