People were screaming about Hamilton his first year here too. Timo's had a rough year, but let's not pretend he's been done any favors by this coaching staff:
- Playing on the 3rd line. Recently with Lazar and Mercer. I've loved what Lazar has brought this year, but he is not a 3rd liner on a competitor. He barely cracked last year's lineup. Mercer's play this year has been absent at best and dreadful at worst.
- Playing on his wrong side. This guy is being paid $8.8M (highest paid forward) and he's being shoehorned into a position that he's clearly not comfortable in here. Ruff has guys playing out of position all the time and it's mind boggling - see Mercer.
- No PP time. If you take out that double minor they scored 2x on vs. MTL in January, the PP is 2 for its last 55. That's 3.6%. We can't see this guy positioned on the RIGHT side of the ice on a PP? He averaged 18 pts/year on the PP his last 3 years coming in. Ruff can't find a spot for him out there?
- Rushed back from injury. Ruff admitted that they brought him back too soon from that first injury because he wanted to play vs. SJ. Moronic. He then got hurt again with an injury that didn't allow him to skate. The injuries have played a big factor here.
Long term, I'm not worried about him at all. 40-goal scorers don't just completely fall off at 27. He's consistently improved throughout his career until running into a brick wall here. With different leadership next year, he'll be fine.