Quoting: mokumboi
Not a bad idea, actually.
It is if you know the young man.
Center he tried in junior got turned inside out with a big hit at the OZ
You can use your speed along the boards , plenty or room.
In the Center you got people on both sides and infront of you to watch.
I watched him and Saulnier twins try making it work and it was an impossible task as it castrated him speed wise.
Same thing happened to Phil Danault here so Barbashev was the Center cause Phil's speed to to crucial .
They moved him to Center in the AHL and his speed dissapeared as he no longer comes close to hitting the speeds he did in junior.
Its why the Fast Speed based Centers are more often then not Power Centers.
You dont see many NHL teams with a small speedy Center up top
Even Suzuki had to bulk way up to play the role as he's now over 200lbs and growing .
To play Center you take on more responsibility while also controlling the play so hitting his speeds while juggling that and dodging players is too much.
It becomes an either or thing.
If you watch hockey at all levels you see this more in their growth and development
By the time they hit the NHL i think its honestly too late because you're asking a guy who's spent a career defined as the speedy goalscorer.
If you're going to move him the very least you could do is get him a Lars Eller type with a history of helping players jump to Center.
Barbashev would personally be my choice but Dakota and Kratsov are too inferior to provide the level of Support Garland will need.
While i think its unlikely to happen if it does there atleast needs to be proper support.
Otherwise you're just doing what MTL did to Rem Pitlick last year and that didnt really work out in the long term as boy did he crash once the TDL was gone by last year.
Steven_Stamkos liked this.
Reply
McDonough,
CapFriendly
CapFriendly