To me it's his skating and edge work that really concern me.
He just hasn't been able to get a step on d-men or accelerate like he's been able to in the past.
That leads to him playing in more traffic, more on the cycle, and less off the rush which has never been his strong suit.
So whether it was poor offseason training, or maybe some focus on adding more mass after his playoffs, something just hasn't worked this season from a skating/explosiveness perspective.
The other thing...and I don't have the full details (all i know is it wasn't drug/alcohol related)...but I've heard from what I would consider a reliable source that he did have some off-ice / personal issues in the offseason. It could be a factor on what we've seen on the ice from just a focus/off-season preparation perspective but it would make some sense based on other stuff we've seen/heard around Gaudreau this season.
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