I'm in the minority but I believe he will have a much better season next year. The guy is built for playoff hockey. Just got to get there first.

I would like to see a third line of Greening-Zbad-Lazar get some traction.
- Cup 06

Greening plays best when he forms the left side of the bingo line.Zsmith,greening,condra .Our 4th line should be this one

the only way to "fix" the greening situation is to trade greening.

Greening plays best when he forms the left side of the bingo line.Zsmith,greening,condra .Our 4th line should be this one

- top shelf 15

greening does look alot better when playing with condra

the only way to "fix" the greening situation is to trade greening.

- sen_smile

I would love to see greening gone don't even care if we have to take another bad contract aboard . I could see someone like buddy Robinson take his spot ?

If you can't deal him, then the only other option is to give him another chance I guess.

Haha look on the bright side

He can't POSSIBLY get ANY WORSE hahaha..haha........ha...

......

..

Can he change his game? He maybe needs to develop a real mean streak and become a Lulic type guy. Everyone says he's a freak in terms of strength well maybe he dummies a few guys and turns into a OK but dirty player... No more nice guy poop...
- riceroni

The problem with Greening (that was actually touched about not long ago) is that he has terrific speed but inexplicably always seems slow on the ice, the last to get to loose pucks etc, all of which can be traced to an almost complete lack of hockey sense. He can't anticipate, and thus is always caught reacting to plays, and his straightaway speed doesn't translate into quick changes of direction - in rink-length races for the puck, he'll usually beat out his opponent, but chasing after puck carriers in the offensive or defensive zones leaves him flat footed.

In the rare instances when he actually has the puck on his stick, he doesn't know what to do with it, and thus he either dishes it off prematurely or hangs on to it too long, until an opposing player can take it from him.

The physical tools are there, but I really don't think he'll ever equate the production he showed in his rookie season. And given that he's 28 now, what you see is pretty much what you get. There's no upside.

I'm in the minority but I believe he will have a much better season next year. The guy is built for playoff hockey. Just got to get there first.

I would like to see a third line of Greening-Zbad-Lazar get some traction.
- Cup 06

I agree completely. Seems like Sens fans are never happy unless they have somebody to rip. The problems of this team has little to do with third or fourth line skaters. The problem with this team was a first line that could not keep the puck out of its own end. Whether Greening stays or goes does not mean a lot to the eventual success or failing of the team.

I think he can be a good third liner. But it is hard to play good third line when you first line is struggling.

I agree completely. Seems like Sens fans are never happy unless they have somebody to rip. The problems of this team has little to do with third or fourth line skaters. The problem with this team was a first line that could not keep the puck out of its own end. Whether Greening stays or goes does not mean a lot to the eventual success or failing of the team.

I think he can be a good third liner. But it is hard to play good third line when you first line is struggling.
- spatso

Happy now, I guess?

Greening is crappy, but on most other teams he wouldn't be a real problem... A lot of teams have at least one marginal NHLer on an actual NHLer's salary.

The problem, as always, is that the extra 1-1.5 million of cap he's eating as compared to an entry-level player directly costs us a chance to retain actual talent up front.

I'd be fine with greening if he was put on the 4th line, and got 4th line minutes.

My problem is that, despite being an avg 4th liner, he's put on the "3rd line", and often gets the TOI you'd expect of a 2nd line player.

The salary also doesn't help

I liked Greening when he first came to town but over the last couple of seasons he hasn't been great at all. It's worth growing about because there was a hope he could play top 6 minutes and got signed to a generous contract, that indeed raised a few eyebrows at the time. He's ok for our bottom 6, but doesn't bring anything extra to the table like other guys like Condra (PK wizard) and Smith (can win some draws).

The concern I have is that he may get the same ice time, if not more than last year due to roster moves. It looks like we may loose a whole line from our forward group. Those minutes will have to replaced somehow and we all know how timid Mclean is playing young guys a lot at the start. Will be an interesting offseason. Greening could bounce back, but at his age, that doesn't seem very likely.

If you can't deal him, then the only other option is to give him another chance I guess.

Haha look on the bright side

He can't POSSIBLY get ANY WORSE hahaha..haha........ha...

......

..
- Trilla

Haha this is exactly what I was thinking.

The problem with Greening (that was actually touched about not long ago) is that he has terrific speed but inexplicably always seems slow on the ice, the last to get to loose pucks etc, all of which can be traced to an almost complete lack of hockey sense. He can't anticipate, and thus is always caught reacting to plays, and his straightaway speed doesn't translate into quick changes of direction - in rink-length races for the puck, he'll usually beat out his opponent, but chasing after puck carriers in the offensive or defensive zones leaves him flat footed.

In the rare instances when he actually has the puck on his stick, he doesn't know what to do with it, and thus he either dishes it off prematurely or hangs on to it too long, until an opposing player can take it from him.

The physical tools are there, but I really don't think he'll ever equate the production he showed in his rookie season. And given that he's 28 now, what you see is pretty much what you get. There's no upside.
- Heidi_w_

This analysis is spot on.

He has to sharpen his mental game if he ever hopes to contribute to success.

I don't understand why this is a mystery. A guy gets demoted so his shots go down and his goals go down. What am I missing?

I don't understand why this is a mystery. A guy gets demoted so his shots go down and his goals go down. What am I missing?
- Aetherial

Well, we knew he wouldn't be getting fit passes from Spezza, but he was still expected to drive play and be a thorn in the opposition's side, and get off a few low % shots per game.

He did none of those things, ended up looking like a complete waste of roster space and salary.

Boys, I think we should try to amass as many Oil Kings players from that roster as possible lol.

We have Lazar, maybe we can move Spezza to Phoenix for a defenceman and Samuelsson, and some combination of assets to NYI for Reinhart.

then we draft this Kulda kid earlier than he is projected in this year's draft.

Well, we knew he wouldn't be getting fit passes from Spezza, but he was still expected to drive play and be a thorn in the opposition's side, and get off a few low % shots per game.

He did none of those things, ended up looking like a complete waste of roster space and salary.
- TommyDeVito

... so he would fit right in on the Leafs

I guess what I don't understand is why the graph and the numbers. They didn't show me anything that actually explained anything.

Boys, I think we should try to amass as many Oil Kings players from that roster as possible lol.

We have Lazar, maybe we can move Spezza to Phoenix for a defenceman and Samuelsson, and some combination of assets to NYI for Reinhart.

then we draft this Kulda kid earlier than he is projected in this year's draft.


- TommyDeVito

I like this. Samuelsson is a beast.

I don't understand why this is a mystery. A guy gets demoted so his shots go down and his goals go down. What am I missing?
- Aetherial

The drop in shots and points per game is disparate to your standard regression here if you provide estimates by ice time.

That is, he's dropped off more than he should after losing a couple of shifts per game.

Not sure why everyone is so hard on Greening. He was paid based on his numbers the previous two seasons and the assumption that he has some potential based on his age. He played a top six role for a couple years on a thin team and his role has changed now that the sens are getting deeper. It's not that bad of a contract... If he keeps declining, buy him out after next year. No one will trade for him, or pick him up on waivers. Every team has their own projects right now.

Just let him develop a role where he can be successful, playing on a line with smith and condra. There are lots of effective checkers who don't fit or play like Brian Boyle (remember Chris Kelly??). The team takes enough penalties as it is.

The drop in shots and points per game is disparate to your standard regression here if you provide estimates by ice time.

That is, he's dropped off more than he should after losing a couple of shifts per game.
- Travis Yost

He was also only shooting 5.6% last year, with 96.6 PDO. This is unusually low for him. I don't have career numbers, but I think it should be closer to 9-10%. His on-ice corsi isn't all that bad, 50.7%. Maybe he's just had a bad year? Hoping...

Boys, I think we should try to amass as many Oil Kings players from that roster as possible lol.

We have Lazar, maybe we can move Spezza to Phoenix for a defenceman and Samuelsson, and some combination of assets to NYI for Reinhart.

then we draft this Kulda kid earlier than he is projected in this year's draft.


- TommyDeVito

Don't reach too much. Oilers reached for Moroz and at the time it was highly criticized. It's cooled down a bit though since he had a good year and playoff. From what I understand, he was always on a checking line up to this point.

You know what's crazy, if one team wanted to they could acquire Spezza, Sign Michalek (3.5M) Heatley ($2.5M)

You know what's crazy, if one team wanted to they could acquire Spezza, Sign Michalek (3.5M) Heatley ($2.5M)
- AlfieisKing

You could get Gretsky, Kurri and Semenko for a few beers and travel money as long as it is a worthy cause. Every living thing ages and ultimately decays. Crazy to give big long term contracts to any player 30 or older.

The problem with Greening (that was actually touched about not long ago) is that he has terrific speed but inexplicably always seems slow on the ice, the last to get to loose pucks etc, all of which can be traced to an almost complete lack of hockey sense. He can't anticipate, and thus is always caught reacting to plays, and his straightaway speed doesn't translate into quick changes of direction - in rink-length races for the puck, he'll usually beat out his opponent, but chasing after puck carriers in the offensive or defensive zones leaves him flat footed.

In the rare instances when he actually has the puck on his stick, he doesn't know what to do with it, and thus he either dishes it off prematurely or hangs on to it too long, until an opposing player can take it from him.

The physical tools are there, but I really don't think he'll ever equate the production he showed in his rookie season. And given that he's 28 now, what you see is pretty much what you get. There's no upside.
- Heidi_w_

At first, I thought you were describing Cowen. Then I read the speed part.