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Leaf Rumours

other than last year, when zajac missed all but 15 games and the devils had to rely on a rookie, henrique, in its top six, elias has pretty much only ever been a part time centre. this year he really didn't play centre at all.

he is also brutal on faceoffs (kadri bad).

i expect him to re-up with the devils but if doesn't somebody is going to sign him to play on the wing, not centre.
 
faceoffs are pretty much the reason why he doesn't stick at centre. he's certainly got the rest of the game for it.

in terms of how much time he's spend at C, here's his total faceoffs taken team ranks:

2012-13: 5th
2011-12: 3rd
2010-11: 3rd
2009-10: 4th
2008-09: 6th
2007-08: 3rd
2006-07: 11th
2005-06: 12th
 
What is it that exactly that enables someone to become elite in the face-off dot, while others just can never conquer it?......is it just a matter of putting in the time to cultivate the skill, god given hand eye coordination, or fast-twitch muscle reaction?
 
What is it that exactly that enables someone to become elite in the face-off dot, while others just can never conquer it?......is it just a matter of putting in the time to cultivate the skill, god given hand eye coordination, or fast-twitch muscle reaction?

calves
 
What is it that exactly that enables someone to become elite in the face-off dot, while others just can never conquer it?......is it just a matter of putting in the time to cultivate the skill, god given hand eye coordination, or fast-twitch muscle reaction?

not even jesus knows.

i think you can certainly improve. crosby, if i recall, struggled early in his career and is now quite good.

i don't think it's just hand eye, or size, or fast twitch muscle... because malkin's pretty elite there and he stinks on draws.

and it's weird when you have guys who are just totally useless slugs... like konopka.. who are just unreal at then.



some of it might be hip strength. how quickly can they make the turn and either cardle the puck and then get their legs involved?
 
and it's weird when you have guys who are just totally useless slugs... like konopka.. who are just unreal at then.



some of it might be hip strength. how quickly can they make the turn and either cardle the puck and then get their legs involved?

On Konopka, he used to "hand draw" the puck once it was dropped, bascially used to pass from his stick to hand then to a winger. They outlawed that recently and his faceoffs haven't been stellar since.
 
Any rumour on what kind money/term clarkson is looking for? I really hope, if we do sign him, it's at a 15 goal scorer type money. Just seems like such a Kulemin kind of outliner season.
 
I still believe Kulemin has that offense in him. He showed it in full force when they formed that line with Kadri and Lupul. Will never understand why they didn't put it back together when Lupul came back from that injury.
 
in some ways it's better that he isn't scoring at a 60 pt pace because i'm not sure they could afford ot keep him as a 60 poitn forward. he brings a ton of attributes that are important and it's clear that he isn't hte sort of guy who can't carry a line offensively. if he scores 60 points he gets 4-5. as it is you can probably sign him in the $3 range...
 
Very true. I was thinking that myself. It would be nice to get a three year deal with him and then have him regain his form.

I feel the same about Kadri right now. He had a pretty bad stretch and playoffs. If we'd tried to sign him 3/4 through the season, he'd have cost a ton. Now we could probably get him for a pretty good price.
 
Kadri is either going to take a bridge contract at a fair/low price or he's going long term at a medium to high value. I'd probably give him the bridge.
 
Kadri is either going to take a bridge contract at a fair/low price or he's going long term at a medium to high value. I'd probably give him the bridge.

I think I'm more inclined to go long term at medium to high based on what centers are getting these days for scoring 60 or less points + a rising cap (IMO, we're gonna see it go up quickly with all these winter classics + huge markets seeing a lot of success)
 
Kadri had an okay playoffs, still managed to rack up 4 points in 7 games, and he only played 13 mpg. Was also a +5.

i thought, importantly, he got a lot better as the series progressed.

he was much more involved in all aspects in those last 3 games.

in the first two, he was basically pinned deep in his own end despite usually being matched against the 4th line.

he had a rough start but really came around. and in game 7 he was great. creating cahnces all game long and involved physically.
 
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