Filed under: Thrashers, NHL Coaching
The only people that were on board with Atlanta's decision to move Dustin Byfuglien to defense (his original position) this season were the Atlanta Thrashers themselves. Two months into the season, and he's on a torrid pace that, if maintained, would shatter all of his previous career highs in goals and points, and is currently leading all NHL rearguards in scoring with 25 points in 23 games -- two points ahead of Kris Letang and John-Michael Liles who are tied for second. One of the biggest criticisms of Atlanta's move was that by switching him back to the blue line, the Thrashers would be eliminating one of his greatest strengths as a hockey player: his ability to park himself in front of the other team's goaltender and use his 6-foot-3, 246-pound frame to cause all sorts of hell in front of the net, banging in rebounds and collecting the tough goals. It was a criticism voiced the loudest by former NHL player Jeremy Roenick.
While it's true that Byfuglien collected a lot of goals from that area, a look at his goal-scoring locations over the past four years shows that he was not only a threat directly in front of the net, but he's also always been capable of scoring goals from all over the offensive zone, something that has continued to happen as a defenseman.
Here's a quick look...
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Source: http://nhl.fanhouse.com/2010/11/30/dustin-byfuglien-doesnt-need-to-be-near-the-net-to-score-goals/
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