Butcher only played a little over 16 minutes through the first two months of the season. He's currently averaged 16:05 of ice time this season.Greene's minutes being down a minute has nothing to do with Vatanen...it has to do with Butcher and a little bit of Moore getting more. Sami isn't replacing the minutes played on the Left side.
Unless Schneider pitches a 60 save shutout tonight, I think KK gets the start against San Jose.IMO Schneider is starting to feel the heat with Kinkaid burning up and steals this game so we ride with Schneids for the rest of the season
Unless Schneider pitches a 60 save shutout tonight, I think KK gets the start against San Jose.
Bieksa is out injured
He sucks, really bad.Bieksa is out injured
I think Butchers time for the first two months is deceiving. He was more like 12/13 minute guy and the #1 Dman on a PP that was only running 1 Dman.Butcher only played a little over 16 minutes through the first two months of the season. He's currently averaged 16:05 of ice time this season.
Feel free to correct the math if I'm wrong. I do miscalculate sometimes. Butcher saw an increase in minutes played in December, after the Vatanen trade, averaging 17:06 for the month. He also only averaged 15:53 per game in January and 15:12 per game in February, before going back up to 16:01 for March. Outside of December, Butcher's TOI has been below his season averages since Vatanen got here.
John Moore has averaged exactly 20:00 on the season. Just a tick over 20 minutes combined in October and November (19:14 in October, 20:44 in November). In December he averaged 20:04, in January he averaged 19:39, in February he averaged 19:57, and in March so far he's averaging 20:09 per game. So even he's been around his seasonal averages since Vatanen came. October was by far his lowest average ice time per game, while November (pre-Vatanen) was his highest.
If he loses tonight, we have to ride kink until he cools down...with the exception of the two back-to-back games we have left. Need to get this goalie situation cleared up by playoffs (if we indeed make them).If Cory loses again I fear for his confidence.
Something people need to remember about this goalie situation is we are not in a win out the string situation. We are actually far from it thanks to the recent wins.
We can absolutely afford to give Keith a day off.
There is absolutely no reason to bring Moore back. I think he has improved as a player and this has been his best season with us, but we have to have an upgrade on the left side, which cannot happen unless his spot is occupied by someone else. We need someone who can move the puck better than Moore and realistically we need a top pair Dman. Lovejoy I have a hard time seeing being gone, but I would think he would be the #7 Dman coming into camp unless Santini shows no improvement, and Lovejoy does not regress (unlikely both happen IMO).Speaking of John Moore and this is likely to really open up a can of worms.... He has 1 goal in the last 32 games and just 6 points in that stretch. And he's currently on a 12 game pointless drought. Only 17 points this year, on pace for 20 this season.
I think it's finally safe to say that we probably don't want him back next year? Go for someone bigger, hope Lovejoy doesn't play here next year and just wash our hands of it.
Do we really want him for $3 million per year (maybe more) for 3-4 more years? It's not money wisely spent. We also have 2 more painful years of Greene, who will hopefully spend those two years very sheltered and possibly another year of Lovejoy if we don't buy him out. It's easier to get rid of Moore than anyone else, as you just let him walk because he's done with his contract and we're done with our obligations to him.
That's what happens when you play defense . Moore also hadn't gotten any PP time this season so going back to the previous topic, his 20 minutes are probably mostly 5v5. That is eating into Greene too. I haven't checked any of this so I don't know the breakdown.Speaking of John Moore and this is likely to really open up a can of worms.... He has 1 goal in the last 32 games and just 6 points in that stretch. And he's currently on a 12 game pointless drought. Only 17 points this year, on pace for 20 this season.
I think it's finally safe to say that we probably don't want him back next year? Go for someone bigger, hope Lovejoy doesn't play here next year and just wash our hands of it.
Do we really want him for $3 million per year (maybe more) for 3-4 more years? It's not money wisely spent. We also have 2 more painful years of Greene, who will hopefully spend those two years very sheltered and possibly another year of Lovejoy if we don't buy him out. It's easier to get rid of Moore than anyone else, as you just let him walk because he's done with his contract and we're done with our obligations to him.
Schneider is starting for certain?
Old school thought maybe but I would never interrupt a shut out streak. Never. Even bad goalies go on unexplainable runs...remember Brian Boucher in Arizona a few years back?No. It just makes sense given a back-to-back situation. Although earlier in the season they started Cory both games on a back-to-back and he was pretty good in both, so who the hell knows.
Believe me, I'm not dinging him so much for the fact that he hasn't scored, as much as just saying that his offense hasn't been great, which was one redeeming factor that he possessed, as well as his skating. And I don't think he's worth signing for $3 million per (it might even be more than that) for 3-4 years. I just don't see a need for him next year, unless we're signing him just because we can. We need to upgrade this defense and because he's the easiest to get rid of/easiest to not offer a new/stupid contract, he should be a victim of the numbers game. He's the logical omission.That's what happens when you play defense . Moore also hadn't gotten any PP time this season so going back to the previous topic, his 20 minutes are probably mostly 5v5. That is eating into Greene too. I haven't checked any of this so I don't know the breakdown.
But wouldn't you agree that he has been better defensively this season than any other year he's been here?Believe me, I'm not dinging him so much for the fact that he hasn't scored, as much as just saying that his offense hasn't been great, which was one redeeming factor that he possessed, as well as his skating. And I don't think he's worth signing for $3 million per (it might even be more than that) for 3-4 years. I just don't see a need for him next year, unless we're signing him just because we can. We need to upgrade this defense and because he's the easiest to get rid of/easiest to not offer a new/stupid contract, he should be a victim of the numbers game. He's the logical omission.
Old school thought maybe but I would never interrupt a shut out streak. Never. Even bad goalies go on unexplainable runs...remember Brian Boucher in Arizona a few years back?
I do think he's played better this year than in past years, but he's also reverted a bit in recent weeks or the last month or maybe a little bit more.But wouldn't you agree that he has been better defensively this season than any other year he's been here?
I do think he has go also but if he goes you are going to need a substantial player to replace his time.. I'd hate to go into next season with idea Mueller is replacing Moore?