Andre Lee

Raccoon Jesus

We were right there
Oct 30, 2008
63,344
66,150
I.E.
He's been good in his role considered he's stapled to a corpse.

Would like him to be stronger on the puck for his size, but otherwise reminds me a lot in a positive way of Dwight King. Decent enough hands, will surprise with offense from time to time, but mostly just a possession running back out there to eat time and be a lot to handle along the boards and in front of the net.

Although there were a couple of times last night he was really cruising and I didn't know he could skate that fast.

I'm not sure what his expectations are so far but he has so far basically met them, not surpassed them, but hasn't been an outright liability which considering the current circus is saying a lot. Not easy for a rookie to step into a shitshow and not be part of it.
 

Herby

Thank You, Team 144
Feb 27, 2002
26,764
16,891
Great Lakes Area
We have had dozens of players like this over my decades of following the team, a big 4th line guy who will get a some NHL games in but the jury is still way out.

I would say using ex-Kings as an example, his floor is John Tripp, where he doesn't see many more NHL games and ends up overseas because the European leagues pay better than the AHL/NHL two-way does.

His ceiling is probably Jerred Smithson, who was able to carve out a pretty nice NHL career playing a simple game as a 4th liner.

Nothing against him, he was good enough to make the NHL as a 7th rounder from the USHL, which is an awesome accomplishment. But I think the smoke that Hoven was blowing about this guy over the summer looks to be ridiculous.
 
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Sol

Smile
Jun 30, 2017
24,426
20,545
Unfortunately he’s not really impressive. He could really do well to make a name for himself by simply throwing heavy hits but he seems to be a bit soft.
 
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AbsentMojo

F-ing get up and hunt! Cmon Todd!
Apr 18, 2018
9,837
10,061
twitter.com
Hiller was pumping his tires all camp like he was some revelation... what because he has some hands? Prob just some hype to justify Akil collecting dust at beginning of season. He looks raw - a perfect candidate for the A where he can learn not to spin like a balerina during a scrap.
 

Raccoon Jesus

We were right there
Oct 30, 2008
63,344
66,150
I.E.
Hiller was pumping his tires all camp like he was some revelation... what because he has some hands? Prob just some hype to justify Akil collecting dust at beginning of season. He looks raw - a perfect candidate for the A where he can learn not to spin like a balerina during a scrap.

He does what he needs to to stay--doesn't cheat or take shortcuts, finishes checks, defends diligently. He's no savant but his attention to detail is great, and it's nice to see him rewarded with some playing time. he did better against Hughes than most on our squad did. Think of him as Dwight King lite--when you just need a shift of honest time eating, he's there, and as a bonus can help generate some opportunities.

But yeah over Akil? f*** that.

Happy for Lee doing all the right things and he's the kind of guy you can root for.
 

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