krav is just bored out of his tree in preseason hockey.
honestly thought he was fine, didnt do much but wasnt terrible out there, wish he'd taken a shot on that partial break and had some pucks bounce the wrong way on him on the wall but he was going to those areas and not shying away from contact. dont think chytil is the right fit for him, give him some time and a few games on a line that has some more structure to it.
kandre looked incredible. its one preseason game so dont want to get carried away, but hot damn was he making it look easy out there. dominant any time he wanted to be.
hajek/jones both played a solid game. thought braden really showed a bit more confidence getting involved up ice and carrying pucks. going to be some hiccups now and then as he takes those steps but i really liked what i saw there in terms of the jump he can make.
igor made it look incredibly easy. isles had some good looks, esp early, but honestly didnt feel like any ever had a chance of going in the way igor handled them
really liked the piss and vinegar othmann, sykora, and trivigno played with. 3 different places in development and different games, but good to see that type in the pipeline. othmann really sticks his nose in, gives and takes, has some serious hockey iq. could stand to add a step but he'll be a player.
kakko made some plays that certainly dont dampen any hopes of a breakthrough in production.
chytil also very much surprised me. hes still pretty limited in his ability to create moving pucks up ice and carrying them knowing how to create chances. but...he looked night and day from any other game ive ever seen him play in his decisiveness. he was going to the walls and in traffic with physicality and purpose, he was using his speed and strength, and in the o zone he knows how to find space. i dont see him ever being a solid 2c, but this was the first time i can say he showed me enough all around game to make me think he can potentially add real value in a 3c role.
also really like rydahl sp? big, very fast, got involved physically, and that swipe of barzals drop pass was a fantastic read / execution. could see him in the lineup at some point this year.
overall nothing good or bad tonight can set expectations. but it was awesome watching hockey again, and quite frankly its hard not to at least get a little excited about what this team can be at full strength given what we saw from quite a few guys tonight.
as a team one of the real highlights for me was seeing us generate real chances from possession in the zone. i called it out a lot last year that we lacked the ability to generate good shots in the zone from danger areas...if the rush was taken away we more or less lived or died by the pp. granted this was preseason and mixed lineups, but i thought there were a lot of looks we manufactured that got pucks to guys open in the slot. if that can continue it could really set us up for a big year
