[Pope] Richardson à propos de Reichel : « Nous ne sommes peut-être pas satisfaits ni totalement convaincus de son camp total, mais je pense que ce soir a été sa meilleure performance. C’est ce que nous lui avons demandé. Nous devons donc être satisfaits de cela, et nous le ferons. voyons où cela nous mène lundi et mardi.
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GoldWhale
7 Comments
I just wish we knew what the hell is preventing him from taking the next step. He has all the tools and ability to become a productive and balanced player, but something intangible is his anchor. The confidence we saw 2 seasons ago, at the end, when he came up from Rockford, was so exciting. Then we drafted Bedard, told him to go center, and it all devolved. He worked on speed this off season, and so far he is still lacking the confidence to carry the puck, shoot on net, and play inside the dots. Last game he kept fucking skating towards the outside walls, button-hooking, and then lose the puck or pass to no one. Every possession of his ends up becoming that exact play, and it’s always « one and done » every shift. Because once he makes that « weak » play, the other team hems us in our zone and his shift expires. I want him to succeed because we need him to be secondary offense outside of Bedard, but fuck man is this frustrating.
There is the possibility that his earlier success was the outlier and this is the player he is. He was 17OA, not a top 5 or even 10. Sometimes these guys just can’t find “it”. I think we all give him some grace with last year, but at this point it’s time to start being a pro.
All the tools, no toolbox.
Reichel has tremendous skill but lacks the competitive edge necessary to take the next steps. I think it’s just who he is.
Is this quickly turning into a change of scenery may do him some good? What kind of return could be had? I’d suspect not much?
What if he’s just not as good as we thought? That’s ok. Not every first round pick makes it at the NHL level.
I still have confidence in him! But I am starting to think he’s going to need a change of scenery ala Dylan Strome with the Coyotes to the Hawks.