Kronner has ups and downs as minutes increase
Yahoo sports has a good article on Niklas Kronwall’s spotty performance as his minutes have increased. The goal is to limit the amount of time Nick Lidstrom spends on the ice each night. For that to happen Kronwall is going to play more minutes and play tougher competition night in and night out. That’s clearly the case right now as Nik Jr. leads the team in time on ice.
Lidstrom is still eating up plenty of ice time while short-handed, as he and Andreas Lilja are the leading PK’ers on the blueline. And Lidstrom, QB’ing the top power play, is also the ice-time leader with the man advantage. So it appears Lidstrom will continue to dominate specialty teams. Kronner will get the heaviest minutes at even-strength and the thing to watch during the season is his progression.
He’s struggled thus far, as he’s near the bottom in plus/minus - along with two members of the third checking line [Kris Draper, Dan Cleary], along with his defense partner [Brad Stuart] and Brett Lebda. But his performance during last year’s playoffs gives you reason to believe he is up to the task.
Nicklas Lidstrom Niklas Kronwall Red WingsNo Comments
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