Trotz will never do it. But tbh he has a point. Aho is just so small and gets pushed around so easily that idk if i want him playing 18 minutes a night.

Aho and Greene are pretty much the same size. Some of the best defensive defenseman in the league are under 5’11

But its not just size its strength. Aho gets pushed around so easily greene does not.

I disagree. It didn’t happen in the AHL and in his 3 games this year he held his own defensively. He just made one brutal turnover which is the reason why Trotz never used him again. Greene loses a ton of puck battles because not only is he not strong but he doesn’t have the mobility to evade pressure.

Aho deserves an extended look, but he’s not going to get it IMO. He’s an NHLer for sure though, hopefully someone picks him up on waivers, he’s a future 2nd pair , PP1 guy

I think it’s Aho/Hickey’s spot to lose right now. If they don’t play well we give Bolduc or Salo a chance.

Delete

Delete

Which defencemen win the most puck battles?Using @InStatHockey's tracked stats, here are the defencemen who came up with the puck at the highest rate in the 2020-21 season. pic.twitter.com/6RiCQ6tK7f

— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) September 8, 2021

Interesting - I was wrong. This is why using strictly eye test is flawed. I just looked up Andy Greenes analytics at even strength, and he had a negative impact on the isles , when Greene was on the ice the isles gave up more quality scoring chances. So while he wins puck battles, the other parts of his game are bad enough that overall he has a negative impact.

Im sure you saw the other post where it showed Mcavoy was in the bottom 3 for puck battles won and he’s a top 3 defenseman in the NHL. So in the grand scheme of things they don’t always mean much.

Oh completely agree greene sucks and should not be playing everyday. I just found this stat extremely interesting and remembered this post so i brought it up. I think the issue with greene is he wins the puck battles, and then gives the puck away. That doesnt really do much for his team besides screw them over.
Also imo mcavoy is the 4th best dman lol.

Yeah that’s probably accurate on Greene, he can’t evade pressure so he either gives it away or sends a bad pass to Dobson or one of the forwards.

I saw Leddy ranked last in puck battles won and he was also brutal defensively, I’ve always wondered why Trotz thought so highly of him. He talked him up all the time.

He talked him up bc trotz has his guys that he likes and thats that. You cant change his mind whatever they do. Remember earlier in the season when komarov was taking terrible penalties late in games and barry kept putting him out there down a goal with 5 minutes left? Its bc hes too stubborn he wont hear a bad word about leo.

For sure Trotz loved Leddy, but it can’t be because of his play - or there must be something im missing. Leddy was soft, couldn’t defend the slot, constant mental lapses in the Dzone. Maybe Leddy is a great guy off the ice because Trotz usually hates players that play like Leddy. If he was under the age of 25 he’d be a healthy scratch.

No trotz loved him before BT came to nyi. Idk how i dont think barry ever coached him before, but i think he loved leddy before they came here and once youre a trotz guy theres no going back.
I mean theres no other option bc like you said trotz hates those types of players so idk.

lol yeah i just don’t think it could be from his play, he’s a Trotz guy maybe because of his personality or something. I do think he was the reason Leddy wasn’t traded last season, he chose him over Toews which is insane because Toews is one of the best defensive defenseman in the league.

For sure. That was crazy. And then lou won the jim gregory. Maybe all the voters knew it was barrys idea bc otherwise its just crazy.

Yeah i hated Lou’s offseason last year but I really do think Trotz was the reason why they traded Toews. Isles took calls on Leddy and could have traded him for a mid-late rd pick. Lou always talks about how he regrets trading Toews and then a few months ago he said he wouldn’t let it happen with beau, pelech, sorokin.

I heard teams offered a 2nd for leddy. Tell me, would you trade leddy (now raty and panik) and a 2nd for toews? A terrible offseason but even so it still looks good going forward.

I would because Toews is on a bargain contract but if Raty turns into what I think he can, it extends the isles window. Isles have no one in the system besides Raty who has a chance at becoming a top 6 center. Obviously if you have a chance to trade for a #1 defenseman with 3 years left using Raty you have to do it - but it could turn out well for the isles in the end.