Quote:
Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan
These are fair points, but you have to realize that the lack of size is also prominent among the forward ranks. Most times when he gets pinned it's because he's forwarded the puck to the forward along the boards, and they can't get the puck out, so it goes back down deep. He battles for the puck again, often wins, or blocks a shot resulting in a turnover, and then he pushes the puck up the boards again.
Whenever I see trends in the team getting pinned deep, it's usually because the same forwards are on the ice. The biggest culprits for failing to clear the zone are Raymond, Granlund, and Gaudreau, mostly because of their lack of size. Colborne is the rare big man who has trouble clearing the zone. Even Bollig isn't too terrible at it.
The problems of Russell aren't that he doesn't do his job, it's that he doesn't fit in well with a small forward group. It's rare that he's the main problem when it comes to being stuck in the defensive zone. He often gives his teammates opportunities to get out but they fail.
|
That would be the same for every d-man on this team then, since they are all chipping the puck to the same forwards, in the end Russell is the worst because he also struggles to win those battles.
I am not a huge advanced stats guy but one that I do like is the With or Without You metric.
Every single player on the Flames roster has a worse Corsi % when they are playing with Russell, vs. when they are playing without him.
That is no longer just a coincidence, he is a driver of poor play in our own zone.
Best example is Hamilton, in 358 minutes with Russell he has a 45.2% Corsi For, without Russell in 236 minutes he is a 52.5% Corsi for.
If you can pay him like a bottom pairing d-man then sure bring him back but he isn't going to be worth more then $3million.
http://stats.hockeyanalysis.com/show...015-16&sit=f10