Kucherov isn't that fast of a skater, i'm not sure that fits. He is a very smooth, very strong skater with good foot speed. Drouin is a fast accelerator, with great agility and lateral movement. Johnson is a great all around skater with great speed.He skates fine but as of this very moment do you think he'd be able to keep up with guys like Drouin, Johnson or Kucherov? It's an acceleration issue more than anything else. The kid reminds me of a boulder going down hill. It starts slow at first but then it gets faster and stronger as it picks up speed. He's a strong skater but he'll have to take advantage of the strength and size that's going to come with the rest of his bodily maturity. Because right now I'd say the answer to the question is that he probably keeps up half the time with a Drouin/Kucherov + Johnson while the rest of the they either have to slow down for Raddysh while he gets a full head of steam going or he just comes in as the late man on the play going just as fast as they were 20+ feet ago.
Truth be told I think it's just best he be groomed to play with Stamkos because I think that'll work out better than putting him with a speed demon.
True, and I feel where he truly shines is how he maintains his speed, even when he stops striding. Some guys are like a car in beach sand, once they're off the gas they're slowing down drastically. Only a few guys in the league can glide the way he does, McDavid is one that does it extremely well (of course). MacKinnon is another. He has also changed his playstyle, and that playstyle also dictates pace. He doesn't want or need to be the fastest guy up ice anymore, as he is every bit as good a setup man rather than the pure-shooter 60 goal scorer he once was.I feel like people forget that Stamkos is a fast skater too. The system change has just made that element of Stamkos' game harder to see since he's not getting sprung for as many odd man rushes (note - not a bad thing).
Stamkos is a good skater but I wouldn't put him at a level like Drouin or Kucherov. Raddysh will work on his skating no matter what and when the day comes I think he should be able to keep up with Stamkos just fine. In both men's defense it's hard as hell to keep up with a Drouin and Kucherov anyway. We all feel one way or another about him but Stamkos was blessed to have Marty St. Louis as a mentor.
He has a very wide stride, but really, he hasn't had the explosiveness he had in his first two seasons since he broke his leg.I wonder how much of it is due to his stride. He's skates pretty weird.
Kucherov isn't that fast of a skater, i'm not sure that fits. He is a very smooth, very strong skater with good foot speed. Drouin is a fast accelerator, with great agility and lateral movement. Johnson is a great all around skater with great speed.
That said, after seeing him quite a bit at camp, he has very little issue with his skating. Watching him come off the wall and take two strides to the post is a thing of beauty. He doesn't need to be exceptionally fast, just enough to maintain pace, and to do that in a way that doesn't exhaust him over the course of 60 minutes because he has bad form. Right now, I think all of those boxes are checked.
True, and I feel where he truly shines is how he maintains his speed, even when he stops striding. Some guys are like a car in beach sand, once they're off the gas they're slowing down drastically. Only a few guys in the league can glide the way he does, McDavid is one that does it extremely well (of course). MacKinnon is another. He has also changed his playstyle, and that playstyle also dictates pace. He doesn't want or need to be the fastest guy up ice anymore, as he is every bit as good a setup man rather than the pure-shooter 60 goal scorer he once was.
He has a very wide stride, but really, he hasn't had the explosiveness he had in his first two seasons since he broke his leg.
I mean, yeah, but honestly he is so much more and so much better as an all around player. Having that burst would be nice, but I like the guy with much better vision and sense of how to use those around him.Heh just imagine how much more dangerous he would be if he had pre-broken leg speed again.
I got Raddysh penciled in as the #2 Syracuse addition behind Volkov and our de-facto 13th forward
(No order)
Johnson-Stamkos-Kucherov
Palat-Point-Gourde
Joseph-Cirelli-Killorn
Maroon-Paquette-Volkov
Raddysh
I think the kid is ready or at least deserves that 9 or 11 game stint or whatever it is that rookies get on a tryout. Big Rig doesn't need to play all 82 games and neither does Volkov. I think Raddysh deserves a look at season's start.