is it time to eat crow about Jake Muzzin?

[KingPuckChoo]

in the same vein as the Dwight King thread, however D. King really always sucked, can't hide it

Jake Muzzin was that player that we were pouncing on early and often

this year the negativity had died down a bit, but still not much praise, his mistakes always overshadowed his productivity

in these playoffs he's been a monster for the Kings

i love his confidence and the fire in his eyes

we can argue he might not be an "ideal" pairing for Drew Doughty, but at times Muzzin has played with much more poise i.e. especially on the PP

is he top 2? debatable , TOP 4? how can you argue against this?

16gp 4g 4a 8pts +5 2PIM 31Shots 21:01mins 39Hits 24blocks 17giveaways 5takeaways

these are way up there with the Canadiens, Rangers, and Blackhawks top Ds , in some cases Muzzin is ranked higher


so time to support this "kid" who still hasn't reached his full potential

Click to read more...

 

[Ollie Weeks]

He's not ideal, but he's a damn serviceable and complimentary top 4 defenceman making 1 million dollars. Really coming into his own, and the best part is his ceiling is up to him.

One of the big reasons we've been looking stronger this postseason is his improved game and dependability.

 

[Peter James Bond]

Oh no! After the Duh-wight King eat crow thread was in fullforce, he reverted
to the most invisible and non productive King.

Jake Muzzin is a very good NHL defenseman and good in all zones. He may have a few gaffes every game, but is solid overall and great on the PP. Gets his shot through to the net better than any other King on the PP. Is deceptive and makes good puck decisions.

 

[Captain Mittens*]

Going forward, anyone who calls him muffin will be chemically castrated by the ghost of Walter White

 

[lumbergh]

He's been a great match for Doughty. Many of us thought that Doughty needed a stay-at-home defenseman like Scuderi to flourish, but Muzzin has held up his own end of the ice with Doughty.

They seem very comfortable with each other and effective in getting the puck out of the zone. Muzzin has enough size to win puck battles and has been much more consistent in the last month.

The Muzzin-Doughty combo could be one that lasts for a long time. They're both young and getting great experience right now.

 

[Ron*]

I would argue that he IS an ideal pairing for Doughty because Drew loves the guy, they communicate well on the ice together and their passes to each other in the offensive zone are nearly always tape to tape. This can be a pairing that can last many years in this league.

 

[Ron*]

He's been a great match for Doughty. Many of us thought that Doughty needed a stay-at-home defenseman like Scuderi to flourish, but Muzzin has held up his own end of the ice with Doughty.

They seem very comfortable with each other and effective in getting the puck out of the zone. Muzzin has enough size to win puck battles and has been much more consistent in the last month.

The Muzzin-Doughty combo could be one that lasts for a long time. They're both young and getting great experience right now.

Ha we posted similar thoughts at the same time.

 

[lumbergh]

The problem with having a stay-at-home guy with Doughty is that the pair becomes too reliant on Doughty to handle the puck. Anytime you had Regehr or Scuderi get the puck, they just pass it to Doughty. It's all too predictable. Doughty has enough trust in Muzzin to move the puck up to pass it cross ice to Muzzin.

 

[Rorschach]

This is crow I'd love to eat but it's still too early to say.

 

[Peter James Bond]

This is crow I'd love to eat but it's still too early to say.

I moved from LA to Denver in 2006...so I see a lot of AVs games.
When I heard they were passing on Seth Jones to take MacKinnon,
I thought, why, the AVs have Erik Johnson and 5 AHL defensemen??

Ok, Tyson Barrie is emerging as a good young defenseman, but look at this
core of defensemen. One would look at it and say "only Erik Johnson would
make the Kings defensive unit...then consider this group is part of a team'
that finished with more points than the Kings. This proves that you just
need defensemen that play hard and as a unit..and you do not need
any Norris candidates. I still look at this and think it looks like the worst
core of all 30 teams.

So the point is, Jake Muzzin IMO, is better than any of these players, except
for EJ.

Defensemen
# NAME HEIGHT WEIGHT DATE OF BIRTH AGE BIRTH PLACE
4 TYSON BARRIE 5' 10" 190 JUL 26, 1991 22 VICTORIA, BC, CAN
61 ANDRE BENOIT 5' 11" 191 JAN 6, 1984 30 ST. ALBERT, ON, CA
5 NATE GUENIN 6' 3" 207 DEC 10, 1982 31 ALIQUIPPA, PA, USA
8 JAN HEJDA 6' 4" 237 JUN 18, 1978 35 PRAGUE, CZE
2 NICK HOLDEN 6' 4" 207 MAY 15, 1987 27 ST. ALBERT, AB, CAN
6 ERIK JOHNSON 6' 4" 232 MAR 21, 1988 26 BLOOMINGTON, MN, USA
16 CORY SARICH 6' 4" 207 AUG 16, 1978 35 SASKATOON, SK, CAN
44 RYAN WILSON 6' 1" 207 FEB 3, 1987

 

[Rorschach]

I moved from LA to Denver in 2006...so I see a lot of AVs games.
When I heard they were passing on Seth Jones to take MacKinnon,
I thought, why, the AVs have Erik Johnson and 5 AHL defensemen??

Ok, Tyson Barrie is emerging as a good young defenseman, but look at this
core of defensemen. One would look at it and say "only Erik Johnson would
make the Kings defensive unit...then consider this group is part of a team'
that finished with more points than the Kings. This proves that you just
need defensemen that play hard and as a unit..and you do not need
any Norris candidates. I still look at this and think it looks like the worst
core of all 30 teams.

So the point is, Jake Muzzin IMO, is better than any of these players, except
for EJ.

Defensemen
# NAME HEIGHT WEIGHT DATE OF BIRTH AGE BIRTH PLACE
4 TYSON BARRIE 5' 10" 190 JUL 26, 1991 22 VICTORIA, BC, CAN
61 ANDRE BENOIT 5' 11" 191 JAN 6, 1984 30 ST. ALBERT, ON, CA
5 NATE GUENIN 6' 3" 207 DEC 10, 1982 31 ALIQUIPPA, PA, USA
8 JAN HEJDA 6' 4" 237 JUN 18, 1978 35 PRAGUE, CZE
2 NICK HOLDEN 6' 4" 207 MAY 15, 1987 27 ST. ALBERT, AB, CAN
6 ERIK JOHNSON 6' 4" 232 MAR 21, 1988 26 BLOOMINGTON, MN, USA
16 CORY SARICH 6' 4" 207 AUG 16, 1978 35 SASKATOON, SK, CAN
44 RYAN WILSON 6' 1" 207 FEB 3, 1987

I'm not sure what the point is but Muzzin > 1st rounder Ellerby but 199th picked Mitchell >>>>> Muzzin. Draft spot doesn't always correlate to NHL, especially with a difficult to learn position like D.

Also, of the above guys got to play with DD8.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

He really is like a modern day version of Darryl Sydor. For those who may not remember, Sydor was a young dman who made an early impression when he was part of the Kings' top 3 blueliners that the team would build around (the other two being Blake and Zhitnik). He had his ups and downs, was mainly known for his offense, was paired up with Charlie Huddy, who couldn't skate, and showed a ton of potential to be so much more, but the Kings gave up on him too quickly.

Muzzin came up a bit more polished, having spent four years in juniors and another two and a half years in the minors. So six years in total in development for a defenseman who was picked in the 5th round by the Penguins in 2007. I'd say he's been quite the find for the Kings and their scouts, picking up a prospect who at one point was considered the best defenseman in the OHL for nothing.

I still think he has ways to go to improve on his play in his own end of the ice and needs to make some better reads when it comes to passes, but he's made significant improvements during the playoffs and has cut down big time on those errors.

At certain points in the season, you'd think that the Kings had Randy Jones back on defense, but when he's on top of his game, it reminds me of what the Kings could have had if they had stayed patient with Darryl Sydor.

 

[etherialone]

Muzzin is pretty much becoming what I and one or two others said he would be.

 

[ukyo]

Just my personal opinion, but I think Muzzin has always had much higher upside than Sydor (better shot, more physical, better raw material to play shutdown defense). It was a question of whether or not he'd ever put it all together.

There was one game against St. Louis last season where we saw glimpses of how dominant he could be: scored two goals, set up another, hit everything in sight. He's still not there yet, but man, if he could just play at 80% of that level every game then there'd be "Is Muzzin a lock for Norris" threads on the main board.

 

[ukyo]

BTW, he's ahead of schedule. Typically, young defensemen need about three seasons worth of NHL games to settle into the league (about 240 games). He's at 132 games (granted, he's also played a bunch of playoff games). Imagine what a beast he will be in about a year.

 

[cyclones22]

Looks like a completely different player now. Last playoffs he handled the puck like a hand grenade. Now he's shown some composure. He's going to be a fixture next to Drew for years at this rate.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Looks like a completely different player now. Last playoffs he handled the puck like a hand grenade. Now he's shown some composure. He's going to be a fixture next to Drew for years at this rate.

I'd say he's cemented his spot as Doughty's defensive partner. He's the only player he can skate with and he knows when to give the puck to Drew.

Last year he was a healthy scratch and they had Ellerby in the lineup in his place. That's how much he struggled. But credit to Muzzin and the coaches for working on his game and improving in all areas.

When he keeps his game simple, he's playing his best hockey. It's when he tries to do waaay to much when we see him start to struggle.

Now if Voynov can experience a similar turnaround...

 

[etherialone]

True (Cyclone) but then that is how it is supposed to work. You bring a kid up knowing that they will need time to adjust to playing at the NHL level and if everyone has done their jobs right which in our case is how things have been being done for about 5 years now everything works out and you get a pipeline that feeds great young players to your team.

Muzzin AMart Nolan King Lewis Pearson Toffoli and on and on have all or currently are all doing pretty much what was/is expected of them since their draft. Some picked things up more quickly than others but they are all products of an excellent system.

Not all of our picks pan out but the ones that do you can see coming from a mile away.

 

[Reclamation Project]

Great, now he's gonna read this and regress like King.

 

[Little Psycho]

Too many pictures.

 

[lumbergh]

Again, I think you have to credit the Kings scouting and development program for the way that many of the Kings' youngsters are playing right now. They pay their dues, they don't come up too early, and they play like pros.

Muzzin has developed well and continues to get better. Kudos to him and the entire Kings staff for that.

One big reason the Kings have been contenders three years in a row is the influx of young talent each year. They don't look out of place. Voynov, Martinez, Muzzin on the back end. Toffoli, Pearson, King, Clifford, Nolin on the forward lines. Jones in net. Several other players that have been chips to bring in the big pieces. It's quite a list, and there aren't many teams in the NHL that aren't jealous.

 

[johnjm22]

I've always liked Muzzin and never understood the criticism. He makes his share of mistakes, but nearly every dman makes mistakes on a regular basis. Playing defense in the NHL is hard. He's nothing spectacular, but he's been a perfectly serviceable top 4 defenseman for a while now.

 

[Rorschach]

He's doing well. I'd like to see more. He's definitely not cemented in yet.

One thing I'm starting to see that is a really good sign...the last few months he is taking good point shots at the net. He has a good shot that may be one of the hardest in the league. With the PMDs and forwards on this team, he will get the passes and could score 20g or more a year. If he's lighting the lamp, if he has a blown coverage, he can make it up on the other end. In other words, he'll consistently have a positive value to the team.

Right now we feel like he's doing well but we're all afraid he might revert back to a more primitive form if pressured.

 

[Omni Owl]

He's our poor man's Jack Johnson. Sorry Voynov, your play has regressed so Muzz takes over...

 

[SLang]

Tough SOB.....can take a hit.