The thing that happens to a lot of players is that the longer they stay up with a team the more they are expected to work the specific schemes whether they work or not for them. Desharnais is slow, and he knows that, so it isn't natural for him to be standing the line like that on the Arviddson goal. His play early with Oilers would be to fall back and just contain. Probably not a goal if he does that. But he's quite clearly told to pinch to pucks to prevent entry, like the team is told. This particular aspect doesn't work for Desharnais.
But its not worked for Ceci either. Even Nurse has had considerable struggles with the instruction to go to the boards more. Myself I want D more in front of net and containing. But the Manson package has D be aggressive to puck. Whether or not the specific D can do that or not.
This is really interesting. I think you’re definitely on to something.
I mean, when you look at the D-core at a high level you see a pattern emerge:
Nurse: elite speed, good puck handler, mediocre puck mover.
Ceci: average speed, mediocre puck handler, average puck mover.
Ekholm: above average speed, elite puck handler and mover.
Bouchard: above average speed, great puck handler, good puck mover.
Kulak: elite speed, average puck handler, mediocre puck mover.
Broberg: above average speed, good puck handler, average puck mover.
And then…
Desharnais: below average speed, mediocre puck handler, bad puck mover.
What made Desharnais effective despite these meh capabilities was his size and defensive acumen. The problem now is unlike in the regular season, in the playoffs a team will be more able to game plan against you and even if you are a good defender if someone finds your weaknesses which aren’t really supported by the rest of the team or the system you’re playing in, you’re gonna get exposed.
