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Canucks Army article: Catching up with Zack Kassian's trainer


LeanBeef

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Are you kidding me?

When this guy doesn't have the puck, he floats more than Alexander Ovechkin on a bad day. He has the assets to be a good PWF but the problem is you can't teach work ethic and the mental game.

He was brought in for big hits and to play rough around the net. All we've seen so far is a guy who is useless without the puck and a turnover machine when he has it. Guys like Marchand, Conacher, Parise, etc. all player bigger than him and are way more effective without the puck.

If this team wants to do well in the post season, we need players like the above mentioned, and not some gentle giant who throws a temper tantrum once every 15 games.

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Yeah, I don't think it's his nastiness or fighting skills that need the most attention, and I don't think those things alone will help him succeed. Like I said in my post, I think it's his conditioning and skating that will determine if he succeeds.

Last year he looked tired really quick on each shift he hit the ice. IMO he needs to be able to sustain a hard skating shift for an entire game, all year, in order to become an effective PF on our team, and in the NHL in general.

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Now back to the Pyatt and Kassian comparisons.

They are similar, but Kassian is already steps ahead (literally) of Pyatt.

Sure, both of them would be more effective if they used their size to their advantage(see Lucic in Boston) which is a huge weakness in both of em. However, Pyatt's biggest weakness was his speed. Kassian is way faster than him and even was faster when he first came here.

Although I do agree with the fact that Kassian needs to get his physical game back, once that happens he can be a very good player.

Here's a comparison of powerforwards(both upcoming and established) when it comes to hitting

Kassian- 39GP 70 Hits

Lucic- 46GP 139 Hits

Stewart- 48GP 41 Hits

Pyatt- 48GP 85 Hits

Clowe- 40GP 99 Hits

Clifford- 48GP 155 Hits

Simmonds- 45GP 72 Hits

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Good to see Zack doing some serious training. This will be an important year in his development and being fit will give him a much better chance at succeeding. As others have mentioned, ZK appeared to run out of gas at times during the 2nd half of last season. I takes +++ strength and even more stamina to play the role of a power forward.

I think the new coaching staff will be more focused on developing the younger players; providing opportunities that will boost their confidence and raise their skill level.

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A new coach that has shown promise with young players means all of our young guys should get a fresh start. Giving up so quickly on guys like Kassian is foolish in my opinion. I don't see him ever becoming more than a 3rd liner, but it's way to early to give up on him now. Plenty of players have started out slow and grown into solid NHLers. Even if he only becomes a solid 3rd or 4th liner, we shouldn't just toss him. You still need guys to fill roles.

Just because we didnt "win" a trade doesn't mean the player we got is useless.

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Are you kidding me?

When this guy doesn't have the puck, he floats more than Alexander Ovechkin on a bad day. He has the assets to be a good PWF but the problem is you can't teach work ethic and the mental game.

He was brought in for big hits and to play rough around the net. All we've seen so far is a guy who is useless without the puck and a turnover machine when he has it. Guys like Marchand, Conacher, Parise, etc. all player bigger than him and are way more effective without the puck.

If this team wants to do well in the post season, we need players like the above mentioned, and not some gentle giant who throws a temper tantrum once every 15 games.

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Should end up better than Pyatt due to aggressiveness. I remember the previous year article on Kass's development, he's continuing in the right direction... good. Yeah he had his moments of floatation.... but so did Bert... as of right now I think Buffalo is ahead in the trade.

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Good to hear he's really into his training and (hopefully) getting a little more professional. I was also really glad to hear that he knows he doesn't have to fight. Being willing to drop the gloves can be even more useful than doing it too often (like he did this last season.)

I think Kass is a skilled player who will be limited more by his own choices than his ability. Hopefully he'll really decide he wants to make the most of this limited career and give it his entire focus, not just his entire focus until a good party comes up. If he does that, he could very well be a big part of this franchise's future.

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