Quote:
Originally Posted by transplant99
His skating "issues" are and always have been ridiculously overblown.
He isn't the quickest, but he is one of (if not the), strongest skaters in the game.
He has always displayed the ability to get where he needs to be, with and without the puck, and then be able to use his ass and his strength to hold his spot.
Just a tremendous hockey player....and the biggest pain in the butt to other teams in the game.
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As a fan that watched him a lot I wouldn't say the skating issues are overblown. He's straight up not a great skater. He's managed to overcome his footspeed with his elite skills and hockey sense as there are few players in the league as good as him around the net. Still he's 25 years old and I think the skating issues are something that will be something to watch as he gets into his 30's. It's possible he needed to be in a place where his creativity was allowed to flourish as we just never saw this version of him in Calgary especially in the playoffs. I'm not a big Paul Maurice fan but him letting Tkachuk loose has definitely worked out but it also helps when you have a goaltender playing god mode.