Quote:
Originally Posted by MsWoof
You can't just look at the points he's getting but look at the points he costs us with his lazy defensive play and penalties.
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Again, I'm not a fan of his, but what penalties? He has 6 PIM in 15 games, and from players that have played close to this amount on our team, only Read, Couturier and Gervais have less. And as far as his defensive play is concerned, I actually think this is a myth that has now been perpetuated here (same as the "playoff Danny" myth, even though he does produce at a somewhat higher pace then), and people are just sticking to it. I mean, I've watched him play and he does actually make some backchecking contributions, as well. I'm not saying he's as good defensively as, say, Read, but I think his defensive play is getting way more flack than it should. Plus, of the bad goals we've conceded, I can't remember many (or any, for that matter) where he was the culprit in being late to cover the rushing opposing forward. On the other hand, a lot of other forwards lauded for their defensive play have been. So I really don't see him costing us that many points with that. On the other hand, he is -2, so maybe I'm not seeing things as they are.