I have Kitchener Rangers season tickets. I have watched him play live many times over the last year.
When he is on, he is on. He is easily the best player on the ice. Problem is he isn’t on every game. If you took his first five games as a Ranger, his World Juniors performance and some sporadic games here and there where he dominates, he looks like a sure fire NHL top six offensive player.
His problem is that he takes games off. Or will show up for a shift or two and make some plays that make your jaw drop and then you don’t realize he is playing after that.
He is great at zone entries and I love it when he skates the puck in the offensive zone and circles around the net. He is a phenomenal passer and has great vision.
As much as he needs to bulk up and add muscle, he really needs to work on his shot. He is a pass first player and it is frustrating to watch. He is easy to read for goalies because they know he is looking to pass.
Last year was a complete shit show in Kitchener. The GM went all in on a team that finished as an 8th seed in their conference. Now they did sweep the 1st seed. They hired a new coach for the year who had no prior coaching experience at any sort of a decent level of hockey. He didn’t come with any pro playing pedigree either. There was no systems in place and it was like watching five individuals play together with very little cohesion. After the trade deadline the coach got fired and the GM stepped behind the bench. He did a better job but he really isn’t a coach. Mesar did get put on the third line but it wasn’t because he was a third line talent. The second line was the shut down line and the coach wanted to spread the scoring out and bumped Mesar down to the third line. Problem was he was playing with lesser players and so many times did he set his line mates up and they couldn’t convert their scoring chances. Rangers had a forward in Arcuri who had 49 goals last year. He is an all out shooter. It is the only thing he is really good at. Mesar is a great passer and you would think that they would be a great combo but they never played together or if they did it was only on the power play. Just bad coaching decisions.
Kitchener this year has a totally revamped coaching staff. The new head coach comes from Finland and has an incredible coaching resume; coached Finland numerous times at the World Juniors, has coached many different levels including pro in Finland. He said that his goal is to coach in the NHL. He is only 42 years old. He said that it is an easier route to the NHL for him through the OHL than it is from Finland. Kitchener is just a stepping stone for him. Mesar would have much, much, much better guidance this year compared to last. Rangers are in full blown rebuild mode this year and in their exhibition games they have looked much more like a team than last year.
If it was last years coaching staff in Kitchener then Laval would be the best for. With this years coaching staff I think Kitchener will be his best fit. Now I am a Kitchener homer so take this last paragraph with a grain on salt.
