Nashville Predators 2010-11 Season Preview: David Legwand

by Chris Burton on Sep 2, 2010 9:55 AM EDT in Nashville Predators Player Profiles

In the weeks leading up to the new season, we'll preview the Nashville Predators on a player-by-player basis, examining their role on the squad and expectations relative to capabilities. So come along for the ride as we look ahead to 2010-11, from Andersson to Wilson. Next up: David Legwand.

Today we arrive at the player who, Kevin Klein notwithstanding, probably receives the most love/hate sentiment on all the roster. The Predators' first-ever draft pick, David Legwand is constantly under the microscope. There are certain expectations for a player picked 2^nd overall, and most would say that Legwand has not lived up to them. Whether he has or not is your own call. There's no doubt, though, that as goes David Legwand, so go the Predators.

We'll evaluate his upcoming season after the jump.

David Legwand

#11 / Center / Nashville Predators

Height: 6-2

Weight: 202

Born: Aug 17, 1980

Role

Between the acquisition of Matthew Lombardi and the growth of Colin Wilson, there's reason to believe that Legwand will be moved from his typical 2nd scoring-line center role to a less offensively demanding one shutting down the opposing team's top forwards. This assumes, though, that Trotz has Wilson pegged as a center. Legwand will also anchor a penalty killing unit.

Expectations

To minimize the damage done by the opponent's best offensive players, win the majority of his faceoffs, contribute offensively, and take regular shootout opportunities. Yeah, its a long list - but one that Legwand has proved capable of fulfilling. Those that complain about his 40 point seasons fail to see just how good a defensive player he is.

Contract

$4.5 million this season, with 3 more years after that, featuring a decline in salary during the final two. Overpaid? Sure, but again; not as much as you'd think. He does a little bit of everything, and he does it all well.

Previously...

Legwand played in all 82 games, scoring 11 goals to go with 27 assists. He finished with a -5, which is actually impressive considering the types of players he's regularly lined up against. His pedestrian offensive numbers can be qualified by two factors. First, his linemates were predominantly Joel Ward and Jerred Smithson, two decidedly defensive wingers, and secondly, the competition he faced was brutal. According to Behind the Net, the Quality of Competition rankings using Relative Corsi (the ability to drive Total Shots For & Against) had Ward, Legwand and Smithson placed 1st, 2nd and 4th respectively among all NHL forwards with at least 40 games played. That line took on the toughest of the tough each and every night, freeing up opportunities for the other Nashville forwards at their own statistical expense.

David was by far the Preds' best skater in the playoffs, giving Nashville 2 goals, 5 assists, and a +5 in 6 games.

Prediction

I think his numbers will drop a little, but only because he's freed up to do more dirty work for Barry Trotz. Look for a 10 goal, 25 assist year from Leggy, but with his typical outstanding defensive play.

And to cap things off, let's reminisce about a great moment from Legwand's career - the first home playoff goal in franchise history...

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Comments

Leggy

I guess Trotz has come to understand that he’s as dumb as a box of pucks and you can only give him one thing to do. Sad- because he has the skill to be a goal scorer- he just doesn’t have the heart.

by Pred2Win on Sep 2, 2010 10:15 AM EDT reply actions

hm

I’d actually contend that this is very far from the truth.

Scoring goals is all for naught if you’re going to let a bunch in your own net. Trotz gives Legwand the biggest defensive responsibilities on the team because, frankly, he’s the best forward for the job; not because he’s ‘as dumb as a box of pucks’. It takes just as much heart, if not more, to work a penalty kill or keep up with Patrick Kane/Zetterberg/Rick Nash as it does to score goals.

In fact, I’m pretty impressed at what Legwand is able to do offensively while maintaining one of the (statistically-proven) hardest jobs in the entire NHL.

To summarize, I don’t think that the Predators would be where they are today (or would’ve lasted six games against the Hawks) without David Legwand.

by Chris Burton on Sep 2, 2010 10:22 AM EDT up reply actions

Wellllll

Those that complain about his 40 point seasons fail to see just how good a defensive player he is.
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Then I guess Poile, Trotz and now Peterson have no clue how good a defensive player he is. They complain about his offensive production as much as any fan. It’s pretty clear that they expect more than just defense out of Legwand. Every year they say that he needs to produce more. Peterson was just on The Zone the other day saying that Erat and Legwand need to step up for the team next season.

I personally get tired of hearing excuses for Legwand just because he’s defensively responsible. If all they wanted out of him was defense then he’d have a salary about that of Jered Smithson. Smithson is payed for his defense, not his offense.

Legwand also showed in the playoffs what he’s capable of. Expectations of him should be high. The sign over the Preds locker room door says it all. No Excuses.

by Predaceous on Sep 2, 2010 10:56 AM EDT reply actions

hes not superman

Well when legwand spends all season playing with smithson how can you expect more points from him? Do you expect him to generate offense, set up plays, and finish off goals all on his own? Do you also expect him to do all this while still playing the toughest minutes among forwards? Instead of just demanding more from him request the coaches to pair him with someone who can help offensively. He showed in the playoffs what he can do when his linemate is switched from smithson to dumont. If that line can stay together during the season then his production would definitely increase.

"It's gonna be fun on the bun."

by flyalder on Sep 2, 2010 12:08 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

Try to trade him...

and see how many teams line-up for his services at at least what we are paying if not alot more…pretty sure it’d be in the ballpark of oh, I don’t know maybe 29 teams.

I usually like to give Nashville fans the credit of actually being intelligent hockey fans…the bias against THE BEST defensive forward in the business(and the Corsi #‘s back that up) is mind boggling to me. You know, Trotzy plays lip service to the whole “we need more offensively outta David” but does he actually put him a position to do that? No. He plays the role of shut-down forward that has to make opportunities off of turnovers his line creates and bad bounces for the other team.
Trotz et al. give that same lip service to nearly everyone…he demands they play responsible defensive hockey and then hopes and prays (and sometimes begs) that they find some way to produce offensively. It’s Trotzy’s system….and he is getting exactly what he asks for.
Look what happens when Leggy is placed with playmaking linemates…production like this year’s playoffs is what happens.

Take your blinders off…Leggy does exactly what his boss asks out of him and does it better than anyone else in the league.

by TitanPredBearFan on Sep 2, 2010 12:43 PM EDT up reply actions

Just to be clear, the numbers don’t say that Legwand does the best defensive job in the league, far from it. What’s stated above is that he faces the toughest competition.

On the Forecheck is SB Nation's blog covering the Nashville Predators. Catch me on Twitter at @Forechecker.

by Dirk Hoag on Sep 2, 2010 1:17 PM EDT up reply actions

Got it...

Being put against the top scoring lines in the league night after night (so the Corsi’s say) and still being able to produce 40 points on an offensively challenged team puts him at the top IMO.

by TitanPredBearFan on Sep 2, 2010 1:33 PM EDT up reply actions

Not Even Close

look at datsuyk and zetterberg. they play against top lines, are better defensively AND put up big numbers. leggy is an excellent defender, but not tops in the league and if he was he is still overpaid for his offensive production.

by predswilrule on Sep 2, 2010 5:18 PM EDT up reply actions

I Don't Wear Blinders

Nor do I wear my rose-tinted Predator PollyAnna spectacles either. If you think I have blinders on then you think Poile, Trotz and Peterson have blinders on as well. I’m merely echoing their sentiments. If he’s doing exactly what his boss asks of him then why does his boss keep calling him out?

Legwand is capable of producing so much more than he does offensively. You can’t say it’s all about his level of competition and his linemates either. He’s had plenty of different linemates over the years and the only one he was truly effective with was Kariya.

I never once said that Legwand wasn’t effective as a defensive forward, but his is grossly overpaid for what he does. As for the Corsi ratings, aren’t Ward and Smithson also on that list? What are they being paid? Exactly.

Aside from the fact that Corsi ratings have their own flaws there are other guys on that same list that do produce offensively. Rick Nash, for instance. Did he have better linemates than Legwand? Not really. The biggest difference between him and Legwand is that he took 252 shots as compared to Legwand’s 151. Again, Legwand has the talent, but the team’s ‘pass first’ mentality, which he’s been buying into, has limited him and his chances. He shot the puck in the playoffs and look at the results.

I refuse to believe that Legwand can’t produce offensively AND be a great defensive forward. Based on their comments, I’m pretty sure the coaches and the GM feel that way too.

by Predaceous on Sep 2, 2010 2:59 PM EDT up reply actions

legwand isn’t rick nash. their playing styles are completely different, and it would be unjust to compare the two. Nash uses his size advantage to crash the net and create chances for himself, and advantage Legwand doesn’t have. To even try would be taking a serious defensive risk, and then we would be talking about his lousy defensive positioning on top of his offensive production. its a case of something being better than nothing, at least as long as his wingers stay the same.

Also, Legwand has always been a playmaking center, not a sniper. Which means by his personal playing style he always looks for the pass before the shot. As for “the teams pass first mentality”, that is because the team has an abundance of playmakers and a shortage of snipers. the coaches are ALWAYS commenting on how they need guys to just shoot the puck instead of making too many passes.

"It's gonna be fun on the bun."

by flyalder on Sep 2, 2010 9:19 PM EDT up reply actions

I agree with flyalder; the Nash/Legwand comparison is pretty absurd. For one thing, centers are required to be much more defensively responsible than wingers, and secondly; Nash is a pure goal scorer (and one of the best in the world).

I’d maintain that 40 points out of a guy who plays against the absolute toughest competition and has Joel Ward and the offensively talentless Jerred Smithson is quite impressive.

by Chris Burton on Sep 2, 2010 9:42 PM EDT up reply actions

Not just Leggy...

…but that whole line; I love ‘em. As most of you probably expect from me now, I’m a die-hard optimist for this team (rose colored glasses and all), but Chris was right to point out that the numbers tell only part of this story. We can compare Leggy to a lot of different forwards and find him falling short in any one or two categories, but his excellence is his ability to still do well in all categories. He’s our jack of all trades. Hell, make him the backup goalie if the others don’t work out!

Either way, looking forward to wearing my new Ward third jersey come preseason and watching this line tie up the “stars”.

EASports' NHL 11 comes out 07 September 2010; good thing whiskey comes out every day...
Go Predators!!!

by Poiju on Sep 2, 2010 11:10 PM EDT up reply actions

Put Leggy (scorer) on the wing with Wilson (scorer) and Sully (playmaker). Let Goc center Smithers and Ward or let Smithers/Spaling/Ward/Kostitsyn be the shutdown line with Goc centering Toots and JP.

by wrandsw on Sep 2, 2010 12:40 PM EDT reply actions

I like the guy. I root for the guy.
And he scored the NHL’s first-ever overtime penalty shot goal.
He deserves the number two spot with some scorers on his wings.

by cisar on Sep 2, 2010 1:42 PM EDT reply actions