I find it hard to blame Glencross. He has 6 points (4g, 2a) in 9 games - for a 3rd/2nd line winger who makes 2.55m he's performing to the level he should be.
It's hard to overcome the lack of NHL quality top-6 centers. Players that fill the centre spot on lines 1 and 2 help make their wingers better due to puck distribution and defensive zone coverage - and we very simply don't have the players to fill those positions.
Iginla, Cammalleri and Kiprusoff are the only three players not living up to their expectations in my eyes. Kipper is a goalie, they're always hard to understand - but for two shooters/finishers, Iginla and Cammalleri's struggles are quite easily understood.
Iginla is a year older and can't dominate the other team single handily anymore - so the lack of a playmaking centre crushes the quality of his scoring chances (alongside some bad shooting % of course, but I think the two are quite closely linked).
Cammalleri needs someone to get him the puck in his wheelhouse. He's a finisher, and is paid to be...yes it would be nice if he was a better all around player and could generate his own chances more often, but that's simply not the player he is or ever was.
|