[drscruf]

Every forum I go to, it seems, people constantly kvetch about Olesz. Not worth the money. No offense. No defense. Doesn't hit. Hits too much.

Why is this? Seriously, it seems like people have these huge expectations for him and I don't understand why.

So, enlighten me, what do YOU expect from Olesz?

[therattrick.com]

Personally I would like to see more scoring from him. For the amount of money he's being paid, which I think was granted to early, I feel his production has been lacking.
Defensviely he's been a bit suspect and has a pretty bad +/-.

I think he's got the skills, but needs to show more

[Imber]

I'm in agreement with Rat Trick. I know it's not his fault that he got extremely overpaid, but for the money and where he was drafted, he needs to be putting up better numbers.

[sharkdivmstr]

I think everyone would agree he's overpaid. I have never thought him to be a big time scorer. He was drafted way, way too high. I could easily picture him as a higher scoring John Madden or Sammy Pahlsson. A really good, 3rd line, shut down guy with a little more offensive flair. I don't see the guy even regularly getting 40 points. But I think his deal is like every other Cats player who had high expectations: previous ownership brought him in too early, expecting way more than he could produce, and stunted his development something fierce. Case in point, Stephen Weiss. He's been in the league what? 7 years? And is just NOW becoming the player everyone thought he would. Olesz is probably going to be the same...

[therattrick.com]

sharkdivmstr, on Dec 15 2009, 06:57 PM, said:

I think everyone would agree he's overpaid. I have never thought him to be a big time scorer. He was drafted way, way too high. I could easily picture him as a higher scoring John Madden or Sammy Pahlsson. A really good, 3rd line, shut down guy with a little more offensive flair. I don't see the guy even regularly getting 40 points. But I think his deal is like every other Cats player who had high expectations: previous ownership brought him in too early, expecting way more than he could produce, and stunted his development something fierce. Case in point, Stephen Weiss. He's been in the league what? 7 years? And is just NOW becoming the player everyone thought he would. Olesz is probably going to be the same...

Excellent point about bringing up young players too soon. I do remember that when Weiss was drafted management wanted him up and then coach Mike Keenan (i know go ahead say it) didn't feel that Weiss was ready. After a few games Keenan had Weiss sent back down. Shortly after Keenan was fired, Rick Dudley called Weiss back up, only to realize that Weiss was not ready yet for the big time. It's true he wasn't ready.

All too often the Panthers have rushed their players that they have drafted and it has stunted their development, and maturity. Bouwmeester was the exception, but in all honesty I am concerned about Kulikov. It's very easy to say what could he prove in juniors, but just take a look at Detroit and New Jersey. Two orgainizations that never rush their players.

It also helps to hav a decent team already which has been the Panthers problem anyway.

I would like to see Olesz turn things up, but that kind of money on the third line.....nope!

[FloridaFlyer86]

I think the whole issue with Olesz is bad luck. The guy has been hurt so many times in his young career that he hasn't had the time to grow into the player the Panthers drafted him to be.

I always thought Olesz could have 50-60 point seasons. He has the size and speed, he just needs to find his comfort zone and work it. I have a feeling as long as Rusty stays healthy he will improve.

[sharkdivmstr]

therattrick.com, on Dec 15 2009, 07:51 PM, said:

All too often the Panthers have rushed their players that they have drafted and it has stunted their development, and maturity. Bouwmeester was the exception, but in all honesty I am concerned about Kulikov. It's very easy to say what could he prove in juniors, but just take a look at Detroit and New Jersey. Two orgainizations that never rush their players.

Exactly. Both the teams I always point to. When you look at Detroit's "rookies", they are often 22, 23, 24 years old. 3-4 years experience in the minors. Yet, they come up and almost immediately start getting 40-50 points on a 2nd line (sometimes 3rd line!). Both teams also draft really, really well. Most of their talent comes from rounds 3-6.

This is exactly the reason I was worried about Kulikov being here at the beginning of the year. At the time, Marc-Andre Bergeron was still a UFA (and do I ever wish we had gotten him!) and Skoula was in our training camp (doing well for the Pens). I know the kid has conquered the minors and he is doing well up here...12 pts in 32 games is pretty respectable. I would say something about the +/- but the whole team's +- sucks ass so its hard to judge if his woiuld be that bad if the entire team was playing better. Hopefully we don't ruin this kid's first 4-5 years as we have every other prospect we've had!

Olesz's +/- is a -12, which is a team low. By alot (-5 more than any other Cat). I don't think its injuries. I think the kid was misjudged in his abilities. He has some potential, but he will never be a 1st line player and he's not even being defensively responsible anymore.

This point has been edited by sharkdivmstr: 16 December 2009 - 07:26 AM

[therattrick.com]

sharkdivmstr, on Dec 16 2009, 07:24 AM, said:

Exactly. Both the teams I always point to. When you look at Detroit's "rookies", they are often 22, 23, 24 years old. 3-4 years experience in the minors. Yet, they come up and almost immediately start getting 40-50 points on a 2nd line (sometimes 3rd line!). Both teams also draft really, really well. Most of their talent comes from rounds 3-6.

This is exactly the reason I was worried about Kulikov being here at the beginning of the year. At the time, Marc-Andre Bergeron was still a UFA (and do I ever wish we had gotten him!) and Skoula was in our training camp (doing well for the Pens). I know the kid has conquered the minors and he is doing well up here...12 pts in 32 games is pretty respectable. I would say something about the +/- but the whole team's +- sucks ass so its hard to judge if his woiuld be that bad if the entire team was playing better. Hopefully we don't ruin this kid's first 4-5 years as we have every other prospect we've had!

Olesz's +/- is a -12, which is a team low. By alot (-5 more than any other Cat). I don't think its injuries. I think the kid was misjudged in his abilities. He has some potential, but he will never be a 1st line player and he's not even being defensively responsible anymore.

Could not agree more with your points. In trying to stay on point here, but cannot help expand a little, Olesz may also lack something that you can only learn in the minors. Hockey sense. Knowing where to go, where to be, how to position yourself etc.
Learning that at the NHL level is a definite disadvantage. Your point on Kulikov is right on, and let's compare him to Toronto's Luke Schenn. Schenn has struggled this year and was recently a healthy scratch. While last year was a decent year for him how much better would he have been this year by playing last season in the minors? We'll never know.

A defenceman matures later than most every other position player because of all the responsibilites and the "reads" they have to make. I would have had no problem with sending Kulikov back to juniors so he could have a stellar season, be a leader and come here with all the confidence in the world next year! Marty Skoula would have been a very adequate, if not above average defenceman for the Panthers.