Quote:
Originally Posted by Lanny_McDonald
Because he isn't? It isn't his strength or skill set? Mangiapane isn't a great puck carrier and his zone entries aren't fantastic. Where he excels is finding the soft spots and using his smarts to make plays happen. His best play is the dish to the slot from anywhere near the trapezoid. He is really good at finding soft spots low and predicting where the puck is going to be, finding that puck and then making the quick pass. Those plays come from other players carrying the play and Mangiapane flying under the radar. I think that is Mangiapane's greatest skill - going unnoticed. He's a guy that sneaks up on you makes you pay because you're focused elsewhere. Most of his goals are the "where did that guy come from" variety. When you're able to focus on him, he's easily neutralized. Don't get me wrong, Mangiapane has turned into a very effective player, he just needs the right line mates to let him really shine.
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Yeah, I can agree on the puck carrying. He doesn't look to excel at zone entries (although I haven't looked that up - not sure where people pull those stats from). Puck retrievals strike me as a strength though.
I feel like Mang is pretty good along the boards and his motor is fantastic. I see a pretty high "hockey IQ". He's good on the PK, he's got a shot for the PP (wonder if we see him elevated this year to PP1?), he's strong defensively, and isn't afraid to be around the net. I really like the player and scoring in this league is just something you get paid for and given his per-minute excellence on that front I see a lot of value in him.
The bit that gives me the biggest reason to pause was his agents comments (Last year?) where he said he'd be advising his client to sign a one year deal and then head straight to free agency to evaluate options...that's not exactly a warm and cuddly thought, and just like with Chucky - if you can't get him in on a contract with term that makes sense, I wonder if we haven't seen the last of Mang as a Flame.