Quote:
Originally Posted by FAN
I think it's pointless to compartmentalize and evaluate a player's skills alone. The most talented guy doesn't mean he's the best hockey player. If you were to compartmentalize and evaluate Bouwmeester based on his package of size, skill, skating ability, hockey sense, and ability to play defense, there are virtually no defensemen in the NHL who can match Bouwmeester's complete package. But the fact that Bouwmeester isn't one of the league's top defenseman is very telling. He's not physical, he doesn't ever raise his intensity in key games, he has a weak point shot, isn't a PP QB, and he's not a dynamic puck rushing defenseman despite his skating ability. Bouwmeester is completely reliant on his ability to jump into the play and act as a 4th forward which limit his offensive potential. Those pre-Tallon Panthers teams that were simply overrated and Bouwmeester was one of them.
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And I think it is pointless to throw out the baby with the bathwater. Bouwmeester may not have been a perfect player for the Flames but I stand by my statement that it was painfully obvious that he was being pigeonholed into a "defense only" position where a number of his particular strengths were outright wasted.
He will look like a significantly better Dman for the Blues. Not because he is "making less money" but because I believe he will thrive a lot more under a coach that knows how to use him and can adjust his coaching to maximize a player's abilities.