Player Discussion Josh Norris (C) 6’-1” - Part 3

[DylanSensFan]

I thought this was interesting:



Honestly we’re probably a better team with Norris at centre because when everyone’s going it allows us to run 4 decent lines, but during one of the cold streaks they really should try Norris on Stützle’s wing. Feels like that would be a game changer if they ended up having great chemistry.

I'd put Perron with Stü and Giroux when he finally returns. I'd keep Norris, Batherson and Tkachuk together.

 

[DylanSensFan]

The question is what do the Sens think he is at his peak? Because if they don’t think the production is going to get significantly better then you can understand why they would prioritize getting out of the contract.

The other question is where do they see Pinto fitting in? Again if they prefer him as our 2C, you can’t justify Norris at 8 million on the third line.

Personally I am not a fan of trading Norris for an underwhelming return just to get his money off the books. But I also like the player and think he will improve quite a bit. If the Sens feel differently then I can see why they allegedly want to move him now while he has some value rather than holding onto him and risking not being able to get him off the books later.

He's 25. I could see him being a 70 point player on the regular. I could see him reaching a point per game for a few seasons. Norris may be on our second line 5v5, but he is a first line PP player.

I like the way Pinto plays, but he seems more like a trigger man than a playmaker. If we put him with Batherson, maybe we get more production from him? Maybe we put him with Batherson and Giroux and we put Norris and Tkachuk on the first line? The problem becomes, with a L shot winger in Norris and another in Tkachuk is who plays their proper side and then how does that affect the offense of the other L shot winger? The same goes for Batherson and Giroux. Pinto needs a playmaker and maybe so does Norris. Is one enough on each line to make it worthwhile to move Norris to Stü's wing?

Norris is going to improve. I don't put a lot of belief that we are trying to trade him. But, I could be wrong. The problem is, his injury history has already made him a player who can't be traded for high value. We almost need to see more seasons and more points out of him to make him an asset that can be traded for a good return. By that time, he might be worth every penny of his contract.

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

Giroux... the 1st line C for Philly and one of the best 2 way players in the league, started to play wing on Couturier's wing. Because it helped the team more to win.

Norris, if he can be a winger for Giroux, will be more valuable to us there than 2nd line C; because I have utter confidence Pinto can be a top 2nd line C.

Norris-Stutzle-Batherson
Tkachuk-Pinto-Giroux
Cousins-Greig-Amadio
xxxxx-Ostapchuk-xxxxx

I'm not going to bother penciling Perron in until I see him play again.

 

[PlayOn]

He's 25. I could see him being a 70 point player on the regular. I could see him reaching a point per game for a few seasons. Norris may be on our second line 5v5, but he is a first line PP player.

I like the way Pinto plays, but he seems more like a trigger man than a playmaker. If we put him with Batherson, maybe we get more production from him? Maybe we put him with Batherson and Giroux and we put Norris and Tkachuk on the first line? The problem becomes, with a L shot winger in Norris and another in Tkachuk is who plays their proper side and then how does that affect the offense of the other L shot winger? The same goes for Batherson and Giroux. Pinto needs a playmaker and maybe so does Norris. Is one enough on each line to make it worthwhile to move Norris to Stü's wing?

Norris is going to improve. I don't put a lot of belief that we are trying to trade him. But, I could be wrong. The problem is, his injury history has already made him a player who can't be traded for high value. We almost need to see more seasons and more points out of him to make him an asset that can be traded for a good return. By that time, he might be worth every penny of his contract.

Garrioch tends to be right about these things, and he’s been pretty adamant that Staios wants to move him.

I don’t agree with it, and who knows, maybe a strong second half changes things here. But again we are relying on the assumption that he’s going to improve but they might not be willing to take that chance with 40 million dollars tied up in him or whatever it is. I’m not so much advocating for it, I like Norris and I think it could easily come back to bite us, I just think Garrioch has said it enough at this point that it likely has some legs to it.

 

[Good in Osgoode]

Giroux... the 1st line C for Philly and one of the best 2 way players in the league, started to play wing on Couturier's wing. Because it helped the team more to win.

Norris, if he can be a winger for Giroux, will be more valuable to us there than 2nd line C; because I have utter confidence Pinto can be a top 2nd line C.

Norris-Stutzle-Batherson
Tkachuk-Pinto-Giroux
Cousins-Greig-Amadio
xxxxx-Ostapchuk-xxxxx

I'm not going to bother penciling Perron in until I see him play again.

Norris-Stutzle-Batherson
Tkachuk-Pinto-Giroux
Cousins-Greig-Amadio

When Amadio returns, this is probably the best possible top-9 that we have.

Norris does seem more like a C to me than Stutzle, so I would look to swap those two, at least for face-offs.
Greig is most effective in the middle and I think he is an ideal 3rd line Centre, with how he plays.

Norris & Batherson have great chemistry and with Stutzle, that line could be dominant.
Tkachuk & Giroux have some chemistry together, and I think those 2 would bring the best out of Pinto.

 

[DylanSensFan]

Garrioch tends to be right about these things, and he’s been pretty adamant that Staios wants to move him.

I don’t agree with it, and who knows, maybe a strong second half changes things here. But again we are relying on the assumption that he’s going to improve but they might not be willing to take that chance with 40 million dollars tied up in him or whatever it is. I’m not so much advocating for it, I like Norris and I think it could easily come back to bite us, I just think Garrioch has said it enough at this point that it likely has some legs to it.

I just can't see us making a trade unless another high quality center is coming in return. Staios may be thinking about it, but he's also good at playing the long game. I personally think a Norris trade is going to come back to bite us hard. He needs to be better, but I think he's close to breaking out.

Norris-Stutzle-Batherson
Tkachuk-Pinto-Giroux
Cousins-Greig-Amadio

When Amadio returns, this is probably the best possible top-9 that we have.

Norris does seem more like a C to me than Stutzle, so I would look to swap those two, at least for face-offs.
Greig is most effective in the middle and I think he is an ideal 3rd line Centre, with how he plays.

Norris & Batherson have great chemistry and with Stutzle, that line could be dominant.
Tkachuk & Giroux have some chemistry together, and I think those 2 would bring the best out of Pinto.

At least with Giroux, Pinto gets a playmaker and with Tkachuk, Pinto gets someone who can deflect shots. But Pinto seems pretty hot and cold right now. He needs to show he can drive more offense.

 

[PlayOn]

I just can't see us making a trade unless another high quality center is coming in return. Staios may be thinking about it, but he's also good at playing the long game. I personally think a Norris trade is going to come back to bite us hard. He needs to be better, but I think he's close to breaking out.


At least with Giroux, Pinto gets a playmaker and with Tkachuk, Pinto gets someone who can deflect shots. But Pinto seems pretty hot and cold right now. He needs to show he can drive more offense.

He’d be selling low on him no doubt.

I also think it’s all the more reason to throw him on the wing at some point and see how Pinto/Greig handle 2nd and 3rd line duties over a prolonged period. Hard to know exactly what their logic is with all of this at the moment.

 

[aragorn]

Stutzle is who they should move to the wing, he can still play the same way from the wing. Both Norris & Pinto are much better 200' defensive game.

Tkachuk - Norris - Batherson - this is a very good line, keep them together
Stutzle - Pinto - Giroux - Pinto's defence & speed is what Stutzle needs on his line
Perron - Greig - Gaudette - hopefully Peron puts together a decent season next yr.
Ostapchuk - Halliday - Amadio/MacEwan/Gregor - allow Halliday to slowly ease into the C spot

 

[bicboi64]

Would be so nice to be able to consistently ice Tkachuk Norris Bath. Really hope we can get a top 6 winger for Stu to let Norris play with both Brady and Bath

 

[BigRig4]

Stutzle is who they should move to the wing, he can still play the same way from the wing. Both Norris & Pinto are much better 200' defensive game.

Tkachuk - Norris - Batherson - this is a very good line, keep them together
Stutzle - Pinto - Giroux - Pinto's defence & speed is what Stutzle needs on his line
Perron - Greig - Gaudette - hopefully Peron puts together a decent season next yr.
Ostapchuk - Halliday - Amadio/MacEwan/Gregor - allow Halliday to slowly ease into the C spot

I agree in a vacuum, but I worry that Norris/Pinto aren’t going to generate/drive a lot of play as your top 6 C. I’d feel way better about it if we had an upgrade on Norris.

 

[Cosmix]

I'd put Perron with Stü and Giroux when he finally returns. I'd keep Norris, Batherson and Tkachuk together.

I would not put Perron with Stutzle and Giroux. Stutzle needs a winger with speed not two old vets who operate at half speed.

 

[DylanSensFan]

I would not put Perron with Stutzle and Giroux. Stutzle needs a winger with speed not two old vets who operate at half speed.

What he needs it someone who can get the puck on and off their stick and at the goal. What Perron needs before he gets relegated to the third line is some offensive stats.

 

[aragorn]

I agree in a vacuum, but I worry that Norris/Pinto aren’t going to generate/drive a lot of play as your top 6 C. I’d feel way better about it if we had an upgrade on Norris.

How do you get an upgrade on Norris without it costing a great deal which we don't have or giving up another first? IMO if we trade Norris that will upset the room in a very bad way & we will end up with bigger problems.

 

[Tuna99]

How do you get an upgrade on Norris without it costing a great deal which we don't have or giving up another first? IMO if we trade Norris that will upset the room in a very bad way & we will end up with bigger problems.

Agree you have to think of the team as a whole, I don’t know why you’d want to take out Norris who plays a tight game with lots of speed every night. He’s not a line driver for his price but he has good chemistry with Brady and Batherson. He’s like Kyle Turris, we’ve got him for his best years and he works with the guys here. He’s not our best player every night and who cares if he’s overpaid because whoever we bring in will be overpaid as well. Amadio and Perron are overpaid, Giroux is overpaid as well.

He should have more then 10 assists and 25 points

 

[aragorn]

Agree you have to think of the team as a whole, I don’t know why you’d want to take out Norris who plays a tight game with lots of speed every night. He’s not a line driver for his price but he has good chemistry with Brady and Batherson. He’s like Kyle Turris, we’ve got him for his best years and he works with the guys here. He’s not our best player every night and who cares if he’s overpaid because whoever we bring in will be overpaid as well. Amadio and Perron are overpaid, Giroux is overpaid as well.

He should have more then 10 assists and 25 points

I was at the game tonight & noticed that Green had Norris out on most defensive zone faceoffs. It used to be Giroux. He clearly believes in Norris so I doubt there is any desire to move him out. I watched him closely tonight & he breaks up a lot of offensive chances, he does a lot of the little things well that coaches like.

We seem to be getting into the season now where there is a lot of tight checking games & that was evident tonight. Too bad , they lost it in overtime they played very well, it was like a playoff game tonight. And it was nice to see that they didn't get pushed around, they fought back.

 

[Agent Zuuuub]

Damn his shot is gone

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

Damn his shot is gone

Yea, where's that top 10 in the league slapper.

That alone made our PP lethal. It's no where to be seen. Hopefully it's just due to recovery and we see it this time next year.

 

[bicboi64]

I think the shot will come back. He's putting in effort on the harder parts of the game in our own end. The shit will come back as he keeps getting reps in

 

[JD1]

Yea, where's that top 10 in the league slapper.

That alone made our PP lethal. It's no where to be seen. Hopefully it's just due to recovery and we see it this time next year.

Watch the PP. Sanderson doesn't set that one timer up. Last time I saw him do it was about 5 games ago and Norris scored.

The PP is currently in no man's land. You got stuetzle on the left side of the ice with the puck and a bad shooting angle and you've got Norris working up and down the right side of the ice and Sanderson won't move the puck there. With Stuetzle being a lefty and Norris not being given the opportunity to shoot, there's actually no shooting option.

I'm not a chabot fan but at this point I'd move chabot onto pp1 just to open up the Norris onetimer and cause teams to defend it and see how that opens everything else up

 

[Loach]

Watch the PP. Sanderson doesn't set that one timer up. Last time I saw him do it was about 5 games ago and Norris scored.

The PP is currently in no man's land. You got stuetzle on the left side of the ice with the puck and a bad shooting angle and you've got Norris working up and down the right side of the ice and Sanderson won't move the puck there. With Stuetzle being a lefty and Norris not being given the opportunity to shoot, there's actually no shooting option.

I'm not a chabot fan but at this point I'd move chabot onto pp1 just to open up the Norris onetimer and cause teams to defend it and see how that opens everything else up

Put Norris on the point!

 

[HoweHullOrr]

Watch the PP. Sanderson doesn't set that one timer up. Last time I saw him do it was about 5 games ago and Norris scored.

The PP is currently in no man's land. You got stuetzle on the left side of the ice with the puck and a bad shooting angle and you've got Norris working up and down the right side of the ice and Sanderson won't move the puck there. With Stuetzle being a lefty and Norris not being given the opportunity to shoot, there's actually no shooting option.

I'm not a chabot fan but at this point I'd move chabot onto pp1 just to open up the Norris onetimer and cause teams to defend it and see how that opens everything else up

Yep, as the expression goes, there’s a reason for everything. Norris is rarely used in the bumper position as a shooter like they used to a few years back.

But, I suppose it's better to come up with other ideas and/or make assumptions as to what happened to the "lethal slapper”.

 

[OD99]

Damn his shot is gone

I didn't get to see the Isles game. Does this comment have something to do from that night?

We seem to only do one-timers from the bumper, or the very odd time from the point. Norris never gets set up from his spot anymore.

If anything, this season proves that Norris is a legit scorer, overall. He scores in many different ways and when he adds the one-timer back to his arsenal, he will be even more prolific.

Yes he is currently overpaid, but he is not a liability and if we give assets aways to move his contract, it would be a waste IMO.

 

[JD1]

Yep, as the expression goes, there’s a reason for everything. Norris is rarely used in the bumper position as a shooter like they used to a few years back.

But, I suppose it's better to come up with other ideas and/or make assumptions as to what happened to the "lethal slapper”.

The bumper position is different than the one timer from the dot. When in the dog, the pass comes from the D typically. In the bumper, it typically comes off the goal line. It's the pass from the D that Sanderson isn't attempting. After Norris one timed one a few games ago, I thought we'd see it more but we haven't.

 

[HoweHullOrr]

The bumper position is different than the one timer from the dot. When in the dog, the pass comes from the D typically. In the bumper, it typically comes off the goal line. It's the pass from the D that Sanderson isn't attempting. After Norris one timed one a few games ago, I thought we'd see it more but we haven't.

OK, from the dot, from the bumper position. I’m good with the aggregate of these different types of shots i.e., they aren’t trying to set up Norris as much as they used to.

 

[Blotto71]

@Loach regarding your question: given this team currently employs more puck movers on the LD side I'd put him on RW so he was better situated for a quick shot off the rush with the puck coming L to R. But, he might say he's more comfortable on the LW, and I wouldn't agree the point - players are pretty fluid these days and I'd just be happy to see him in a role that could be more shooter focused.