Sigh...
They're his faceoff statistics. Look it up.
I asked you to show your workings. If you're the intelligent one in this debate (and you clearly must feel that way based on your arrogance) then surely you can educate us miscreants.
Predictable condescending answer: "I don't have time to educate you blah blah blah."
First of all, faceoff statistics are way overblown. A guy who's "excellent" at faceoffs by winning 57% wins maybe 1 or 2 faceoffs every 3 games more than average. Second of all what happened to "faceoff master" Bozak? I thought that was one of the reasons Nonis overpaid a 3rd liner?
Bozak hadn't dipped below 52.6% in his 3 previous seasons. Not sure what happened this year. It was an asset of his.
"They're his faceoff statistics. Look it up."
If you want to look at faceoffs purely on a quantifiable basis over laughably small sample sizes, then yes I suppose you could say faceoffs are overblown. But in the last minute of a game, or on the penalty kill, that's where this extra edge can be a huge determinant in the outcome of a game. I thought you PPPers were all about possession.....hmm.
Speaking of the penalty kill, the Leafs are missing their second and third-best penalty killers. There's a need on this team for help in the penalty kill ranks. Does McKegg provide that? Because Smithson certainly does. He's a PK specialist who is unafraid to block shots. He finished top-2 amongst forwards on Nashville in blocks-per-game during his tenure there.
Sure it is, it's not just your mind getting narrower and narrower.. Yes he is, because he's in the system, already on a league minimum contract, and why not give a prospect some exposure? While we're at it, why are we playing 2 useless players anyway? Why not ice a proper 3rd line?
Ignoring the fact you're attacking the poster and not the message, you still haven't answered the question, so how about I ask you in bullet form:
- How is this team better with McKegg playing 4th line minutes and penalty kill time instead of Smithson?
- How is playing McKegg 4-5 minutes per night good for his own development when he could be getting top-line minutes with PP time with the Marlies?
I mean, it's not like he's setting the world on fire down there.
Also, you keep flip-flopping. Is McKegg playing third or fourth line minutes in your scenario? If the third, your crack about "tough minutes" becomes null and void, because those are exactly the sort of minutes McKegg would play. If the fourth, then my questions about the utility of putting an inexperienced 21-year old between two facepunchers for 4-5 minutes a game continue to persist.
McKegg is in the system on a cheap contract already, instead of adding another contract for a terrible player to a cap crunch team. My ignorance of Smithson's abilities? What abilities? He's awful, and not an upgrade over anybody in the system.
Seems like you're the one displaying your own ignorance about how good hockey teams are constructed.
If the Leafs call up McKegg, he takes up $660,000 worth of space. Smithson only takes up $550,000 worth of space. Solve for 'x'. So if this really was an issue of being in a cap crunch (see: it isn't), the Smithson move would be the better one from a pure $ perspective.
Yet with all of that being said I'm not sure if you understand how contract cap hits work. Why is adding another (cheaper) contract an issue when in either case, both Smithson and McKegg's contracts come off our cap when they're eventually demoted?
Simply put, the fact your entire opinion of Smithson is based on the fact Edmonton didn't re-sign him last season is, well, simple.
Not difficult when your general manager isn't very good most of the time. I think I'm smarter than a potato, are you?
Oh so you're one of THOSE people. Now I understand where the condescension comes from. Too much PPP for you.