I'm not ready to panic at all yet... It's very early and he hasn't been used to maximize his potential yet. I'm sure he'll get his game going on this road trip at some point.
It's a similar situation to baertschi as last year believe it or not... Over-compensating for the defensive game that Hartley stresses for the young guys.
Watch the games closely and you'll find gaudreau is consistently down low in his own zone helping out the defence and is also the guy deep on the forecheck in the offensive zone applying pressure up ice when the other team has possession and is preparing to breakout. These are good things for him to be doing but they also mean he is rarely the guy getting the puck in the neutral zone with any kind of speed... A position where gaudreau's skills can be deadly. Even watch the last few games how often it is Raymond or colbourne skating it through the neutral zone while Johnny is catching up to the play.
Also, he has been doing a lot of what baertschi did last year when he gets the puck along the boards in his own zone... Simple chip plays just to get it out. He is doing well defensively and we have all heard the same comments from management and the coaching staff that he's got amazing skill and just needs to develop his defensive play. Seems like he is doing what the coaching staff stressed but is almost taking it so far that it is making him hesitate to use his skills. The same thing we saw with baertschi.
Not trying to be too critical of him or the coaching staff. I think it's great that the young guys are forced to learn defensive play... It's just frustrating when we keep seeing these young players lose touch with their confidence because of this. He and baertschi were both used more and more sparingly since their defensive game brought nothing more than the 4th liners and their offensive game was compromised because the criticisms of their defensive game.
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