Quote:
Originally Posted by Bingo
I honestly think hockey players need to be evaluated with filters. The filter you choose is what you are going to see.
If I put my "free agent signing 4 years for 4.5M and 2.5 years to go" filter on I'm seething angry every time he steps on the ice.
If I put on my "what's the best fourth line we can build" filter, then I actually like the guy.
I'll never force a filter on any fan, but if you deem him a fourth liner, he's a good one. If you look at the salaries on the team and where he sorts he's a hot mess.
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I used to think the same way, but I disagree now.
Last season, the 4th line was good until Brouwer eventually found his way there. Fine, he was having a poor year, and he would be rebound this season. I really believed he would. IIRC, Stajan was having a much better year until Brouwer joined him.
Brouwer LOOKED like he was about to turn it around this year. I thought to start the year, he was effective on the PK. He was making some good plays - that assist on Monahan's goal early in the year I thought was a thing of beauty, both in terms of skill and IQ/awareness.
However, that 4th line keeps getting hemmed-in. It keeps getting caught in the offensive zone. When the puck is turned over, I usually notice it has been a Brouwer missed shot, or lost board battle.
A good 4th liner is reliable defensively, plays with some jam, hopefully provides some speed out there, and hopefully can take a PK shift. Though I see him on the PK, the PK numbers have been awful this season (though it is turning around).
I am not a Brouwer hater, and I was convinced that last season could easily be explained away with the injury and adjusting to a new team. However, every line he finds himself on he manages to drag down, and if what I remember is correct, that includes the 4th line last season. I don't see him making enough positive contributions on a 4th line, and whenever it is sent out, I cringe at that line getting hemmed-in and sucking the energy out of the team. It isn't every shift, but it is often.
What makes you think he is a good 4th liner, even ignoring his salary and assuming he is a league-minimum contract? I just don't see it. I thought I would see it. I think at the start of the year I made a post or two that included him as 'great depth'. but over the last month I see Brouwer seemingly regressing again, rather than returning to form.
I honestly think that even if you ignore salaries, Freddie Hamilton is a more effective 4th liner. He is faster, he plays with more jam, he is harder on the forecheck, and he skates harder to recover. Maybe the advanced stats say differently, but I do believe if the organization ran with him for a while on the 4th line, that line would start improving a bit. Just my perception anyway (though Hamilton isn't my ideal 4th liner either, and I am in no way campaigning for him to get more ice-time).
I just don't see Brouwer as a good 4th liner at any price.