Why is he getting only eight minutes?

I think the “there’s so much depth on the wings” argument has some credence: with Ovechkin, Semin, Laich, and Kozlov, there’s a lot of guys to get legitimate ice time. But that argument only goes so far and there, honestly, isn’t an explanation to me as to why Fehr gets as little ice time as he does. I think he’s by far the play most underrated by the coaching staff.

Guys, do we have to keep having this same post over and over? Fehr is on 3rd line. Fehr does not PK. Rarely does he skate PP.

13 power-plays in this game, though some not the full 2 min, that was easily a 20 minutes of game time. 40 minutes of 5-on-5 = about 10 minutes per forward. A little more for 1st and 2nd lines, a little less for 3rd and 4th lines.

I’m beginning to get the feeling that Fehr doesn’t really fit into Boudreau’s system, or at least the version of it played by the Caps’ top two forward lines. He’s not a graceful skater, and his skating really deteriorates when he gets the puck on his stick. He doesn’t puckhandle all that well, and he’s not a brilliant passer in transition. Inside the offensive and defensive zones, Fehr is a good player, but he really struggles in the neutral zone, and Boudreau’s system, both on offense and on defense, is predicated on rapid controlled transitions through the neutral zone.

Fehr’s real potential, which he displayed tonight, is to be a great player from the faceoff dots to the back boards. He can dig the puck out of the corners and crash the net with abandon. The problem is, the Caps’ top two lines just don’t play that style of game, and nor does the power play. Those groups work into the zone with puck possession and at his current stage of development, Fehr’s skills just don’t mesh with that style in the same way that say, Kozlov and Fleischmann’s do.

The player I’ve often heard Fehr compared to is Tomas Holmstrom. Well, for all his production and PP time, Holmstrom only averages a little over 15 minutes a night. As recently as 2002-2003, when he put up a line of 20/20/40, Holmstrom averaged 12:16 a night in ice time.

I think the lesson in all this is that if a player can’t skate well with the puck and make good passes in transition, they’re not likely to see much ice time.

well put breed—I just don’t get what BB sees in Flash’s game that translates to 15 minutes—but I disagree with your comment that Laich has broken the top 6 as an “average skater.” I would say his work ethic and willingness to get his nose dirty, combined with his plus speed, account for his rise to line 2.

Back to Fehr. Tyler hit it on the nose—the wristers from 30 feet, while pretty when they go in, are going to get saved 95% of the time by an NHL goalie who is not screened. If Fehr can show that he’s consistently willing to play more like Laich (minus the speed, natch), then his minutes will go up. If he sticks to the perimeter, then he’s gonna stay right where he is in terms of PT.

maybe he’s not 100% healthy? Kozzie is another example. Ice time slashed, found himself on the 4th line in each of the last 2 games, but also missed part of practice on Sat.

This is the time of year that guys shut up about aches and pains. Maybe Fehr’s ice time has been limited cause his back isn’t back to 100%? Maybe he Can’t skate top 6 minutes right now.

Just playing devil’s here.

I think part of the reason he gets less ice time might be related to conditioning. Every time I pay attention, I notice that he’s often the first guy off for a change on his line, and when he does change, he’s totally and completely gassed. Watch him skate back to the bench tomorrow night after his shifts – he’s dog-tired.

On the one hand, this would seem to indicate that he’s giving it his all, on the other, it implies that he’s not in great shape or that his skating stride is so inefficient that he’s knackered before his linemates. Perhaps Boudreau’s just not comfortable with having Fehr out there in the event that his line gets hemmed in their own end, or maybe he’s trying to conserve Fehr’s energy and then releasing it for bursts of forechecking?

I checked the stats to see if they agreed with my eyes. They didn’t. Fehr averages 11:09 and 13.8 shifts per game, for an average shift length of 48.48 seconds. For comparison, Fleischmann averages 15:03 and 18.9 shifts per game, for an average shift lenght of 47.77 seconds and Kozlov gets 15:47 and 17.7 shifts for an average shift of 53.5 seconds. Ovie averages 64.3 seconds per shift, but that’s surely extended by his time as a “defenseman” on the PP.

Clearly, Fehr’s shifts are right around average, so his lack of ice time is not due to shorter shifts, which might imply some sort of conditioning deficiency. Gotta look somewhere else – my eyes were playing tricks on me.