GDT: #68 ⋅ ANA @ DAL ⋅ 5:00 PM PDT

[Deuce22]

I don’t think anyone is ignoring that - that’s why people are still very optimistic and aren’t concerned long-term. Standards are higher for can’t-miss prospects.

To me the criticism hasn’t been harsh or unfair - so sometimes I wonder if the only acceptable alternative or implication is that any amount of criticism just isn’t allowed or welcome.

People including myself are always gushing over his great plays which they should be - the praise is there in spades for him.

I’ll agree to disagree. I’ve read a lot of posts complaining about Leo’s body language, physical weakness, lack of offensive production, and comparing him unfavorably to other young players around the league. Unrealistic expectations at this point in his career, IMO.

 

[Mr Rogers]

I’ll agree to disagree. I’ve read a lot of posts complaining about Leo’s body language, physical weakness, lack of offensive production, and comparing him unfavorably to other young players around the league. Unrealistic expectations at this point in his career, IMO.

Totally fine. I kind of agree with you on the body language - not that it isn’t there, but that it matters - and potentially physicality. The others are fair IMO.

 

[Terry Yake]

I legitimately find it upsetting what's happened to Z.

injuries have played a big role obviously, but you can thank cronin and the org as a whole for sacrificing his offense and creativity in hopes that he'd become better in his own zone

remember when you'd be excited just because he'd have the puck on his stick? those days are long gone. our only hope is that we see that creativity return under a new coach. but no guarantees there because cronin may not even be the one responsible

 

[CrazyDuck4u]

We need to hearing stuff like this from our veterans..not rookies. Nesterenko is going to be a fine player

 

[duckaroosky]

To.be honest. Carlson is a better player than bedard is overall

I'm not really saying I wanted Bedard over Carlsson, just that I wanted the #1 pick; I know getting the #1 pick means we would have Bedard but I just wanted it. I'm still pissed it went to Chicago.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

View attachment 995343
We need to hearing stuff like this from our veterans..not rookies. Nesterenko is going to be a fine player

This is year 2 of Cronin with mostly the same crew.

 

[Mr Rogers]

I'm not really saying I wanted Bedard over Carlsson, just that I wanted the #1 pick; I know getting the #1 pick means we would have Bedard but I just wanted it. I'm still pissed it went to Chicago.

Agreed. There’s also even a chance Leo becomes a better player imo - I didn’t think that at the draft but I think there’s a chance of it now. He’s a better playmaker.

 

[70sSanO]

I legitimately find it upsetting what's happened to Z.

While Cronin deserves the bulk of the criticism, Zegras has not done himself any favors.

He still floats too much and flicks the puck around instead of driving the play and making crisp passes.

He is simply getting paid too much for his production.

John

 

[Bergey37]

View attachment 995343
We need to hearing stuff like this from our veterans..not rookies. Nesterenko is going to be a fine player

I'm pretty sure this is what the veterans are saying to the kids.

 

[Anaheim4ever]

Carlsson and McTavish keep getting points and soon both will set career highs in points, goals and assists this season.
To go from where they were early in the season to where they are now is quite amazing, they really turned it around. Carlssons goal rate is higher this year I believe ?

 

[SmokeyDuck]

Nesterenko has been lowkey solid.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Carlsson and McTavish keep getting points and soon both will set career highs in points, goals and assists this season.
To go from where they were early in the season to where they are now is quite amazing, they really turned it around. Carlssons goal rate is higher this year I believe ?

In our last 10 games, the Ducks are actually scoring more than previous months. The problem now is that we're letting in more goals against. Improved offense, but decaying defense and an overworked Dostal. Dostal has played in eight games in the past 10-game set, started seven of them, and was relieved in one of the games.

In games were we scored 3 or more goals this month (March), our record is 2-3-1 (5 pts) and a 0.417 Pts %. Before this month, we have never lost in regulation when we scored 3 or more goals. Our record before Mar when we scored 3 or more goals was 23-0-3 (49 pts) and a 0.942 Pts %. Maybe Cronin was correct in his assessment that he couldn't sacrifice defense for more offense because when it did happen for March, then it has collapsed into a 3-6-1 record. That's a scary evolution for the team.

 

[HanSolo]

Carlsson and McTavish keep getting points and soon both will set career highs in points, goals and assists this season.
To go from where they were early in the season to where they are now is quite amazing, they really turned it around. Carlssons goal rate is higher this year I believe ?

Technically he already set a career high in goals and points. Just in more games played but fewer minutes per game than he played last year. By more than two minutes per game. And there was a pretty long stretch where he was just playing with zero confidence.

Right now he's getting timely points by executing a fair bit more than he was during his slump but I don't think he's quite reached a level yet where he's driving play like a true 1c. It's more like quick strike chances created coming in off the rush for the most part. I think there's still a lot of room for him to grow into the role to create chances under pressure in 5 on 5 situations but he needs to add strength/bulk and slow down his decision making at times. Not to say he needs to overthink his passes but he does what a lot of guys on this team do, he sees some orange and just throws it in the general direction without taking half a second to judge whether the lane can be cut off by the defense. Successful 1cs in this league not named MacKinnon need to be able to navigate the offensive zone and either make space for themselves to generate chances to make plays on or get shots off, Leo isn't really there yet and I'm not sure Cronin and the coaching staff are teaching him how to do it effectively. It should progress if he adds strength and mass but I'm nervous about the "offense comes naturally" philosophy. The kid needs some degree of guidance of how to play the 1c role he's clearly being groomed for.

 

[Goose of Reason]

I legitimately find it upsetting what's happened to Z.

I think he's been off ever since the meniscus injury. He looks a half step slow and his confidence seems shot. I didn't think it would ever be possible for him to mishandle pucks like he has been.

I also think we need a coach that can actually coach offense.

 

[anezthes]

Now Killorn is costing Cutter points. Lol.

Cutter getting Killorn'd, Dostál getting Gibson'd.

 

[AngelDuck]

We need to not play Harkins, Leason, and Johnston over players like Nesterenko next season if we are to be taken seriously

Colangelo/Nesterenko: 9 combined goals in 30 combined games

Johnston/Leason/Harkins: 8 combined goals in 150 combined games

Staggering ineptitude

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

We need to not play Harkins, Leason, and Johnston over players like Nesterenko next season if we are to be taken seriously

Colangelo/Nesterenko: 9 combined goals in 30 combined games

Johnston/Leason/Harkins: 8 combined goals in 150 combined games

Staggering ineptitude

Yep, none of those guys really do anything

tho I think colangelo should be on top 9

 

[Deuce22]

We need to not play Harkins, Leason, and Johnston over players like Nesterenko next season if we are to be taken seriously

Colangelo/Nesterenko: 9 combined goals in 30 combined games

Johnston/Leason/Harkins: 8 combined goals in 150 combined games

Staggering ineptitude

This shows the mindset of Cronin. His personnel decisions are based on preventing goals, not scoring them.

 

[ohcomeonref]

This shows the mindset of Cronin. His personnel decisions are based on preventing goals, not scoring them.

Which might be okay if his philosophy actually resulted in good team defense.

 

[mightyquack]

I’ll agree to disagree. I’ve read a lot of posts complaining about Leo’s body language, physical weakness, lack of offensive production, and comparing him unfavorably to other young players around the league. Unrealistic expectations at this point in his career, IMO.

I can understand disappointment in the first half of the season, just too many games where you wouldn't notice him. But he's been one of our best forward since the all star break, such a big leap forward in his play which is what you want to see.

We need to not play Harkins, Leason, and Johnston over players like Nesterenko next season if we are to be taken seriously

Colangelo/Nesterenko: 9 combined goals in 30 combined games

Johnston/Leason/Harkins: 8 combined goals in 150 combined games

Staggering ineptitude

Ideally we continue the development of Nestrenko into a solid 2 way forward that has been happening in San Diego with a similar role at the NHL level. Should be a no brainer that he's on the 4th line next season in that sort of role, ideally with Gaucher and a very good veteran bottom 6 player.

 

[mightyquack]

I don't see how you turn Trevor Zegras into a 40 point 3rd liner who sucks at face-offs and call yourself good at developing young forwards.

Yeah but did you see we have more points then last season (which was one of the worst seasons in modern NHL history) so Cronin is actually really good at his job.

 

[Leonardo87]

I don't think that's it necessarily - the criticism because he hasn't taken much of a step this year.

and I also don't think anybody is or ever has really bashed him - i pretty much wholeheartedly disagree with that sort of characterization. Bashing him would be saying he's not gonna ever amount to anything and pretty much giving up on his future potential at this stage. Players of his pedigree are going to be criticized and should be criticized. Nothing he's received approaches anything like the criticism that'd be levied by Rangers, Habs or Leafs fans.

There's very little appreciation for nuance with things like this - Things aren't always all this or all that.

My Issue with the criticism is that his head coach has not put him in the best position to succeed, including reduced ice time. The two guys (Mac and Cutter) he has the best chemistry with have been kept away from him most of the season. He had several games playing with 4th liners and Killorn when Zegras was out. Killed his confidence with no one finishing his plays. Heck he was even producing last year with Terry. So it’s not all on him.

Look at the stats between Killorn and Leo, they have shared points on only like 6 goals this season. That right there is a red flag they don’t gel. He has improved his FO% by a significant amount from last year. Has been better on defense and is one the better defensive forwards.

Now the bashing is not from you. I think you can be very critical sometimes but you keep it on his game. There has been some over the top comments about his body mannerisms, calling him weak, and another word I can’t type because he didn’t drop the gloves.

Also, people forget he was injured earlier this year and it took him time to recover. Being banged up is one thing, but he had a legit head or neck injury.

 

[ohcomeonref]

My Issue with the criticism is that his head coach has not put him in the best position to succeed, including reduced ice time. The two guys (Mac and Cutter) he has the best chemistry with have been kept away from him most of the season. He had several games playing with 4th liners and Killorn when Zegras was out. Killed his confidence with no one finishing his plays. Heck he was even producing last year with Terry. So it’s not all on him.

Look at the stats between Killorn and Leo, they have shared points on only like 6 goals this season. That right there is a red flag they don’t gel. He has improved his FO% by a significant amount from last year. Has been better on defense and is one the better defensive forwards.

Now the bashing is not from you. I think you can be very critical sometimes but you keep it on his game. There has been some over the top comments about his body mannerisms, calling him weak, and another word I can’t type because he didn’t drop the gloves.

Also, people forget he was injured earlier this year and it took him time to recover. Being banged up is one thing, but he had a legit head or neck injury.

When he had that head/neck injury it scared the hell out of me. That early concussion for Fowler completely changed him.

 

[TheGoodShepard1]

Would like to see Helleson and Mintyukov get a longer leash. They’re being sheltered pretty hard.

Would like to know the DZone starts breakdown by percentage. Feels like though they get limited ice time, their starting position is not very favorable.

Also, at the risk of getting blocked by people for continuing this trend, I would like to point out that I don't think it's a coincidence that Mintyukov found his game and Zelly started slumping immediately upon changing pairings, which does not reflect well on Anaheim65 and says something about Helleson (simple game, doesn't try to do too much, allows his partners to get comfortable).

 

[Deuce22]

Would like to know the DZone starts breakdown by percentage. Feels like though they get limited ice time, their starting position is not very favorable.

Also, at the risk of getting blocked by people for continuing this trend, I would like to point out that I don't think it's a coincidence that Mintyukov found his game and Zelly started slumping immediately upon changing pairings, which does not reflect well on Anaheim65 and says something about Helleson (simple game, doesn't try to do too much, allows his partners to get comfortable).

Helleson is also more mobile and moves the puck quicker, which helps with breakouts.