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Tyler Bozak: So maybe he's not 1C. But maybe he's 1A-C?

ZBBM

ZBBM

Active member
Do we have a Bozak thread?  If we do I can't find it, so I thought I'd start one in case anyone wants to comment on him.  IMO he's steadily maturing into a pretty darned good NHL player.  His 3 faceoffs wins in the final minute last night -- totally clean, dominant wins -- was a bit of a signature amidst the shambling disaster that is the Toronto Maple Leafs.  Not to mention he has been scoring some gritty goals.

He's not an elite center but he is helping lift Lupul and Kessel to near-elite heights.  If he's not a first-liner, he's approaching "1A" status.
 
Eh, I'm still a little underwhelmed. He seems like a guy who's very much a passenger on the line and who's a product of his environment from year to year. His face-off numbers are ok but he's of questionable value defensively/penalty killing...I don't know. He's not a trainwreck but I don't think he's anything special.
 
Saint Nik said:
Eh, I'm still a little underwhelmed. He seems like a guy who's very much a passenger on the line and who's a product of his environment from year to year. His face-off numbers are ok but he's of questionable value defensively/penalty killing...I don't know. He's not a trainwreck but I don't think he's anything special.
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He seems a bit Matt Stajan-y.
 
Bender said:
Saint Nik said:
Eh, I'm still a little underwhelmed. He seems like a guy who's very much a passenger on the line and who's a product of his environment from year to year. His face-off numbers are ok but he's of questionable value defensively/penalty killing...I don't know. He's not a trainwreck but I don't think he's anything special.
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He seems a bit Matt Stajan-y.
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Bingo.
 
He's another guy I think gets overated round these parts. He is a nice player but not a 1 or 2 guy. I think he is  a 3rd line center helped by playing with two top 6 forwards. Personally I think Kessel, Lupul and Gardiner are legit rt now. The rest....ehhh
 
The problem with Bozak that he is soft as butter. Grabovski is about his size and he is tough as nails so it isn't a size issue. Although he's lately been pretty good on face offs he still strikes me as a passenger. Let's not forgot how invisible he was playing on the 3rd line to start the year.
 
Wow.  Surprised at the uniform negativity so far.  My own view is more charitable.
 
Bozak holding the position is fine with me for now, his experience level is the lowest of the 3 and he seems to have a bit of chemistry on that line to go with some hockey iq and he's fair on his skates. That he's not a burly player isn't a big deal to me either, again right now, as they've been pretty successful with him as their pivot.

I'd like to know if he could find that niche chemistry with a couple other goal scorers but it's hard to seriously do that experiment with the roster as it is.

He's improved and it's only his second full season.
 
Tigger said:
Bozak holding the position is fine with me for now, his experience level is the lowest of the 3 and he seems to have a bit of chemistry on that line to go with some hockey iq and he's fair on his skates. That he's not a burly player isn't a big deal to me either, again right now, as they've been pretty successful with him as their pivot.

I'd like to know if he could find that niche chemistry with a couple other goal scorers but it's hard to seriously do that experiment with the roster as it is.

He's improved and it's only his second full season.
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This is true. It's kind of crazy how we expect immediate results without development.

At the same time, though, Bozak ain't a spring chicken. He's 25 and doesn't have a whole lot more time to progress into a better player, although some do bloom later.
 
Bender said:
Tigger said:
Bozak holding the position is fine with me for now, his experience level is the lowest of the 3 and he seems to have a bit of chemistry on that line to go with some hockey iq and he's fair on his skates. That he's not a burly player isn't a big deal to me either, again right now, as they've been pretty successful with him as their pivot.

I'd like to know if he could find that niche chemistry with a couple other goal scorers but it's hard to seriously do that experiment with the roster as it is.

He's improved and it's only his second full season.
Click to expand...

This is true. It's kind of crazy how we expect immediate results without development.

At the same time, though, Bozak ain't a spring chicken. He's 25 and doesn't have a whole lot more time to progress into a better player, although some do bloom later.
Click to expand...

Well with Bozak it's more of an NHL experience level than anything else, and I'll take his potential considering he was a lost wallet and all. ;)

Is 25 old now? Maybe it's me that's getting old but I don't know.
 
The top line has mostly only been at its best when Bozak is up there, I think he deserves credit for that.

In the end he is not the problem with this team.  I think his performance has been adequate for us to make the playoffs, it is other parts of the team that have let us down.  The 2nd line, the 3rd line, the D (defensively) and the goaltending have all come up short of expectations especially in this slump. 

Sure if Bozak magically turned into Crosby 2.0 he could drag this team up in the standings but that was never expected.  He is expected to get the puck to Lupul and Kessel, win some faceoffs and bang in a few goals and he has done that pretty well IMO.  Is the #1 on a contender? No, ideally I think we want a bigger force to create more space for the wingers, but he was enough to get us in and maybe even put up a fight in the 1st round if the rest of the team hadn't crumbled.

He's way better this year than Stajan ever was IMO, then again he does have red hot wingers.
 
From what I see, he just can't match the skill level of the top line, which I think hurts them all offensively - even if Kessel and Lupul are playing up to the highest of expectations.

Stajan's a great comparison. Mediocre centre with some skills but overall, should not be playing with the team's top two wingers.
 
#1PilarFan said:
From what I see, he just can't match the skill level of the top line, which I think hurts them all offensively - even if Kessel and Lupul are playing up to the highest of expectations.
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I don't know how fair that is to Bozak.

Connolly certainly didn't work between Lupul and Kessel.  Bozak has chemistry with them and for whatever reason they seem to all play well together as a unit.

Also, for those saying Bozak isn't a "spring chicken" at 25, that's true... so how much better do we expect Frattin to get at 24?
 
Tigger said:
Bender said:
Tigger said:
Bozak holding the position is fine with me for now, his experience level is the lowest of the 3 and he seems to have a bit of chemistry on that line to go with some hockey iq and he's fair on his skates. That he's not a burly player isn't a big deal to me either, again right now, as they've been pretty successful with him as their pivot.

I'd like to know if he could find that niche chemistry with a couple other goal scorers but it's hard to seriously do that experiment with the roster as it is.

He's improved and it's only his second full season.
Click to expand...

This is true. It's kind of crazy how we expect immediate results without development.

At the same time, though, Bozak ain't a spring chicken. He's 25 and doesn't have a whole lot more time to progress into a better player, although some do bloom later.
Click to expand...

Well with Bozak it's more of an NHL experience level than anything else, and I'll take his potential considering he was a lost wallet and all. ;)

Is 25 old now? Maybe it's me that's getting old but I don't know.
Click to expand...


Matt Frattin is 24 and we all expect him to get significantly better.  The same should be expected of Bozak then.
 
Erndog said:
Also, for those saying Bozak isn't a "spring chicken" at 25, that's true... so how much better do we expect Frattin to get at 24?
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Bozak is about to turn 26. Frattin just turned 24. There is nearly two years difference in age.

This is Bozak's 3rd pro season while this is Frattin's 1st season as a pro. There is two years difference in pro experience.

I'd say it's fair to suggest the jury is still out on Frattin's top side potential - much more than Bozak at this point in time.
 
Bender said:
Tigger said:
Bozak holding the position is fine with me for now, his experience level is the lowest of the 3 and he seems to have a bit of chemistry on that line to go with some hockey iq and he's fair on his skates. That he's not a burly player isn't a big deal to me either, again right now, as they've been pretty successful with him as their pivot.

I'd like to know if he could find that niche chemistry with a couple other goal scorers but it's hard to seriously do that experiment with the roster as it is.

He's improved and it's only his second full season.
Click to expand...

This is true. It's kind of crazy how we expect immediate results without development.

At the same time, though, Bozak ain't a spring chicken. He's 25 and doesn't have a whole lot more time to progress into a better player, although some do bloom later.
Click to expand...

He's not all that unlike Steen was in his time here.

I think he'll better define his role here in the next 2 years, which ultimately will be a decent 2nd liner when playing with the right linemates.
 
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