It is amazing how we are all watching the same things and come to radically different opinions. Before I give my opinion I will say that the team on a whole, is a train wreck at getting the puck out of their zone a lot of the time.
I think the point of it all is that Chabot can be so much better. And those that have watched this team since he played his first game have seen what he can do when he is at his best. Through these old eyes of mine and a few of my other pals, for every great play he makes there is a bad one. The comparison to Karlsson on his ability to skate or pass the puck of of trouble is not a good one. He is not even close to 65 in his ability to make a quick smart play or carry the puck out of trouble. He makes careless, nonchalant plays every game.
When I go through all the posts in this thread, a lot of people say how great he is before offering up an excuse for his poor play. Great players adapt to the situation. They learn from their mistakes. They improve by knowing their limitations and minimizing poor plays. They reduce the risk by adding these things up and hopefully, making the right plays. No player is perfect so you try to minimize those errors. But I see Chabot make the same lazy, poor decisions game after game.
The first excuse is he is playing too much and this is a valid point. Last night he played less than usual and I actually thought he was playing a safer, smarter game. Was a short sample size unfortunately. Maybe he needs a game or two to adjust to having more gas in the tank. Let's hope that was the case.
There is no doubt the quality of your partner, the forwards, the system deployed are all factors. It is a team game. Last night against the Habs, there weren't too many players who stood out in a positive way. But unfortunately, Chabot made a few more poor plays that contributed to goals against. The shorty started when he skated into a forechecker and lost possession of the puck. The third goal, he attempted two passes that ended up on the other teams stick. As a few have pointed out in here, this is not an uncommon occurrence. We see it game after game. Sometimes it ends up in the back of the net, sometimes it doesn't. But it happens all too often. If he has no play, eat the puck or clear it in a safe place. Watch what Zub does and learn something. For all the complaints about Zaitsev, I don't see him making the same kinds of mistakes Chabot does. He is far from perfect, but I see effort, physicality, and safer decisions. Would like to see more of it from Chabot because we have seen him do it before. Last point... good players make the people they play with play better, not the other way around. Spezza and Karlsson made who they played with better. Much better. Ask Greening who to thank for his big payday.
Chabot can be great. We've seen it as he has all the tools. Would be nice to see that player more often.