Quote:
Originally Posted by Resolute 14
Kylington would be the one sitting under Hartley too, dude. He's the 6th D, and he hasn't yet shown he should be higher.
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He's been used as the 6th D, yes.
He's been the beneficiariy of some sheltering, yes
those are things he cannot control.
By performance, 5v5 he has been
4th in shot attempts %
1st in unblocked shot attempts %
2nd in expected goals %
3rd in hits / minute
3rd in blocked shots / minute
4th in takeaways/ minute
1st in rush attempts / minute
2nd in individual scoring chances / minute
And yes, he has been on the wrong end of some rather chintzy penalty calls and visually awkward sequences - not unlike every other Dman on the team.
He has no upward mobility on the roster regardless of how he plays. And I agree there are things he could stand to work into his icetime, but I don't think there's any rational justification for treating him as the sixth D. If he falters hard with more opportunity, so be it. But arbitrarily being sent down like this is the team wearing blindfolds to their own player.
Hartley saw the raw ability or at least effort of players like Bennett, Gaudreau, Monahan, Brodie, Giordano, Byron, even Josh Jooris (lol) and put them in places to succeed. He ran a meritocracy. Not a perfect one, and he didn't have a ton of talent to work with or the best systems, but at least he knew to slot guys where they could succeed. Though he did overplay Bollig thinking we needed a fighter.