josh bailey...

[djavan]

is this guy being hurt by where he is - playing with the islanders, where talent is very young and quite inexperienced - or is he just not good...

in 77 games 8 goals, 19 assists

[windflare]

He's just turned bloody 20 years old this month. Only rarely do players (Top 5 picks) jump straight into the NHL and become good players with good point totals right off the bat - most MAKE it to the NHL in their early 20s. Not only that, but as you said yourself, he's playing with the Islanders. Think that might have something to do with his points total?

You need to expand your time frame on player development a bit here, mate.

[slapshot723]

Very young and inexperienced, he'll get better. He needs to shoot more.

[Dan-o16]

Originally Posted by windflare

He's just turned bloody 20 years old this month. Only rarely do players (Top 5 picks) jump straight into the NHL and become good players with good point totals right off the bat - most MAKE it to the NHL in their early 20s. Not only that, but as you said yourself, he's playing with the Islanders. Think that might have something to do with his points total?

You need to expand your time frame on player development a bit here, mate.

Well, the stat line on the original post kind of missed the point, but the question the original poster asked is legitimate. Why? Because Bailey gets pushed around. We hoped the additional weight he put on would help, but he still gets pushed around, rather badly. Losing battles because he's not physically developed enough to play in the NHL may very well be bad for him. Saying he shouldn't be playing at the NHL level is legitimate.

This kid's development is not going to be usual - he's a case of his body catching up to his brain instead of the usual opposite. He's already an excellent passer.

Cheers,

Dan-o

[slapshot723]

Originally Posted by Dan-o16

Well, the stat line on the original post kind of missed the point, but the question the original poster asked is legitimate. Why? Because Bailey gets pushed around. We hoped the additional weight he put on would help, but he still gets pushed around, rather badly. Losing battles because he's not physically developed enough to play in the NHL may very well be bad for him. Saying he shouldn't be playing at the NHL level is legitimate.

This kid's development is not going to be usual - he's a case of his body catching up to his brain instead of the usual opposite. He's already an excellent passer.

Cheers,

Dan-o

Dan-o we agree on something! I wouldn't mind him getting re-assigned to the Tigers (similar to what the Ducks did with Sbisa). He'd be their best player.

If Bailey did get reassigned, Weight can play his natural center position and have Tavares, Nielsen, and Weight as the top-3 centers (Thompson the 4th line center).

[HabsInsideOut]

I was under the impression he was drafted to be a second line all around player as opposed to a number one point scorer. His junior stats show that he wasn't considered that elite of an offense player until his final year. What do the Islanders expect out of him?

[Dan-o16]

Originally Posted by HabsInsideOut

I was under the impression he was drafted to be a second line all around player as opposed to a number one point scorer. His junior stats show that he wasn't considered that elite of an offense player until his final year. What do the Islanders expect out of him?

I'm not at organizational meetings... but he's a positional/playmaking player - the sort of player who makes others better without doing anything terribly flashy himself. What he scores is going to depend heavily on who he's playing with and how he can help their games. But if anyone thinks he can make Blake Comeau/Jeff Tambellini/Jon Sim play better... Well, they've got their expectations way too high. Only Sid the Kid could make a 30 goal scorer out of one of those.

But, in the future, I think he could be a scoring line center. He could turn in to exactly the sort of player you'd want to put with an elite scoring winger like Kovalchuk.

And Slapshot - I sorta agree. I think it's legitimate view that he shouldn't play in the NHL. But I have *no idea* whether that's the right view.

Cheers,

Dan-o

[KH1]

I believe strongly that he shouldn't have been rushed to the NHL like he was last season, when he just physically wasn't ready for the pro game. To me it looks like he compensated by picking up some bad habits (avoiding parts of the ice where he got pushed around, dishing the puck too soon, etc.)

I still have faith in his ability because his vision and hockey sense are immediately evident, but he's been playing pretty poorly this season and needs to make some changes.

[Doug Height]

20 years old + playing with Jon Sim and Jeff Tambellini = not going to put up too many points.

[E_Godard]

Originally Posted by djavan

is this guy being hurt by where he is - playing with the islanders, where talent is very young and quite inexperienced - or is he just not good...

in 77 games 8 goals, 19 assists

Almost 30 points for a kid that shouldve gone mid 1st round in the draft, as a 19 year old straight to the nhl? I dont think he did too bad. Especially given the team he was on last year. So far this season I think he's played worse but that might be because they keep moving him around and nothing is sticking just yet.