AmazingNuck
Registered User
It matters because you created a straw man argument?
Frankly, the fact that they're elite ES point-getters and not elite ES goal-scorers matter because most of the assists that they have come when the other brother has had the assist. You can say Henrik has assisted on 70 goals and that Daniel has assisted on 40, but how many of those overlap? Probably more than any other first liners in the league because that is the nature of their game. Their assist total is inflated, which isn't a bad thing, but it is a misrepresentation of how much offense the line actually creates.
If an ES unit scores 80 goals and has a total of 240 assists, is that really much better than an ES unit that scores 80 goals and has a total of 120 assists? When you judge the talent of a player, looking at their point total is best, but when you judge an ES unit, the goals is all that matters.
The Sedins not being elite ES-goal scorers matters because when elite defense pairings play them, and when the forwards have the positioning needed to cut down their passing lanes, their offense is just about completely shut down. The thing about being a great playmaker is that you can't just be good at passing, but you have to be a threat to score goals too. Henrik scoring 29 goals did just about as much for the Sedins as finding chemistry with Burrows because the defenses knew they needed to cover the shot, which opened up passing lanes, but now they don't because Henrik doesn't shoot. And when do the Sedins play elite defense pairings and well-positioned forwards? In the playoffs. They were shut down by the Hawks, they were shut down by the Predators, they dominated the Sharks, and they were shut down by the Bruins.
There are fundamental skills to being a facilitator of offense, and the best ones are as dangerous at scoring as they are at passing. If you watch any basketball at all, the best parallel to Henrik of 09-10 and Henrik in 11-12 is Chris Paul vs. Rajon Rondo. Passing lanes open up for Paul because he can score and pass, but teams can cut down passing lanes because Rondo isn't an offensive threat anywhere from 15 feet outside of the hoop. Being able to score opens up passing lanes. That's why being elite ES goal scorers matters.. if not elite, then at least respectable.
The Sedins' game is too hell-bent on passing to each other. What's worse is that by building the system around them, we don't play to the rest of the team's strengths. Look at the healthy bottom 9 (including Kesler and Booth), the defensive pairings, and the goaltenders- the team is pretty much built for the trap rather than the offense-based system that we have now.
The problem isn't as simple as saying the Sedins are what's wrong with the team, or that the system is what's wrong with the team, but a mixture of many factors.. the glaring ones, I think, are that the Sedins don't mesh well with the rest of the team from a style standpoint, that the system lacks the personnel to run optimally, and that the Sedins are too easy to shut down. The solutions that I can think of are:
1. Henrik starts scoring. Daniel's fine, really- maybe overpasses a little, but Henrik needs to score goals or at least take more shots. 113 shots in 81 games last year? That's disgusting from a first liner. If Henrik was a threat to score, the passing lanes would open up more and they wouldn't have to play so tight all of the time.
2. Split the Sedins up at ES when Kesler / Booth returns, and play Henrik with Burrows / Booth and Daniel with Kesler / Kassian. The Sedins aren't as exposed physically or defensively and we get to put the puck in a Sedins' hands for 35+ minutes. Also, we don't have to watch Kesler play hero-puck and try his "snipe" all of the time.
3. Play the trap and go to a stifling defensive system. That worked last year when our offense dried up, but was put down when we faced LAK. A stifling defensive system would be better now than back then because we have replaced Salo with Garrison, as well as having Schroeder push Manny/Lapierre down to the 4th line. We have the speed, the grit, and the discipline to play the system effectively.
Summary: Sedins not being elite ES goal scorers (and in Henrik's case, adequate) clogs up passing lanes because defenses don't need to focus at all on Henrik's threat as a goal scorer.
