Quoting: Jah1722
It’s literally game one and the whole team still struggled passing. So yes steel had his issues passing the puck as the whole team did. They tried to pass thru to many bodies/sticks.
He was with Getzlaf and played 11 min. Getzlaf got to 16ish but it’s clear Eakins is going with the hot line. The “4th” line played about 15-16 min last night because they were the best line going.
Defensively they looked rather unsure. There was a few times that the fwd and defenseman looked at each other about coverage on the half wall and then every single Dman had some pretty bad turnovers.
It’s game one and you’re overreacting. The team struggled passing for most of the preseason but they’ll figure it out and once the do you can start judging who’s been good or bad.
Agreed, it's also a new system with a lot more freedom. Players are going to take a while to adjust, perhaps even the whole season before they truly know what they should be doing in all situations.
Quoting: OrangeMallard
You say that Ritchie is a bust, but then expect to get a 2nd for him? You can't have it both ways. If he is a bust as you say then he's not worth more than a 3rd/4th
I personally believe that Ritchie, while not the player we hoped for, is still very serviceable as a third-liner. If Comtois wants to take his spot then he's going to have to out play him. I don't think we saw that in preseason
Not that I'm convinced we should be doing anything after 1 game, but, if changes are to be made, I'd be more interested in moving Henrique to LW and calling Lundestrom up to play C. That all-Swede line was very good during the playoffs. Not saying that Steel won't have the same success with Rakell and Silf if given a bit longer to gel, just stating my preferred change should they be made.
Quoting: tkecanuck341
What has Honka done to warrant a $1.5M contract? League minimum or he can GTFO to Liiga.
Agreed, or we could just pass on him all together because he's not very good and definitely no better than what we have (except Holzer, but we can't have all kids). Guhle needs more seasoning at the NHL level, but he's a strong skater. Meanwhile, Larsson was solid in his role last night, nothing crazy, but not a liability. Honka is bad defensively and a very "meh" skater.