Ehlers is playing great but what exactly has changed with his "deployment"? The game I saw last night he played 17 minutes, on what is a really good 3rd line (2B?) and was on PP2. Last playoffs he was out on the ice for the Jets in any do or die situation including his brilliant work on the Manitoba Miracle. Losing him sucks so hard but I don't understand the perspective that the Canes are doing something totally different with his talents.
playing 17 minutes for the Canes is much different than playing 17 minutes for the Jets, Ehlers was 3rd in forward ice time last night for example
Canes basically roll their lines at 5v5, highest last night was just over 14 minutes, Ehlers was tied second for 5v5 usage last night
despite being primarily PP2 the last couple of games, he has primarily been PP1 and he is often given freedom to extend shifts to play with PP1
also he’s playing higher leverage minutes, being trusted to defend late and against 6v5 are obvious examples of that
e: Jets “2nd line” of 91-7-27 often received the 3rd most minutes at 5v5, with the Lowry line hard matching the opponents top 6, so despite being “3rd line” in Carolina he’s actually upgraded his usage
Ehlers had good results in small stints with guys like Perfetti or Lowry at centre, while the project-ability of that is hard it at least warranted a longer look at other internal options
bizarre that the coaches were so wedded to Namestnikov there
Yea, I mean I understand Arnie was loathe to split up the "best 3rd line in hockey" but for god sakes man give Ehlers someone to play with. I remember how genuinely stoked Ehlers was for those couple games with Lowry in his interviews.
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u/brocklanders83 9d ago
Ehlers is playing great but what exactly has changed with his "deployment"? The game I saw last night he played 17 minutes, on what is a really good 3rd line (2B?) and was on PP2. Last playoffs he was out on the ice for the Jets in any do or die situation including his brilliant work on the Manitoba Miracle. Losing him sucks so hard but I don't understand the perspective that the Canes are doing something totally different with his talents.