Thanks. I still read that as just general coachspeak about bringing in a player and talking about said player, it wasn't a "he will be an upgrade on our PP" or "we expect him to help with the PP" but a general "he can do this.
We all know he can run the power play (adequately). Having him if Burns or Orlov gets hurt is critical depth on the PP for sure.
It's because it's how you want to read it.
Seriously, for me there are a number of things that give me this indication and what Waddell said backs it up.
1) They first acquired Tony to basically replace Dougie, primarily on the PP.
2) In his 1 season here, Tony played 3:03 min / game on the PP.
3) Tony had 20 PP points in 64 games. Since 2018/19 Compare that with Hamilton's 37 in 264 games and Burn's 23 in 82 games.
4) In the last 3 seasons (as that's what NST allows me to do), here's how guys scored on the PP: Hamilton - 6.6P/60; DeAngelo - 6.15; Burns - 5.6; Skjei - 4.6
5) In the last 5 seasons in WSH, Orlov has averaged 1:01 min / game on the PP. He scored at a rate of 3.6 P/60 the last 3 seasons.
Lastly, if Tony is so poor defensively as you and others stated, then why else acquire him if it's not for his offense on the PP? For the record, I do think Tony brings more than just PP and I've stated this earlier in the off-season. I don't want him in the top 4 (at least not very long), but he's an asset on the 3rd pairing, can play up in a pinch, is feisty, and he can bring offense from that pairing.
Point being, Tony was a PP guy when he was here the 1st time and they wanted to keep him. They wanted to keep him in that PP role, but reduce his 5v5 role, thus not wanting to pay him $5M.
No one knows how things will shake out except maybe Rod/Donny, but I don't think it's a fair assumption that TDA is ahead of Chatfield or that his PP ability propels him ahead for any reason.
I do think it's fair for the reasons I stated. It's fine if you don't agree, but I've listed the reasons why I think that's the case.
Orlov not being used on the PP would be a misuse of his talent frankly
History disagrees with your assessment. He hasn't been used much and he hasn't performed well either. Let's not act like he's an exceptional PP talent. Even this season, they've used Carlson (duh), Gustafson, and after acquiring him, Sandin over using Orlov based on TOI/GP. Boston used McAvoy and Lindholm over him as well and he had only 4 points in 23G in Boston on the PP.
and Burns will obviously be on it.
Agree
We could potentially use TDA and Burns or Orlov on the same unit but we haven't seen a 2 D PP from Rod yet so I'm skeptical on that.
Agree, I think it will be TDA and Burns.
Personally I think Chatfield performed better for us last year than TDA did for us his year here
I like Chat, but he and CDH were the most sheltered regular D on the Canes last year. When Tony was here, he was playing against much tougher competition for a long stretch of time. It's fair to say that it was with Slavin, the great equalizer. And I get that Chat never looked out of place when he spent a couple weeks subbing for someone in the top 4, but "not looking out of place for a short period" isn't the same as doing it for a large sample size.
That said, I agree that Chat is better defensively, but TDA is just as good of a skater, is a much better passer, and is much better offensively. Tony is the best passer on the backend on the PP the Canes have had in a long time.
and that plays into my view that he may be ahead of TDA, along with Rod's preference for defensively responsible players.
Yes, so that's my point. If Rod has a preference for defensively responsible players, then you must conclude the main reason the Canes acquired TDA (who isn't good defensively) is for the PP, no?
That said I think if we keep the group as is, there will be a rotation of guys, not just Chat/TDA rotating but giving vets days off, etc.
That's probably so, but if we keep them the same group and Tony is having success on the PP, he will rarely sit. I'm not saying the first 10-15 games, but as the season goes on. Same goes if he isn't having success on the PP, he'll very likely sit more. All depends how he performs on the PP.
And yes I think there's a very good chance of another move before the season starts, I wouldn't necessarily say I expect one, maybe 50/50, but yeah it's a strong possibility.
Agree.
www.nhl.com
