Carolina Hurricanes forward Andrei Svechnikov has lost a step

Carolina Hurricanes forward Andrei Svechnikov has lost a step

[Music] Carolina Hurricanes fans [Music] five- one. That’s that’s that’s where the Canes sit. I do I do think and I said this uh yesterday following the Kane’s first loss of the year uh first loss of the year uh to to Vegas. Um it does feel like the season doesn’t start till you lose once. And and that’s not to say like oh nothing before it mattered or everything before it went perfect. Uh, but the reason why I say if it seems like the season doesn’t start till you lose once is it’s almost like you’re you’re not allowed to to talk about the real things until until you lose, right? Because no matter what you say, you know, I really want the power play to be a little bit better, somebody’s going to yell at you, they’re undefeated. So, you lose once and now all of a sudden we’re having the real conversations about the power play and things that could get better and potentially shaking up the the top power play or whatever it is. And one of the real conversations I think we need to have, no it’s not any of the new guys. No, it’s not Eers only has one point, although it’s similar. It’s where’s Andre Fetchnikov been? And here’s why I think it’s a little different than the Eers’s conversation or a little different than really any of the others is, and I think it’s why it’s a hint more scary. Just a hint, if you remove the postseason, which you’re really not allowed to do, but if you remove the postseason, when he went on that scoring run and and he did have at times he was like leading the the the postseason in goals or goals per game, whatever it was, um what we’ve seen to start this year does feel like a continuation of what we were seeing last regular season from Andre Fetchnikov. I remember vividly, and I’m sure we could go back and find it on the the podcast. I remember vividly um bringing up a chart and talking about it that showed his GPS times, how many bursts above 20 mph does he have? What was his top speed and and all of these these things? And then it was compared year overyear. And it was basically at the time, this was like, you know, probably three4s, maybe four fifths of the way through the season, regular season last year. uh the way it was being shown on the data was that he wasn’t as explosive of an athlete as he was obviously pre-injury or earlier in his career and that was being seen as maybe a reason why we weren’t seeing the production or the next step that we were hoping to from Andre Fetch but then the postseason happened right and he scored all those goals and he did make some plays and we all went ah never mind that was awesome. Well, now this year I’m I’m watching the game on whatever that was Monday uh and I’m scrolling through social media and I saw almost the exact same chart kind of being passed around Kane’s fans again. And it’s the same thing. It’s the GPS top uh top speeds and how many bursts above this and and all of these other uh numbers and it’s it doesn’t even include this year. It’s just showing the numbers from last year. probably the exact same numbers we were looking at. Uh and and explaining perhaps why he hasn’t looked like himself to start this year. Hasn’t look like the version of him that we choose to remember him as this year. So now everything I just told you puts me into a a strange uh rock in a hard place. puts me in a quandry because part of me is going, “All right, let’s let’s start let’s start worrying because it’s, you know, this isn’t the first time we’ve had these concerns. This isn’t the first time we’ve we’ve done the digging as a collective. This isn’t the first time we’ve done the digging to try to explain why Andre Fetchnikov isn’t isn’t living up to whatever our expectations are for him.” But then the other part that makes me not want to go too far down that path is I doubt he got faster for the postseason and he was really effective. So if he can overcome it then when logic would tell you you’re playing better teams with more in-depth scouting reports with uh more energy, more focus, more drive because it’s the postseason, right? More physical hockey. If he can do it then why shouldn’t we expect him to be able to do it now? And maybe we’re just overreacting to the first six games of the year. And I don’t I’m not going to be one of those sports radio hosts that sits here and pretends to have every answer. Shout out to the guy, and I almost don’t want to acknowledge that I I do see you, but shout out to the uh the guy on Twitter that every time we we talk about making a change, he writes to me and just says like, “Why don’t you I know how to solve everything. Just make you the coach.” I’m not I’m not that guy at all. I’m not acting like there’s an easy answer here. I don’t have that answer. But I do know that Andre Fetchnikov, as I know him, right, as I choose to remember him, as I believe his potential shows, he shouldn’t have gone these six games without a point. And more importantly, and I used this term that I that I stole from somebody uh who was replying to to to me on social media earlier, I don’t like that he appears so uninvolved. I don’t like that you forget he’s on the the team for stretches. And I’m not saying you actually forget, right? I know that he’s a huge part. He probably, you know, poster on the wall somewhere in the stadium. Like I know he’s he’s there, but it’s you shouldn’t go a period without thinking, oh, there’s something Andre Fetchnikov did and and that is happening a little too much to start this year for my liking. And and that is part of the reason why uh I think it’s okay to have this conversation six games into the year. So, if you want to get into like the skating speed and and all that kind of stuff, I I kind of crushed a little numbers here for you while you were talking about that. So if you look on a per game basis last year just hitting somewhere between 20 to 22 miles per hour and the amount of games that he played last year roughly around 1.6 per game. Okay, this year one a game. So it’s down even from last year. So it’s down even from last year. If you look at even just 18 to 20 miles per hour, those bursts of speed last year was averaging around 5.9. This year around 5.3. So and so there’s a little bit of a drop in terms of that burst of speed. in all it takes is just got to hit there one moment in a game and you’ve reached that speed. So those are all things that you know when you think about what he’s done in regards to just the lack of skating power, the lack of skating speed, it just really hasn’t been there. And then even in the postseason last year, it just overall on a per game basis, those same things just really weren’t that high. So I’m having dja vu right now. I’m like I literally while you were talking had deja vu because I had a like a and I’ll tell you what the thought was. I had a thought in reaction to those numbers that popped into my head and I immediately went I’ve said this before. I immediately went this like that whatever Dennis said sparked this thought months ago and it’s and it’s right back to the same spot. And the thought was um and it’s kind of a good what if the injuries that he dealt with Yeah. I wonder if they they would have happened four years later if he would have been better equipped on the other side. Because here’s here’s the thing. I think a lot of hockey players, a lot of athletes in general early on in their career depend on physicality. They depend on speed, power, and they don’t, you know, as even the the the prodigies, right? They don’t know the game as well as they’re going to know it. and and they use their physicality to get by and be effective and be stars as they learn the game. And then later on in their career when those physical attributes start declining or an injury takes some of that explosion in power, they have all of that experience gained as far as playing the game and everything to lean on. Andre’s injuries started hitting early, right? So now he’s on the other side of the injuries and he didn’t have, you know, seven years in the league to to see the field, see the ice, and get everything to where, okay, you know, you’re you’re not hitting 22 miles an hour as often as you used to. That’s fine. Now, you know, to use that angle just 10% different and get there, you know, the same time even though you’re a little bit slower. Like, you don’t have those instincts. And and the reason why I say déja vu is I said this exact same thing at the end of last regular season almost I’m I’m sure you go back and find I don’t talk with a different cadence. I don’t have a new vocabulary. It might be word for word. Uh and it was sparked the same way. And and those are the things that make me a little worried. When you start having those same conversations over and over again and they’re these same issues that that’s a little again I’m not sounding I’m not saying trade them right now. I’m not saying bench him. I’m not doing anything crazy. I’m just saying I think it’s a real conversation we should have. So if you look at in the year 2021 2022, that season where he scored 30 goals and had 39 assists, 69 points on 78 games, is that the was he like 19 years old? Uh he was, you know, 22, not even. Yeah. Uh he was Yeah, he was I’m sorry. He was 21 years old. So again, this is before a lot of the injuries and stuff started mounting up. If you look at the 18 to 20 mph burst of speed, you’re looking at about 7.4 four a game. So, actually more like 7.5. Now it’s down to 5.3 a game. 20 to 22 miles per hour. It’s like real strong burst. You’re looking at two a game is what he averaged. Now he’s down more of like one. So yeah, I think it’s starting to catch up to him because wait a second. I can’t get to that. I don’t have that half step on the person I’m def that’s defending me to get to that puck or to get around somebody. He unfortunately I think he just has to learn how to change his game now. Exactly. And and when it happens slowly over time, I think you do you learn how to change your game almost without knowing it. When it happens in in one fell swoop or there’s an injury and you you think you’re going to get back and you it’s it’s just more difficult. And and you know, Dennis, you you obviously have more playing background in hockey than I do. So, uh correct me if this got a game tonight. Let’s go. Correct me if this is on the moon. And I’m not saying you have any, no offense, uh any understanding of what it’s like to skate like Andre Fetchnikov, but those those bursts are instinctive. Yeah. Right. It’s you don’t have time to think, am I fast enough to go get this puck. It’s just the puck is there in your peripheral. You see a defender, you see a defenseman, and it’s either go or no go, and there’s no time to think. That’s how it is in basketball. That’s how it is in soccer. That’s how it is in in hockey, I would assume. all of these free flowing sports where, you know, you don’t stop and huddle up for 40 seconds in between each play. And and that just it just tells you everything you need to know about your body is what you instinctively think you can and can’t do. But again, I’m not saying trade him right now. I’m not saying bench him. I’m not saying healthy scratch him. I’m not saying take him off of everything. I’m not saying play him eight minutes a game. I’m saying stick a pin in that and don’t forget about it and and revisit it later on and see if there’s another way that might be better to use

Tim Donnelly & Dennis Cox discuss how Carolina Hurricanes forward Andrei Svechnikov has not been contributing early this NHL season for head coach Rod Brind’Amour.

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