So you are saying that a kid who has been a center all year and has the third-best FO percentage is not a center. I see your humour has not changed. Whitehead is a lot better than Barlas. Or are we going with Foster Dever and Barlas as our centers next year? It's a great idea for a rebuild.
Again we have a lot of young guys we have had Houben playing center and now they want to go this way.
This is not going to make this team any more desirable to NCAA, Euro or draft picks sorry.
Whitehead has proven to not be a centre. His better position is on the wing. He creates a lot more offensive production and scoring opportunities off the wing. Being a centre is a lot more than winning faceoffs.
This isn’t about player comparisons, it is about recognizing where the holes are on this team and the gaping hole is centre ice. We don’t have a true centre in the lineup. Not one single centre. You may as well play the more veteran players down the middle since they are at least more responsible defensively. We had the same conversation about Barlas at the same age. He wasn’t a centre but they kept ramming him down the middle where he wasn’t effective. When they put him on the wing, all of a sudden he was effective. It is the same with Whitehead. He is far more effective as a winger.
As previously stated, our #1 centre hands down coming into the season was Gardiner. On Barrie, he isn’t even a centre. What does that tell you?
This team is so poorly constructed and has been since Post-Covid. We’ve had five major acquisitions and of those five, three were centres. We have three teams worth of left wingers. We have one right winger and zero centres.
We will have an early Import pick. With some good fortune, we can get one with that pick. It would be good if we drafted a centre with our first round pick. Those early guys are usually hanging on the 3rd line by Christmas. And then if we can get Vandenberg to sign, he is likely a quality centre. We will have Foster and Dever next year as OA’s that can play centre while these younger guys adjust. Maybe Ekberg gets an opportunity next year down the middle? Maybe Whitehead gets another shot down the middle? But, neither have shown capable to date.
It has taken Ekberg quite a while to get fully comfortable. I think we are starting to see him create ice for himself. He is a lot more confident carrying the puck. He is starting to show signs of being the player he was touted to be. Does that mean he is ready for his opportunity down the middle? Maybe. But, the issue is the team kept Pinelli and are trying to make the playoffs. They aren’t going to tinker now.
And, while we are on that topic of making the playoffs, the reality is this team is focused solely on just that. They should be focused on that. They kept Pinelli. You don’t’ keep Pinelli and then throw in the towel anyway. In fact, I think when it became evident that Pinelli wasn’t being moved, it also meant they kept Mayich, Fsoter, and Dever who were all likely traded at the deadline as well. But, that turn of events meant they now are still focused ont he best possible result. As much as I don’t agree with that approach, considering Pinelli et all are still there, it is the ONLY approach to take. If I were DC, I’d be taking that approach too.
We as fans have the luxury of sitting back and pointing fingers at perceived mistakes, poor judgement, and criticize those that do make the decisions. That is fine. However, we must at least be somewhat logical with respect to what they should be doing “under the circumstances.” As much as I’d prefer to see them miss the playoffs and play the younger guys a little more when it makes sense, the circumstances do not call for that strategy. The circumstances call for a full court press to a playoff spot. I fully expect them to do that. I would not expect anything less than that. Had they traded Pinelli, Foster, Dever and Mayich, then we’d be having a completely different conversation but they didn’t’ do that so we are where we are.
