The junior assists for big minute guys that aren’t primarily offensive D isn’t really a measure of offense but a proxy for how they’re playing D. Are they playing a lot of D because they’re hemmed in or are they winning battles and getting the puck going the other way quickly.
Polak paced almost 10 goals in the NHL once, there was never any doubt he could caveman swing clappers on net, but unless he had someone to babysit him on the breakout the other team could dump the puck and get back to back to back icings on them even though on paper he’s racking up hits and blocks like a good stay at home D should.
I’m not worried about Danford, he has the same feel that Minten had in juniors where he’s clearly got a good head for the game and will be more effective with pros that are where they’re supposed to be more often than 16 year olds. It’s just strange that he didn’t continue his offensive breakout from the end of last season now that he’s captain and presumably not fighting for ice time like the start of last season. Maybe it’s the concussion and a change in usage.
The point about usage is a good one.
Connor Punnett was on their team last season and was a LHD who had offensive ability (7 goals, 17 assists in 32 games).
Was Danford playing alot of time on a pairing with him in a LHD/RHD setup whereas now Luca Marrelli has really taken a huge step but he's a RHD, so you really wouldn't want Danford playing his offside with him? Meaning less offensive spots compared to last season? Is he seeing less icetime with his teams top offensive players (Senneckke, Barlow, Ritchie etc)?.
Who's his defensive partner this season? Are they less capable of moving the puck especially as the main facilitator on the pairing? Are they even being forced into a RHD/RHD pairing which isn't optimal? Is he getting less offensive zone starts compared to last year?
There's just so much actual context needed to know exactly why a certain defencemen might not be putting up more assists.
