Quote:
Originally Posted by Bingo
Zadorov is about the lens you use to watch him.
He is below average defensively, and certainly makes gaffs, but he also makes it tough for opposing forwards to get blue chip chances when he's on the ice.
Pretty sure Sutter is aware of that.
With that said metrics suggest his last game was one of his worst in weeks so he may get a sit to get Valimaki in for Thursday.
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There's no doubt in my mind he'll be more important come playoff time as the game changes and ability to pin players and stop the cycle will be tremendously valuable. But in the regular season, his faults are more on display. I'm not even a huge Valimaki fan either, but for me, I think it makes more sense to play Zadorov in tight checking, low event games and give Valimaki the high event games where his vision and skill will be more prominent.
Full disclosure though, perhaps it's more so about me not wanting to see Valimaki pouting and for it to affect the room.