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as he learns to use his reach advantage more he will be cutting off lanes for the opposition using his size effectivelyHow Sabres put themselves in playoff picture with California sweep: 10 takeaways
The Sabres' 11-9-1 record has them in playoff position with Thanksgiving just a few days away. How did it happen?
OP is never going to be the physical monster that some want from a defenseman with his size. But, the offensive production at ES is showing up big time. And the team needs it.
How Sabres put themselves in playoff picture with California sweep: 10 takeaways
The Sabres' 11-9-1 record has them in playoff position with Thanksgiving just a few days away. How did it happen?
OP is never going to be the physical monster that some want from a defenseman with his size. But, the offensive production at ES is showing up big time. And the team needs it.
Dahlin = Hedman , Power = Pietrangelo
Dahlin is too electric with the puck compared to Hedman. I get more Doughty vibes from Dahlin. Power and Hedman have the "calmness" that is so distinct.
Possibly, although Hedman is still a pretty tough guy compared to Power (for now).
Hedman was not tough when he began his career and like Power, Tampa fans wanted to move him out for supposed "softness".
Well, I meant now, not tough, I don't know how to explain it in English, strong, pumped up, something like that.
Dahlin was sold as "the next Nik Lidstrom". I see Power's game as more similar to Lidstrom's - effortless skating d-man, never rattled, cerebral play, rock-solid positionally, defensive beast while seldom being aggressively physical.How Sabres put themselves in playoff picture with California sweep: 10 takeaways
The Sabres' 11-9-1 record has them in playoff position with Thanksgiving just a few days away. How did it happen?
OP is never going to be the physical monster that some want from a defenseman with his size. But, the offensive production at ES is showing up big time. And the team needs it.
That's totally fair. I'm trying to put a projection of his career path and skillset, and Hedman to me matches pretty well (assuming continued growth). Hedman was not physical early in his career, didn't get a ton of PP time early, but had size and skating to bank on. Over time he developed his angrier side and then QB'd the PP and racked up points with Stamkos and Kucherov on the wings.
That's the key. You don't need to be the most physical guy to be effective defensively, but you have to have good positioning and defensive awareness. Power shows glimpses of that (the setup to Zucker for the breakaway against Anaheim is a perfect example) but it's not near as consistent as it needs to be. I don't know if I trust Ruff necessarily to bring that out of him, and I definitely don't trust Wilford to.
Is he one of the answers? Because nothing of his development or even draft pedigree screams "team leader". And that's ONE of the answers for what ails this organization. I would love to see him completely break his shell and become something different than what he is, but I don't have any faith he will do so.
It's fascinating to see how a handful of unicorns have just completely warped people's conception of how long defensemen take to develop. Adams put him in a position to fail by not finding an actual veteran defenseman to pair with him, when he gets run out of town for pocket link it will blow up in our faces worse than Bikini Atoll.
