Quote:
Originally Posted by Sidney the Kidney
I have to admit JT's changed my opinion of him this season. He's improved in the areas that I thought he was weak at (ie. strength, skating, play in all three zones) tremendously, to the point that he's literally a different player than the one I watched often during his junior career, and even his first two years in the NHL.
The strength thing isn't a surprise; all players get stronger when they go from "boy" to "man". But it's his skating that's allowed him to take this next step. He's always had the puck skills, but lacked the ability to do it at a high speed. Now he's got that ability. Also, JT's defensive game is night and day from his junior days. While he's probably not quite going to garner a bunch of Selke votes, he's not a liability in his own zone ... which couldn't really be said in junior/his season in the league.
Kudos to Tavares for improving in the areas he needed to. A lot of players would simply be content to carve out a path in the NHL with what they had coming into the league, and not bother to improve on the areas they're weak in. JT seems to be one of those who didn't take the easy route.
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I cannot believe the transformation in this player from Oshawa. There's almost nothing in his game that reflects his play in junior. This is NOT the player that I wanted Matt Duchene ahead of. I truly didn't think it was possible for Tavares to be this type of player, not after two years. Impossible to determine the level of commitment and desire a player has from stats, even from watching him play. Kudos to Snow for making the pick, this was NOT an easy pick as some suggest. I don't think Wang flies to Toronto, drives to Brampton to watch Matt Duchene play live if it was a no-brainer. Glad they made the right choice.
And Tavares is not even close to his peak, he's never played with elite players - that's the scary part.
I'll leave the comments for
this board only, but Tavares is playing like a flawless player, he reminds me of Crosby, just not as fast. I know many would scoff at the comparison but they share the same vision, work ethic, hockey sense, passing, shooting and tenacity around the puck, along the wall.
Obviously Crosby's much more accomplished and has excelled earlier and reached a higher peak - but there's definitely a lot of similarities in their leadership, playing style and on-ice contribution to their respective team.
