Leafs Acquire Jake Muzzin

[Guru Tugginmypuddah]

All this righty lefty stuff.  My question is, are there simply fewer RHDs than LHDs, or are they at a premium (if they are) for some other reason?

Current active dmen in the league; 174 left shot, 117 right shot

 

[Guilt Trip]

If he plays with 44, I think Rielly moves to the right side. He has the skates and has played there from time to time. I think Muzz should play on his best side until he adjusts to the new team before trying him there. We want Muzz to have success early and his best Chan e is on his normal side.

 

[Andy007]

Is this Rielly a concern?

Shouldn't it Gardiner some thought?

Holl this fuss... Muzzin't get caught up in the LR D hype.

Teams have been icing defense corps with LL or RR for decades (Kaberle-McCabe was pretty good for us). Yes, playing off-hand is slightly more difficult and forces that player to simplify their game in pressure plays (Hainsey, Hyman, Komarov), but that doesn't mean a good player is no longer a good player.

In the case of Muzzin, he's going to be playing alongside someone who is a) nominal defensively whichever side he plays, and b) aces on offense regardless of the side he plays. LR defense is a luxury, not a prerequisite.

Ok, I agree with all of this and it's certainly good to hear. I guess I'm just being blinded by the fact that Hainsey is so awful as a top pairing RD yet he's essentially been stapled to that position for the last two years.

 

[Andy007]

If he plays with 44, I think Rielly moves to the right side. He has the skates and has played there from time to time. I think Muzz should play on his best side until he adjusts to the new team before trying him there. We want Muzz to have success early and his best Chan e is on his normal side.

Yea, this definitely sounds like the way to go. Would be nice to see a little more of 1st year Zaitsev on the 2nd pairing; that would be a pretty sweet looking back end.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

If he plays with 44, I think Rielly moves to the right side. He has the skates and has played there from time to time. I think Muzz should play on his best side until he adjusts to the new team before trying him there. We want Muzz to have success early and his best Chan e is on his normal side.

Yeah I think I'd prefer to see Rielly on the right as well, just think his skills translate better there. Offensive guys seem to have an easier time. We'll see.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Would be nice to see a little more of 1st year Zaitsev on the 2nd pairing; that would be a pretty sweet looking back end.

Since this has been brought up twice in the past few days now I just want to make it clear that 1st year Zaitsev was pretty bad too.

 

[dappleganger]

One thing to keep in mind, there are advantages and disadvantages to playing the "off" side. Some players prefer it. Mark Streit was a player who preferred, and strived playing the right side while being a left shot.

For D, I think there are more disadvantages to playing the wrong side but to each their own. Some players will have more success playing on their off side.

I played as a winger, always preferred my off side, but it's a little different for forwards.

 

[Bender]

Would be nice to see a little more of 1st year Zaitsev on the 2nd pairing; that would be a pretty sweet looking back end.

Since this has been brought up twice in the past few days now I just want to make it clear that 1st year Zaitsev was pretty bad too.

There seemed to be a lot of Zaitsev apologists when reading the comments of that article. I still can't believe we gave him a 7yr contract, holy hell. Hopefully we can ship him off to Russia or something. But who replaces him?

 

[Andy007]

Would be nice to see a little more of 1st year Zaitsev on the 2nd pairing; that would be a pretty sweet looking back end.

Since this has been brought up twice in the past few days now I just want to make it clear that 1st year Zaitsev was pretty bad too.

Oh that contract is, and always was, a head-scratcher. But he wasn't "pretty bad" that year. Maybe Rielly made him look better, I don't know, but there was a discernible drop off imo.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Oh that contract is, and always was, a head-scratcher. But he wasn't "pretty bad" that year. Maybe Rielly made him look better, I don't know, but there was a discernible drop off imo.

The article posted has less to do with his actual contract and was more a close look at how his first season went and all the areas that he struggled. I really do think we cut him way too much slack in his first season simply because he was a "rookie".

 

[Andy007]

Oh that contract is, and always was, a head-scratcher. But he wasn't "pretty bad" that year. Maybe Rielly made him look better, I don't know, but there was a discernible drop off imo.

The article posted has less to do with his actual contract and was more a close look at how his first season went and all the areas that he struggled.

Yep, I realise that.

 

[Andy007]

Is this Rielly a concern?

Shouldn't it Gardiner some thought?

Holl this fuss... Muzzin't get caught up in the LR D hype.

Thought this deserved a little love

 

[Bullfrog]

All this righty lefty stuff.  My question is, are there simply fewer RHDs than LHDs, or are they at a premium (if they are) for some other reason?

Current active dmen in the league; 174 left shot, 117 right shot

Interesting. I thought the difference would have been greater.

 

[herman]

Is this Rielly a concern?

Shouldn't it Gardiner some thought?

Holl this fuss... Muzzin't get caught up in the LR D hype.

Thought this deserved a little love

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Interesting. I thought the difference would have been greater.

The gap is definitely closing. 10 years ago it used to lean 70/30 for lefties, now it's 60/40.

 

[ZBBM]

All this righty lefty stuff.  My question is, are there simply fewer RHDs than LHDs, or are they at a premium (if they are) for some other reason?

Current active dmen in the league; 174 left shot, 117 right shot

Thanks -- so there is a pretty big disparity (though I see it seems to be narrowing).

 

[Highlander]

All this righty lefty stuff.  My question is, are there simply fewer RHDs than LHDs, or are they at a premium (if they are) for some other reason?

Current active dmen in the league; 174 left shot, 117 right shot

Thanks -- so there is a pretty big disparity (though I see it seems to be narrowing).

Probably close to the ratio of right handed to left handed people in the world?

 

[Highlander]

No just Googled it and only 10% of us are Left handed. So the ratio in the NHL is different for other reasons.  Perhaps left handed people have to adapt in so many ways to a right handed world that their brains are more adept at certain skills. I would have thought it was more like 70-30 or even 80-20... Interesting.

 

[Kin]

Probably close to the ratio of right handed to left handed people in the world?

I think only around 10% of people are left-handed.

 

[Bullfrog]

No just Googled it and only 10% of us are Left handed. So the ratio in the NHL is different for other reasons.  Perhaps left handed people have to adapt in so many ways to a right handed world that their brains are more adept at certain skills. I would have thought it was more like 70-30 or even 80-20... Interesting.

I think it's more to do with the debate over whether it's better (or rather preferable) to have your dominant hand at the top or bottom.

I'm right-handed and shoot left. I can't fathom having my right hand at the lower end and shooting right. It feels as awkward as writing with my left hand.