Kreider needs to stick this time. No more excuses. Kid has all the tools in the world, just needs to put it together. I was high on Mashinter last year when he was called up. He was absolutely awful. Slow and constantly out of position. I have this one bone-head play he made that led to a goal ingrained into my brain. Hopefully he learned something over the past year and in camp.
My problem with Mashinter was the same as it was with Asham. When McDonagh got run last year by Pacioretty, Mashinter did nothing in that game. He should have pummeled him. Asham did nothing to Stuart when Nash was run. That is coaching. AV needs to tell Mashinter flat out. You are here to protect your team. If one of our stars gets run, you need to confront that player. If he won't fight, then pummel him anyway. That is something McIlrath will bring to this team. He did it in the AHL a few games ago. A player took a run at a Pack player, Mac jumped in and beat him like a rag doll.
Totally agree on Mashinter. Glen had that guy years ago in Colton Orr but he inexplicably let Orr walk and then proceeded to waste millions on washed up enforcers who decided to change their ways. Enforcers are a necessary evil during the regular season and then banished to the scratched list during playoffs, hopefully Mashinter knows his role here.
I think having a 4th line that can score is wonderful if you have defenseman like McIlrath that can due the enforcer role. Right now, he's not here. I would like to see some intimidation and hitting on that 4th line until he arrives. I was really impressed with Pouliot the other night. Dude can wreck people when he wants to. If the guy would play like that all the time when the full team is healthy, he might really be valuable. As far as Boyle and MDZ, I've had it. I still think MDZ is going to be good long term. However, this team badly needs to trade for a scoring forward with the Nash issues.
