I was thinking the same thing.
Necas is like Aho in that he has had success playing C internationally. That usually translates quite well once the player has 2-3 years in the NHL (Kuznetsov, Haula, Hertl, even Victor Rask).
From everything I have read, Svechnikov prefers RW and apparently when he was tried at LW in juniors didn't fare nearly as well. I think it much more common for Europeans to prefer their "off" side--Teravainen is an example. And if you think about power plays (Ovechkin and Laine jump to mind) it is much preferred to have right shots on the left.
The Canes look set for RW (Teravainen, Svech, Williams in Raleigh with Gauthier and Mattheos in the system). LW is more the issue for the next few years. One of Kuokkanen or Saarela needs to become a top six LW in Raleigh or a trade will be needed.
Yeah I went over my thinking on that when I posted about it a week or two ago. Goals scorers love the off wing because it opens up the shot if you can take the space to the middle. Svech not only hasn’t done that off the rush even once, he rarely did it in juniors. I saw sweet highlight where he does a hesitation step to the middle and rips a shot for a goal. He more often drives wide in his backhand in a big swoop. That won’t work in the NHL consistently, not without him becoming a much more explosive skater. Which he may. The downside to having a guy on his off wing is he will often drive around the net, then be on his backhand to make a lot of the plays there which even if he has the skill isn’t ideal. Svech is a great passer and playmaker, if he doesn’t take the middle it’s better he’s on the left where he can still make plays driving the net as well as wrap the net and make passes on the other side from his forehand.
He doesn’t dangle like the same way as prime Kovy and Ovie because he uses a short stick with a high lie, he beats guys in tight with his moves. He likes to drive to his backhand a lot, but isn’t quite strong enough to complete it. He isn’t a toe dragger in open space off the rush yet. I don’t think that’s his move. Tough with the stick he has.
Did you like the TO game where he dominated the first period? He played LW that game. I didn’t check to see if he was back on the right but his best play already was from that side.
Ferland usually plays RW and TT on the left, though I’d agree that’s backwards as TT is the only guy who can play off wing on our team in terms of creating offense. He can take the middle consistently. Skinner running face first into elbows is partially what goes wrong when you take the middle poorly. Ferland does his best but being over there limits his ability to drive wide with his huge heel curve with no backhand.
So we have TT often playing left, when he needs to be right. That may be because of the defensive zone. Svech has gone back and forth but belongs on the left even if he prefers right, I’ve seen younger highlights of him on the left by the way and he looks great. That leave Williams as a right on that side and maybe Martinook who is fine over there because he chips and chases.
Svech doesn’t play like Ovie. At this point it’s wasting him to play him on the wrong side. When he’s consistently dangerous and confident, then maybe try it.