Is Brady Tkachuk currently overrated?

[Regal]

I think he’s mostly properly rated but depends on who’s doing the rating. He’s a good top line scorer and one of the most physical players in the league which is becoming increasingly rare among top liners. He also creates a lot of havoc and HD chances for his team. On the flip side, he’s not good defensively and isn’t among the elite offensively. I think some people can overrate the unique element of his physical play compared to more highly skilled wingers, but in general I don’t see a lot of that. You can point to the thread against Marner but I think that’s largely due to bias against Marner for his/the Leafs’ playoffs than overrating Tkachuk.

 

[SensFactor]

Absolutely not, he's awesome. Man just had a baby in the offseason, he looks distracted so far but becoming a new dad at 24 has a lot of responsibilities off the ice.

 

[SensFactor]

Nope

 

[lipstickjunkie]

Yeah, he's overrated.
I'd still take him on my team though.

 

[Xspyrit]

I dont know if they'll move on quickly. As I dont know what kind of contract he got.

I just think people talk about Tkachuk being immature, and not a great leader. I think he is fine and will step up for all his teammates, and produces.

They need the highest up leader (coach) to change the vision of this team and it sure as hell isnt Travis Green. He is atrocious, he has the worst systems in the league, he can't coach 5v5, players underlying numbers tank under him then sky rocket as soon as they leave.

Only a few games into the season and so far Sens have strong metrics at ES So hopefully the narrative changes about Green

- 12th in CF%
- 4th in SF%
- 8th in xGF%

And yeah I think Tkachuk is fine, he has all kind of impacts on and off the ice. Your captain doesn't have to be your best player. Stutzle is the best player, Sanderson just behind. Chabot, Tkachuk, Norris and Batherson are in the 2nd tier.

 

[NyQuil]

Chabot, Tkachuk, Norris and Batherson are in the 2nd tier.

 

[Filatov2Kovalev2Bonk]

Brady is an absolute beast that can agitate, score, mix it up and set up teammates and he's also (Yes, this matters...) great off the ice, media-savvy and great with the local fanbase.

He's a little underrated at the moment because he hasn't had an NHL-level coach yet (D.J. Smith was a college-level guy at best, Travis Green should be coaching rec league) so it's all the more to his credit that he's doing this well.

 

[SpezDispenser]

I have no idea how some fanbases rate him. He's properly rated in Ottawa though imo.

 

[OKR]

He is heavily overrated by some, and underrated by other, which usually means properly rated on average.

 

[Xspyrit]

Outside of a portion of the Sens fanbase that is tired of losing? Absolutely. For NHL GMs, absolutely

Spezza was eventually scapegoated the same way, he was seen as "not a real #1C!" but he ended up PPG in Ottawa (686 GP) in a lower scoring environment than today.

Chabot has averaged 49 pts per 82 games in the NHL, 17th best PPG among D-men since his sophomore season and top TOI/GP. He has been injury-riddled the last 2 seasons but still a top offensive driver and elite at transition. He had to do all this carrying a rebuilding team with the worst trifecta in NHL history (owner/GM/coach) during their rebuild.

We have had the non envious habit of destroying players value in Ottawa the last 7 years. Think of Zibanejad, Duchene, Stone, Ceci, DeBrincat, goalies, even Kastelic so far this season, so many guys are looking better elsewhere. Curious to see how Chychrun does this season.

 

[NyQuil]

Chabot has averaged 49 pts per 82 games in the NHL, 17th best PPG among D-men since his sophomore season and top TOI/GP. He has been injury-riddled the last 2 seasons but still a top offensive driver and elite at transition. He had to do all this carrying a rebuilding team with the worst trifecta in NHL history (owner/GM/coach) during their rebuild.

This is more of a history lesson than a description of his current level of play.

 

[Xspyrit]

This is more of a history lesson than a description of his current level of play.

Well, no there's still verifiable facts

For example, I see people say he has sucked the last 3 years

His PPG : 0.64 - 0.60 - 0.59

Better possession metrics than before, CF% rel : 5.3 - 2.1 - 2.3

49.99 xGF% during these 3 years, despite being on a bad team and not being at his best.

I already mentioned he hasn't been as good the last 2 seasons but also mentioned that like Stutzle, injuries can affect your level of play.

I'd much much rather rely on facts than human beings biases

 

[NyQuil]

Well, no there's still verifiable facts

These are also verifiable facts.

He's averaged 62 games played per season in the NHL from 2017-2024. He's averaged 37 points per season over that time period.

That puts him 33rd in total production among defencemen over that time period, while he's currently being paid as the 17th most expensive d-man in the league.

Seeing as he signed that contract in 2020, virtually every defenceman ahead of him in the salary rankings have signed their contracts when the cap was higher.

 

[Machinehead]

As a player, no. He's an excellent player and I don't see anybody describe him as a player in a way that's inaccurate.

In terms of narrative, yes. He's often described as a winner and an elite leader. His team hasn't done f***ing anything with him as the captain. I know it's a team game but the burden proof is on the claim.

This might just be a thing with Rangers fans. The unwashed on our board absolutely fawn over this guy's ability to "lead men into battle." And it's usually in comparison to Chris Kreider who just singlehandedly won a playoff series, so like, what are we doing here?

 

[Cup or Bust]

A 25 year old, 6'4, rugged winger that scores 35 goals and around a point per game. Yeah, who would want a player like that.

 

[TheDoldrums]

Probably, most bad defensive forwards are overrated because most fans are unable or unwilling to factor that into their evaluations

 

[Korpse]

I would say ever so slightly overrated. I think he's a good player, but most of that comes from his physicality and competitive edge. Skill wise he is a 2nd liner on a good team, who can move up when needed.

29th in goals and 33rd in points over the last three seasons, the production is there. He has plenty of skill and while he may not use his feet or hands to beat defenders the way high end skill players do he makes up for it with his offensive IQ and physical abilities. You don't get 300+ shots a season by lacking in offensive ability. He's a top line player on just about every team and his skillset would welcomed on every top line in this league.

 

[Xspyrit]

These are also verifiable facts.

He's averaged 62 games played per season in the NHL from 2017-2024. He's averaged 37 points per season over that time period.

That puts him 33rd in total production among defencemen over that time period, while he's currently being paid as the 17th most expensive d-man in the league.

Seeing as he signed that contract in 2020, virtually every defenceman ahead of him in the salary rankings have signed their contracts when the cap was higher.

1) ok yeah, this fact reflects that he has been injury prone which I never did not acknowledged. Some people somehow think it's been for a long time but in reality it's only the last 3 seasons as he :

- also played in the AHL during his rookie season 63 GP in the NHL, 13 GP in the AHL (don't think he was injured at any point)
- played all the 71 games of the 2019-20 season (cut short by covid)
- only missed 7 games in the shortened 2020-21 season

Result : he only missed 19 games in is first 4 NHL seasons.


2) Also, including his 20 y/o rookie season will understandably impact his productivity

If you only look at 21-24 y/o where he was established in the NHL and healthy, he was 12th in D scoring during these 3 seasons combined. 13th best D PPG during that time, tied with Erik Karlsson.

The next 3 seasons, he missed his share of games and is 42nd in D scoring (29th in PPG though). Let's note that a lot of (future) Elite D-men have joined the league in the last few years, many guys who will soon make a lot of money too, like Jake Sanderson starting this year


3) Finally, frankly, saying he has averaged 62 GP and 37 Pts per season in the NHL from 2017-2024 is disingenuous and surprised me coming from an experienced poster like you... 1 season was his rookie season where he missed games due to being in the AHL, 2 other seasons were shortened by a global pandemic... You assuredly knew that, no?

 

[NyQuil]

Result : he only missed 19 games in is first 4 NHL seasons.

Again, ancient history lesson.

Are you saying that once he was able to play close to a full season? Ok?

If you only look at 21-24 y/o where he was established in the NHL and healthy, he was 12th in D scoring during these 3 seasons combined. 13th best D PPG during that time, tied with Erik Karlsson.

Great, again, history lesson.

Finally, frankly, saying he has averaged 62 GP and 37 Pts per season in the NHL from 2017-2024 is disingenuous and surprised me coming from an experienced poster like you... 1 season was his rookie season where he missed games due to being in the AHL, 2 other seasons were shortened by a global pandemic... You assuredly knew that, no?

It's not particularly disingenuous when most of his competitors in that comparative ranking also had their rookie seasons and also missed games due to the pandemic in the same span.

If your time machine is in working order, I'm sure we have a solution to our apparent disagreement on his current level of play.

The fact that it's "only been 3 seasons" omits the fact that they are the most relevant seasons to consider given that they are the 3 most recent seasons. Now who is being disingenuous?

That's like me saying that Gretzky shouldn't have retired when he did because he scored 200 points over a span of 3 seasons from 1983-1986.

 

[bossram]

Yes. Massively so.

People think he's a unicorn superstar because he's a 1st line forward that happens to fight (especially Sens fans).

In reality he's terrible defensively and the Sens will never win with him as the focal point of their team. It's worse that he's the captain. All the bad habits will keep permeating throughout the roster. Unserious club.

 

[NyQuil]

In reality he's terrible defensively and the Sens will never win with him as the focal point of their team. It's worse that he's the captain. All the bad habits will keep permeating throughout the roster. Unserious club.

I guess we can breathe a bit of a sigh of relief seeing as he isn't the focal point of the team.

 

[bossram]

I guess we can breathe a bit of a sigh of relief seeing as he isn't the focal point of the team.

I mean, he is the captain. But good to know he's a fringe player.

 

[NyQuil]

But good to know he's a fringe player.

He's certainly lower in importance than Stutzle and Sanderson.

No need for thanks, I'm always willing to educate the ignorant about our team.

 

[Agent Zuuuub]

I guess we can breathe a bit of a sigh of relief seeing as he isn't the focal point of the team.

"Brady's team" is thrown around so much. He also is the captain and plays on the top line so he is sort of a focal point.

He does a lot of good.

But man defensively... he plays like he thinks he's Kucherov or Draisaitl when they are feeling lazy.

But they are 130 point hart caliber players, Brady is a complementary top liner...

One of the big problems with Ottawa the last few years is that Brady consistently blew the zone or straight up just hung around the blue line cheating for a breakaway while his teammates battled for their life in the defensive zone. End result is that the top line got points, but they wouldn't even break even.

When your top line is actually setting you back, you aren't going to win much.

 

[NyQuil]

"Brady's team" is thrown around so much. He also is the captain and plays on the top line so he is sort of a focal point.

The top line will always be whatever line Stutzle is on.

It's funny to say that Ottawa fans overrate the guy when it's pretty much Senators fans identifying all his particular flaws in detail in this thread.