Jorcus

Watching Rochester in the D zone vs Buffalo in the D zone is like night and day. Buffalo moves the puck smartly behind the net and the forwards will attack the the man with the puck. Rochester plays a very passive defense that closes into a tight box and waves sticks at players. The only reason Rochester is where they are right now is Levi, and the best D man they have is Nikita Novikov. What steal the Sabres got by drafting him in the 6th round. The expectation was he wanted to stay in Russia but when war breaks out plans change. Lindy is going to take him over Johnson because we have a lot of players like Johnson but we don't have big shut down D men like Nikita.

The Leafs have had the same problem for years. They can never seem to get a defensive core together. They have 1 good D man in Reilly, 1 decent 1 in McCabe and beyond that they are wasteland. The forwards can't play the way they want to because they have to cover up for the D. Lyubushkin played over 17 min in a playoff game for them last night. Did he ever pay 17 min a game for us? Maybe, but night after night against the Bruins just wasn't going to work. In goals against in the East we were 5th this year only behind Florida, Carolina, Boston, and the Rangers. Considering how bad our D was the third of the year it really is an amazing turnaround and gives hope that there are better things ahead. So like you I do not see the comparison to the Leafs who are forward heavy but D man weak.

JJP's best assets are his skating and endurance. He is better when there is a flow of the game up and down the ice. When placed in a stationary power play those assets are compromised playing catch and hoping to see a hole to shoot. They did try to move more with the second PP unit but it never really clicked with who was playing on it. I would love to see JJ back with Quinn. If that happens his assist rate will go up for certain. I liked the fact he shot the puck any time he had an open chance. He gave up percentage for attempts. I would hope he could convert a few more of his breakaway chances. He sure gets enough of them.

What if he gets an offer sheet of 4.2 Million for 4 years? In return we would only get a second round pick. Would you match? I would have to say yes. There are some desperate teams out there. It might happen.

That type of Hockey. Nashville is a good team loaded with veterans who can play just about anyway they want to. They are doing what they need to to win and I get that. When you get down to only a few chances each way for a period it's way different than watching Florida Tampa. A low scoring game with lots of chances.

Canucks out shoot the Preds 18 to 15 Ugh. I hope there is a few more chances in Nashville.

Lots of goaltender running in that game. Tkachuck throws an elbow on the first goal and gets away with it. Stamkos does a swan dive on Bobrovsky later in the game. I thought there was a rule about avoiding goalie contact? I guess if you are checked the rule is waived and you can do what you want.

I think Olafsson Is not a very fast skater and would have trouble getting back into plays on reverse transition. Have to give him credit for making it to the NHL as 7th rounder. Not many do. He did manage to play better D this year but never could get the overall game going. I hope he lands in a spot that will use him in a better way than we did this year.

Sounds like he eventually got the question with the answer of a banger 4th line to lean on people. I expect the search is on to fill those rolls.

Lindy my not be able to change Skinner but I bet he can get him to drop his no movement clause.

Mackinnon had 24:11 of ice time. The guy is super human but how long can he keep that up? Crazy game, makes me think the next one will be 3 to 2 one way or another. Winnipeg is tough to play against for certain.

I am all for using Byram with Dahlin. I think it would free Dahlin to be more mobile with the puck. I still think I would use Tuch in the Bumper with Quinn on the right side and Tage on the left. Benson has not shown enough scoring touch to be the bumper guy on the first unit just yet. Whatever happens this team has to shoot more and have skaters in better rebounding positions.

Keeping in mind we probably would not even be looking for a coach if Granato could have solved our power play problems. 15 goals behind league average this year and 26 goals behind last years output. Fix those numbers and we were probably in the playoffs. I think Gallant would be a better choice for our team. I want a coach who will use our speed and skill players He has coached those types of teams. I don't think we can bring in a coach who will want to retool half the roster to fit his style of coaching. We are not a heavy team that is going crash the net every play the way we are built now. Yes we need more of it but are you going to tell Thompson with the fastest slap shot in the NHL to stand 3 feet in front of the net? I want a coach who will continue to build on what we have and make it better not one who will try to rip it apart. A lot of things were going in the right direction toward the end of the year except the stinky power play which sucked all year and never got us goals when we needed them.

I have two worries about Benson. The first is that what he showed this year is pretty much what he will always be. Most young players come into the NHL with a lot of raw talent but not a well rounded game. Benson is the opposite, he seems to know how to play better than half the players already on the team. He knows where to go he knows how to dog a puck, they have used him on the power play and the PK. Where are his areas of improvement that are under his control? It's physical stuff, If he gets stronger maybe he can stay on his skates more often. If he gets faster maybe he can be a bit more elusive. Improving those elements take a lot of dedication and time but there are limitations to what he can ever be. For him to be a good NHL player over the long term he will have to score more on his chances. It does not look like he has a banger of a shot so its all going to be around the net stuff to score as much as he will need to to be a top 2 line winger. Which brings up the second issue which is how long a short front of the net player can last in the NHL without getting smacked into concussion protocol? You have to hand it to Benson he has done everything he could as an 18 year old who was not expected to be on the team. My question is what was the plan if he did not make the team as a left winger? It's one of the things that cost the team a chance this year. If it was Bensons 4th NHL season and the stats were what he has now playing top 2 line minutes, well I don't even want think about the reaction to that.

The problem with losing the Yotes is the howl after a goal. I will miss hearing that.