Player Discussion Drake Batherson (RW) - Part II

[caymanmew]

excited to see what he does with a healthy offseason.


4.95 for a player who when he is at his worst is a 60pt+ one dimensional winger?

what a mistake my god.

It is weird how people act like we pay Batherson like our other top 6 players... We don't need him to be anywhere near as good as the guys making 8m a year, because he is not paid that. We are lucky he is far outplaying his cap hit.

Him and his contract will be 100% key to winning a cup. He is exactly what we need.

 

[Ice-Tray]

Interesting to see him rocking a letter, I wasn’t expecting him to be the guy who was a leader in the room. Good for him, and the team.

 

[aragorn]

I hope he comes back next yr like he did the previous yr when he was going to the all star game before he got injured as our best player. He might challenge Stutzle & Tkachuk for the most pts next yr, but what is really great is that so could Giroux, DBC & Norris.

 

[coladin]

It is weird how people act like we pay Batherson like our other top 6 players... We don't need him to be anywhere near as good as the guys making 8m a year, because he is not paid that. We are lucky he is far outplaying his cap hit.

Him and his contract will be 100% key to winning a cup. He is exactly what we need.

I do not understand this logic.

He was a point a game player last year, an All-Star , until his injury. We allknow how good he can be, so why settle for this shit? Managament knows he can be way better, they will move him rather than have him produce at a level commensurate of his salary because they know he can be a 90pt player

 

[JD1]

I do not understand this logic.

He was a point a game player last year, an All-Star , until his injury. We allknow how good he can be, so why settle for this shit? Managament knows he can be way better, they will move him rather than have him produce at a level commensurate of his salary because they know he can be a 90pt player

Idk. I saw Bath make a hell of a back check play the other day. Probably the first time I've seen that this year. I'd like to think it's the ankle. Maybe he's finally feeling like he can skate?

 

[Byron Bitz]

I do not understand this logic.

He was a point a game player last year, an All-Star , until his injury. We allknow how good he can be, so why settle for this shit? Managament knows he can be way better, they will move him rather than have him produce at a level commensurate of his salary because they know he can be a 90pt player

I think the investigation on the 2018 incident is probably really weighing on him mentally.

 

[Micklebot]

Talked about the high ankle sprain on coming in hot,

Said in Nov and Dec they were working on it before every game because it was causing him problems, getting really tight, but at some point in Jan it was feeling better.

When asked about hitting career highs in pts and goals, Says he knows he can be better, was an alright season but nothing to write home about.

 

[bert]

I do not understand this logic.

He was a point a game player last year, an All-Star , until his injury. We allknow how good he can be, so why settle for this shit? Managament knows he can be way better, they will move him rather than have him produce at a level commensurate of his salary because they know he can be a 90pt player

Yeah lets move him while he slumps due to an injury then watch him flourish somewhere else. Great idea. Dealing a player at their lowest possible value. Smart.

 

[DaveMatthew]

Talked about the high ankle sprain on coming in hot,

Said in Nov and Dec they were working on it before every game because it was causing him problems, getting really tight, but at some point in Jan it was feeling better.

When asked about hitting career highs in pts and goals, Says he knows he can be better, was an alright season but nothing to write home about.

Batherson was certainly going through quite a bit, coming off the injury and all the WJC stuff coming into the year. He's got an excuse for the struggles.

With that said, a lot of his issues were just due to carelessness. The toe dragging at his own blueline wasn't due to his ankle. It's like he came back thinking he was going to be a superstar making highlight reel plays every night.

He's at a bit of a fork in the road. I still think he has the size and talent to turn himself into a poor-man's Miko Rantanen, but he could also become a bigger Mike Hoffman.

 

[OD99]

Batherson was certainly going through quite a bit, coming off the injury and all the WJC stuff coming into the year. He's got an excuse for the struggles.

With that said, a lot of his issues were just due to carelessness. The toe dragging at his own blueline wasn't due to his ankle. It's like he came back thinking he was going to be a superstar making highlight reel plays every night.

He's at a bit of a fork in the road. I still think he has the size and talent to turn himself into a poor-man's Miko Rantanen, but he could also become a bigger Mike Hoffman.

When you aren't as mobile as you are used to you begin to compensate.

For Drake, he just isn't going to dump the puck when he is used to dangling and having it work out.

The difference in his game/pace at the end of the season was night and day compared to 1st 3/4 of the season.

Give him a healthy off season and I expect him to come back and be All Star caliber again.

All these, "ifs"! LOL

 

[Adele Dazeem]

I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. He's shown at a young age of his incredible hockey iq along with his offensive talents.
I'm fully expecting a bounce back season in terms of play; points were still good this season.

 

[BankStreetParade]

They'll reunite Tkachuk, Norris and Batherson and he'll be the straw that stirs the drink. No question about it. Talent is exceptional, he just needs experience and a summer to decompress from this past season. I've got him locked down for 80P+ next year, barring injury.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Call me crazy, but I don't remember anything about Bath having a high ankle sprain. When did that happen?

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Call me crazy, but I don't remember anything about Bath having a high ankle sprain. When did that happen?

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

I must be getting old. I don't remember that at all.

 

[JD1]

I must be getting old. I don't remember that at all.

Ya, that was an all time greasy move.

High ankle sprains are a bitch. He was still struggling with it 9 months later.

 

[DylanSensFan]

Ya, that was an all time greasy move.

High ankle sprains are a bitch. He was still struggling with it 9 months later.

Seemed a lot better at the end of this season. I have high hopes for him.

 

[aragorn]

Something has to be done with Gauthier, he was a decent scorer in Junior & had some decent yrs in the AHL, but his NHL numbers are disappointing. He's got great speed, but I'm not sure he has the smarts, another big guy with Stutzle wouldn't hurt. That would also allow them to have a decent 3rd line if Formenton returns. Tkachuk & Stutzle, Norris & Giroux & Pinto & Batherson are three very good duos & we can just fill in the 3rd spots on each line as we want. We need to spread the scoring out among the top 3 lines effectively, but we also need to spread out the guys who are not big point producers who could be better with better linemates.

Tkachuk - Stutzle - Gauthier
Formenton - Norris - Giroux
DBC - Pinto - Batherson
Smejkal - Kastelic - Sokolov/Sabourin

Chabot - Zub
Sanderson - Chychrun
Kleven - JBD/Hamonic

Hellebuyck/Gibson/Varlomov - Sogaard

 

[OD99]

Something has to be done with Gauthier, he was a decent scorer in Junior & had some decent yrs in the AHL, but his NHL numbers are disappointing. He's got great speed, but I'm not sure he has the smarts, another big guy with Stutzle wouldn't hurt. That would also allow them to have a decent 3rd line if Formenton returns. Tkachuk & Stutzle, Norris & Giroux & Pinto & Batherson are three very good duos & we can just fill in the 3rd spots on each line as we want. We need to spread the scoring out among the top 3 lines effectively, but we also need to spread out the guys who are not big point producers who could be better with better linemates.

Tkachuk - Stutzle - Gauthier
Formenton - Norris - Giroux
DBC - Pinto - Batherson
Smejkal - Kastelic - Sokolov/Sabourin

Chabot - Zub
Sanderson - Chychrun
Kleven - JBD/Hamonic

Hellebuyck/Gibson/Varlomov - Sogaard

Come on man.

Gauthier shouldn't be anywhere near the top 2 lines. He should be a 4th liner for us.

I get what you are trying to do but that is so far out there it isn't funny. Many, many options better than him in top 6.

 

[aragorn]

Come on man.

Gauthier shouldn't be anywhere near the top 2 lines. He should be a 4th liner for us.

I get what you are trying to do but that is so far out there it isn't funny. Many, many options better than him in top 6.

Do you have no imagination? This guy used to be able to score, he's a big body who could help Stutzle when guys go after him. Semenko played on Gretsky's line, guys like you were telling me Tom Wison & Lucic were 4th line players. This is the kind of player you need in a top six role if he can handle it & we won't know unless we try. And that allows them to drop a skill guy or two down a line creating another scoring line.

Of course there are better options for the top six & we can load it up, but all that does is make the bottom six weaker. That was the problem last yr when the bottom six weren't helping at all because there were no playmakers on the bottom six. Gauthier has Formenton like speed & if we can get him back to scoring again it's a win/win for the team. He isn't going to do that on the 4th line, he is a player who needs someone to get him the puck, he's not creating his own chances. Otherwise why re-sign him.

 

[Micklebot]

Come on man.

Gauthier shouldn't be anywhere near the top 2 lines. He should be a 4th liner for us.

I get what you are trying to do but that is so far out there it isn't funny. Many, many options better than him in top 6.

Gauthier on Stu's wing would be reminiscent of Greening with Spezza, both big guys that aren't as physical as you wish, can skate but not much beyond that.

Can it work, yeah, it can. Is it ideal, nope.

These are the type of lines though that allow you to spread the wealth, and if you get a bit of chemistry out of it, you end up with scoring depth by complimenting skillsets instead of loading up lines.

Not really any different than when we played Joseph on the top line after initially acquiring him, it worked pretty well, but probably wasn't a long term solution.

 

[Golden_Jet]

I must be getting old. I don't remember that at all.

That’s why he didn’t go to the all star game.

 

[coladin]

Yeah lets move him while he slumps due to an injury then watch him flourish somewhere else. Great idea. Dealing a player at their lowest possible value. Smart.

That isn’t a great idea Bert. But if he plays next year like this year, shall we all just accept it because he only makes 5M and gosh darn it he is good value? Or do we expect Drake the All-Star ?

 

[The Devilish Buffoon]

That isn’t a great idea Bert. But if he plays next year like this year, shall we all just accept it because he only makes 5M and gosh darn it he is good value? Or do we expect Drake the All-Star ?

If last year is what he is, he will probably be moved at some point (and probably for good, not great value). But he doesn't need to be Drake the All-Star to be a very useful & worthwhile player for us.

 

[OD99]

Do you have no imagination? This guy used to be able to score, he's a big body who could help Stutzle when guys go after him. Semenko played on Gretsky's line, guys like you were telling me Tom Wison & Lucic were 4th line players. This is the kind of player you need in a top six role if he can handle it & we won't know unless we try. And that allows them to drop a skill guy or two down a line creating another scoring line.

Of course there are better options for the top six & we can load it up, but all that does is make the bottom six weaker. That was the problem last yr when the bottom six weren't helping at all because there were no playmakers on the bottom six. Gauthier has Formenton like speed & if we can get him back to scoring again it's a win/win for the team. He isn't going to do that on the 4th line, he is a player who needs someone to get him the puck, he's not creating his own chances. Otherwise why re-sign him.

Guys like me? Did you read where I said I understand what you are trying to do?

I have an imagination but this isn't fantasy land.

If you think he will be a policeman, I have news for you, Gauthier isn't tough. So what is he going to do to help Stu? And why do we need someone to protect him?

Who protects McDavid? Who protects Crosby? Who protects Kane, Panarin, etc...?

The days of Semenko are LONG gone. Nobody is out there running around trying to kill guys. The PP is protection these days, and the Senators have a good one.

If the only answer to improve the bottom 6 is to take our legit top 6 and move them down then something is really wrong.

I'm all for team toughness and size but not just for the sake of it. I will be happy to have Gauthier/Kastelik/Kelly (or whoever, Joseph?) on the 4th line and think that is a net improvement over the start of last year.

Formenton / Pinto / Greig is a massive improvement on the 3rd line as well. Even Greig/Pinto/Joseph would be a big improvement.