Bro is off the scene. He got too accustomed to deferring to Kucherov he took out any creativity he had. He tried zone entry after zone entry only to curl back and have their defense wait on it and get closed down by the winger. He's not driving it deep. He passed off a slot shot last night to dipsy doodle a pass to Pinellas. Puck is still on its way.
I think he and Kuch need a trial separation. Point has become too reliant on 86
I wouldn't mind us resigning Stamkos and putting him with Kucherov while Point develops chemistry with Hagel and Cirelli or whoever is here. I'd like to see them split up. Seems like teams have adjusted after a few years to knowing their tendencies and what not. It should be a last resort or blender option to reunite them.
thehockeywriters.com
Solid point.Lightning's Brayden Point's Elite Shooting Percentage Is Sustainable - The Hockey Writers Tampa Bay Lightning Latest News, Analysis & More
Is Point one of the luckiest players in the league due to his high shooting percentage and is his conversion rate sustainable?
Yeah he just needs to be engaged during the 1st half of the season. He's shied away from contact the past couple years, following his major injuries in 2021-22.
Point's main thing on the PP, to my eye, are his zone entries. He has to be top 2 or 3 in the league at that, which I think has allowed Kucherov to became such a weapon, because he gets a lot more touches with the PP fully set up.
Yeah, but I think that's harder to get through, and we can't expect 20+ pp goals from Hedman.
The nice bonus with Guentzel coming in is he can be net front or net side to bang in dirty goals. He'll clean up rebounds from Point and Hedman shots, Kucherov will find Guentzel for tap ins as well
It was static because Stamkos was stationary and Kucherov does his work with vision and not nearly the mobility of MacKinnon or McDavid. I don't think he's nearly as successful playing that style either. IIRC the Rangers play an umbrella with Zibanejad open for a one timer while Panarin loops on the right. They have a hybrid of both styles, though more traditional with Kreider down low. Colorado and Edmonton both rely on their best player to constantly put teams in a spin cycle - Kucherov doesn't play that style. This would be a first if he's put on the left and ranges from low to high. The only other time I can think of is 2015 where him and Drouin were interchangeable. He could probably do it because he's Kucherov, but you also takeaway arguably our best remaining shot by moving him to the left.
The interesting thing is we have seen the PP without Stamkos at times, and it was still pretty deadly. I think that might have played a big part in the off season decisions. We might be able to add 20 or 30 goals 5v5 while not losing much on the pp
Without Stamkos on the PP, Kuch just takes it on himself to shoot more.
Yup. He's the best in the league at controlling the rimmed pucks along the boards. We've seen him then take it to the top of the circle and let the wrister go. It's deadly.
Right. I think that's what made the PP extra deadly last year.
Palat did very well during the 2020 run, too. Neither guy had exceptional shots but they have to be mobile. You essentially need the guy to loop and force back door looks for it to be effective if he's a lefty. One would think Guentzel is that guy and Hagel takes net front duties.
Yeah, if nothing else, you knew Palat was gonna make good decisions. Forgot about him that year.
Yeah. Hagel was a solid replacement for Palat. He's very much that mold but we don't really have any Swiss army knife kind of players that are able to play anywhere. Paul is kind of that type but he's better at the 3C position right now than slotted elsewhere. Lacking wingers, specifically RW options is hurting us.
