Claimed:Denis Struggles Through 6 Games

[Tyler 885]

Denis Struggles Through Six Games

 

Denis has not had much reason to celebrate so far in the VHL

 

Even if expectations were low for Milos Denis, it is safe to say that through six games of his VHL career, the Slovakian has not met them. Being all of 19 years old and not expected by many to even make the VHL, being able to suit up for the Americans is a victory in and of itself. However, to Denis, it is anything but and he views his early season as a failure. He has zero points so far. Not a single pass of his turned in to a goal, and not a single puck bounced off him and in to the net. Of course it is early, and many players have had a hard time adjusting to the speed and physical defense of the VHL, but for Denis, there are worrying signs.

 

In his first professional season in Turku, the young man had just 73 points in 72 games. He was hardly a dominant force despite his talent level being through the roof. He found it difficult to adjust to the size of many of the players in the VHLM, and although he found his stride in the playoffs, Denis struggled for the majority of the games he played last year. So far through six games, Denis is a +4 while playing on New York's top line alongside Tom Slaughter and fellow winger, Xin Xie Xiao and has been a noticeable step behind these players and often is the cause of offense breaking up, and despite a positive outlook by the entire team, it is obvious Denis is not up to par with a superstar Americans lineup. 

 

With no points so far, Denis has been a subject of criticism by many across the league.

 

So what are the options? With a one way contract given to him by Chris Miller, New York can either wait it out and hope the Slovakian eventually finds his feet in the big leagues, or they can look to move him elsewhere, however with cap space hard to come by, this is very unlikely. It seems the Americans will have to hold on to Denis and wait him out and hope this is just an issue of not being used to the VHL ice surfaces, and not an issue of true confidence, or even worse, an issue of skill level. Being that he is just a rookie, it seems likely the issue is simply a lack of foot speed compared to the defenseman, but seeing as he is playing significant power play minutes without being able to create anything significant, one has to wonder if it is a combination of lack of confidence and foot speed. The only way to really cure an issue of speed is to practice harder than before, as for confidence it will likely be up to the leadership of the Americans to get the rookie through these tough spells. 

 

Many VHL stars today have struggled early on in their careers and Milos Denis is hoping he is one of those people. The small of stature winger obviously has as good a chance as anyone from the Season 39 Draft of being a star, but if he is to become the star he can be, he is going to have to work through the growing pains in order to reach his potential. 

[Advantage 2,891]

You'll be fine

[Will 4,660]

Content: 3/3

Good read. I'm sure Denis will improve over time. It's possible that being on a team as deep as New York, compared to someone like Ali on Quebec or even myself on Helsinki, is hindering Denis' abilities.

 

Grammar: 2/2

Nothing, nice!

 

Appearance: 1/1

Looks good.

 

Overall: 6/6

Edited July 29, 2014 by Draper

[Kesler 1,514]

Claimed