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Old 05-13-2024, 11:38 AM   #4156
FanIn80
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina View Post
Are you ignoring the other elite players those guys are surrounded by?
Remember when we had Bennett and made him a bottom-six winger? Then, in what ended up being his final season here, we finally asked him what position he wanted to play... and when he said "center," we ignored him and still made him a bottom-six winger?

Remember when we had Tkachuk and made him play with Backlund and Frolik as a checker for his first 5 years here? Remember when the team seemed to ostracize him for being too "loud" in the room and always trying to stir stuff up on the ice?


Bennett wasn't even off the plane in Florida, and they already had him slotted as their #2C. Just from scouting him, they knew we weren't using him properly. Not only did they make him the #2C, they gave him Huberdeau and Duclair as linemates, and they even gave him the #2PP. The result was Huberdeau's best-ever season (which we're now paying for... thanks Sam!).

From Tkachuk's first day in Florida, they embraced who he was. They marketed it to the fans. They not only let him be himself, they welcomed it into their dressing room. They allowed the entire culture of the team to be molded by it... and it started with 100% buy-in from Barkov, who was absolutely ecstatic about Chucky joining the team.


That's quite the contrast between the two organizations, wouldn't you agree?
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