Quote:
Originally Posted by ricardodw
and yet Hamilton was #5 in TOI. He was held back by his being beaten consistently 5 on 5 (-14) on the season -9 with Gio at start and -6 with Brodie at the end and even when paired with Russell
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Yeah, Hartley buried him for months after he couldn't cover up for Gio's poor play at the start of the season. He wouldn't even use him on the PP really either for some reason, despite the fact that Wideman was a black hole of uselessness. That's more on Hartley than anything and look where those types of decisions got him.
A lot changed as the year went on and I look at the last half of the season as a more likely predictor of what will happen next year. Looking at the season average is a flawed way of looking at because the team dynamic changed so much.
If Wideman is still on the top PP instead of Hamilton under Gulutzan, I will concede the point. If Gulutzan gives Hamilton the fifth most ice time, I will definitely concede the point.
However, neither is going to happen, so maybe lets stop focusing on how Hartley deployed Hamilton from October to January of last season?