Is Florida still a bubble team once they stop giving so many starts to Bobrovsky? Seems like he is what is holding them back, so I’m not so quick to dismiss them.
Is Florida still a bubble team once they stop giving so many starts to Bobrovsky? Seems like he is what is holding them back, so I’m not so quick to dismiss them.
I think their biggest issue is the fact that they lost Marchment, Weegar, Tippett, and Duclair compared to last year. They'll need to do some cap massaging to bring Duclair back, and their blueline outside of Forsling is pretty gross. I think Ekblad is overrated, his best years came when Campbell or Weegar basically did all the #1D work outside of points.
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Is Florida still a bubble team once they stop giving so many starts to Bobrovsky? Seems like he is what is holding them back, so I’m not so quick to dismiss them.
I dunno. He's mercurial as a goalie. He looks awful one night but then is unbeatable the next. I do think there will be a transition to Knight as starter in the next year or so, but for now Bob is still the guy. I mean you have to let him earn his contract.
I think he cares, and he works hard, it's just that he's a little overzealous in his positioning and then can't scramble back like he used to. His style of play doesn't age well like the blocking goalies do.
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Tkachuk with a goal and assist tonight in a 5-1 win.
His goal was pretty...
I mean, come on, it's hard not to miss that a little as a Flames fan.
Those hands are definitely what I miss about him on the Flames. The OT winner against Nashville he got between the legs was one of the most memorable Flames goals I've ever seen. This one wasn't close to that, but another great display of skill.
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I dunno. He's mercurial as a goalie. He looks awful one night but then is unbeatable the next. I do think there will be a transition to Knight as starter in the next year or so, but for now Bob is still the guy. I mean you have to let him earn his contract.
I think he cares, and he works hard, it's just that he's a little overzealous in his positioning and then can't scramble back like he used to. His style of play doesn't age well like the blocking goalies do.
I just going to call him out for what he is- horrible. You're right that he occasionally looks great but you can find any backup in this league that sometimes looks good. But I would take someone like Vladar in a heartbeat over him given equal salaries. They sent him to a shrink in Columbus so it's all probably mental with him. Just and incredibly frustrating goaltender to watch, inconsistent and shaky even on good nights.
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Originally Posted by JohnnyB
Those hands are definitely what I miss about him on the Flames. The OT winner against Nashville he got between the legs was one of the most memorable Flames goals I've ever seen. This one wasn't close to that, but another great display of skill.
People are probably going to throw a fit for me saying this but it doesn't help seeing Tkachuk borderline dominate the league while Huberdeau has been straight up awful, especially 5v5. Eight ES points in 23 games, only two goals and on pace for less than 15. At least on the PP he is producing now but I don't see much if any indication of him coming around 5v5.
People are probably going to throw a fit for me saying this but it doesn't help seeing Tkachuk borderline dominate the league while Huberdeau has been straight up awful, especially 5v5. Eight ES points in 23 games, only two goals and on pace for less than 15. At least on the PP he is producing now but I don't see much if any indication of him coming around 5v5.
Not only has Huberdeau been disappointing in comparison so far, but I also find myself even more disappointed in Markstrom because after losing Johnny and Tkachuk it looks like last year was possibly the team's best chance at a cup run until he completely blew the Oilers series.
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I'll preface this by saying Huberdeau has been below expectations, for sure. But here's why I think things will turn around and he'll put it together.
I think Huberdeau this year is being asked to play a much different role 5 on 5 than he has in the past. He's being asked to be more defensively responsible and careful about puck possession. His Corsi (56%), Fenwick (55%), and On-Ice xGF% (58.2%) is the highest by far that it's been at any point in his career. These are all measures of controlling possession.
He's given the puck away at 5 on 5 this season 7 times in 23 games, which puts him on pace for 24 giveaways in 79 games (.304 giveaways per game). Last season, he gave the puck away 62 times in 80 games 5-on-5 (.775 giveaways per game), and in the last five seasons in Florida he gave it away 269 times in 366 games (.735 giveaways per game).
Again, no question that he's struggled with the offensive side of the game, but I think it's a result of trying to be more defensively responsible and not take the same chances that he has been the last few years. He's on pace for 9.6 xGF at even strength, which is about 63% of his goal production last year, but where he's really hurting are assists. His offensive zone starts are way down and his points per 60 minutes at even strength are about half of what they were last year.
On the Power Play, he's producing pretty much at the clip you'd expect him to. A little down from last year (6.96 P/60 compared to 7.81 P/60 last year), but he's getting way less PP time than he was in Florida (59.2% share of ice time compared to 72.5% in Florida).
Points per 60 on the Power Play the last four years in Florida: 7.81, 5.83, 7.02, 6.96
This year in Calgary: 6.96
Does he need to be better at 5-on-5? Yep. Has he been absolutely dreadful? Not really, he's been much more responsible, and I think as he learns the system and gets more comfortable he will start to take some of those chances again that he's taken in the past and create some magic. He's been over a point per game the last four years, and I have no reason to believe he won't get there again this year.
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I'll preface this by saying Huberdeau has been below expectations, for sure. But here's why I think things will turn around and he'll put it together.
-snip-
Does he need to be better at 5-on-5? Yep. Has he been absolutely dreadful? Not really, he's been much more responsible, and I think as he learns the system and gets more comfortable he will start to take some of those chances again that .
I was going to make a thread on this but this post summed it up entirely. Huberdeau is not scoring a lot but he is scoring a lot more than the other team is while he’s out there. He leads the team in 5v5 splits.
Might be due to playing with Lindholm a lot but it’s a good indication that he can steady and be the guy to have out there when it matters.
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It probably also hurts perception of Huberdeau that he came in as more of a Johnny replacement than a Tkachuk replacement, even though the trade was for Tkachuk, and Johnny is an incredibly hard player to match up with in terms of entertainment value. Having improved corsi etc. doesn't bring people out of their seats.
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I'll preface this by saying Huberdeau has been below expectations, for sure. But here's why I think things will turn around and he'll put it together.
I think Huberdeau this year is being asked to play a much different role 5 on 5 than he has in the past. He's being asked to be more defensively responsible and careful about puck possession. His Corsi (56%), Fenwick (55%), and On-Ice xGF% (58.2%) is the highest by far that it's been at any point in his career. These are all measures of controlling possession.
He's given the puck away at 5 on 5 this season 7 times in 23 games, which puts him on pace for 24 giveaways in 79 games (.304 giveaways per game). Last season, he gave the puck away 62 times in 80 games 5-on-5 (.775 giveaways per game), and in the last five seasons in Florida he gave it away 269 times in 366 games (.735 giveaways per game).
Again, no question that he's struggled with the offensive side of the game, but I think it's a result of trying to be more defensively responsible and not take the same chances that he has been the last few years. He's on pace for 9.6 xGF at even strength, which is about 63% of his goal production last year, but where he's really hurting are assists. His offensive zone starts are way down and his points per 60 minutes at even strength are about half of what they were last year.
On the Power Play, he's producing pretty much at the clip you'd expect him to. A little down from last year (6.96 P/60 compared to 7.81 P/60 last year), but he's getting way less PP time than he was in Florida (59.2% share of ice time compared to 72.5% in Florida).
Points per 60 on the Power Play the last four years in Florida: 7.81, 5.83, 7.02, 6.96
This year in Calgary: 6.96
Does he need to be better at 5-on-5? Yep. Has he been absolutely dreadful? Not really, he's been much more responsible, and I think as he learns the system and gets more comfortable he will start to take some of those chances again that he's taken in the past and create some magic. He's been over a point per game the last four years, and I have no reason to believe he won't get there again this year.
I don't think it's a surprise now that he has been asked to play responsibly and more defensively that his defensive stats are better. But he was acquired and will get paid to not only put up big numbers but to also be a difference maker and it's very concerning how far he is from that right now. It's not even close.
He's always been a PP wizard so I don't doubt he'll keep racking up points there. Even strength though I think you are seeing an offensive player trying to re-invent his game and to me currently he doesn't look good at all.
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I don't think it's a surprise now that he has been asked to play responsibly and more defensively that his defensive stats are better. But he was acquired and will get paid to not only put up big numbers but to also be a difference maker and it's very concerning how far he is from that right now. It's not even close.
He's always been a PP wizard so I don't doubt he'll keep racking up points there. Even strength though I think you are seeing an offensive player trying to re-invent his game and to me currently he doesn't look good at all.
Has Huberdeau really been that good defensively though? From what I’ve seen, Lindholm is the guy that really drives the strong defense from that line. He’s the best checker on the team, he’s extremely hard to play against in all zones and he never seems to be caught in a compromising situation. I think I remember hearing one of the assistant coaches say that they single Lindholm out in video sessions for always being in the right spot.
Even Backlund who Huberdeau played with a lot is having a heck of a season defensively as well. So it could just be circumstance. Regardless though, his defensive stats are very good, so that area of the ice, he’s probably doing just fine relatively speaking.
Where he and whatever line he plays with will get judged the most though his ability to produce. The team counts on his even strength production and it’s not even close to enough. I find good top lines generally have that ability to be offensively dangerous shift after shift.
But our top line doesn’t seem to have that quality, they’re sort of just mixed in the shuffle. They can go an entire game and not be noticed which shouldn’t be the case. The PP production has certainly helped out Huberdeau’s cause, but he didn’t earn an $84M extension by being a PP specialist. He had 72 EVP last season and right now, he’s on pace for 26, that would just be an unfathomable drop, like a fraction of his previous total. So that’s where he needs to pick it up the most ro help this team win.
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I don't think it's a surprise now that he has been asked to play responsibly and more defensively that his defensive stats are better. But he was acquired and will get paid to not only put up big numbers but to also be a difference maker and it's very concerning how far he is from that right now. It's not even close.
He's always been a PP wizard so I don't doubt he'll keep racking up points there. Even strength though I think you are seeing an offensive player trying to re-invent his game and to me currently he doesn't look good at all.
You have to keep in mind that Huberdeau is also a pass-first guy, so when he comes to a team that lacks quality finishers…well, here we are.
Toffoli/Kadri/Lindholm/Andersson/Hanifin is no Ekblad/Barkov/Giroux/Reinhart/Duclair
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Has Huberdeau really been that good defensively though? .
Huberdeau has never been a defensive guy so no, but comparatively to his previous years it's not a surprise his stats are better.
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Originally Posted by ComixZone
You have to keep in mind that Huberdeau is also a pass-first guy, so when he comes to a team that lacks quality finishers…well, here we are.
Toffoli/Kadri/Lindholm/Andersson/Hanifin is no Ekblad/Barkov/Giroux/Reinhart/Duclair
Yeah he is heavily pass first, probably the most pass first guy in the entire league. But I don't think it's the lack of finishing, it's the lack of creating quality chances consistently. There are games I barely notice him on the ice.
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Huberdeau has never been a defensive guy so no, but comparatively to his previous years it's not a surprise his stats are better.
Yeah he is heavily pass first, probably the most pass first guy in the entire league. But I don't think it's the lack of finishing, it's the lack of creating quality chances consistently. There are games I barely notice him on the ice.
He's not a gamebreaker. Calgary lost two of them and didn't get one back. Thats noticeable.
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He's not a gamebreaker. Calgary lost two of them and didn't get one back. Thats noticeable.
To be clear I still think it's mostly a system fit problem with him, he would look much better in a system that utilizes his strengths more. But no, I never thought of him as a game breaker just a very good complimentary piece.
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