He's started to and I give him a lot of credit for that, though I would probably note his reputation for prepping still isn't great around the organization.
Sometimes the issues we see are a hockey IQ issue and sometimes it's a bit of prep.
Within the organization, Hayes is seen as a being a bit like Baby Huey. Sometimes, improved physical training and all, there have been some head scratching moments as well.
When we talk about prep, it's perfectly alright to have activities outside of hockey. Henrik Lundqvist is a prime example of this.
However, it tends to rub people the wrong way if a guy, for example, spends more doing an outside activity than working on some of the things the team wanted him to.
Sports is funny and I feel like if guys stayed off social media but still did all the activities, they'd be given a lot more slack. The appearance of not being committed is more important than the reality...
And again, what's the real hurdle for these guys? Take someone like Kreider, who we've gone on and on about in terms of his consistency...from all accounts the guy works incredibly hard. He doesn't take time off in the summer, he's always getting ready for next season, he's probably the closest to hockey robot Sydney Crosby that the Rangers have in terms of work ethic and preparation, but he hasn't "put it all together" to match the talents people think he has.
Zibanejad...does he really have skills that are so much better than Kreider's? Not as good a skater, probably better stickhandler but shot is debatable, passing probably better...he's still a 50 point player, would being a hockey robot bump him up to 70+ points? Or is it something that can't be solved by total dedication to hockey?
Who knows, and I can understand some frustration in that people feel "well if he doesn't try the total dedication then we'll never know if that's what he needed", but as I said I also often feel that people overrate or expect too much out of certain players because they ignore the real ceiling of a player and focus on what they think is their top upside.
I dunno, just spitballing around. I guess my point is I often wonder how much the reputation of a player is used as an excuse when people feel they're not reaching their full potential instead of acknowledging that maybe that perceived full potential is not realistic. I like Zibs, I'm not actually sure anything I've seen out of him skill wise makes me think he's a 70+ point player. That would be a top 10 center in the entire league going by points, ahead of some pretty good players and just behind guys like Seguin, Getzlaf, etc. I'm not convinced Zibanejad is that level of talent, I'm not convinced he is that "sky's the limit!" kind of talent.
60 odd point potential top 20 center? I could see it. 70+ I don't
