Johansen and the Duche are overpaid 'me first' bums who checked out the second thigs started to go south early this season, and were content to just go through the motions and collect their undeserved paychecks. I have no use for alleged star players who need to be 'motivated' in order to put forth any type of effort. It wasn't a coincidence that the Preds turned things around when guys like Duchene started going on IR, and we brought some guys up from the taxi squad who actually wanted to play.
Arvy is a differen't case. He's a smaller guy who made things happen with hard work and hustle, usually with little regard to his own physical well-being. That unfortunately led to him landing on IR, a lot, which has forced him to change his style the past couple of years and led to his dip in production. He needed to play a certain way to be fully effective, and he just can't do that anymore if doesn't want to have to retire when he's 30. He's still a useful player, just not first line caliber anymore. That's the Preds main issue right now, they only have one true 1st line level player in Forsberg regardless of what some other guys paychecks might suggest. When Calle Jarnkrok is leading your team in goals, something is off. |