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Peter O'Neil's avatar

Good piece. I've already mentioned this on twitter -- that I love his power, offensive instincts, and self-confidence. But his d-zone mobility, especially skating backwards, is brutal. Just look at how shaky he is in those situations. Falls when no one's around him. Wobbles. Last nite he collided with another big guy and went flat on his ass. He knew it was coming. That suggested to me the issue is his lack of balance, edges, whatever. I find it alarming, frankly, given his age. You'd think skating backwards would be mandatory for any teenage d-an triple A or higher. I understand now why so many scouts had him outside, or far outside, the top 10. Even Pronman calls his skating "wonky."

I also thought it was unwise for him to say "I know I can play at this level." Facing AHL players, prospects, and vets just tuning up for the regular season isn't NHL level. Ask Jiri Smejkal. Or a legion of guys who led pre-season scoring and it was the last coolthing they ever did.

Hopefully Redden can help him at least smooth these rough edges.

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David's avatar

The immortal Brian Bochenski, King of Preseason.

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David's avatar

Good column. Call me old school, but I am 100% on team "send him back". That has generally always worked for previous top D prospects (eg Redden, Phillips, Karlsson, Chabot, Sanderson)

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Peter O'Neil's avatar

I think sitting him out tonight may be a signal that it's time to pack your bags, kid. None of the top six are injured, which makes it easier.

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Peter O'Neil's avatar

And as Graeme said, the underlying numbers weren't great and we do have an analytics guru Staios listens to.

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David's avatar

St Louis' plea for decorum in the game is a bit laughable when he puts Xhakej in the lineup.

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