Turn Legwand Loose...orTurn him Loose

I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Leggy starts the season on the top line. I know when we signed Lombardi everyone assumed he would take Arnott’s spot, but I have a feeling Trotz is going to give Leggy first crack and start Lombardi on the 2nd line.

You’re right; it’s going to be ugly if he doesn’t have a career year whichever line he’s on.

I agree insofar as Legwand needs to show more offensively, but disagree that he should be traded. The bottom line is that he’s the top two way player on the roster and his best contributions don’t show up on the scoresheet.

I agree only in that Legwand makes a bit more than his numbers say he should, and that he needs to be given more opportunity, and I’m sure he will be.

However, as far as Legwand himself, (as Chris said) he brings a lot more to the game than goals and assists. He may not be a superstar, but he’s part of a well-oiled machine that nearly took out the eventual Cup winners. Even if he himself isn’t playing up to his potential, you have to consider the bottom line: a 100-point season with a payroll larger than that of only one or two other teams.

If turning Legwand loose helps him, but doesn’t fit out system and consequently hurts the team, I am against it (as will Trotz be).

As far as your apparent implication that we should change coaches, I flatly disagree, for several reasons.

First, our coaching in Smashville is solid.
Begin with Trotz: he placed 2nd in Jack Adams voting this past season, and, previously, placed fourth in Adams voting three consecutive seasons, from 2005-06 through 2007-08.
Further down the line, Mitch Korn trained, among others, Dominik Hasek and Tomas Vokoun. I won’t cause boredom by listing all the coaching staff’s accomplishments, but they aren’t negligible. And again, 100 point season with a tiny payroll.

Secondly, this is an organization built from the ground up around a defense-first style. Trade the coaches for more offensively-minded coaches, and they won’t do as well with this defensive set of players. Coaches can’t be placed on a single dichotomy ranging from Worst to Best—different coaches have different styles, and can use different types of players to best advantage.

Thirdly, with the exception of the Great Fire Sale, the Preds have shown steady improvement every year. This shows that the coaches and management Know What They are Doing.

Personally, I haven’t seen what I wanted to see out of Legwand either, but I’ve seen (most of) what I want to see out of the team as a whole. If he really does need to be let go at some point, Poile will do his research and trade him, as likely as not for some no-name player that turns out to secretly be awesome and score 3 bazillion goals.

In summary, relax. Trotz and Poile have this one covered.

Legwand is a corner stone of this team. The Predators are a Defense first team, and Legwand leads all the forwards with defensive responsibility.

If you’re going to analyze his production you have to look at all aspects of it:

1. Legwand’s number 1 job is to shut down the opposing teams top line every night. A job he does exceptionally well. A job that is the most important in the predators style of play.

2. Offense. Generating offense is a 5 man job, with most of the responsibility on the 3 forwards. if you notice the wingers Legwand had for the majority of the year, any time both were healthy, you’ll see Ward and Smithson. While Ward does have some skills infront of the net, though he is still limited offensively, Smithson is as useful as an inanimate orange traffic cone in the offensive zone. In the playoffs Legwand got the gift of playing with Dumont on his wing, and what happend with his offense? With some legitimate offensive help Legwand was able to lead the team offensively in the playoffs, and against a team we royally struggled against during the regular season.

payroll:
1. 2M- for the teams top defensive forward.
              a good price for a defensive forward.
2. 2.5M- for a top 6 forward. (legwand ranked 6th in points among forwards.)
               a decent price for a top 6 forward.

Bottom line is there is A LOT more to hockey than goals and points. thankfully the people in the preds front office realize that. The Predators did a great job with their first all-time draft pick. They picked a guy capable of what they wanted and molded him in the image of what they saw for the franchise, defense first with quick strike offensive ability. Legwand is the embodiment of predators style hockey, he just needs better wingers.

Smashvillain and flyalder for actually typing everything I think in this matter. He doesn’t need a wing and a prayer, he needs some wingers and a chance.

Amen Brother

Cisar——ABSOLUTELY! And the same for Flyalder

I do have to disagree with the comment on Smithson

I just can’t ever see a justification for removing the coaching staff. PP and PK sucked and maybe we could use the addition of a special teams coach, but for the most part the staff does an excellent job.

Maybe I’m the only one who really likes the fact that we’re not $1 away from breaking the salary cap and we don’t have a single big star whom the rest of the team must play around, but I think our lack of big names and our multiple forwards with 30+ points is a good thing! It’s a bit of the underdog complex, but I think a non-traditional market should stick with a non-traditional team (and staff!) that exceed expectations almost every year.

If we miss the playoffs, or can’t get past the 1st round again. Once playoffs roll around, it’s all about coaching.