Most overrated player by Team, Eastern conference

[yave1964]

I did the underrated last week, today and tommorow I will finish this up with overrated, starting today with the Eastern conference.

 

BRUINS: Yes, Rask has taken the team to the Cup finals but the truth is he is a product of his defense, with a healthy Chara, Hamilton, Ference, Seidenberg and Boychuk pretty much anyone could have played in net. He is a good goalie but not great and with the F troop in front of him this year the numbers will bear this out.

 

SABRES: Matt Moulson was a product of Tavares, he is a finisher and not a creator, he may put up better numbers this year than last but it is because of improved linemates. His linemates make him better not the other way around.

 

HURRICANES: Cam Ward is a bad goalie and has been for the past four years or so. He is part of the problem in Carolina, not the solution.

 

BLUEJACKETS: It would be so easy to say Clarkson but everyone knows he is a bomb but I will go with Gregory Campbell who got too much pub for the broken leg on a postseason P/K and was not very good to begin with.

 

RED WINGS: JohanFranzen. Simply a bad player at this point of has career, concussion issues or no concussion issues.

 

PANTHERS: Jaromir Jagr. He managed only 17 goals in 77 games last year and when the only thing of any positive nature that you bring to the table is goal scoring that is plain awful. Granted he is like 70 years old but he is not any good anymore.

 

CANADIENS: Jeff Petry. I am doubling down that no number second pair d-man with limited offensive skill should have gotten the contract that he did from Montreal.

 

DEVILS: Adam Larsson. Has played two full seasons and half of two others and has scored 6 goals during that time, set a career high last year with 3. People still act as if he is going to develop into something that he is not. He is a nice, boring shut down d-man with limited upside, Petry lite if you will. Anyone thinking the kid is more is deluding themselves.

 

RANGERS Marc Staal. Lots of d-men on this list, I just noticed that, I could have had Eric Staal on here for Carolina too if Ward wasnt so awful. Marc is not the second coming of Leetch like a lot of Rangers fans seem to think, he is a body, nothing more.  The Staal family: the most overrated in history.

 

ISLANDERS: Kyle Okposo. Without Tavares he is just a 20-25 goal guy. Not a horrible player but a lot of Tavares star rubs off on this guy unduly.

 

SENATORS: Bobby Ryan. His goals scored in last 5  full regular seasons are 35, 34, 31, 23 and 18. Clearly regressed as a goal scorer and that is his one real skill.

 

FLYERS: Sean Couturier. It is beginning to look as if he is what he is, a solid third liner who plays well defensively with occasional goal scoring. too many people think he is more than that and it simply looks like it will never happen.

 

PENGUINS: David Perron. I for one drank the Koolaid, I thought getting him to a good team would make him a point a game player to go along with his defensive skills. didnt happen. Just a good 3rd liner, nothing more.

 

LIGHTNING: Val Filpulla. Wont shoot the puck, one of the softest players in the game today. Continues to frustrate because three times a month he looks like the next Datsyuk and then he pulls a Claude Raines.

 

MAPLE LEAFS: JamesVan Riemsdyk like Okposo and Ryan above has one skill, scoring goals. JVR has regressed and is now a liability to his team.

 

CAPITALS: TJ Oshie. Yeah, i know about the shootout skills and the Olympic stuff but he is a 50 point a year guy with holes in his game who for some reason people treat like a star. A good player but nothing more.

 

That is the East, tomorrow the West and then lets drop the puck! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[FD19372]

I would not call Couturier overrated, just poorly guided. That underqualified goon Berube screwed him up. Hopefully Hakstol can get him back on track.

[yave1964]

I would not call Couturier overrated, just poorly guided. That underqualified goon Berube screwed him up. Hopefully Hakstol can get him back on track.

A few years ago Flyer fans in here were in a heated debate over whether they would consider trading him even up for Subban, i do not think anyone would even have that debate now.

  I love his skill set, a Darren Helm type but slightly better, a 35 point a year guy who wins the tough draws and kills penalties, I love those guys and usually think that they are the unsung heroes. But so much more was expected from Couts and it is looking more and more as if this is all that there is. He is only 22 so it is possible that he might have another gear yet in the right situation but if so, what is it? 45-50 points, 15-20 goals, a second line center. So much more was expected. I dont think he, or for that matter any of the guys on the list are bad players, I just think that so much more was expected and he will go down as a mild disappointment.

  Philadelphia was a tough one to find an overrated player. The stars, Giroux, Voracek, Simmonds, all live up to the billing, Mason and Streit are what they are. I debated between Brayden Schenn and Couts and went with Couturier, though your point about misuse by the previous regime applies in equal measure to both and both might climb a notch by the time it is done.

[FD19372]

Darren Helm? I'll take a Helm-type player on my team any day. I really think that Coots is confused as to just what the hell he's supposed to do out there and what his role is.

[B21]

FLYERS: Sean Couturier. It is beginning to look as if he is what he is, a solid third liner who plays well defensively with occasional goal scoring. too many people think he is more than that and it simply looks like it will never happen.

 

That's blasphemy here! He shut down Malkin for a playoff series after all. 

[SpikeDDS]

@yave1964

 

Are we doing overRATED here, or overPAID? There's a difference.

 

Let me use Petry as an example. Do I think they overpaid for Petry? Yep. Do I think the Habs think he's the answer that the $ was worth paying for? I'm not so sure about that, but they had to do SOMETHING! So they did. Why? That was the market price for a free agent righty D-man. Do you really think they are expecting Petry to perform to what he was paid based upon the little evidence they had?

 

I don't think Petry has such a great image in general, but I think his UFA came at the perfect time for him. Most people, if they are honest, are going to say that the Habs overpaid to get him, but that he's not going to play to the level that he was paid. Lower expectations than his contract would suggest.

 

Not to make you rethink your entire list, but do you see where i'm going with that?

[yave1964]

@yave1964

 

Are we doing overRATED here, or overPAID? There's a difference.

 

Let me use Petry as an example. Do I think they overpaid for Petry? Yep. Do I think the Habs think he's the answer that the $ was worth paying for? I'm not so sure about that, but they had to do SOMETHING! So they did. Why? That was the market price for a free agent righty D-man. Do you really think they are expecting Petry to perform to what he was paid based upon the little evidence they had?

 

I don't think Petry has such a great image in general, but I think his UFA came at the perfect time for him. Most people, if they are honest, are going to say that the Habs overpaid to get him, but that he's not going to play to the level that he was paid. Lower expectations than his contract would suggest.

 

Not to make you rethink your entire list, but do you see where i'm going with that?

Look at Petry and Mike Green.

Petry got a six year deal Green got a three year deal for less per season.

Who would you rather have? I honestly think Petry is a good player but he was paid top tier money and does not deserve it. He has done exactly nothing in his career to make one think that he is atop of the line defenseman. A good player, possible a very good one. Elite? A star? Not even close and getting star money and a lot of people act as if he is a star. To me he is one definition of overrated.

[SpikeDDS]

Look at Petry and Mike Green.

Petry got a six year deal Green got a three year deal for less per season.

Who would you rather have? I honestly think Petry is a good player but he was paid top tier money and does not deserve it. He has done exactly nothing in his career to make one think that he is atop of the line defenseman. A good player, possible a very good one. Elite? A star? Not even close and getting star money and a lot of people act as if he is a star. To me he is one definition of overrated.

Well that seems to almost prove my point.

 

Let me try this approach. Let's look at Petry vs. Franzen. Both made your list.

 

Both are grossly overpaid. But the general expectation for Franzen is higher than it is for Petry. Franzen CAN score goals as if the opposing net is the size of a soccer goal at times...for a stretch of a month or two at most. He HAS the capability of scoring goals...but...he...doesn't. If you listen to hockey commentators, they say such good things about him. I don't know if they actually use the term "elite," but I've heard them say something similar. Is he gonna play like that? No, at least SUPER-unlikely.

 

In contrast, does anyone really think that Petry is going to be either a shut-down top-line D-man? Or the answer to a struggling power play? No. He's gonna be a 2nd-line D-man. He came at too high a price, but the Habs needed a 2nd line D-man, and apparently so did a whole bunch of other teams in the off-season, which is the only reason he is getting paid what he did.

 

They are BOTH overpaid, but IMHO, Franzen is far more overrated than Petry is. If Franzen has a great year this year, you and I will likely be saying, "Well it's about time!" If Petry has a season playing like his contract pays him to have, you and I would both be pretty surprised.

 

See the difference?

[yave1964]

@SpikeDDS

On here as well as in other forums people made Petry out as the answer, as in he might be the final piece that gets the Habs over the top. It is ludicrous IMHO and it is to that group, which is larger than you might think that I am referring to.

If you want to take Petry off the list fine, I could easily replace him with Desharnais who is stretched to his limit and beyond as a number 2 center or Markov who at his age is a one dimensional player. I think I want to stick with Petry because the segment of fans who think that Petry is better than he is is large. I would have loved to see him sign with the Wings, at around 5 mill a year for three or four years tops, fiscal responsibility was prevelant this offseason save for he and Sekera who got way overpaid in Edmonton. Other than that most free agents were paid at a fairly reasonable clip.

[MadDevil]

I think you're passing judgement a little early on Larsson. He was really good after DeBoer got canned last year, and has looked even better so far through the preseason. He's only now approaching 200 games played, so I think he could be ready for a breakout.

[yave1964]

I think you're passing judgement a little early on Larsson. He was really good after DeBoer got canned last year, and has looked even better so far through the preseason. He's only now approaching 200 games played, so I think he could be ready for a breakout.

6 goals in 200 games. nice first pass but no real offensive ability.

[J0e Th0rnton]

I defended both Larsson and Petry a lot in the past few months. looking for the posts now, but I have a killer headache and have all day

 

Maybe tomorrow

[MadDevil]

6 goals in 200 games. nice first pass but no real offensive ability.

He's also only 22 years old, has been in and out of the lineup over the last 4 seasons, and has largely been used in a defensive role when he does play. He's hardly gotten any PP time either. His production was actually pretty good last year after DeBoer (who he clearly did not see eye to eye with) got canned. He's really just now starting to come into his own. He may not ever be a huge point producer, but I think there's still more offense to his game. It often takes 200-300 games for a defenseman to really figure it out. Larsson is just getting there.

[yave1964]

@J0e Th0rnton@MadDevil

 

Okay I acquiesce, truthfully I like Larsson and think he has a nice future ahead of him I just think that more is expected of him than he is capable of. But having been wrong before, I can change the Devil player.

Kyle Palmieri. In three full seasons in Anaheim playing with the likes of Perry, Getzlaf and Kesler he scored 14,14 and 10 goals. Now playing with lesser players more is expected but he wont live up to it, and his defense is a rumor, the man simply refused to play the whole ice and lived in Boudreau's doghouse for his stay there because of it. Enormous talent but will never live up to it because he is lazy. So there, Palmieri instead of Larsson.

 

As to Petry, i have been debating him with @SpikeDDS as well, my point is he is a second pair defenseman who has not done much in his career and six years at 33 million is exsessive. Again, i like Petry but asking a 25 point a year blueliner to live up to that kind of contract is a Herculean task. The Petry camp is split down the middle on this, quite a few like you guys think that he is well worth it, but quite a few agree that the contract was the most ridiculous of the offseason.

 But for the sake of harmony, I could see a case for Markov who at this point of his career is a one dimensional player who is slipping.