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Originally Posted by GranteedEV
Size, Strength, and Speed. IF Granlund could skate like Tyler Johnson he'd be an effective NHLer.
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Yeah I ninja edited that section to include speed.
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Originally Posted by GranteedEV
Big players can be just as poor at cycling effectively. See David Jones, Brandon Bollig, Lance Bouma for recent Flames examples.
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Wasn't Bouma-Stajan-Jones really effective in 14-15 near the end of the season and the start of the playoffs? Obviously you are right though, just because you are big doesn't necessarily mean you can cycle well. We've seen Colborne come leaps and bounds in that area but he still has room for improvement. Imagine Colborne with Crosby's core strength? He would absolutely dominate the boards and be able to drive the net at will. But he's still a touch lanky for a big guy. Jankowski similarly needs to add strength and learn how to use it.
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Originally Posted by GranteedEV
I agree that skill alone is not enough. You need players hard on the puck willing to get elbowed in the face to come out of a corner to make a play. But I disagree that size is a necessary component of a strong puck possession team. Even sticking to 3rd liners, guys like Andrew Shaw (5'10 / 180), Brendan Gallagher (5'9" / 185), Gustav Nyquist (5'10" / 180), Kris Vertseeg (5'11 / 180) are some of the most effective forwards currently at playing a cycle game. And That's not even factoring in undersized stars like Tyler Johnson, Patrick Kane, and Claude Giroux..
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Agreed, there are smaller players that are really hard on the puck and cycle well. In the end being hard on the puck and playing fearlessly and determined erases a lot of size disadvantage. Core strength plays huge into it as well. With Nylander I'm just not sure he has that fearlessness and determination to go to the hard areas. Baertschi didn't, Granlund didn't. Raymond doesn't. I have less reservations about taking an average sized or undersized player if he plays balls to the wall.
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Originally Posted by GranteedEV
I prefer Dubois too but not because of size alone, but because of the the ability to employ that size with motor, instinct, skill, and fearlessness.
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Agreed.
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Originally Posted by GranteedEV
Those are the things I value and that's why I prefer Keller over Nylander for instance. He seems to have those intangibles that produce a good NHLer.
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Fair enough. I just don't think we can spend our potentially last top 10 pick for hopefully a long while on another tiny player when our best forward is teeny tiny too. I think a big team like an ANA or LA would make more sense for a Keller. I think its hard to win in the playoffs with too many small forwards up front. You become too easy to push around. We've seen with Gaudreau's away points how he struggles when the opposition is allowed to deploy their best and most physical defensive players against him. It neutralizes some of his effectiveness. And you won't win a cup without winning some road games here and there.
Hopefully we add a very skilled player who has size and strength and makes us harder to shut down and harder to play against.