Rasmus Sandin has not looked great to start the season; a former Leaf weighs in on his early season struggles
Leafs defenseman Rasmus Sandin has had a pretty uneventful start to his 2022-23 season, which is slightly concerning with the Leafs being down a pretty important defenseman in Jake Muzzin and needing Sandin to elevate his game to try to fill the void.
Former Leaf defenseman Frank Corrado was on ''Leafs Morning Talk'' today to discuss Sandin's recent struggles that were magnified last night with a brutal giveaway to Sidney Crosby that resulted in a goal against. Sandin missed almost all of training camp while holding out for a contract that he could've signed back in July with reports stating that he was unsure where he fit into the blueline and that he should be a top 4 blueliner.
On the program, Corrado discussed Sandin's play so far this season saying, "he plays a pretty busy game - really good puck mover, not afraid to hold onto the puck that extra second and, every once in a while, you'll make a pretty glaring mistake when you play that way and I think for the most part this season his game has been a little quieter - and I don't mind that. But when you have a summer where you hold out for a contract, miss a bit of camp, and the narrative around you is 'I should be a top 4 guy', there's a lot of internal pressure (from himself)."
From Corrado's perspective, he believes that Sandin needs to find a way to manage that internal pressure and expectation and "get back to the young kid, care-free, naive" player he was when he was being called up from the Marlies. Of course, that is easier said than done, but Sandin should be able to find a balance, now that he is back on his strong side.
Simplifying his game a little might help and, as good as his patience with the puck is, if it's not working for him at the moment, perhaps he should try dishing it a little quicker to limit the number of mistakes. That, in and of itself, could do him wonders - at least until he finds his groove.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 16 | 250 ANSWERS Rasmus Sandin has not looked great to start the season; a former Leaf weighs in on his early season struggles How would you rate Sandin's start to the 2022-23 season? | ||
| A | 12 | 4.8 % |
| B-C | 103 | 41.2 % |
| D-E | 104 | 41.6 % |
| F | 31 | 12.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
