Quote:
Originally Posted by Erick Estrada
First season or not he's 24 years old and players don't magically get better offensively once they are in their mid-20's. Nobody's has said he can't be a useful player in this league but he clearly has to play the way he's playing this season where he's constantly physical as he is not effective when trying to play a skill role. SuperMatt above nailed it.
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Forwards assisting at a 2nd line rate minute-for-minute and
shooting at 3.3℅ do "magically" start shooting normal forward percentages though, on account of even the worst players get lucky bounces from 40 feet out whereas Ferland was a scoring chance machine last year getting stonewalled by every goalie. The idea that physical play is the difference in Ferland's game is funny. The difference is he's not shooting 3% which is a worse percentage than most stay-at-home defensemen, so it doesn't look like he is a stone hands scrub getting by on a 2015 playoff series. Of course, playing in a system that suits his skillset helps him a bit too as he seems to thrive in a cycle game more than the rush game, but he was still producing as a passer/forechecker/defensive forward last year. Classic case of confirmation bias. He's scoring more this year and his +/- (lol) isn't in the black, therefore he must be hitting more and playing a simpler game.