Quote:
Originally Posted by dino7c
an not to pile on but Gaudreau seems to have totally abandoned his defensive game...Sutter got the best out of him on both ends IMO
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I don’t think Gaudreau has necessarily abandoned the defensive side of the game, it’s just that he’s playing for a really awful team and awful teams have a way of sinking your defensive game.
Gaudreau was never elite in his own end anyway; although he was terrific in Darryl’s system in the way he could back check and support the D so they could step up and make plays at their blue line. I also think Johnny misses Tkachuk because he really helped to mask Johnny’s biggest weakness which was along the half wall area.
But really, I think it ultimately speaks more to how good Darryl’s system is than anything else. The way Sutter positions his F3 and the way he attacks the points is a thing of beauty. So personally, I think Darryl almost has a way of artificially elevating player’s defensive metrics.
Even just looking at how Gudbranson and Gaudreau’s numbers have tanked and how Huberdeau and Weegar’s numbers have skyrocketed despite their occasional shoddy work in their own end speaks to that. Also, just comparing the way San Jose defends and how Darry’s team defends is another example of how good Sutter’s system is. He just makes it a lot easier to defend as a 5 man unit. The support through the neutral zone, they way they pressure in their own end, it’s really quite impressive.