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Plekanec: "I'm not going to Russia"


Habsfan

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I don't think he's talking his way out of the league. He certainly isn't playing his way out of the league. He's just talking and playing himself into a reduced role.

Honestly, he's the #1 PK forward on the team in my opinion. And certainly a good two-way forward.

Yeah, even last season he played like a solid number three centre - the hate is just because we had high hopes for him.

He does need to get his offensive game going though. Kostitsyn and Cammalleri are as good as he'll be able to find on a second line. If Plekanec pulls his weight, that line would outshine our first line, I think.

I'm probably the only one around here who thinks that Plex will get back to something close to a 70-80 pts season ... :ghg:

He never was a 80 point forward at any level. 70, maybe. I'm expecting more like... 62. He's a second line forward playing on the second line. Can't see how he could pull off first line numbers.

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Yeah, even last season he played like a solid number three centre - the hate is just because we had high hopes for him.

He does need to get his offensive game going though. Kostitsyn and Cammalleri are as good as he'll be able to find on a second line. If Plekanec pulls his weight, that line would outshine our first line, I think.

He never was a 80 point forward at any level. 70, maybe. I'm expecting more like... 62. He's a second line forward playing on the second line. Can't see how he could pull off first line numbers.

By feeding Andrei and Camms for a 30g season each ... :ghg:

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I'm not saying he'll fail. I'm just saying it's an open question, and that the tone struck in that interview does not tend to inspire confidence.

It's an interesting question whether Plekanec makes for a particularly convincing checking C. Trizzak suggests that, even if he flops as a second-line C, he remains our 'best PK forward' and a 'good two-way player.' OK; let's imagine that he's off the second line and is relegated to those roles. Is he in any way exceptional in these roles? Or is he of a piece with that big mass of anonymous NHL forwards who chug away precariously on the lower lines, many of them having OK careers for a few years before evaporating? If he's just a Glen Metropolit - who I like - then really, he is just another interchangeable part, certainly not part of the core of any winning club.

(And please don't point to his 20 goal seasons as proof that he would be an elite third-line C. He got those playing in a first- and second-line role. It doesn't follow that he would score 20 if used purely in a checking role.)

Compare Pleks to Lapierre. Who would you prefer as your main checking C? I'll bet most would say Lapierre, and even HE isn't widely considered 'elite' in that role, yet. This illustrates the weakness of Pleks' position as a pure 'checker.'

So I think the choice for Plekanec, at least if he wants to be part of a GOOD rather than crapola team that's just happy to dress warm bodies, or else out of the NHL, is to be a 2nd line C. Failing that, he reverts to a 4th-line C, NOT the third-line guy, which is Lapierre's role; and that puts him right on the bubble. He doesn't have the wiggle room some of you think, in my opinion.

Edited by The Chicoutimi Cucumber
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I think that Plek can pull out of it. I think you will see him get 60 pts this year depending on his line mates. If Cam plays with Gionta and Gomez, then I wouldn't even expect 60. I think the guy we should all be worried about is Kostitsyn. At least Plek put in 100% effort every night. Hopefully Martin can have then working together. Plek will fit in great with Martin's system of defensive responsibility. AK not so much...ish. I am really counting on praying that this is AK's year.

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