Quoting: Shibbal18
yes multiple Wild fans have given me their opinion on their player. This opinion contradicts stats and professional evaluation. Clearly the stats are wrong
Stats are purely a supplemental addendum. They don't tell the whole story, or ever will. They can't account for if a players hot or cold, it all gets averaged out. It can't tell you if a player is struggling with an injury or was merely deployed on the wrong line or position, partnered with someone they have no chemistry with. It also doesn't account for a players ceiling or were they can play.
In the end, you can wind up with players on opposite sides of the lineup order who wind up with the same analytics. For example a 1st line winger compared to a 4th line guy. The 1st line player might have better stats, but the underlying analytics say that they were exactly the same in every other way. Does that mean you put the fourth liner on the top line, and expect the same results? Or is their value equal? Should you get the same return from the 4th liner as you should with the 1st liner, despite the identical analytics?
Dumba isn't there for his defense, which is passable, it's to score goals and to step up in the zone as a 4th player. No one in their right mind plays an offensive defenseman without pairing them with a two-way or defensive defenseman to cover their ass. That's hockey 101.
Montour doesn't have Dumba's shot, or step up in the play like Dumba does. He also shies away from taking hits or giving them, conversely, he wont drop the gloves. Dumba does all of these.
Again, you can play Dumba on a top pairing. You can't with Montour.
I don't care if the analytics are the same. Dumba has more value than Montour by being a top 4 defenseman and Montour isn't.