Quoting: Jimbo1119
Kakko came out of the gate strong this year (even though no points) and then got hurt...since he has returned he definitely seems out of sync....but so does the rest of the team. Miller has struggled since the middle of last year- when most blamed his drop in play on his 1st year with an NHL schedule. Fact is both these guys are NHL players...doing what most young NHL players do: struggle. Unless either or both of these guys are forced from the lineup the only solution is to stay the course and work through their difficulties.
If things were "flowing" overall for the team it would be easier for all the young guys to find their way...but Zib, Panarin, and Kreider (at 5X5) are all in a funk as well. At this point their struggles are most likely because they are trying to adjust on the fly to a new coach and system...so gotta give a little time. But a bigger problem- which could be the root of what's going on- is that the D is terrible. System? Maybe...but I'm going with over reliance on Nemeth and Tinordi. These guys have been atrocious. Remove the road cones from the D...re-insert puck moving D men...and the result might just bring some pace and flow to the team's game- which will benefit all. The answer is certainly NOT to continue deploying D men who can't move the puck...can't clear the D zone...and for that matter neither of these guys are good at clearing the front of the net either!
sure kreider is struggling with his 8 goals. sure 5 of those were powerplay goals but 1 that doesnt mean hes been bad 5 on 5, and 2 scoring on the powerplay is literally his thing, it's still 8 goals lmao.
the thing with miller rn is he doesnt get time on the powerplay, but he does on the pk. he and trouba are kinda the shutdown pair, and theyre doing pretty well in those roles. just looking at his points doesnt give you the whole story at all. kakko lost time to injury, yes. but he certainly didnt look good before it, and hes looked invisible after it. hes visibly struggling to make an impact offensively, despite playing with strome and panarin. ive no doubt he'll turn it around though, youre right about it being an adjustment period with the new coach and a new playing style. i mean the team has one of the lowest GF's in the league, which is why their 6-3-3 record is pretty impressive, and why i wouldnt say miller has been struggling. sure most of that is down to shesterkin, but we've been really solid defensively. yes we were bailed out at times, but for the most part the shots against shesterkin have been blocked, or havent been good scoring chances, mostly down to our defense, and that our forwards like zibanejad have been pretty good defensively.