Quote:
Originally Posted by timbit
Specifically, which players do posters consider "soft"?
Which players do posters consider "not soft"?
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We've moved/demoted the softest players we had to start the year. Hudler and Raymond were our two softest players. So we've gotten less soft.
On defense Engelland is the most physical, punishing defenseman we have. Jokipakka uses his size well but is not as mean a hitter as Regehr was. So those are the two we have that are physical, hard defensemen. Those are the defensemen who would primarily beat forwards by rubbing them out, physically containing them, shoving them down, keeping them to the outside, clearing them out from the front of the net, etc.
On defense I guess you'd say Hamilton plays kind of a soft game for his size. Rarely uses his size and strength to physically dominate other players through pushing, shoving, crosschecking, hitting. Brodie doesn't play a physical style but he doesn't need to to be effective. Giordano plays quite a hard game but his average size means he can't overpower bigger forwards. Wotherspoon is showing a bit of a heavier game than before but I wouldn't consider him a real banger. Nakladal doesn't seem scared to mix it up a bit but his primary way of defending is not by physically overpowering forwards.
Overall I'd say the defense has a pretty good balance. All of our defensemen need to be puck movers to fit in Hartley's system and they all are. But I think some posters don't recognize how Engelland's skill set wasn't duplicated until we got Jokipakka, he was one of the only defensemen we had who was capable of making life miserable for big forwards in front of the net or along the boards.
Up front I'd consider Bouma, Jooris, Ferland, Bollig, Hathaway and Bennett to be our grittiest, most physical, punishing forwards. Bennett's going to need another 10 pounds to play that style. Gaudreau and Stajan are probably our least physical forwards although Johnny tries to hit but his body size means it makes negligible impact. Colborne has greatly improved in terms of throwing some hits, uses his body to shield the puck, driving the net but he isn't naturally a physical forward. Frolik and Backlund won't shy away from board battles but they beat opponents through skill and smarts rather than sheer strength and physicality. Monahan plays a partially soft game for his size, rarely finishing checks but he doesn't shy away from driving the slot or fighting for the puck. He's not a naturally physical player but he'll fight through checking.
Overall I'd say we're not soft. Our greatest strength is competitiveness as even our smaller, less physical players compete hard and consistently. If we do ever trade Engelland we'll probably need to look at adding a big, strong, physical defensive defenseman to replace his role. Right now we probably need a power forward on the Gaudreau/Monahan line to make space for them and stick up for them. And we need another power forward for Bennett's line to do the same.