I didn't bring up Skinner and Arvidsson or anyone else. You must be thinking of a different poster.
He won't be "drastically" better. I guess the Canucks are betting that they can make him somewhat better. We'll see. I think players sometimes do have those sorts of mid-career improvements. Luke Schenn comes to mind.
Comparing some late career development from Luke Schenn to Daniel Sprong's defensive issues is such a bizarre thing.
Schenn was never really
that bad defensively. And certainly not from a lack of effort or "want to". He was a highly drafted defensive defenceman. His biggest problem was the expectations of that in a pressure cooker market and being played
waaaaay over his head early in his career. But he always had the will and intention to commit fully to the defensive side of the puck (that was the
only side of the puck for him).
So Schenn settling in to a steadier defensive game and embracing his role as a depth guy later in his career, is really just more of a natural progression of a guy who was invested in the process all along, finally being put in more appropriate situations and gaining experience.
Sprong's problem defensively, is that he appears to simply not care. And even when he does, he doesn't seem interested in getting the details right. And that's been a common theme at every stop along his career from Juniors right through every stop along the way to here, where he's now 27 years old and has had dozens of coaches and a bundle of different situations that all end the exact same way.
A sudden 180 now, at this stage, would be an extreme outlier on how development typically works.
if i had to bet right now on who makes the canucks final roster (ignoring technical moves like papering down players to maximize cap space on the season opening roster) it'd be sprong and podkolzin not making the cut
(i probably wouldn't bet tho because training camp injuries are pretty common and i think they'll be able to carry one or both of them at least to start the season)
These seem like terrible bets.
Podkolzin especially...unless he's traded, it's hard to see any chance they cut him, send him down, and expose him to waivers to lose for nothing in the process.
And Sprong...as much as i'd have him right on the bubble and very likely cut him, i think the fact that Tocchet reached out to him personally to recruit him, speaks to the fact that he's going to be given every opportunity to make the team.
PDG is in all likelihood, the guy sent down here. Unless they think he can play Center at the NHL level...in which case, Aman is probably the cut.
I dont see how Hoglanders past where he was 19-22 and had enough issues he wasn't even a NHL player is a good barometer for being disruptive. And "typical spark plug grinder types" is being harsh given his age and career trajectory
Fact is him and Pettersson have had really good chemistry, play driving statistics and unfortunately for Hoglander (and getting an accurate sample) he was stuck with 2 players in terrible funks at the time where you might have the best barometer for how the 2 look going forward. I'm not sure if trying to accurately quantify what Hoglander is fully capable of with Pettersson is a great thing to bank on just yet
Ideally a PF who could finish and create time and space in possession would be best for EP40 (if you could pluck someone from the league that wouldn't just take over driving Petterssons' line you would probably target Brady Tkachuk) Given the unrealistic expectation of teams giving us their best players you have to optimistic about Jake DeBrusk and his skillset. Hoglander Pettersson DeBrusk looks like a fine play driving line to me.
On Sprong i fully agree with what you have been saying. Last 2 years he's started strong then faded. It's ended the same way with him being benched and untrusted. Like Lafferty if we get 50-60 games of supplementary scoring that's fine too but my hope would be it doesn't take away opportunity for others to grow or worse they trade someone and bank on him being productive further up the lineup and then he goes back to being bad when you need him most.
As to the bolded...they just don't though. I honestly don't know what you've been watching to come to this conclusion, because it's plain as day seeing Hoggy and Pete on the ice together, that they are completely disjointed and are trying to play entirely different styles of game.
Speaking to previous examples of them being tried is about establishing a context, where this isn't new. This has always been the case. Hoglander has
always played his best hockey with guys like Horvat/Lafferty who play with speed and puck carrying through the neutral zone, direct North-South driving the net, and let Hoggy work the forecheck, clean up spare change around the net, and capitalize on quick-strike off the rush, or broken plays off the forecheck type offense.
Pettersson thrives in a far more methodical approach.
This below...
He finished sixth in total even strength ice-time amongst forwards and Pettersson was his most common centre at 321 minutes. He definitely did spend time on the fourth line (Lafferty/Aman were second with 280 minutes with him) and averaged only 12 minutes a game at even strength which is right in line with Di Giuseppe.
What's interesting is looking at who assisted on his goals. He started on the 4th line with most of his goals being assisted by Lafferty but was eventually elevated in the line-up and finished the season with Pettersson.
Total Teammate Assists by Player:
Pettersson | 5
Lafferty | 5
Myers | 5
Hughes | 4
Hronek | 4
Boeser | 3
Mikheyev | 3
Aman | 3
Garland | 3
Suter | 2
Beauvillier | 1
Miller | 1
Lindholm | 1
Lafferty was all at the beginning of the season and Pettersson was at the end.
Is really a serious indictment of any claims that Pettersson and Hoglander have anything resembling "really good chemistry". Even just ignoring the obvious eye test evaluation to the contrary...the stats largely reflect that as well.
In
more minutes with Pettersson last year, Hoggy still only had the same number of his goals assisted on by Lafferty. When even sleepwalking through a slump, Pettersson is clearly 100x the "playmaker" that Lafferty is capable of being. Heck...offensive black hole Aman assisted on nearly as many of Hoglander's goals as Pettersson.
This breakdown all just speaks to the fact that Hoglander doesn't play the game in a way that meshes with what Pettersson does. He jives far more and is far more effective and efficient in his minutes with guys like Lafferty/Aman who just play a simple, North-South game with pace.
You'll also notice that adding up those assists...there certainly aren't 2 for every goal. Also speaks to his propensity for scoring off "broken plays" more than strictly working the puck around and methodically setting up high quality scoring chances that way, as Pettersson tends to operate most effectively.