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Around the League 2019-2026 Edition

So, I don't want to beat the drum on Mitch all season. He's gone, I was one of the people here who was glad that he left, even if it meant a small step backwards in regular season success this season. But looking at the composition of his 3 points last night kind of underlines why I don't think he'll ever become a reliable source of playoff offence.

- Point #1 was a 2nd apple where Mitch receives the puck in his office, doing what he does, move away from the net with the puck

1762538157572.png

He does a good job drawing the winger on the point and does Mitch things by making a clean feed to the point. Point shot generates a rebound, Barbashev pots the rebound.

1762538228650.png

- Point #2 is a 3 on 2 rush where Marner and Eichel work the puck well in transition with a give and go

1762538351348.png

1762538379561.png

Mitch has full possession of the puck in the image directly above. Now, instead of being direct to the net with it because he has miles of space to work with:

1762538449348.png

He does Mitch things and glides behind the net

1762538505534.png

Barbashev cuts to the inside, Mitch finds him, primary apple. Obvious high level skill and vision at work, in no way am I claiming that this is luck or an undeserved point. What it is though is an example of the type of offence that dries up in the playoffs against good teams in tight games and Mitch's path of least resistance style of offensive generation. This is a puck that in a 1-1 playoff game in the 3rd period, it has to go to the fucking net and we've seen years of this with it just not.

The 3rd is Mitch back in his office, receiving a pass on the half boards as he moves away from the play

1762538705473.png

Circling high and shooting from a very low danger area

1762538736805.png

That finds it's way into the net on a deflection off of a defender. This is a point shot. This is the type of shot you want your defenders making with 2-3 forwards in tip or rebound positions in the playoffs. Not the type of shot you want your 100 point winger firing at the net. Again, it goes in so deserved point, but another example of the type of offensive play that we've historically seen evaporate in tight playoff games. I don't think you can win with a high paid core player who generates the vast majority of their offensive value with the puck on their stick in low danger areas.
 
MindzEye said:
So, I don't want to beat the drum on Mitch all season. He's gone, I was one of the people here who was glad that he left, even if it meant a small step backwards in regular season success this season. But looking at the composition of his 3 points last night kind of underlines why I don't think he'll ever become a reliable source of playoff offence.

- Point #1 was a 2nd apple where Mitch receives the puck in his office, doing what he does, move away from the net with the puck

View attachment 30407

He does a good job drawing the winger on the point and does Mitch things by making a clean feed to the point. Point shot generates a rebound, Barbashev pots the rebound.

View attachment 30408

- Point #2 is a 3 on 2 rush where Marner and Eichel work the puck well in transition with a give and go

View attachment 30409

View attachment 30410

Mitch has full possession of the puck in the image directly above. Now, instead of being direct to the net with it because he has miles of space to work with:

View attachment 30411

He does Mitch things and glides behind the net

View attachment 30412

Barbashev cuts to the inside, Mitch finds him, primary apple. Obvious high level skill and vision at work, in no way am I claiming that this is luck or an undeserved point. What it is though is an example of the type of offence that dries up in the playoffs against good teams in tight games and Mitch's path of least resistance style of offensive generation. This is a puck that in a 1-1 playoff game in the 3rd period, it has to go to the fucking net and we've seen years of this with it just not.

The 3rd is Mitch back in his office, receiving a pass on the half boards as he moves away from the play

View attachment 30413

Circling high and shooting from a very low danger area

View attachment 30414

That finds it's way into the net on a deflection off of a defender. This is a point shot. This is the type of shot you want your defenders making with 2-3 forwards in tip or rebound positions in the playoffs. Not the type of shot you want your 100 point winger firing at the net. Again, it goes in so deserved point, but another example of the type of offensive play that we've historically seen evaporate in tight playoff games. I don't think you can win with a high paid core player who generates the vast majority of their offensive value with the puck on their stick in low danger areas.
Click to expand...
I love all this, but if he's suddenly getting 3 points a game in the playoffs and taking over game 7 doing this shit, we are going to be pissed.
 
LeafOfFaith said:
I love all this, but if he's suddenly getting 3 points a game in the playoffs and taking over game 7 doing this shit, we are going to be pissed.
Click to expand...

We've seen this movie before though. Generate a bunch of regular season points from the perimeter of the game, even get hot on the PP for a bit in the playoffs, but when the games get really tight and are won or lost in the danger areas he's always on the outside because that's where he plays.

Vegas might get hot on the PP and he might put up some playoff points (he's done that for us before too), but we're dealing with a pretty good sample size of players now where he's nowhere to be found in higher intensity games.
 
Canadian PPG

Bedard 1.47 --- Celebrini 1.53 --- Stone 2.17
McDavid 1.40 --- MacKinnon 1.43 --- Scheifele 1.43
Batherson 1.36 --- Suzuki 1.36 --- Marner 1.31
Tavares 1.29 --- Crosby 1.26 --- Johnston 1.27
(Marchand 1.15 --- Strome 1.17 --- Wilson 1.14)





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