How long can Captain Jack work his magic all on his own? We need Bratt to step up, especially with Nico out. Palat? Where’s he been?
And when do we cut bait on Timo and call him a bust? Sure he had the SO winner but he's not the goal scorer we needed after trading for him last deadline. I’d see how we could move him if it’s even possible
- Crushers68
Totally hear you on being disappointed with Timo. My take isn't necessarily an excuse for him, but just noting that it's been interesting to see how he's been utilized since becoming a Devil. He's been treated more as a throw-around piece than a foundational one that should be very secure about what his role is on the team.
While he's the highest-paid forward for reasons such as age, timing, past production, unique size/skill combo, etc. and not him necessarily being the best foward, it still feels like coaching has yet to prioritize him as such a high value piece. Whether Ruff or Keefe, Timo has often been the choice to drop to the 3rd line (not at this exact moment) in an attempt to "spread the scoring around" - with him more than likely already being on PP2.
As we all know, 3rd line and PP2 isn't exactly where players start consistently rattling off point-per-game stretches. Anybody who watches enough powerplays knows that PP2 regularly gets 30 seconds of mop-up duty where plenty of that time is spent simply getting back into the zone after a clear and a PP1 line change. In the years leading up to the trade, he scored 12, 17 and 13 PP goals for SJS. He has 3 for us this season.. That alone will have a massive impact on the perception on his year-end stat line.
Timo has undeniably gotten chances (especially 5on5), so I'm not here to say "give him another chance on PP1 and he'll be worth nearly $9M." I'm simply stating how, to me, it just feels like he's yet to find the spot he deserves on this team, and until he and coaching find that spot, we'll continue to feel disappointed even though he's playing well.
