Rantanen vs Necas points race to end of season.

[AslanRH]

I really hope the Flames don't throw a huge contract at him.

Don't think you should lose sleep over this concern

 

[josra33]

There is a long line of "2Cs", draftees, and a few others who may argue that.

I offer Nuke, Drouin, Lehky and Toews as a rebuttal. All acquired for way cheaper than they play when with the Avs.

 

[flyfysher]

I can understand if he isn’t great, but he has to be a lot better than this or Huberdeau comparisons become legit in a hurry. That’s another guy who “found his game” after a year or so, and it turned out his game is actually being a 55-point guy when he’s not on a line with superstars.

These comments have got me thinking. Is there a difference between an elite player and one with elite skills? You look at guys like Hughes, McDavid, Draisatl, MacKinnon, Crosby Makar, Matthews and they can take over a game. Clearly they are elite in that sense in addition to having elite skills. But does having an elite skill make you an elite player? How do you define elite? Those guys aren’t traded. They stay with the organization that drafted them. They don’t just have elite skills, those are the guys that we look to to be the guy when needed. IOW, clutch. They’re a great value for what they bring. And they can be productive in different scenarios whether it’s offense, defense, two way play or at least not a constant liability. We don’t question their motivation to be the best they can on the ice. With Rants, I question his motivation/effort on ice and ability to be a dynamic offensive force. Rants is a great player with elite skills. But to do that, it appears he needs to be in the right situation to employ those elite skills to full effect.

 

[tarheelhockey]

These comments have got me thinking. Is there a difference between an elite player and one with elite skills? You look at guys like Hughes, McDavid, Draisatl, MacKinnon, Crosby Makar, Matthews and they can take over a game. Clearly they are elite in that sense in addition to having elite skills. But does having an elite skill make you an elite player? How do you define elite? Those guys aren’t traded. They stay with the organization that drafted them. They don’t just have elite skills, those are the guys that we look to to be the guy when needed. IOW, clutch. They’re a great value for what they bring. And they can be productive in different scenarios whether it’s offense, defense, two way play or at least not a constant liability. We don’t question their motivation to be the best they can on the ice. With Rants, I question his motivation/effort on ice and ability to be a dynamic offensive force. Rants is a great player with elite skills. But to do that, it appears he needs to be in the right situation to employ those elite skills to full effect.

As with so many other things, extraordinary talent is only meaningful when it’s paired with high effort. For professional athletes in particular, even a slight slip on effort is enough for a guy with slightly less talent to prevail. Rantanen’s been on the wrong end of that on a lot of shifts lately.

 

[jalapenoWithAnH]

but comments from Ismo Lekhonen may point to this lackadaisical nature carries over from the work he puts in during the off season.

This comes up fairly often in English based discussions. Seems to me that there is a misunderstanding as to what Ismo actually said.

Im a Finn so I can tell you that he didn't call Mikko lazy as some other people seem to think. Actually he did say the opposite: that Mikko had too much other stuff going during that particular summer break: world championships, junior camp, small events etc. He said Mikko is bad at saying no to others.

He did another interiew where he clarified his view because people got him wrong.

 

[flyfysher]

This comes up fairly often in English based discussions. Seems to me that there is a misunderstanding as to what Ismo actually said.

Im a Finn so I can tell you that he didn't call Mikko lazy as some other people seem to think. Actually he did say the opposite: that Mikko had too much other stuff going during that particular summer break: world championships, junior camp, small events etc. He said Mikko is bad at saying no to others.

He did another interiew where he clarified his view because people got him wrong.

Thank you. But Ismo didn’t make these observations about Rantanen not giving his full effort on a continuing basis. I did as an Avs fan from watching his play. And there were lots of Avs fans that feel the exact same way about Rants play for the Avs.

 

[BigTomBomber]

How do you define elite? Those guys aren’t traded.

Nico Harrison begs to differ

 

[Ncit3]

Another two assists for Marty. Looking really good with Brock and Lehky. Broke some ankles tonight, nearly missed a goal. Just overall so stoked about him being an Av.

 

[JoeSakic13]

I’m not sure when that change took place, but Necas has 3 points in his last 6 games — only 1 at even strength.

PP merchant Necas with 2 more points tonight.

 

[flyfysher]

PP merchant Necas with 2 more points tonight.

He looked incredible with Nelson. That developing chemistry was insane.

 

[famicommander]

Necas: 8 goals and 14 assists for 22 points in 23 games
Drury: 4 goals and 1 assist for 5 points in 23 games

Rantanen: 4 goals and 7 assists for 11 points in 21 games
-2 goals and 4 assists for 6 points in 13 games with Carolina
-2 goals and 3 assists for 5 points in 8 games with Dallas