Article: Calen Addison Came To Play This Year

[Tony Abbott]

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[Citizen Strife]

His job is safe, under the provision there is more pressing issues (Merrill and Goligoski).  I don't think the Wild would be comfortable dumping three defensemen off the roster at once, regardless of how many prospects they have.  The Klingberg experiment was a wash too.  Addison might be safe for another year or so.  It gives him time to get better.  If he doesn't, that's on him.

[Citizen Strife]

And as I looked up Capfriendly, it's only Goligoski and Addison that are up this year, not Merrill.  Sheesh.  So much for my idea.

[MNCountryLife]

Does Dean have a choice?  If everyone is healthy our D is Middleton, Spurgeon, Brodin, Faber, Merrill, Addison and Goligoski.  Goligoski is 7th and in the press box.  

So those are the 6 we have....  You can't hide them.  I would be inclined to keep giving Addison big minutes.  We need him to improve... with 15 to 20 minutes a night he should.  Come January those extra minutes should pay off.... at least that is the hope...no guarantees.  That would be my mindset if I am Dean.  Any other options would require BG to interject..

 

[Will D. Ness]

The question to me is if these stats actually pointing out that Addison is playing good, or whether Addison weak play is pointing out how these stats are inherently flawed?

He is playing better.  He could use some confidence.  We are going to be relying upon him... but let's not pretend he is good.

 

[Up North Guy]

I hope you are right Tony. The team needs Addison to be good. My non-scientific Mark IV eyeball tells me that he has not been good. I admit to a negative bias towards Addison but again, for me he does not pass the eye test. He isn't strong enough or determined enough. His offense so far appears to be firing slappers repeatedly from the blue line into shin pads. Dumba was noted for that for a good while also, but he had the shot strength to make it work. (at least until his injury) At this point there is no alternative so all we can do is hope.

[Stillwaitingforacuprun]

I love when Klingburg is talked about as a failure while saying Addison is stepping up his game..Addison wishes he has Klings offensive skills...And his defensive skills are just as bad as Klings as well..

[Imyourhuckleberry]

15 hours ago, Will D. Ness said:

We are going to be relying upon him... but let's not pretend he is good.

The sample size is too small to make any major declarations, but at least the stats suggest he may not be as much of a liability as last year, particularly when paired with Brodin, who tends to help everyone look better.

[mnfaninnc]

I read the stats, it doesn't look so bad. Then I watch the player because the eye test must always confirm the statistics, and it does look bad. To me, what I'm seeing is a guy who is lucky to be a +1 and that this will come tumbling down.

Some say the goalie sv% is simply bad luck. From the eye test, it looks to me like the goalie is constantly having to bail Addison out. While other defenders are also giving up goals, at least they are pestering the shooter a bit more, this doesn't appear to be what Addison contributes. 

In conclusion with this, the eye test does not confirm the statistics, and it suggests that Addison is, indeed, poor at defending and above average in offense. Now, granted, Addison's elevated minutes this year, and not having the ability to shield his minutes may become a problem. 

But, there are also other problems, likely more severe. Merrill is 31 years old, was never fast, but now appears to be slowing down. Goligoski has slowed down tremendously. Honestly, Dakota Mermis looks like a potential better #6 than either of these 2. But, pairing Addison with Mermis doesn't seem like a good idea. And then there's Middleton who needs to consult his GPS because he looks completely lost right now. So, Addison really isn't the top problem. 

Quote

For a long time, the Wild's defensive structure made it easy to put up absurd 5-on-5 defensive numbers. Minnesota historically allows something like two expected goals (or xG) per hour, routinely finishing first or second in the NHL. If you play for the Wild, you're not giving up a lot of expected goals, no matter what.

That's not the case this year, not without Spurgeon shutting down opponents for 20-plus minutes a night, at least. Ask Jake Middleton (2.99 xGA per hour at 5-on-5) or Jon Merrill (3.60), or Dakota Mermis (3.98) how that structure is working for him.

Meanwhile, Addison leads Minnesota in that category. His 2.11 xGA/60 is ahead of Brodin (2.51) and Faber (2.61). His assignments tend to be easier than those two, though Addison has played about half of his 5-on-5 minutes with Brodin. It should also be noted that Brodin has been stingier with Addison (1.71 xGA/60) than he has with Faber (2.71).

Now, here is a problem for me. With Rossi, I can accept success being xGF deserving a promotion. The eye test says Rossi is a completely different player than last season. However, when you bring up xGF and xGA to show Addison's improvement, I just can't seem to give him credit for that. The eye test says that Addison is poor at defense, yet, poor apparently is an upgrade from piss poor which was last year's version, so there is some improvement in a small sample size.

Improvement is improvement and I should be able to accept the growing pains of an offensive defenseman having trouble defending. But, for some reason, I just can't with Addison.

Comparing Dumba and Addison I don't think is a good idea. Dumba made the same mistakes being careless with the puck that Addison makes. Addison is a much better passer than Dumba, but Dumba had a much better shot pre-injury. Dumba had some physical instincts that were way better than Addison's and while he made defensive blunders, he could still affect the defense with some bone chilling hits. Addison does not have those instincts. Dumba would also go when pushed into it, Addison will likely never drop the gloves. I think the players are too different to make Dumba-Addison comparisons. 

I think my main issue with Addison comes from the perceived effort side. Sometimes, it looks like he's coasting. Sometimes it looks like he's not really interested in defending. Often he looks soft and plays soft. I simply don't like that in a defender. Addison is 23, but he needs a Rossi restoration. He needs that 15-20 lbs. of muscle added on to his frame for him to be really effective. And, without that, he will look like the same player. Why is it so hard for our players to add that muscle and pay attention to gym time? Organizationally this happens. Perhaps that was the message that Shooter was sending when he resigned Grizzle and Moose? 

[Will D. Ness]

2 hours ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

The sample size is too small to make any major declarations, but at least the stats suggest he may not be as much of a liability as last year, particularly when paired with Brodin, who tends to help everyone look better.

I think last night was a good game for him.  Offensively he was sharp and I didn't see too many mistakes defensively.