Seems like a lot of comments comparing him to Sprong and while I get they both might top out as similar *producing* players with good shots I think they’re quite different. Neither are physical but I think Kaliyev is capable of playing a heavier game. He’s also shown a ceiling of being very smart on finding soft spots on the ice off puck to help with transition and playmaking. Of course there’s still a big question of him doing this consistently. Really hope he gets a shot on a team and runs with it because I’ve been a huge Kaliyev truther lol
Yeah when he's at his best he's Dwight King with a lethal shot
He can be great at puck protection and a load on the boards, which is why he was so great with Moore and Danault, they like to play the cycle game. Also, when the 4th line was great, it made sense--Kaliyev-Lizotte-Lemieux, where Lizotte is a buzzsaw and skilled enough to make plays involving Arty, and Lemieux was the checker/physical presence for both.
Really what you want him to be doing is that and finding the soft spot in the ozone...part of his failures with the Kings was putting him with players who either need the puck and won't give it up (Fiala) or were low-talent depth players like Lewis or just f***ing sucked like PLD...Kaliyev being the scapegoat for the failed Kaliyev-PLD line will never make me not mad. He's not going to lug the puck thru the neutral zone, he's not going to be excellent at defense, he'll never be a great checker. He's a weapon and needs to be used like one. But none of this should be surprising from the organization that put Kovalchuk on the 3RW and in front of the net on the PP and doubleshifts a liability like Fiala. I'm not sure there's a worse org at deployment.
But I guess that's the drawback--he's not going to be plug-and-play and you have to find the right linemates/situation. I can understand people not wanting a 'medium maintenance' player for the risk vs. reward of it. I believe there's upside there and we started to see it before the Kings buried him.