Veteran Leadership and Grit

[Husky]

The next change should be to gut he 4 line. Stajan and brouwer are useless.

The 3rd line was fixed with hathoway and jankowski additions.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

But on balance they have produced at expected levels. You think Gaudreau should be top 5 in scoring?

This team was built from the defense out. Which means we should be strong in our own zone, they should be contributing offensively and helping shore up the 4th line. That is the part of the team that is not producing as needed.

When Monahan and Gaudreau were scoring like crazy and Smith was rock solid, we were still far from a powerhouse team. That should be troubling. There was no reason to expect they would continue at those levels.

Brouwer is an easy scapegoat for a reason. He is not doing any of the things he was hired to do.

Gaudreau and Monahan's overall totals mask the fact that they had an incredibly hot streak and an incredibly cold streak. And when they aren't producing - they are virtually useless.
The top players in the game are consistent and find ways to contribute even if they are not finding the back of the net.
It isn't about whether or not they are top 5 or top 10 in scoring - it is about their overall games and consistency (or lack thereof).

They have been awful of late. Do you disagree?

Again I'm puzzled as to why it seems like many fans have a hard time pointing the finger at these guys. Particularly Johnny - no one wants to criticize the guy even when he makes a game costing mistake.

If those two don't find more consistency this team will never take the next step regardless of who the coach is, or who is playing on the fourth line.

Brouwer, Stajan, Bartowski - meh. Those guys simply don't matter.

This team lives and dies by Johnny, Monahan, Gio, Brodie, Hamilton, Backlund, Smith, etc. You want the team to turn it around - it is on their shoulders.

[Azhouse]

Originally Posted by bubbsy

Brouwer sucks.

My 9 year old son and I involuntarily mutter this phrase every time that he is noticed on the ice (very little).

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Wild GM

Gaudreau and Monahan's overall totals mask the fact that they had an incredibly hot streak and an incredibly cold streak. And when they aren't producing - they are virtually useless.
The top players in the game are consistent and find ways to contribute even if they are not finding the back of the net.
It isn't about whether or not they are top 5 or top 10 in scoring - it is about their overall games and consistency (or lack thereof).

They have been awful of late. Do you disagree?

Again I'm puzzled as to why it seems like many fans have a hard time pointing the finger at these guys. Particularly Johnny - no one wants to criticize the guy even when he makes a game costing mistake.

If those two don't find more consistency this team will never take the next step regardless of who the coach is, or who is playing on the fourth line.

Brouwer, Stajan, Bartowski - meh. Those guys simply don't matter.

This team lives and dies by Johnny, Monahan, Gio, Brodie, Hamilton, Backlund, Smith, etc. You want the team to turn it around - it is on their shoulders.

I feel like you only read half my post just so you could make the same point again. This team isn’t built to be carried by only those two. Yes they should be more consistent but even they were lights out this team wasn’t dominating anyone. And that was with terrific goaltending. You should ask yourself why. This team’s problems go beyond the last 10 games.

And Brouwer doesn’t matter because he’s no good? So if Gaudreau was only good enough to be a 3rd line winger he wouldn’t matter either? The fact they have had to hand Brouwers ice time over to other players, who aren’t much better, is a big old problem IMO.

I wish Gaudreau and Monahan were more consistent and were top 5 forwards in the league. I wish I was taller and better looking too. In my opinion Treliving knows he doesn’t have a dominant top line and so focused on building the defense. It has yet to work.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Yes if Johnny was only a third liner he would matter less. That’s my point. Fans are focused on the guys that actually matter the least in my view.

[Strange Brew]

Well I understand that and I agree that Gaudreau gets some extra rope from fans simply because he is more exciting to watch than the others. But Brouwer is “supposed” to be more than a 4th liner. If Gaudreau was demoted to the 4th line that wouldn’t absolve him of blame. The team would be royally screwed.

[Karl]

Originally Posted by savardandjokinen

Stajan just isn’t an NHL player. I think he works hard but the guy is just plain not good enough anymore. If Brouwer were to throw hits and lead by example on the ice, I think he’d do his job. However he seems to doddle around and not do anything beneficial on the ice.

No. He would only be partially doing his job if he even did that, but not fully.

[Karl]

Originally Posted by Wild GM

Brouwer, Stajan, Bartowski - meh. Those guys simply don't matter.

Enough with this nonsense. They do matter.

They matter because they are no good.

Stajan is no longer an NHL level player. It's looking like Brouwer may not be an NHL level player anymore either. Meanwhile, Bartkowski has always sucked and never ever was NHL calibre. He should never have seen another NHL game after his time as a Boston Bruin. There is a good reason why he was called 'Tank commander Bart' in Vancouver.

They matter because they can't do anywhere near enough to pick up any slack when Johnny & Mony aren't getting it done.

At best they are neutral and don't do much of anything either way when they are playing well for them. At worst, however, they hurt the team. When they mess up, they can't make up for it because they can't do much of anything to positively at all to affect the score sheet and help the team offensively.

They matter a lot more than you want to admit.