Around the NHL - (2024-25)

[tomd]

Is this a phrase anyone uses to describe a 20 goal scorer?

Fat fingers

 

[WhatTheDuck]

Big oof by Ekblad with that 20 game suspension for PEDs.

 

[SmokeyDuck]

Environment is definitely a huge part of it, physical maturity is the other piece of the puzzle.

Fantilli was already a physically mature beast while Carlsson was a tall lanky string bean. We all knew this. Plus yeah Columbus has a much improved roster. I think they have like 5 20 goal scorers or something. Even their enforcer has like 11-12 goals. They just score a shit ton more than us. I still take Carlsson over Fantilli.

 

[HanSolo]

Fantilli was already a physically mature beast while Carlsson was a tall lanky string bean. We all knew this. Plus yeah Columbus has a much improved roster. I think they have like 5 20 goal scorers or something. Even their enforcer has like 11-12 goals. They just score a shit ton more than us. I still take Carlsson over Fantilli.

Yeah the strength of roster/coaching is going unspoken here. We don't know yet if bulking up will help Leo catch up. Probably will but there's no hard guarantee.

I think it's premature to call it a bad pick or that we should've gone with Fantilli. Leo still has a lot of time and room to grow both physically and in his approach to the sport.

What gives me faith is I remember the ocean of difference from what Terry was before he packed on muscle (and mind you he did when he was like what, 23?) and what he was like after. When he started physically showing improvement in strength on the puck and withstanding physical challenges/pressure it opened his game up a lot and with that came the confidence he leveraged to be our most productive player.

We've seen how good Leo can look when he plays with confidence. If bulking up and cutting down on mistakes through experience can get his confidence back up, he should end up the first line center we're all hoping he can be.

My concern is they can coach proper tendencies and approaches to cut down on some of the mistakes now but we're focusing on defense first.

 

[TheDarkWingThatDucks]

Agreed. I think everyone here would've preferred Bedard and then you could then and still can make a strong argument for either Leo or Fantilli. Losing the lotto sucked, but i gotta admit that has waned a ton over the past 2 years seeing how Bedard has played.

Also key reason you had to tank that year, finishing last …. At worse we would have had Bedard / Leo / or Adamo ….. I obviously thought we were drafting Adamo, and fell in love with the kid. But Leo really just has that can’t teach frame and length, same with Sennecke. If they blossom, player development is key, then we are set for the next decade plus.