Examining Luke Kunin, Sharks newcomers’ under-the-radar strengths, weaknesses
Examining strengths, weaknesses of Sharks’ newcomers originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
The Sharks should be breaking in at least a half-dozen new players this year.
They acquired wingers Luke Kunin and Steven Lorentz via trade, and winger Oskar Lindblom, center Nico Sturm, and defensemen Matt Benning and Markus Nutivaara in free agency.
What should fans expect from this (mostly) gritty half-dozen?
There’s the obvious stuff: Kunin and Lindblom project to be net-crashing wingers who could flirt with 20 goals, Sturm is an accomplished defensive center trying to incorporate more offense into his resume, Lorentz should add disruptive physicality to San Jose’s fourth line, Benning is a solid defensive defenseman, and Nutivaara is a smooth puck mover.
But let’s check under the hood: SPORTLOGiQ provided San Jose Hockey Now with micro-stats for each of these new Sharks, shedding more light on their individual strengths and weaknesses. Let’s look at a telling strength and weakness for Kunin, Lorentz, Lindblom, Sturm, Benning, and Nutivaara.
What’s the attribute that three of these players share, which points at the type of player that new general manager Mike Grier wants for his Sharks? It’s not size or physicality. Who’s the most not Grier-like skater of this bunch?
Luke Kunin
I wrote extensively about Kunin’s strengths and weaknesses recently at San Jose Hockey Now.
He should be an asset to the Sharks below the dots: Kunin ranked 15th among 283 qualified NHL forwards with 1.04 deflections per 20 (at least 50 power-play minutes). He was 80th in rebounds recovered on the man advantage.
However, Kunin was 410th among 439 qualified NHL forwards with 2.3 controlled zone entries per 20 (at least 300 even strength minutes) last year. Kunin is not a forward, even with his solid skating, that you want lugging the puck up the ice if your aim is to gain the offensive zone with possession. Chances are, he’s going to dump that puck.
Essentially, Kunin…
Source : yahoo
