One thing that should definitely be mentioned is that with his lack of speed he was pushed off center, he used to get a ton of goals from the center of the ice and around the net, but those opportunities are not there anymore on the wing.
Well, the Lightning offered him 8 years x $3 million and Stamkos declined. So it wasn't exactly the Lightning who moved on from Stamkos as it was Stamkos who moved on from the Lightning.Good organizations know when to move on from players.. good job TB
Well yea that was the entire point. To give this core a few more years to compete. By year 5 of that deal Hedman and Kucherov will be old anyway.That just more like feels pushing the same problem into the future instead of dealing with it in the presence
They gave Guentzel a 7 year deal and we are on year 1
Well, the Lightning offered him 8 years x $3 million and Stamkos declined. So it wasn't exactly the Lightning who moved on from Stamkos as it was Stamkos who moved on from the Lightning.
Unless you're in a camp that believes that the Lightning knew 100% that Stamkos wasn't going to take that offer because it was ''insulting'' and offered it to make him go to free agency.
Production aside, Stamkos got away with doing a ton of stupid shit while on the ice too, extremely careless passes, turnovers and defensive lapses that were just glossed over because he's Stamkos in Tampa, not surprised at all with those "detrimental" results - we've seen it for years. On the other side of that Guentzel almost never does anything stupid with the puck, an extremely solid and consistent player.
His first few seasons in the league he was just as likely to get an odd man rush goal as he was to get a goal purely off his shot. He lost that elite speed after the Boston leg injury, his speed is now noticeably average/below average. For years his ability to generate offense on his own because of that has diminished.
He also had a lethal wrist shot that he doesn’t use as much any more thanks to upper body injuries. I think it’s purely psychological, because he still has that shot. I seen a stat last year that mentioned how he did more slapshots/ one timers than any other high scoring forward in the league. Historically this is why he’s struggled in the postseason, when the games are played tighter you have less of an opportunity to wind up your shots.
Still knows how to get to dangerous scoring areas of the ice, still knows what to do when the puck is on his stick, but if the other guys on the team don’t get him the puck in the o zone he’s a passenger. He defines the phrase power play specialist now.
That just more like feels pushing the same problem into the future instead of dealing with it in the presence
They gave Guentzel a 7 year deal and we are on year 1