Quote:
Originally Posted by just_tim
If last year he had been playing in his preferred position and was allowed to do the things that got him paid and he still had the year he had, then pessimism would be warranted. But none of that happened - he was played on his off-wing for the majority of the season without great trigger men and forced to play in a very restrictive system that stifled creativity in order to get shot volume from the perimeter. I’m cautiously optimistic that the new brain trust won’t make that mistake again. His attitude seems very different now compared to what we saw at points during last season.
|
According to MoneyPuck, he played 52% on the right wing and 48% on the left wing. Technically most of the time, but essential split. Still probably more than you want for someone who isn't used to switching positions.
The funny thing though, is that his lines were actually more productive when he was on the right side. As a RW, his lines scored 30 goals and as a LW, his lines scored 18 goals. It should be noted that those stats only include goals scored by the forwards, but I doubt if you added goals scored by the defense, that the overall picture would change much.
Also worth noting that Kadri was his best line mate by a good margin, regardless of what side he was on.
The underlying issue was that the team was so thin on the RW. Someone had move over. A big chunk of his time on RW was to bring in Pelletier and give him Huberdeau to mentor him. It would have been more unfair to expect Pelletier to play on the RW.
Hopefully Sharangovich and Coronato on the RW helps the overall depth, although it's still a position of weakness I think.