Michael Stuart: A Return to Regularly Scheduled Programming

Ah Zaitzev.

Gotta love him.

totally agree with sending brann down.

but who do you call up?

seems like jaros is Injured a bunch, lajoie struggling, englund hasnt looked great up here In his short runs.

Jordan Murray's maybe?

maybe bring up ahl guy to ride the pressbox and put golubuf in lineup

wolanin is still a few months out. if he were back I think brann would have been in ahl since start of season

......meanwhile Marc Methot.

Glad to see the Sens got back on script.

It was a total let down in all segments of their game starting with a soft goal right from the start.

There is only one rule after this kind of game. Forget about it. Everything broke down, nothing worked the way it should. Just pretend it never happened.

We will more nights like last night. Come the draft next June, we may be grateful.

Speaking of, San Jose appears to be doing better. Big 4 point game tonight against tyhe oilers.

I struggle with the notion that Chabot would be better playing with Demelo. I really dislike it when people say player A has to play with player B to be successful. Is player A that actually that good if that is the case? Chabot is supposed to be the new franchise d-man but he can’t play with anyone besides Demelo? C’mon. I’m not in anyway saying Zaitsev has been “good” and I agree Demelo is slightly better than Zaitsev, but Zaitsev is not directly causing any of Chabot’s giveaways, poor defensive positioning and awareness, and average (at best) puck movement. I feel people are using the current pairing as an excuse for Chabot’s struggles rather than actually point the finger at him because of the sexy contract he received, perhaps prematurely.

I’d like to see a Chabot–Demelo pairing just to see if some blame can be placed properly. Chabot had a good season last year but was really only showing elite offensiveness, which actually wasn’t consistent over 82 games. His defensive play has always been mediocre.

I struggle with the notion that Chabot would be better playing with Demelo. I really dislike it when people say player A has to play with player B to be successful. Is player A that actually that good if that is the case? Chabot is supposed to be the new franchise d-man but he can’t play with anyone besides Demelo? C’mon. I’m not in anyway saying Zaitsev has been “good” and I agree Demelo is slightly better than Zaitsev, but Zaitsev is not directly causing any of Chabot’s giveaways, poor defensive positioning and awareness, and average (at best) puck movement. I feel people are using the current pairing as an excuse for Chabot’s struggles rather than actually point the finger at him because of the sexy contract he received, perhaps prematurely.

I’d like to see a Chabot–Demelo pairing just to see if some blame can be placed properly. Chabot had a good season last year but was really only showing elite offensiveness, which actually wasn’t consistent over 82 games. His defensive play has always been mediocre.
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

I know that WOWY analysis has its issues, and the sample size for Chabot away from Zaitsev this year is small, but the contrast is so stark that that it leads me to believe that there's something to it. With Zaitsev at 5v5, Chabot's CF% is 42.45% and xGF% is 43.8%. In admittedly very limited minutes away from Zaitsev, those numbers jump to the ~60% range for Chabot.

I can't draw any firm conclusions from that given the sample sizes and noise around WOWY numbers, but it's enough to make me want to try something else.

I know that WOWY analysis has its issues, and the sample size for Chabot away from Zaitsev this year is small, but the contrast is so stark that that it leads me to believe that there's something to it. With Zaitsev at 5v5, Chabot's CF% is 42.45% and xGF% is 43.8%. In admittedly very limited minutes away from Zaitsev, those numbers jump to the ~60% range for Chabot.

I can't draw any firm conclusions from that given the sample sizes and noise around WOWY numbers, but it's enough to make me want to try something else.
- Michael_Stuart

I’m on board with trying something different. You’re in a rebuild year, experiment with lines. Especially when Zaitev is not really a rebuilding block.

My biggest issue is that there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of accountability thrown Chabot’s way. The guy has even struggled during powerplays. I get there is not a lot of talent to grab assists like last year, but he just looks like an average player out there 90% of the time.

A little accountability to Chabot himself would not be a bad thing.

I’m on board with trying something different. You’re in a rebuild year, experiment with lines. Especially when Zaitev is not really a rebuilding block.

My biggest issue is that there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of accountability thrown Chabot’s way. The guy has even struggled during powerplays. I get there is not a lot of talent to grab assists like last year, but he just looks like an average player out there 90% of the time.

A little accountability to Chabot himself would not be a bad thing.
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

No disagreement from me. He's been bad too. Ideally you want someone with Chabot's new contract to be able to carry Zaitsev rather than be weighed down by him - e.g. Victor Hedman and whoever Cooper plays him with. But that might be a bit much for him at this stage.

The part about Zaitsev that I don't get is that he's seemingly better cast in a 2nd pairing role as a puck-moving d-man with a bit of PP time. It's great that he's willing to play 23min/gp, block 200 shots/year, and only have PK as special teams exposure. But it seems like a mistake to be using him primarily as a defensive conscience for a young player who really needs someone to mentor him... or at least cover his back, and allow him to play more aggressively with the puck. Not to mention that the team's PP% is at effing 6.6% right now. I know the primary goal of the season isn't to win a ton of games, but wtf is that?

They might want to consider putting Brannstrom back in the AHL, moving Zaitsev to the 2nd pairing, reuniting DeMelo and Chabot as the top pairing, and signing someone like Adam McQuaid or Mark Methot to a 1yr deal as a stop-gap. That gives you another NHL-tenured d-man to help out while Wolanin is injured and Brannstrom gets some confidence back, adds a bit more physical/defensive ability to the blueline, and gives Dorion another inexpensive veteran contract to offer up at the trade deadline, and possibly package up to get a half-decent return.