High creativity, low flair?

Kekkonen · Post by **Kekkonen** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 2:29 pm

I got LW/RW prospect Kaspar Daugavins in a trade, and noticed that he has 19 in creativity and 1 in flair. It doesn't seem to bother him in the AHL, and he even performed well in a short injury call-up at NHL level. However, I just can't get my mind around this; what sort of a guy has top-level creativity but no flair? Can anyone give me an example of such a real-life player, or an example of what this sort of a guy would and wouldn't do in the rink?

Forsberg · Post by **Forsberg** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 3:52 pm

Perhaps a grinding winger that digs the pucks out of the corners and finds to the open man well, but doing it without any fancy backhanders and stuff like that?.
Thinking 3 line winger atm, but cant seem to find anyone rl that exstreme, absolute lowkey yet elite playmaker hmm.

Kekkonen · Post by **Kekkonen** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 4:17 pm

Hey, that's a good suggestion. Daugavins, however, doesn't look like a grinder in the making; he's kinda small for that (5'11", if my memory serves), he doesn't really have the muscle (strength 10 or 11, even though he weighs a solid 200+ lbs), and most importantly, he hits like a 6-year old girl (mid-single digit rating there). He could be a poor man's Pavel Bure, in fact -- good shot, nice offensive instincts, fantanstic stickhandling/deking, and no defensive skills worth mentioning. What's missing is supersonic speed, Daugavins's is merely above average.

Maybe he'll grow up to be a guy who can undress a defender and score in a very understated manner?

Forsberg · Post by **Forsberg** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 5:00 pm

Well undressing a defender requires a fancy move ie flair most often, unless you have the speed to just blow by him. So cant really see him fitting that profile. Seems like he is stuck with middle of the roads skills, expect for his playmaking and scoring touch abillitys, but how to utilize that best hmm?. Perhaps he could be a Brett hull type of sniper, that would only require his offensive skills though, but ofc you can try to improve his defensive game as well. Much like Hull in Dallas under hitch.

Kekkonen · Post by **Kekkonen** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 5:54 pm

Hmm... maybe he's got a limited amount of moves, but he does them so well he's still an elite deke artist? I don't know how much unlike Pavel Bure that would be; I still remember the Russia - Finland Olympic semi-final from Nagano, where Bure scored on Jarmo Myllys 4 times. Three of those were breakaways, and he got Myllys with the same exact move every time.

Forsberg · Post by **Forsberg** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 6:08 pm

Being able to deek at an elite level is great, but without lightning speed that abillity is certainly limited in use imo.
My concern is after you deke the defenseman you still need to get clear and with average speed vs a Neidermayer like player, he can just use his speed to catch up anyway.
Overall a small, average speed/strengt is most likely not gonna be a force in the nhl just due to deking and good scoring touch, but ofc ppl doubted st.louis and others heh.

matt44 · Post by **matt44** » Sun Dec 07, 2008 10:08 pm

Anyone in the UK will know Dan Tessier - Very creative but rarely does the flashy stuff like dekes etc.....

LoXish · Post by **LoXish** » Mon Dec 08, 2008 6:33 pm

Creativity is simply thinking outside the box -- Joe Thornton, for instance, is one of the most creative and skilled passers you'll see, but doesn't have a lot of flair.