In order to evaluate Kevin, you have to go back to last season where he had a Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde type year. 1st half Kevin was pretty poor as his defensive game wasn't there at all and his offensive performance was sporadic. He was challenged by the coaching staff, who had sometimes benched him in games, to show them that he deserved to be in the NHL and to show them what kind of player he wanted to be. Thats when 2nd half Kevin emerged and he showed that he can perform at a higher level than he had in the first half.
Now, enter this year and what you saw all year was 1st half Kevin from last year. He was lazy defensively and took a lot of lazy penalties as a result. The effort from 2nd half Kevin wasn't there which led to lower scoring as well as a minus 33 ..which he deserved if you watch him all game every game. Part of his low shooting percentage might also be attributed to the fact that he was moved up to a Top 6 forward position this year for the first half of the year and was playing against better defenders while also being on an offensively challenged team (having lost an entire 2nd line of scoring in Pavs, Donskoii and Nyquist). When he was moved back down to the 3rd line with Sorensen and Jumbo he played somewhat better.
The trick will be what the entire team looks like when hockey resumes and how he will fit in. He needs to decide what kind of player he wants to be and show that he can do it for 82 games. Jumbo wont be around forever to guide him and he will need to grow up...he has the skill but does he have the will? Time will tell
- hockeygm
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Thanks for reading and I appreciate the detailed reply here! Yeah you can see the change in his production last year as well at a certain point- 4 goals and 24 points in his first 45 games, 13 goals and 32 points in his last 37 games.
That's a great point about the shooting percentage as well.
