Mika is on pace for 25/51/76, +20, top-20 in PPP, winning over 51% of draws and rocking a 56% on-ice goals-for percentage 5×5 without even hitting his stride yet so far this season and kids have the audacity to be dogging Zibanejad…
He’s on ice for 56% of goals for 5×5. He’s winning at 5×5 about as much as MacKinnon (just under 58%). If he was getting smoked defensively then sure. But he’s not. He’s actually been awesome.
cc: 610barstool on X
by kravdangle
6 Comments
You have to take the hockey opinions of people who live their whole lives on reddit with an asteroid sized grain of salt.
Mika was legitametely struggling early on and had issues making some plays, but his offensive zone ability and speed are still good. He’s gonna hit a ppg again.
But, but, he’s preventing Kakko from succeeding! Let’s not change the narrative that Mika is holding us back!
/s in case it’s needed
I think mikas biggest problem is not having anyone on his line that is an elite passer that can carry the puck consistently. He has an amazing skillset, but he’s not that player.
Basically he needs panarin on his line. Or if we don’t want that line too heavy, give lafreniere an extended look there. Personally that’s my want.
The original picture that went with [this tweet](https://twitter.com/610Barstool/status/1756175605970670000?t=SMc5M_VX4G1ip-2F3ekKPg&s=19) is way better lol.
watching the game last night it kinda hit me what was slowing him down so much. This team now plays a system that keeps them very low in the zone, corners, behind the net – Mika is sort of an average player in those parts of the ice. But there’s not really a RW (other than KK) that we can put on that line to support Kreider in deep. Mika shines at the circles, mid boards, in transition, and without someone else supporting him on taking the puck into the zone, taking the center of the ice, crossing the royal road, moving without the puck – he’s sorta on his own and subject to being shadowed and harassed by the teams best defensive forwards. It’s why he excels on the PP or in OT – he can advance the puck, make a pass to someone who can also possess and advance, while moving into space to get off his well above average, if not elite, shots (of all kinds).
He needs a possession heavy RW to give him some room and draw attention. Wheeler is a dead end. Honestly, KK should be playing there but has just struggled so mightily he hasnt given Lav a reason to believe he can help. Plus, when he was there, we weren’t playing our best.
I’m not too bullish on Kakko stock but he would help open up room for Mika at the least.