I'm not saying anyone is a failure but can we acknowledge that there is a large range between 13 even strength goals and 43 even strength goals in 2022-23? Or a range between 29 even strength points and 90 even strength points in 2021-22? My point is before we say something is impossible lets consider that there is a large range between calling someone a failure and claiming something is impossible.
Confidence gained in ANY situation on the ice carries over to ALL situations on the ice. It will vary by player for sure, but reps and the coaches' trust build confidence, and I think we all agree that confidence is NOT inconsequential.
Well... not always. It depends on whether you realistically, reasonably, think you CAN win a Cup in any given year. If you look at the roster and honestly say, "Yeah we're a contender." maybe you don't emphasize development. If your honest assessment is "pretty unlikely we go all the way this year." Maybe you sacrifice some immediate success for the sake of development/the future. Hence the NJD playing Hughes almost 20 mins a game while he was having a worse D+1 than Lafrenierre...
Half empty: 2nd line is only good because Panarin is going beastmode.
True but even Panarin is like 0 for his last 7 breakaways. The team just has a disease.
Well, in all fairness it's fluky and not a reasonable expectation, but POSSIBLE? Sure. Gretzky put up 100 goals one year, have we ever expected another player (or even Gretz) to regularly do that? Or even do it once (once more in Gretzky's case).
Well maybe taking the average for EV scoring for a top sixer, or even first liner, and using THAT as a comparison is a far more realistic expectation for a developing 22 year old than than looking at the outlier high an ELITE veteran player hit once in his career...
I agree but I was responding to a person that said it was impossible.
Yeah. I think "impossible" is hyperbole. Maybe "an unreasonable expectation" works better. hahahaha.
I was not saying we should expect 43 even strength goals, 90 even strength points nor 100 goals. I just thought saying it was impossible to accumulate even strength points was a bridge too far.
It’s the hallmark of this this team. Expectations are often unreasonable, vary wildly based on age and reputation, and usually have nothing to do with what’s actually happening on the ice
Sometimes 1 guy (Bread) going beastmode can help other linemates see what it takes to raise their own games especially when it is a vet. I choose to look at that glass as half full for our 2 young guys on that line. I would like to see KK raise his game more consistently.
So scoring even strength points is not impossible. I think there is a guy nicknamed Bread on our own team that scores even strength points as well.
Yeah, and people should start using rate stats instead of raw points totals, so I don't have to hear about ice time.or lack thereof.
How about asking him to reach 2P/60 at 5v5 which about 100 players did each of the past two years? That seems pretty reasonable. He's never done that before.
Jack put himself in bad positions to get muscled off the puck, hit and potentially hurt. That's why he had a bad first year. He learned from that and doesn't put himself in those positions anymore. But the controlled neutral zone play was far superior than anything Lafreniere did during his first year, unless you go by points.
I agree. We never had a chance to get Jack so its a waste of time. Would be interesting who the fanbase would have wanted if it was Jack or Laf at draft time. Back then there was some talk about KK over Jack. I was actually wrong about Jack in general. I knew he had outstanding skills but I feared he would be pushed around a lot and that would limit his ceiling.
Well that will be easy because my point was about their usage helping their development. And like it or not, Hughes had a worse D+1 than Lafreniere while getting 50% more ATOI and loads of PP1 time (and 5 more games played, I think). Which benefitted Hughes‘ learning curve. In no way am I trying to say Laf would have had the same level of success as Hughes. Just that Laf would have been closer to reaching his OWN potential. He’d have more reps and most likely more confidence. I don’t think it’s a wild take, TBH. It’s pretty much just common sense. I only mention how bad Hughes was in his D+1 for the “Laf didn’t earn it” crowd, because the norm is a high pick goes to a bad team and they are GIVEN PP1 and lots of ice and responsibility without having earned it.
