Disappointing, Maybe? The dude did miss majority of last season with an injury. Much like development, coming back from injuries isn’t always a direct path.
Did I say differently?
Just saying he has been playing bad hockey. When he payed here at the end of last season he revealed some skills. Don't know where they went.
His passing is off.
He is constantly struggling to keep passes on his stick.
He can't hit the broad side of the barn with his shots let alone the net.
He misses his 1-timer attempts more often than he gets them off and when he does it's wide or 6-hole.
He's a lazy back checker.
He doesn't win puck battles.
He falls down in almost every physical contact with an opponent.
I could go on. This isn't the kind of development players I have watched for decades in the AHL exhibit. These are the kind of things you see with prospects who don't go beyond the AHL if they last there at all beyond their RFA time. Maybe AHL lifers or try their efforts in Europe.
He's not the same guy we saw here last season, who put up 15Pts (6/G/9A) in 16 games. He currently has 7 goals in 45 GP and 16 assists. That's 1 more goal 7 more assist than he amassed in 16 games when "coming back from injury". He has also been injured again for the other 16 games the Comets have played without him.
I'm changing my terminology, That's more than disappointing.
Foote's season is disappointing.
Last season he put up 14G/18A/32Pts - 55 GP
This season he's put up 18G/12A/30Pts - 49 GP
He was expected as 1 of NJ's remaining 1st round top prospects to really take off in his 3rd professional season and, along with Thompson and Cllarke, take the mantle from the guys who lit up the scoreboard here last seasons - Holtz, Zetterlund, DeLeo, and Greer.
Thompson has bombed out.
Foote has improved a bit, but not enough to make that much of a difference to an offensively weak team.
Clarke is the only one to see vast improvement. He has already doubled his point output from last season and leads the team in goals, assists, and points. He is 8 points away from last season's point leader, Chase DeLeo (56), with 11 games remaining. This is where the other 2 should be as well. If they were the Comets wouldn't be struggling to win games if the other team scores 3 goal. They have been shut out 2x, scored 1 goal 11x, 2 goals 9x and 3 goals 14x. That's 36 games.
The team has scored 183 goals and given up 184. Kind of explains only 30 wins in 61 GP. The Comets only have 3 players other than Clarke and Foote with double figures in goals scored with 12 being the most and 1 with 11 was traded away. Last season they had 11 in doble figures and 4 of them had more than 20 and 3 had more than Clarke's current 21.
Holtz has played 12 games and has 11 points. Last year he had 51 in 52 GP, DeLeo 56 in 55, Zetterlund 52 in 58, and Greer 52 in 53. These guys are 1.02 to .90 PPG.
Holtz, in very limited GP, is the only near PPG Comet. Clarke is next closest at .84. 3 are in the .6 range and it's downhill from there.
Thompson and Foote should be up there with Clarke. Pinho was brought in to center for those 2 guys and he would be up there as well. He's .55 and Thompson is .51. Foote has done better away from them in scoring his goals, but is still only .61. The rest of the team is not skilled offensively and that is the team's #1 deficiency.
OH! NHL level Andreas Johnsson put up 30 Pts in his 36 games here for .83 PPG. He went in the San Jose trade so his PPG are lost.
Thank God they wanted Z instead of Holtz, as has been bantered about. Holtz will put up points in the NHL if he is given the chance to play with top 6 linemates. That's what a scoring forward is supposed to do. It might not be with NJ, but IMO it will happen.
Sorry for the diatribe, LOL
