E.L. wrote:
What happened to him? Is he just another Cody Ceci, a tools guy who got thrust into a starting role too early and learned nothing? He has the skating to be a weapon on transition, but yeah, just seems error prone. I wonder if he can be fixed like Petry.
Here's the thing--I don't think Petry was ever broken. Like Justin Schultz, he just needed to get the hell out of Edmonton in order to be utilized properly.
He's big, physical, skates well, and has puck skill. He has all the physical tools to be a top-end defenseman, but Tallon pounced WAY too early with a long-term, low-AAV deal (but not nearly low enough) after a promising rookie season. Turns out he may have the talent but the hockey sense is severely lacking. Also, he's dirty as fuck and prone to idiotic mistakes and penalties that cost his team dearly. He's more of a bottom-pairing guy to me unless he makes a major step forward in his game, which seems unlikely now that he's 26. The incident with Elias Pettersson seems pretty indicative of the kind of player he is. Pettersson embarrassed him, so he slammed the little guy into the boards and threw him to the ice. That should've gotten a lot more than two games and a fine.
And really, if you look at his rookie season, it was decent, but by no means great. Why Tallon jumped the gun when he did, well, that's one of many reasons why he's out.
His wife is Olympic gold medalist defender Emily Pfalzer (according to Wikipedia, she's won six medals in international competition, all of them gold, which is impressive). Maybe he can get some tips from her.