Sean Avery has been one of the most effective forwards on the Rangers this year. He has contributed offensively, gotten under the skin of the opposition and dominated in the corners and behind the net. In short we’ve seen the Avery of old with a touch more skill. However for some reason Coach Tortorella has been reluctant to dish out appropriate ice time to the premier agitator in the league. 12 games into the year and Avery has averaged 14:13 per game, simply put that is not enough. While the Rangers haven’t had a great issue with scoring this year, 9 of the last 14 goals scored by the cub have come from just two forwards (Dubinsky and Callahan). With Avery’s line being pretty effective they deserve more ice time to try and make a greater impact offensively, especially in the absence of Gaborik and Prospal. If the trend of the lack of ‘offensive spread’ continues teams will key-in more and more on Dubi and Cally and the Rangers will begin to struggle to score enough. It’s an issue that needs to be nipped in the bud before it becomes a real issue.
So far this year Avery has stuck up for his team mates, played physical and stayed on the right side of that infamous edge everyone talks about. It’s time he got more ice time. If one assumes the Dubinsky-Anisimov-Callahan line remains intact when Gaborik returns throw Avery on the left side of Gaborik. He can hold his own offensively, would create space for his elite line mate and with his strong board play and skill behind the net will allow Gaborik to find space to use his lethal shot. Wayne Gretzky often had ‘lesser’ players on his line to good effect although often they were ‘pure’ agitators like Dave Semenko. Avery can be a key player for this club, both a physically intimidating player and a offensive contributor… if Tortorella lets him.
Share:
More About:Analysis