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Originally Posted by timbit
Interesting!
Except Gaudreau’s greatest assets are supposed to be his creativity and playmaking ability! Who does it better than him...when he is in the right mindset and willing to pay the price?
Not many....he needs to be more courageous in traffic, IMO. He has shown he is more than capable.
Pretty sure you’re barking up the wrong tree.
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Who says he can’t be creative and make plays without the puck?
It’s not that I don’t think he has the ability, he clearly does.
But he’s also 5 foot 2 and weighs 115 lbs in the National Hockey League. As soon as he touches the puck, some gorilla comes over to slash him in the hands or back, and he isn’t large enough or strong enough to protect the puck with his body.
The nature of the sport is such that you can’t really say “don’t carry the puck, Johnny”; he goes where the puck is going to be, it’s gonna be on his stick more than not.
But you can draw up schemes to reduce the amount of time Gaudreau spends carrying the puck 5v5. On the power play, who cares - with the extra space, let him hold the biscuit for the whole two minutes if he wants.
Johnny is as dynamic a player as you could ask for, and it’s incumbent on the coaches to be creative and take full advantage of him.
I don’t think they’ve done that the last 18 months, and I know it’s on Johnny as well. We’ve just spent two months talking about trading the guy, it’s certainly worth considering that he’s not being used correctly.
Simply handing him the puck and saying “go get em, tiger,” doesn’t seem to be doing it.