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Could Burrows be a Selke nominee/winner?


Raiun

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Outside of the PK we have hardly ever seen Burrows off of the top line over the last couple of years, but so far this season he's been showing some phenomenal defensive play. His play during last night's 5 on 3 was stellar, I think he was the only Canuck to touch the puck; he had 4 individual takeaways and clears. I think probably his only defensive issue is that he is not strong on faceoffs.

If Burrows continues in a more defensive role this season, and continues with his effort and solid play, will he deserve a Selke nomination?

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If Burr is able to continue with the level of play he has shown since moving to centre, then yes, I would say he's a legitimate Selke candidate. The one thing he needs to improve would be his face off skills.

A third line made up of Higgins (LW) -- Burr © -- Hansen (RW) looks really good to me. This is a line that could potentially shut down other teams' top line with speed, physical play, agitation, and also contribute offensively.

With a healthy Kesler and Booth running on full throttle by season's end, we could have a depth chart that looks like the following:

Daniel -- Hank -- Kass

Booth -- Kes -- Raymond

Higgins -- Burr -- Hansen

Malhotra/Volpatti -- Schroeder -- Lapierre/Weise

I like the looks of a forward grouping made up of these 14 guys. An argument can be made for keeping Schroeder/Raymond together and that Schroeder can be better served with lots of ice time with the Wolves, but with a healthy Booth and Kelser, we have some flexibility.

As well, I think this allows AV to roll out four lines on a regular basis.

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He has always been our best defensive player thats how he worked his way on to the team from relative obscurity. before he was with the twins. He was deployed almost exclusively in a shut down role against other teams top line. IMO Burr is a more versatile checking line player than Kes because he works with his team mates.

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he wont be a selke nominee, lad above me makes the only point you need to know along with the list of better defensive forwards in the league.. but holly crap he has been impressive in his new roll (playing centre, not defensive roll-he was always good at that) I agree with dude two posts up. smart hockey player. and i am sure he has learned alot playing with the sedins, when he was with them, you dont think he had to play every teams top defensive line? learning from other teams is good too. and ya he needs to work on his faceoffs.. when you barely take faceoffs for 5+ years, you tend to get rusty. what i noticed is higgins and hansen are exceptional on face off losses, i think they realize burrows wont win them so they bust their ass to recover the puck.

it will be nice to have kesler back, but it's good to know AB14 is even more versatile and dependable at it. more than before.

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If Burr is able to continue with the level of play he has shown since moving to centre, then yes, I would say he's a legitimate Selke candidate. The one thing he needs to improve would be his face off skills.

A third line made up of Higgins (LW) -- Burr © -- Hansen (RW) looks really good to me. This is a line that could potentially shut down other teams' top line with speed, physical play, agitation, and also contribute offensively.

With a healthy Kesler and Booth running on full throttle by season's end, we could have a depth chart that looks like the following:

Daniel -- Hank -- Kass

Booth -- Kes -- Raymond

Higgins -- Burr -- Hansen

Malhotra/Volpatti -- Schroeder -- Lapierre/Weise

I like the looks of a forward grouping made up of these 14 guys. An argument can be made for keeping Schroeder/Raymond together and that Schroeder can be better served with lots of ice time with the Wolves, but with a healthy Booth and Kelser, we have some flexibility.

As well, I think this allows AV to roll out four lines on a regular basis.

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Burrows started being more effective offensively without the Sedins last season. Of his 28 goals, only half of them were assisted by a Sedin.

There were times when Burrows and the twins looked out of synch, so AV had them playing with Hansen, and even Bitz. And so far this year, Kassian seems to fit them like a glove, with the added benefit of having him out there if opposing teams try to take liberties with the twins. As such, I expect Burrows won't be playing on that line much anymore.

I look forward to seeing what he can do with Kesler again. Also, with Kassian performing admirably as the RH shot for the twins on the PP too, Kesler can slot down to the 2nd unit with Burrows as well. They'll be playing even-strength, short-handed, and powerplay together, so the chemistry they've had in the past will have time to grow again, and even flourish to new heights.

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His defensive play is definitely worth of the Selke, but unfortunately he'll need to pair that defensive play with better offensive numbers if he wants to beat out Datsyuk, Bergeron, Toews, Backes etc. for the award.

He's been a revelation at centre, I'll say that much. I was totally against the move at first because I felt more "comfortable" with him in the role he's been successful in for so long: as a goal scorer on the wing. However, he's playing more to his actual strengths as a 3rd line centre, which are his grit, tenacity and smart defensive play. Offense, if we were all to be honest, isn't exactly one of his strengths. He has simply found perfect chemistry with the Sedins over the years and adding his own traits to the Sedin line has resulted in him picking up a healthy number of goals.

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I think Booth - Kesler - Burrows would be pretty good defensively, all we need is Booth to step up his defensive game. If Raymond could get some chemistry back with Kes, I could actually see him doing better on that line than Booth and he's more solid defensively.

EDIT: As for Bur winning Selke, I doubt it... It's more for two-way 'centers.'

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