Player Discussion Cutter Gauthier

[Trojans86]

I'll buy a Gauthier jersey next day if he scores a hatty.

I’m in as well

 

[WhatTheDuck]

I have fully come on board with getting Killorn away from Leo. I dont think killorn has been terrible but he plays a controlled slower pace than the kids.

So give gauthier a little more leash with Leo and see what happens…please

Give them Fabbri on the other side

 

[HanSolo]

Well Pat, tell your dumbass coach to put them together.



If he has this ability, I haven't seen it once on the Ducks.

Are you talking score on them? I'm fairly positive he got a one timer on goal two games ago. Or the Vegas game. Can't remember which, but definitely recently.

 

[ZegrassyKnoll]

Give them Fabbri on the other side

Gauthier-Leo-Fabbri and Killorn-McTavish-Leason make way too much sense to me

 

[slippingsloth]

Gautier Leo
Killorn McT

I almost ok just blending the missing wings until you find the best option…
I want Z back at CENTER for a bit and see how that goes.

 

[Leonardo87]

Cronin and Clune are head cases . Now the F can you play Killorn who is cooked over Gauthier on the PP who now has 5 points in his last 5 games, and is playing very well.

I don’t get this coaching staff. First Leo being stapled to plugs now this???

We are trying to develop young players not aging vets.

 

[FlyingV09]

That pass off the boards behind Fabbri to spring him for a breakaway was a thing of beauty. Such a smart play.

Cutters confidence is growing and it’s great to see.

 

[Firequacker]

Cronin and Clune are head cases . Now the F can you play Killorn who is cooked over Gauthier on the PP who now has 5 points in his last 5 games, and is playing very well.

I don’t get this coaching staff. First Leo being stapled to plugs now this???

We are trying to develop young players not aging vets.

So none of what I'm about to say is actually in disagreement with you, but I was going to write a post complaining about "why are they replacing Cutter with Leason on the PP" and seeing this really threw me. So I went back and looked more closely at what Killorn has been doing and both things are true. Call this additional context, I guess.

They are not exactly playing Killorn over Cutter on the PP, they are playing Killorn at all times on the PP. Over the last three games they have been experimenting with swapping Cutter out for Leason (Cutter has started there in each game then they've switched to Leason later). But when they make that swap, they put Leason in Killorn's spot and move Killorn to Cutter's. So in that sense, yeah, they're also playing Killorn over Cutter on the PP.

Aside from this being a very dumb personnel choice on its face, the team's one and only PP goal in the last eight games was Leason from Cutter. I have been harping on "if you're gonna play Leason in places he doesn't belong at least take advantage of his apparent chemistry with Cutter" for awhile now so I went and looked at some numbers for kicks.

	TOI	GF	GF/60	xGF/60
Leason*	5:21	0	0	1.73
Gauthier	53:43	2	2.23	5.99
Neither	113:03	7	3.72	6.95
Both	21:09	4	11.35	12.25

I know it's small sample sizes, and there's a multitude of other variables, and the biggest overall problem with the PP is that the system sucks, but those numbers are legitimately funny. In, y'know, a "fire Clune into the sun" kind of way. Nothing else (up to and including blood sacrifice) has improved the PP, maybe try to see if there's really something there? Worst that can happen is they still don't score.
*Five and a half minutes really is meaningless statistically, but by the eye test one might indeed conclude that Killorn trying to do Cutter's job has been a bigger problem here than Leason being present.

Killorn's PP numbers are also generally poor and would not indicate he should be playing over either of these guys. (Leason's individual GF and xGF rates are actually the best on the team—again, small sample size caveat. Cutter's are 5th and 4th respectively, Killorn's are 9th and 12th.) Eye test certainly doesn't back it up, hell, Killorn looking worse than his stats is kind of a thing this season.
So yeah. It's all dumb. The fact that Cutter and not Killorn is the one being taken off the power play is dumb. The fact that Cutter is being taken off the power play to run Leason without Cutter is dumb. Maybe, especially when Cutter is having his best stretch of play of the season, you simply don't take him off the PP at all? But that would make too much sense.

 

[DavidBL]

Cronin and Clune are head cases . Now the F can you play Killorn who is cooked over Gauthier on the PP who now has 5 points in his last 5 games, and is playing very well.

I don’t get this coaching staff. First Leo being stapled to plugs now this???

We are trying to develop young players not aging vets.

TOI management is certainly a possibility. Cutter may not be able to play his 5v5 minutes and significant pp time.

 

[Dr Johnny Fever]

TOI management is certainly a possibility. Cutter may not be able to play his 5v5 minutes and significant pp time.

Not saying your wrong but then they should reduce his 5v5 time so as to let him get PP experience.

I think a lot of the coaching problems are directly related to Verbeek, but regardless, the coaching is a mess at all levels.

 

[DavidBL]

Not saying your wrong but then they should reduce his 5v5 time so as to let him get PP experience.

I think a lot of the coaching problems are directly related to Verbeek, but regardless, the coaching is a mess at all levels.

Not to downplay the importance of the PP but most of the game is played at 5v5. You also have his linemates to consider. It's much simpler and more beneficial to line chemistry to just take him off the PP rather than mess with thr 5v5 line either by reducing it's minutes or by throwing an alternate player on the line to give Cutter a few shifts off.

 

[FiveTacos]

Not saying your wrong but then they should reduce his 5v5 time so as to let him get PP experience.

I dunno, by the eye test I think he's been one of our better 5v5 players lately. And I think he's helped rejuvenate McT too, for whatever reason they seem like a fit.

 

[Dr Johnny Fever]

Not to downplay the importance of the PP but most of the game is played at 5v5. You also have his linemates to consider. It's much simpler and more beneficial to line chemistry to just take him off the PP rather than mess with thr 5v5 line either by reducing it's minutes or by throwing an alternate player on the line to give Cutter a few shifts off.

I dunno, by the eye test I think he's been one of our better 5v5 players lately. And I think he's helped rejuvenate McT too, for whatever reason they seem like a fit.

My point being that his shooting skill is something that can make a PP come to life and special teams can make or break winning or losing. Something we need desperately.

Taking 2-3 minutes from his 5v5 time and allocating them to trying to develop a stronger PP would seem like a worthwhile use of time during a season where winning is secondary to developing these guys so they can ultimately win when it matters.

 

[TheDarkWingThatDucks]

My point being that his shooting skill is something that can make a PP come to life and special teams can make or break winning or losing. Something we need desperately.

Taking 2-3 minutes from his 5v5 time and allocating them to trying to develop a stronger PP would seem like a worthwhile use of time during a season where winning is secondary to developing these guys so they can ultimately win when it matters.

I mean you honestly think Verbeek and Cronin don’t have a specific plan and talk about this stuff. Everyone is just head in the sand hoping for the best. Like cutter is going to be future PP1 on that Leon D side of the ice. That is what they are grooming him for, you honestly believe him not getting all the PP time for a few games in his rookie year is going to diminish his ability to reach his potential ?

 

[Ducks DVM]

My point being that his shooting skill is something that can make a PP come to life and special teams can make or break winning or losing. Something we need desperately.

Taking 2-3 minutes from his 5v5 time and allocating them to trying to develop a stronger PP would seem like a worthwhile use of time during a season where winning is secondary to developing these guys so they can ultimately win when it matters.

I would 100% rather teach him to play 5v5, especially since you’re then taking time away from the rest of what’s only our second semi-productive line.

 

[DavidBL]

My point being that his shooting skill is something that can make a PP come to life and special teams can make or break winning or losing. Something we need desperately.

Taking 2-3 minutes from his 5v5 time and allocating them to trying to develop a stronger PP would seem like a worthwhile use of time during a season where winning is secondary to developing these guys so they can ultimately win when it matters.

I think it would improve the PP, but I think the staff is more concerned with the buy in of play in general. While winning is important they want the team to win the right way with the buy in to Cronins and PVs system and style of play. The PP can be fixed after they get the basics of 5v5 down.

 

[Dr Johnny Fever]

I mean you honestly think Verbeek and Cronin don’t have a specific plan and talk about this stuff. Everyone is just head in the sand hoping for the best. Like cutter is going to be future PP1 on that Leon D side of the ice. That is what they are grooming him for, you honestly believe him not getting all the PP time for a few games in his rookie year is going to diminish his ability to reach his potential ?

I have no doubt Pat and Greg speak about things like that. I also have no doubt Verbeek calls most of the big picture shots. But I'm also of the opinion they don't make a lot of good coaching decisions between them.

Everybody here complains about the PP, but me recommending putting Cutter there a couple of minutes a game is some Cronin level bad suggestion?

And nowhere did I say they were diminishing his ability to reach his potential. But I don't know why they would spend his whole first year in the league not giving him some experience in a area of the game where they will be counting on him in the future. Heck, maybe even win a couple of more games this year.

 

[Dr Johnny Fever]

I would 100% rather teach him to play 5v5, especially since you’re then taking time away from the rest of what’s only our second semi-productive line.

I think it would improve the PP, but I think the staff is more concerned with the buy in of play in general. While winning is important they want the team to win the right way with the buy in to Cronins and PVs system and style of play. The PP can be fixed after they get the basics of 5v5 down.

I really don't know why you can't do both during the same season. I'm not suggesting splitting his ice time 50/50 between two diametrically opposed styles of play.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

I really don't know why you can't do both during the same season. I'm not suggesting splitting his ice time 50/50 between two diametrically opposed styles of play.

Cutter has found a line worth spending more time on the ice with Mac and Fabbri. I wouldn't cut those minutes since it's working. I don't know why Cutter has been taken off the PP, though. That is a separate issue since those minutes aren't hard minutes to play... usually.

Fabbri
First 28 games: 28 games, 4g + 8a = 12 pts (0.43 ppg), and a -5 rating with ATOI = 14:18
Next 8 with Mac-Fabbrulous: 8 games, 1g + 4a = 5 pts (0.63 ppg), and a +5 rating with ATOI = 15:32