[Cali Panthers Fan]

I think there was a dearth of teaching in this last coaching regime. We saw that he gained some positive steps under Hartley, but due to Bob's lack of defensive focus, his defensive game suffered. Then we had Gulutzan et al confuse the hell out of him for a couple of years, and do little effective teaching (otherwise we wouldn't see the same mistakes from him time and again). This led to a regression in his play and mediocre results.

I only have to look at the effect that Jagr had on him in a short amount of time. When he was healthy, that line was all kinds of dangerous (along with Jankowski). Nobody can sit here and tell me that Jagr wasn't a much more effective teacher than Gulutzan has ever been. As soon as Jagr was shelved with injuries, Sam's game regressed again. Part of that has to do with the drop in talent as Hathaway can't hold a candle to a legendary hall of famer, but still, Sam just didn't look the same or show the same passion.

Could we hire Jagr as a special skill consultant? I still say the teaching he could do would be extremely beneficial to a team. His experience and success is second to none, and if given a full season he could really develop some players. I harken back to his time spent with the Panthers where he turned Barkov and Huberdeau into perennial all-star level players, and even had a hand in turning Marchessault into the force he is now.

Sam just needs a good mentor. It will fix a lot of the problems in his game.