Speculation: Roster Building Thread: Part XVIV
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Hunter Gathers
The Crown
Don't let facts get in the way of a bad argument, though.
Hunter Gathers
The Crown
And he somehow never distinguished himself. It's almost like he's a pure passenger and does nothing to elevate the play of anyone around him.
NYR Viper
Registered User
I wouldn’t classify him as a passenger. More so he has some weaknesses that are alleviated by playing with a certain type of player. Here’s the thing. He shouldn’t be a center. Andersson doesn’t like to have the puck on his stick for long periods of time. He is better suited to finishing plays around the net and that’s a true skill whether people believe it or not. He has proven at every level but the NHL that he can find those areas around the net to score goals. The issue being that at the NHL level his skating and lack of patience with the puck means he has little to no time to do much of anything.
I guess my take is that he’s not going to be the guy carrying the puck and making highlight reel plays. Guys like Chytil have that. But that doesn’t make him a ‘passenger’.
And that is what disappoints me the most with this situation. The writing has been on the wall for a considerable amount of time that Anderson’s skills seem to project much better to the wing. At least at this point in time. Quinn never really tried him there with anyone who could compliment his skills for whatever reason. He was either a wing on the 4th line or a mish-mash 3rd line at the end of last year or a 4th line center playing with Haley, Smith or McKegg.
Maybe Quinn has not give Andersson a look because of his attitude and something that has happened behind the scenes, maybe he did something we don't know about. Maybe he shown the coaches that he has not worked hard like the coaching staff wants him too. Listening in practice could be an issue with Andersson
egelband
Registered User
- Sep 6, 2008
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Certainly not ideal. But personally I don’t see that as justification for walking out on a contract. I could appreciate him requesting a trade but what he’s doing is an overreaction.
Unless there’s more to the story we don’t know.
The Leafs would be nuts to trade Kapanen for a rental. They can’t afford to re-sign Kreider and Kapanen is reasonably cost controlled. This won’t happen. If they trade for Kreider, it’s a pick coming back. They can afford to trade a 1st because they hit a home run with Nick Robertson.
Nylander’s stock has risen drastically the past few weeks. We would have to add quite a bit. I don’t see that move happening.
Kreider to Colorado seems like the most likely destination. They still need to bolster secondary scoring and they have the cap to bring him in long term if they like him.
My targets:
Newhook (would be willing to add a B+ prospect like Barron, Pajuniemi, Robertson, or Henriksson)
Bowers (makes a Strome trade decision easy)
Timmins (brings serious consideration to a DeAngelo trade)
Oscar Lindberg
Registered User
With how often Quinn changes lines it’s a little absurd to think about how Lias didn’t get a single look in the top 9
Pretty much every player sans Haley and Lias has gotten a chance to play top 9 minutes.
Lias should have done more with the minutes he had, but there something strange about how it was handled
Pretty much every player sans Haley and Lias has gotten a chance to play top 9 minutes.
Lias should have done more with the minutes he had, but there something strange about how it was handled
Hunter Gathers
The Crown
He's definitely a passenger. He plays down to the level of his linemates rather than outplaying them as he should.
Can you imagine what Sean Avery would have done with that amount of time?
At 20/21 you’re just asking your prospect to acclimate and find a role. This isn’t McDavid or MacKinnon, expecting him to elevate and carry ANY line, let alone one devoid of NHL forwards, is folly. There was absolutely nothing for Quinn to lose from trying him in a couple other roles for a game or two each. What if it turns out he’d make a really great garbage man banging in pucks as the other wing on the Panarin/Strome line? What if he found a role he thrived in because there was so much zone time and possession on that line and it helped his confidence? What if he was really good at keeping the cycle alive with smart plays and then constantly returning to the front of the net to make his living? If that’s his bread and butter and he can be a 15-20 goal guy doing that, we’d never know because there is no zone time or cycle on the line he was on. Not every player has to elevate others or be the driver of the line to have an NHL career. Expecting a 21 year old to do those things, with the talent he was stuck with and the minutes they saw is just silly. We had more to gain than we stand to lose from just giving Lias a look in a variety of roles rather than just stapling him to the 4th line.
Oscar Lindberg
Registered User
Yeah it doesn’t make a lot of sense
It almost felt like they knew Lias wasn’t going to amount to much, so it didn’t matter if he was playing bottom 6 minutes. Because that’s all he was ever going to be
But to pidgeon hole a player like that at such a young age, one where you invested your highest draft pick in a long time on him, is baffling to me.
It looks even worse when you look at the comments about Chytil and not wanting him to rot on the fourth line, and then immediately do that for Lias
I don't think they were asking him to drive or elevate a line....they wanted him to drive or elevate HIS game.
I was responding directly to the assertion that he should have elevated the likes of Haley and McKegg.
Hunter Gathers
The Crown
Sounds a lot like Howden.
Not really. I hate using hustle as an example, but Howden is out there working. Lias never did that. That's another problem of his. He can't even do the "intangible" things right.
DanielBrassard
It's all so tiresome
Unless the plus is tremendous I can't imagine why Toronto would be interested in this.
Nah man, there was hustle. It often times never amounted to much but Lias had many shifts where you can see the effort.
You’re right about him being a passenger. And lacking skill. His game is best suited with possession players that can cycle down low. I was always impressed with his nose for the puck around the paint.
If I recall they were looking to see very specific things regarding him playing "faster" as in reacting and anticipating things at NHL speed. Speed is everything in today's game. Blazing foot speed seems almost like a ticket to entry these days, rather than a standout trait. A player can succeed without it, but they need to think the game at an extremely high level.
In looking at the Lias/Howden or ADA/Pionk situations you can draw one of two conclusions about Quinn: He is either a maniac who arbitrarily hands out ice time, or he looks for and rewards very specific things, particularly with younger players in an attempt to mold them in to the NHL player he expects them to be.
To me he appears to be the latter, and was looking to see improvement in what will likely prove to be the "sink or swim" element of Lias' game. I think its reasonable to expect to see progression there regardless of line mates.
In looking at the Lias/Howden or ADA/Pionk situations you can draw one of two conclusions about Quinn: He is either a maniac who arbitrarily hands out ice time, or he looks for and rewards very specific things, particularly with younger players in an attempt to mold them in to the NHL player he expects them to be.
To me he appears to be the latter, and was looking to see improvement in what will likely prove to be the "sink or swim" element of Lias' game. I think its reasonable to expect to see progression there regardless of line mates.
Andersson most likely has issues we don't know about. Coach never gave him a look, that is so telling. I bet attitude and whatnot has to do with it. Something must have happened in practice like not listening and he must have been trying to do what he wants etc
Amazing Kreiderman
Registered User
- Apr 11, 2011
- 45,072
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17 games this season, and only 3 of those were over 12 minutes TOI. Considering the pre-season he had, he deserved more than that
NYR Viper
Registered User
I don’t think we’re in total disagreement, but to me the word ‘passenger’ is incorrectly used
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