Quote:
Originally Posted by Enoch Root
That's pretty much irrelevant IMO.
|
It isn't though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Enoch Root
Hudler led the league in 5 on 5 points last year, and finished with 76 points. Yes, he struggled the first half of this year, but has recovered in the last month to the level of last year. Whether the first half was injury or whatever, the fact is that, since returning from injury, he has 5G, 10A, 15P in 18 games (a 68P pace). He put up first line points last year, and is putting up first line points right now. So for me, that means the weak first half was an aberration.
|
How much of that is Hudler? How much of that is playing with Johnny and Monny? How well will Hudler do with another team that doesn't have a Johnny Hockey? Will he be able to get chemistry quickly on a new team? Will they have the right types of players to play him with? There's a few questions around translating his offence to a different team.
Some fans may not agree but a lot of GMs value size, strength and physicality for playoff runs. Sure, pure skill is an asset too but so far the players who seem to have been most coveted and who've moved already are gritty, strong, big guys who fit the tighter checking more physical playoff style hockey. Hudler definitely has some value to any team that lacks pure skill. But his size and skating are detriments that GMs and pro scouts don't necessarily completely overlook and are likely a big part of the reason why they decided not to re-sign him.
He'll have some value. I don't think it's sky high. I don't think you can write off his bad half season as you've done. And I don't think we should overlook that his size and skating isn't ideal for a lot of teams. Some teams value skating more than certain fans do. Some teams value size more than certain fans do. He'll appeal to a smaller subset of teams and thus I don't think a huge bidding war will result.
Russell on the other hand seems to be the type of depth defensemen that will generate a bidding war.