I do not understand the argument that Fowler is (very consistently) a top 24 PP defenseman in the league as far as points/60 goes, on one of the least productive PP in the league, and HE is the problem? People seem to only want a defenseman with a cannon shot, and seem incapable of realizing that there are other ways to play the position. There simply aren’t many of those guys in the leagueCoaching that has no creativity, runs 1 play for weeks on end, then switches to the next one play, players who don’t move (not sure if that’s coaches, players, or both), forwards who can’t/won’t take one-timers, or shots period, no appropriate player on the roster to stand near the net, etc etc etc - that’s the real problem. Every defenseman fails to keep pucks in, including the two golden children, and Zelleweger in particular is bad about making the wrong play and giving up odd man breaks, so don’t bring that up.
As I stated elsewhere, I’d rather Zelleweger learned how to play actual NHL defense first, that’s the hard part of the job, and it’s why most young defensemen aren’t rushed to the NHL, then rushed to the top pairing. Mintyukov had his play deteriorate with higher minutes. Let them both earn the ice time, and not just get it, then struggle, then potentially be ruined. I’m not a #youthmovement fan, would far prefer that Verbeek put his money where his mouth is and cook to overcook our prospects, rather than serving us up several seasons of prospect tartare.
