I don't put much weight on any of his first few years of rushed, butchered development, and no one excelled under Krueger. So I've been paying attention to these past two seasons, and even through some misuse and being shackled to Olofsson for a lot of that time, it's clear to me that Mitts is becoming a very useful, versatile piece of the team. He has value now. He generally has seemed better on the wing (to me), but centering talented, productive, high-end players has seemed to unlock some more talent lately. I'm not prepared to make proclamations about where he should or should not be used. I'll leave that for the Sabres coaches and terrific analytics department.
I take no issue with your thought process here. I think it is on the most positive end of the reasonable range, but you lay out your logic instead of just attacking the poster. I appreciate that.
Everyone thinks I hate Mitts and I don't. He works very hard and I always respect that. I just don't get personal about evaluation. I say what I see when I watch the games. We drafted him and put a lot of time into him. If he suddenly turns a real corner and becomes something he has not been the first 5 years of his NHL career, then great, its found money. Just remember, this board did the same thing with Ristoleinen, taking all of 7 years the get where people finally realized that the Risto we always saw, was the Risto we were going to always see. He always worked hard, and every year gave you periods of good play that made your hope soar, but in the end, Risto was Risto.
For Mitts to break the cycle, then something has to change. I believe the first key, is much like Thompson needed to move to the center of the ice, Mitts needed to move to the wing to simplify the mental processing pert of the game. I believe the second key to Mitts is his weight and conditioning. His good periods of play tend to come later in the year when his conditioning is highest and he has lost some weight. Look at his face right now. He is as lean as I have seen him. That improves his speed and endurance and you can see it on the ice. They need to shift his offseason conditioning program to help him keep it.
So keep him lean and on the wing and we may yet salvage a solid 3rd line winger that can move up the lineup for injuries. That would be great.
