Quote:
Originally Posted by Immanuel
Well couturier is a tough cookie to crack. He wasn't put in a great situation but people have done better in the same situation. If you look at Pahlsson in Vancouver it looks a wee bit better.
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There's nothing tough to crack. He was exceptional defensively his first year. He played on the top PK unit and he was assigned to check the opposition's top line and did a fantastic job doing so while only being 19 years old. On top of it, Couturier also showed he has an offensive game that's only going to get better and better. He was a plus 18 and only averaged 14:08 of ice time per night. He didn't have the linemates that Landeskog and RNH had to work with, so I'd love to see if they could do what Couturier did. Pahlsson isn't a comparison to what Couturier has done because Couturier was a rookie.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Immanuel
I'll admit that I didn't pay much attention to him. 40% o-zone starts is certainly not sexy lol. I'll concede that it might be possible to paint him better than average but I don't see a way to interpret him as better than Landeskog for example.
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Once again, Couturier had nowhere near the linemates that Landeskog had. I would have love to have seen what Couturier could do with guys like Hartnell or Jagr or Voracek or Read or Simmonds on his wing. Simply put, the Flyers had the depth to afford to develop Couturier in an environment in which he wouldn't be expected to carry a team on his shoulders. Next season, I think it's very plausible that Couturier is moved to the 2nd line to be the center and Briere gets moved to the wing.
As for the O-Zone stats, once again, his linemates were Zac Rinaldo and Jody Shelly for most of the season.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Immanuel
I agree with you on that for sure. He played enough games to be considered on equal terms to Landeskog and anyone who played 82 games.
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Now, don't get me wrong. I really like Landeskog and think he's a great player. I also like RNH. But part of the problem I have with the Calder Trophy voting is that most of the voting community vote on stats alone. Until they start looking at the bigger picture of how the players affected their teams, guys who play a different role and don't put up the numbers will always be short changed in the end.
