It's blatantly obvious that Jonathan Huberdeau has been vastly underutilized here since his arrival. This is a player who would routinely play 20+ minutes a night last year - yet despite that has only hit that mark twice this season (3.8% of his games). This is a player who was brimming with confidence during the off-season and displayed immense signs of creativity and skill early in the preseason. The coach has gone out of his way to consistently drag his top players through the media by pounding the narrative that this team lacks high end talent. You don't think they hear this stuff? You don't think that has an effect on a players mental state? I do. I see a player that has absolutely tried to cater his style of play to the coaches demands - but what I don't see is the same give and take from Darryl. This is an elite talent that has less five on five icetime than the likes of Blake Coleman, Dillon Dube, Andrew Mangiapane, Nazem Kadri, and Mikael Backlund. That's inexcusable.
Also for all this talk about how Gaudreau and Tkachuk were able to produce in a Darryl led system - where is the acknowledgment that their production was virtually non-existent until the three big guns were put together? Johhny had his least productive stretch as a professional under Darryl prior to that line being thrown together out of necessity, and it wasn't due to an "acclimation" period. I have said it before - but Darryl hadn't had a player produce over a point per game in his system in over two decades prior to those three last season - and he's had some HOF level talent to work with. That speaks volumes about his inability to get the most out of his top end talent (atleast from an offensive standpoint).
From a statistical perspective this team is an almost carbon copy of his teams in LA during the last last three years there where they missed the playoffs twice during that span. Much like this years roster - those kings teams were analytically elite teams that struggled heavily with finishing. It's a reflection of the system that prioritizes getting shots towards the net instead of holding onto the puck and trying to setup more quality. Defensively we play a very aggressive man on man style which is absolutely great for suppressing shots and chances - but when a breakdown does occur it creates an immense amount of open space and room for the best players on the planet. While it all looks very nice on paper - there is legitimate reason to believe it's no longer a viable strategy in todays game.
Does Huberdeau also deserve some criticism? Yes, but to flat out ignore Darryl's complete inability to integrate his skillset into the lineup that allowed him to produce 115 points last year is ridiculous. History largely suggests that his lack of production can be directly tied to the our head coach.
This team is having no fun, and we can all attest to just how much that can limit your output and productivity.
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