Quote:
Originally Posted by Hot_Flatus
It's valid and contributing to his demise, but I still ask someone to explain how such a vaunted and talented offensive talent can be so awful with the man advantage too? I've yet to hear a sensible explanation as to why he is utterly useless in OT, or on the PP when there is so much more time and space compared to 5-5. It kind of works against the notion in the video that it's all systems based  .
There is still undoubtedly an effort and lack of compete in the player that is at the level where you can't say he's not trying, but he certainly isn't ever going to outbattle someone for a puck or positioning. |
The PP was the one area that I thought Huberdeau would be able to transfer over from Florida. I remember expecting to see a drastic dip in his 5 on 5 production, but figured he’d be at least relatively dangerous on the man advantage, mainly due to him playing the exact same system and same role he was use to.
From what I remember seeing of him in Florida, he mostly played on the left flank which is basically where he’s situated most of the time now. If I had to guess, I think his lack of production stems from this team’s inability to gain the zone.
Barkov was excellent in gaining the zone efficiently with possession which allowed his unit to set up quickly and not waste any precious seconds, that theoretically equates to more goals. You can’t say that with the team right now who burn half their PP just trying to set up.
I also don’t like how often he misses the net, that needs to be rectified at some point. He’s always trying to pick the corner when in reality, he just needs to the hit the net for a chance to score which can also create havoc from rebounds, tips and etc. The team really just needs a viable shooting threat on the flanks to gain the opposition’s respect.
That in theory should open things up if the defense cheats less. Right now they just give him the shot and take away all his passing lanes. When’s the last time we’ve seen him execute a cross seam pass? Never. That’s why he needs to shoot more and hit the net, because then lanes opens up and the cross seam one timer to Lindholm becomes an option which is something that I noticed worked in Florida with Barkov.
This is something that I remember seeing Gaudreau working on. We all know he didn’t have a great shot, but he still shot it a lot just to keep defenders honest. Then he could fake the shot and make that cross seam pass to Lindholm. That’s the key to a successful powerplay IMO, create threats, make defenders cheat and then punish them by taking the open ice. I thought Tkachuk was awesome at this and from the looks of it, has continued to flourish on the PP with the Panthers.