Edited Oct. 22, 2019 at 12:33 p.m.
Quoting: F50marco
Really? Wow wasn't aware of that. Always thought he was on the left side but played the right side on the PP or something. If that's the case than that make more sense for not wanting to keep him as Mitchell, Boqvist etc on the way.
With that said, if he has been playing solely the right side, all the more reason why the Habs shouldn't be trading for him.
Good thoughts from both of you guys. Just a few things. This is indeed an odd situation. We can all see that. CHI fans are trading him away because they can't sign him back. It's NOT that we dislike him or his play. We very much do, but as
@ChiHawk mentions...WE believe we have his replacement already developing within our system and part B.) to that is that the Hawks really are much closer to the cap ceiling than most people believe. That 2nd point is why I include Smith. I think the Hawks would value shedding $3M+ quite a bit.
As far as the Gus LD vs RD. Another very interesting topic. Gus has been playing mostly RD the past year and a half. He was also fairly exclusively LD for the previous 5 years. Why is this?!?! It's actually pretty simple. The reason this happened is because he's really a LD...BUT the Hawks were desperate last year and needed someone to fill in with Keith on the top pair. With Murphy injured for the 1st half of the season...who goes there? Davidson, Manning, Dahlstrom, Slater, Rutta, Seabs??? I don't think so. They tried Gus and it was the best solution they had available to them. Since he was playing well they just stuck with it. This was why he was sent over to the right side. The reason he doesnt go back is because Stan went out and got 2 more LD...so now again where does he go? Hawks fans would likely say that versatility is a PRO not a con.
Lastly, as far as "Out of Nowhere". Sudden For sure, but there's a little more history to this. 2 years ago was a pretty successful season too. Started in the AHL with 17 points in 25 games and then promoted to the NHL getting 16 points in 35 games. Is that equal to his 60 points in 80 games? NO, but it's not starting from zero either. He's a play maker that's working on his defensively abilities.