The idea that he's declining, disappointing, underachieving really needs to stop. He arguably has the most difficult deployment in the league, and has very good possession numbers to back it up, and even considering this season, they are improved over the previous 2 seasons. His offensive production this season is still in his normal range of production too.
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There's times where
teh analytics tells a story about a guy that isn't apparent, and then there's times where
teh analytics tell a story that's woefully inaccurate. This ... is the second one, because
teh analytics don't tell you about things he's done over the last 2+ seasons, like
* Chase a forward, back to the play and oblivious to everything going on, as 2 guys execute a give-and-go where he should have been positioned to take one of them
* Back up and let opposing players get shots off, then wave his stick weakly as they skate by and shovel home the rebound
* Stand in front of his goalie, out of position, and be a perfect screen for the opposition
* Stand 15 feet out of position, watching the 2nd, 3rd, 4th back-door tap-in attempt of the game go through where he should have been positioned
* Stare at the net, shooting lane
wide open, and he fakes a slapshot twice and then flips it off to a covered wing and the opposition clears the zone
And on and on
and on. Parayko has been bad enough that Berube, who's reluctant to call guys out, has called Parayko out more than a couple times now and was pretty pointed about it after the Buffalo game - and Parayko has been little improved since. (No, even with 2A vs. Arizona he was pretty horrific in that 1st period and it wasn't dramatically better after that.) But I guess that's all wrong too, because
teh analytics for his are the mostester awesomenest.
Damn shame actually watching him paints a
vastly different picture.