Taylor Fedun -- Am I crazy, or is he pretty decent?

[nfreeman]

I never heard of Fedun before he was called up but I must say that I like what I see so far.  Not a physical player, to be sure, but he seems to have a solid hockey IQ, is a good skater and has surprisingly good puck skills -- he has a good handle and is a good passer.  He got just under 2 min on the power play last night -- 2nd-most on the team among the D.

 

He's played 6 games for the Sabres, averaging a little under 16 min per game, and has 4 assists.

 

He's 28 and only played in 12 NHL games before this season.  He played 4 years at Princeton (1st-team all-conference as a senior, 2nd-team as a junior), graduated in 2011, was not drafted, joined the Edmonton organization and, in his first preseason, suffered a bad broken leg in a preseason game on a race to the end boards to preserve an icing call -- which caused him to miss the entire 2011-12 season.  

 

He then spent the next 2 years with Edmonton's AHL affiliate (plus 4 NHL games), then the following season with SJ's AHL affiliate (plus 7 NHL games), then last year with Vancouver's AHL affiliate (with 1 NHL game). 

 

He's 6'1", 200 lbs, with (apparently) a Ukrainian father and a Canadian mom.

 

He's seized Casey Nelson's spot and it seems he intends to keep it.

 

Good for him. 

[LGR4GM]

I think in my limited viewing of Fedun that he was a guy that never got a real fair shot anywhere. So far I would say he has been a solid #5 defender and as long as he stays there I have no issue with him or the 2nd unit PP time he gets. Our defense is shallow and he helps more than Franson that's for sure. 

[Samson's Flow]

Given the resume you listed, it sounds like he should be a nobody that has little to no prospect pedigree.

 

That being said, I have been very impressed with his offensive game, and have not noticed significant breakdowns on the defensive end. He seems to me to be exactly what everyone was hoping Mark Pysyk would turn into. Clearly DDB has taken notice as he is on the #2 PP unit which looks dangerously effective lately.

 

Here's hoping we found a solid player from the scrap heap.

Edited November 30, 2016 by Touched by Boyes

[dudacek]

He seems to me to be exactly what everyone was hoping Mark Pysyk would turn into.

Beat me to it.

Slightly different game (more O less D) but he certainly has been just as effective.

[bob_sauve28]

I think he is a real pleasant surprise. I love his passing

[MattPie]

He wouldn't be the first guy to either show up for a bunch of games and then realize how crazy good he's playing and fall off a cliff (hang on, I have a call from MA Grangani). He also wouldn't be the first D to take a long time to put it together and become a competent 5/6.

[North Buffalo]

Agreed he has been a pleasant surprise... And he and Falk make a consistent 3 pair, put Gorges at 7 dump Franson.

[That Aud Smell]

A look at Fedun's fancy stats in his games to date with the Sabres is interesting.

 

The team's PDO while he is on the ice is 102.9. The team's overall PDO is 99.5. In other words (I think), he's been fairly fortunate when he's out there -- his teammates have higher than normal SH% and his goalies have a higher SV% than they normally do. Of course, some of that may be due to his influence on the game, but some (most?) is probably just puck luck and situational usage.

 

As to the latter, I see that he's had a ~75% O-Zone start rate in 6 Sabre games he's played. 

 

Pysyk, OTOH, is getting O-Zone starts this season only ~41% of the time. Much tougher sledding.

[bob_sauve28]

Agreed he has been a pleasant surprise... And he and Falk make a consistent 3 pair, put Gorges at 7 dump Franson.

Gorges will stay ahead of Falk 

[That Aud Smell]

Agreed he has been a pleasant surprise... And he and Falk make a consistent 3 pair, put Gorges at 7 dump Franson.

 

While our favourite whipping boy is getting D-Zone starts 72% of the time.

 

I'm not sure he's any good, but Gorges is getting some tough ass minutes.

[Eleven]

I think he is a real pleasant surprise. I love his passing

 

 

Agreed he has been a pleasant surprise... And he and Falk make a consistent 3 pair, put Gorges at 7 dump Franson.

 

"Pleasant surprise" is exactly the phrase that came to mind when I saw this topic.  And I agree w/r/t his passing.

[TrueBlueGED]

While our favourite whipping boy is getting D-Zone starts 72% of the time.

 

I'm not sure he's any good, but Gorges is getting some tough ass minutes.

A note on zone starts: traditional zone start statistics are based upon where a player is at the faceoff, and coaching usage is inferred from this. However, most (as in, the overwhelming majority) of shift starts are on the fly. So somebody having a ton of defensive zone draws is not necessarily a sign they are being tasked with especially difficult minutes, but could just be that that's where they end up on a whistle after an on the fly shift because they're bad at getting/keeping the puck in the offensive zone.

 

So with Gorges for example, while Bylsma may be inclined to toss him out there for defensive zone draws when game flow and shifts allow, his gargantuan percentage of zone starts there is probably more a sign that he's worthless for generating possession.

 

I've used zone starts like you have, but I'm trying to get away from it because of this.

[bob_sauve28]

"Pleasant surprise" is exactly the phrase that came to mind when I saw this topic.  And I agree w/r/t his passing.

He made a pass to Eichel last night that was so beautiful. Coming up ice, it was off the boards and on to Jack's blade on the backside in stride, if that makes sense....

[That Aud Smell]

A note on zone starts: traditional zone start statistics are based upon where a player is at the faceoff, and coaching usage is inferred from this. However, most (as in, the overwhelming majority) of shift starts are on the fly. So somebody having a ton of defensive zone draws is not necessarily a sign they are being tasked with especially difficult minutes, but could just be that that's where they end up on a whistle after an on the fly shift because they're bad at getting/keeping the puck in the offensive zone.

 

So with Gorges for example, while Bylsma may be inclined to toss him out there for defensive zone draws when game flow and shifts allow, his gargantuan percentage of zone starts there is probably more a sign that he's worthless for generating possession.

 

I've used zone starts like you have, but I'm trying to get away from it because of this.

 

Innerressin'.

 

Mayhaps there should be a stat derived only from non-on-the-fly deployments?

In any case, my sense with Fedun is that a (big) part of why he's looked so good is that he's being sheltered.

 

Or nah?

[Taro T]

Innerressin'.

 

Mayhaps there should be a stat derived only from non-on-the-fly deployments?In any case, my sense with Fedun is that a (big) part of why he's looked so good is that he's being sheltered.

 

Or nah?

My guess as to why Fedun has looked good is 3 fold:

 

1 our expectations for him were non-existant (most of us, yours truly included, knew little to nothing about him before he was called up, and lets face it, being behind Nelson & Falk on the depth chart didn't inspire confidence) so anything productive would necessarily be viewed as exceeding expectations;

 

2 he's been quite sheltered - except for pp time he's been very heavily used in 3rd pairing w/ almost no pk time so he hasn't been put in situations that take him too far out of his comfort zone nor has he been asked to do anything but the simple plays, again keeping him in his comfort zone; &

 

3 due to the way his career started, he never lucked back into the chance to make an impression so he's been pencilled in as a 9 but really may be a 5/6/7; getting to play at the level you belong has to inspire confidence & all these guys at this level have skill but not all have the confidence to allow themselves to stay in the lineup.

 

He looks like when they are all healthy that he should be the 6/7. Personally, I'd like to see him get a shot over Franson at 6, but expect it'll go the other way. But I'd also much rather see Franson as the emergency 4 than him.

 

The thing I noticed in the Wings game was that when he's in the neutral zone (& offensive zone to a fair extent as well) he almost never has his feet still. He may be staying in place, but he's working to not get caught flat footed. Will be looking to see if that's the case at the B's game as well, or if it was just a case of ALWAYS catching him at the moment he was moving. That could be something he's been working on, if so, maybe that's enough of an edge to let him finally be an NHLer. (Or, it could be an effect of small sample size & timing of the samples. Hope for his sake & ours it's the former.)

 

Just hoping that their apparently misplacing him in the pecking order didn't steal those 2-4 points they might need come playoff time.

[pi2000]

Nathan Paetsch part II

[darksabre]

Which is fine because Paetsch was nice to have around.

[Doohickie]

He's a solid bottom pairing defenseman.  I could even see some use on the second pairing if need be, but not on a permanent basis.  Steady, smart, and I like his shot.  The shot itself isn't especially noteworthy, certainly not the hardest, but he takes very calculated shots, and not always to score.  Sometimes he's trying to set up a better scoring chance on a rebound or deflection down low.  For that reason I like him on the power play.

[inkman]

Nathan Paetsch part II

I never felt good when Patches was in the D zone. I haven't felt that way yet with Fedoon but I also can't recall seeing him there often.

[woods-racer]

You have to assume that GMTM's staff has written a book on Fedun before his arrival, they know his strengths and short comings. If Blysma is using him correctly and Fedun is gaining confidence and he looks good to us, I have to give credit to Blysma for this as much as Fedun's play.

[TrueBlueGED]

Innerressin'.

 

Mayhaps there should be a stat derived only from non-on-the-fly deployments?

 

In any case, my sense with Fedun is that a (big) part of why he's looked so good is that he's being sheltered.

 

Or nah?

Oh, for sure. Just saying the zone start statistic isn't the big deal I once thought it was. Aside from that...pretty much what Taro said. I will say, I'm super gun shy about Dmen in a small sample of games given our experiences with Gragnani and more recently Nelson. Maybe Fedun is okay as the #7, or maybe Nelson was just that bad this year that our vision is distorted.

[pi2000]

Which is fine because Paetsch was nice to have around.

 

Paetsch was decent at times, but when thrust into a full-time role he suffered due to his defensive short-comings.    Moving forward I think Fedun can be that guy who plays maybe 10-12 games a season in BUF as a depth guy in Roch.  

 

When is Kulikov coming back? 

[Norcal]

I like the kid, he's played well enough to be a 5-7 with the Sabres IMO

[That Aud Smell]

I like the kid, he's played well enough to be a 5-7 with the Sabres IMO

 

Not for nothing: The guy is 28 y/o. He's no kid.

[woods-racer]

Paetsch was decent at times, but when thrust into a full-time role he suffered due to his defensive short-comings.    Moving forward I think Fedun can be that guy who plays maybe 10-12 games a season in BUF as a depth guy in Roch.  

 

When is Kulikov coming back? 

 

 

IIRC in an interview with HCDB, he said Kulikov has been practicing with the team for a few days now, and of those injured we should expect him back the soonest. 

 

My take was days, not weeks.