StCapps wrote: ↑Mon Apr 22, 2019 11:30 pm
Smitty-48 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 22, 2019 11:26 pm
That's the thing about Sandin.
If he was flying around busting moves in Sweden, it wouldn't be that impressive.
But to go from the OHL straight to a top pairing in the AHL playoffs and be lighting it up against pros?
In one summer?
Who does that?
Dubas has hit a home run here, I'm quite sure already.
Yeah that's some ridiculous progression right there, you don't see that every day.
He wasn't this good in the OHL.
From the kid I watched last year to the kid I'm seeing now?
It's like he progressed three years in one summer.
His hockey sense, the hockey IQ, and the confidence, it's elite. Near NHL ready, right now.
Telling you, I've seen this before.
This is what happened with Duncan Kieth.
He got picked in the second round "too small, skating is meh"
By the next year he was near NHL ready.
Same reason. Hockey sense and confidence. That's what really makes you NHL ready.
They let the cake bake on Kieth, he spent two seasons in the A.
But you could already see the hockey sense, which is what makes him Duncan Kieth.
Sandin is the same. He's not big, he's not the smoothest skater, he can't really crush people.
But he has the vision and confidence of an elite star player, he plays just like Duncan Keith.
Liljegren is supposed to be the offensive defensemen. But no, it's Sandin.
He generates way more offensive and is way more effective than Liljegren.
Then in the defensive zone where Liljegren is weak, Sandin is strong there too.
He doesn't run people through the boards, but he engages them aggressively with skill.
He stick checks them, strips them of the puck, and then takes off going the other way.
He's not shy about hitting people, but he's clever about it.
He doesn't go for a huge hit, he pops them just enough to separate them from the puck.
Then again, he takes the puck, and he's gone, right back up the ice, controlled exit, controlled entry.
Usually resulting in a scoring chance. Usually him being the one with the chance.
Because he quarterbacks, has a sneaky dangerous shot, and he drives the net too.