Filatov should take a page out of Daugavins' book

Murray’s comments yesterday were a nice bit of bravado… but I suspect that there is one problem here… I strongly suspect Filatov has already left for Russia… and I don’t mean his body has left… but his performance from here to the end of November will show that he is already gone.

I know to some of you that on the surface it appears that Filatov has given his all… With a guy that has this much talent, I suggest that he has not even scratched the surface yet.

He will be more comfortable in Russia. However, players only get better only when they step out of their comfort zone.

Especially players wh are all out offensive players. Like Yzerman and Spezza, they only became really good players when they learned to listen to their coaches and step out of their offensive-minded comfort zone and into playing an all around game.

The Sens brass knows that the last thing we need is another all out offensive player to play with Spezza.

Filatov is being asked to step out of that comfort zone and play an all around game, and any sign of that happening would do him a world of good in his quest to be an NHL player.

This says it all from the Senators perspective & why Filatov hasn’t played top 6 in Ottawa yet this season.

Watching Daugavins and all of the passion that he puts into killing penalties just make me such a huge fan of his.

I don’t care what anyone says… Players who reach the NHL have the ability to play well defensively. It’s just a matter of what’s between their ears and whether they want to expend their energy in a place where there is no glory and no big paycheck… like playing defence.

I’d much rather have Daugy playing for the Sens right now than FIlatov.

I won’t repeat all my arguments on why Filatov hasn’t been given a chance, regardless of whether Daugavins was given a lesser chance.

So I will leave it on a lighter note:

#FreeFilatov

I would hate to lose a player of Filatov’s talent just because he’s young and wants to play big minutes.

I’d be interested to see what he could do on a line with Winchester and Daugavins. Winch isn’t the most skilled guy, but he can win face-offs and cover up defensive miscues. Daugavins can put the puck in the net when given the chance. You would hope that Rooster’s work ethic would help Filatov and that the two might be able to find some chemistry playing together.

The idea would be to have a fourth line that would be good enough to eat into the minutes of the 1st, 2nd or 3rd lines when one of them is not playing well.

http://twitter.com/Aportzline

One of his many previous coaches calls him into room with video guy for one-on-one film work, to show him instance where they want him to crash the net and get to rebounds, create scoring chances. After four or five clips, Filatov steps back from the monitor, looks at the coaches and says, flatly: “Filly don’t do rebounds.”

(Aaron Portzline is the beat writer for the Columbus Blue Jackets)

I am not about to rehash the discussions from yesterday because that isn’t the aim of the post. Management’s treatment of Filatov is a different discussion.

Young players need more than “having” the puck skills and required talent to be “given” a spot in the NHL, regardless of the position. They can’t just possess the skills, they need to demonstrate these skills consistently or demonstrate consistent willingness to put their best effort game in and game out.

Also, we all have to go through many stages of proving ourselves in our jobs in order to move up, it’s no different for hockey players. Young players have to be kept on their toes, because no coach is going to overlook replacing a young player in a slump with another one that is doing much better. They want a chance? Well so do all the other prospects in the system, and they will work their butts of to get a chance as soon as someone else starts “losing” their spot.

Finally, they need to understand that being sent back to the AHL is not meant as a personal punishment, but in fact it is a chance to work on areas of concern without having the pressures of the NHL. Some articles claim that Filatov is unhappy about being in the AHL, well honey why don’t you do something about it and show the big guys why you should be up in Ottawa?

Does anyone still think Filatov is a victim here?

Adnan, there are no victims here… only Filatov being Filatov and continuing to not deliver.

Surely there is another team who doesn’t give a damn about him developing an all around game and just wants him to score some goals. He can hang around in the slot and wait to be fed like Heatley and as long as he scores a few, that would satisfy several teams.

We could at least probably recover our 3rd round pick.

Maybe this summer we will break this jinx we seem to have with Russian forwards. (Daugy is Latvian.)

If we need to make a spot for Filatov, who has to go then? On LW we have Greening, Foligno, Daugavins and Kanopka.. Obviously Konopka seems like an easy target, but Filly will play 5-7 minuttes in his place and will whine that he is not getting fair chance. He has to wait for his chance, everyone gets it eventually, but his head is not in the right place…And when Neil is back, who goes? Condra? Butler?
There is a reason B.Murray decided not to draft Russian players and while this gamble of 3rd rounder for Filatov looks like a no brainer, same can be said about Filatov …

I think Konopka only plays because Neil is out and we need some toughness in the lineup just in case… With Neil back, Konopka out, we still have same problem – no spots available, and definitely no spots in top 6, because Da Costa (with Daugavins, he is the only player on a current lineup who is on a two way) is a Center, needs to play to maintain his confidence and has been playing to the best of his abilities.
You have to sit Condra or Butler, but Condra has been playing well in his role and Bobby just scored two… I guess that is why Murray asked Filatov to wait till end of the month, because players should play themselves out of the roster, it may be easier to sit couple guys after tough road trip, where someone will underperform… or not :) Murray is just trying to buy some time, but with all likeness after just 18 games, this ship has sailed already – if Filatov does not feel happy with his initial role as bottom 6 forward, then there is no way he is getting top 6 minutes without significant injuries..

and I’ve come to the realization that to say "Filatov should take a page out of Daugavins’ book’ isn’t fair. They are 2 completely (completely…..) different players. One is a fringe player who has made it to the NHL based primarily on his work ethic and ability to play many situations. Filatov, on the other hand, got to the NHL based purely on natural ability. He skates extremely well, shoots the puck very well, has loads of creativity and great vision. Has it all come together? No(t yet).
To say “take a page out of Daugavins’ book” isn’t fair because their initial and eventual paths to the NHL were completely different.
Daugavins’ knew the day he was drafted what it was going to take to make it.
Filatov, with his natural-ability, knew he could just show up on time and he’d be a lock to play in the NHL. As he found out in CBJ, it doesn’t work that way. We’ve seen many skilled player with the same mentality.

Do I agree with the theory? Yes.
Do I wish Filatov would bare down, work his ass off and make BM eat his words? Of course.
But one was a 1st round (and #1 ranked prospect at one point) pick and the other, a later pick who was never expected to make much of an impact in the NHL.

I am a huge fan of Kaspars. If you have a strong work ethic in the NHL, you’ll win the hearts of many. But Filatov is a completely different story.

My heart isn’t bleeding for Filatov but we’re comparing apples to rhubarb.

Yes and Filly and his “Filly don’t do rebounds” already has demonstrated that he is not willing to do the work necessary, so he wants it donated to him because he looks so good when he skates… and he does look REALLY good when he skates.

Thank goodness BM and the organization has drawn the line in the sand and told him what he needs to do. A little bit of bravado on BM’s part for saying, “Sorry but it isn’t your decision to make.”

Now all that remains is for Filly to say his FUs by leaving and going back to Russia.

I was rooting for Filatov but clearly his time is running out. I suspect he’s already checked out for Russia.

Say hi to Radulov for us!

Starting to sound like maybe something was lost in translation so maybe we should all just simmer down for now.

Yeah let’s hope he shuts us all up with a couple of hat tricks. Not likely, but you never know. He is capable of doing that.