Speculation: Lalonde

[HisNoodliness]

If that's what it looks like, that's a problem with the analysis of the analytics.

Don't get me wrong I want AJ to play but Chiarot in particular has not been terrible. He's also been playing 20 minutes a game with 2 minutes of it on the PK. AJ has played around 12 minutes and only Gustaffson has started more in the offensive zone.

It's not even close to apples to apples.

AJ shouldn't be in place of Chiarot or even Petry as he should Maatta or Holl.

Also Johansson played last game.

I understood why people jumped to Chiarot's defense last year. He was actually pretty good for most of the season. He simplified his game a bit, and then had some standout clutch moments. Plus he handled the second pairing minutes so much better than first.

But this year? Dude is fully back to "I hang my partner out to dry as much as possible" '22-23 Chiarot. He's always chasing the play, and out of position. His best use of possession is to dump it to the other team. His second best is to skate it head first into a turnover. The worst is his passing. Petry will be standing totally open, calling for the puck for five seconds. Chiarot will wait and wait and wait with the puck until a forechecker picks Petry up and then Chiarot will fire a puck right into his feet. Petry fumbles it, and our forwards that have all flown the coop are now too far away to offer Petry any outs (because supporting the D on a breakout is not part of Lalonde's system for some reason).

Honestly, I think Petry has been the better player on their pairing this year. That's a sentence that I thought has been stricken from existence.

 

[19 for president]

I understood why people jumped to Chiarot's defense last year. He was actually pretty good for most of the season. He simplified his game a bit, and then had some standout clutch moments. Plus he handled the second pairing minutes so much better than first.

But this year? Dude is fully back to "I hang my partner out to dry as much as possible" '22-23 Chiarot. He's always chasing the play, and out of position. His best use of possession is to dump it to the other team. His second best is to skate it head first into a turnover. The worst is his passing. Petry will be standing totally open, calling for the puck for five seconds. Chiarot will wait and wait and wait with the puck until a forechecker picks Petry up and then Chiarot will fire a puck right into his feet. Petry fumbles it, and our forwards that have all flown the coop are now too far away to offer Petry any outs (because supporting the D on a breakout is not part of Lalonde's system for some reason).

Honestly, I think Petry has been the better player on their pairing this year. That's a sentence that I thought has been stricken from existence.

This is why pairing Seider with Ed is a poor idea. Neither Chiarot or Petry can anchor a top 4 pair. They might be able to handle top 4 minutes with a superior partner but that is about as good as it gets. At least when you split Ed and Seider you have guys on each pair that could potentially complete a pass, and less puck panic overall.

I am very disappointed in the defense Stevie has put together. Not getting a top 4 dman via trade or FA is going to sink this teams playoff chances. Especially with Lalonde as coach because he also hasn't been able to implement a workable system that helps support our D.

 

[mikerooooose]

The wildly inconsistent play points directly at the coach and staff. Even going back to last year, they can go from looking like the best team in the NHL to the worst so quickly.

 

[RRhoads]

We spend too much time in our own zone, and we actually win the puck often. It is what that comes after that is the problem, the breakout, or lack thereof, and the forwards are a lot to blame for that. They don't move into lanes, and they don't move the puck quickly enough. And when we finslly get the puck out, we are so tired we need a line change, so we kindly give the puck back to the opponent, so they can start over. Chasing the puck in the defensive zone is the most taxing thing you can do.

Whether it is on Lalonde, or the flu, I am not sure, but I am leaning heavily towards Lalonde.

The fact is that we haven't really been better than we were last night in any of the games we have played, maybe only against Edmonton. It is only because of our goalies have been lights out in our wins that we have the record we have.

Fire Lalonde. Get a coach with NHL HC experience. I wouldn't mind McLelland or Gallant.

 

[JediOrderPizza]

They better come out against Buffalo and want revenge.

 

[schuelma24]

He can handwave last night away as playing a top team.

If they lay another stinker at home against the Sabres, I'd imagine that's a different story...

 

[datsyukfan]

It's essentially the same team.

No it’s not, the d-core is significantly worse

 

[HisNoodliness]

This is why pairing Seider with Ed is a poor idea. Neither Chiarot or Petry can anchor a top 4 pair. They might be able to handle top 4 minutes with a superior partner but that is about as good as it gets. At least when you split Ed and Seider you have guys on each pair that could potentially complete a pass, and less puck panic overall.

I am very disappointed in the defense Stevie has put together. Not getting a top 4 dman via trade or FA is going to sink this teams playoff chances. Especially with Lalonde as coach because he also hasn't been able to implement a workable system that helps support our D.

Honestly, I hear you, but the problem is that we have at most one functional pairing no matter how you split it.

Chiarot-Seider
Ed-Petry

Doesn't work because Chiarot can't handle top pairing competition and drags Seider down. Petry and Ed do fine against second pairing competition but it's dumb to prioritize doing well against second pairing players higher than first.

The only way we can split Ed and Seider is if Albert Johansson has an amazing burst of development and turns into the perfect top pairing support defenseman (a la Anton Stralman in that old Tampa Hedman-Stralman pairing). His speed and smarts could be used to facilitate Seider's game. The problem is that he's also a rookie and probably more of a third pairing guy if considered in isolation. It requires the pairing being much more than the sum of its parts and that's a lot to gamble on. That would mean accepting a decent 10+ games of rocky play as they develop chemistry and AlJo learns. And if Johansson doesn't rise to the occasion? You've just wasted your best defenseman/player on a pairing that doesn't work hoping to squeeze water from a stone.

Petry, Chiarot, Holl and Gustafsson pretty much guarantee that our defense will be bad. You can't have 4 bad defenseman in your roster and make three good pairings. I'm trying not to be too frustrated by how predictable this all was.

 

[19 for president]

Honestly, I hear you, but the problem is that we have at most one functional pairing no matter how you split it.

Chiarot-Seider
Ed-Petry

Doesn't work because Chiarot can't handle top pairing competition and drags Seider down. Petry and Ed do fine against second pairing competition but it's dumb to prioritize doing well against second pairing players higher than first.

The only way we can split Ed and Seider is if Albert Johansson has an amazing burst of development and turns into the perfect top pairing support defenseman (a la Anton Stralman in that old Tampa Hedman-Stralman pairing). His speed and smarts could be used to facilitate Seider's game. The problem is that he's also a rookie and probably more of a third pairing guy if considered in isolation. It requires the pairing being much more than the sum of its parts and that's a lot to gamble on. That would mean accepting a decent 10+ games of rocky play as they develop chemistry and AlJo learns. And if Johansson doesn't rise to the occasion? You've just wasted your best defenseman/player on a pairing that doesn't work hoping to squeeze water from a stone.

Petry, Chiarot, Holl and Gustafsson pretty much guarantee that our defense will be bad. You can't have 4 bad defenseman in your roster and make three good pairings. I'm trying not to be too frustrated by how predictable this all was.

I almost think you have to try that Seider/Aljo pair because if you are only getting 25 minutes a night of passable D then you aren't going to win anything. As you noted you might lose 10 games getting him up to speed but do we really have any other choice?

I haven't hated Ed/Petry and or Ed/Holl. They aren't great pairings but passable. If you dump Chia down to 3rd pair and just have him eat PK minutes he is ok.

The current pairings not only kill us defensively for half a game but also offensively. By splitting them up at least you have two pairs with one competent outlet passer.