Prospect Info: #19 OA - C/W Evgeny Svechnikov, QMJHL

[Gniwder]

2nd this is Yzerman's decision, not Blashill's

Bashing Blash is more fun than stabbing Stevie. That's the game here.

It's obvious that Svech is not part of Stevie's long term plan, he doesn't fit the mold of how Stevie builds a team. It doesn't mean anything even if he does get claimed, there wasn't a GM willing to offer up anything in a trade.

I've watched enough games to know his skating is the biggest deficiency in terms of both speed and stamina. His best play so far was that assist in the Chicago game (Nielsen goal) where he shielded the puck from a defender. If he could do more of that he might have a chance, but I haven't seen him do that since. Maybe he could learn some slow motion dekes from Staal. It always cracks me up when Staal goes into SuperStaal mode and gets an open shot, he's done it close to a dozen times now.

 

[14ari13]

Bashing Blash is more fun than stabbing Stevie. That's the game here.

It's obvious that Svech is not part of Stevie's long term plan, he doesn't fit the mold of how Stevie builds a team. It doesn't mean anything even if he does get claimed, there wasn't a GM willing to offer up anything in a trade.

I've watched enough games to know his skating is the biggest deficiency in terms of both speed and stamina. His best play so far was that assist in the Chicago game (Nielsen goal) where he shielded the puck from a defender. If he could do more of that he might have a chance, but I haven't seen him do that since. Maybe he could learn some slow motion dekes from Staal. It always cracks me up when Staal goes into SuperStaal mode and gets an open shot, he's done it close to a dozen times now.

It seems like it is difficult and stupid to criticise blashill as he is a .500 coach at home, but obviously for the lack of talent struggles on the road.
Yzerman is a holly cow and nobody criticises him, until now as the people are getting impatient.
But I think both Yzerman and blashill are doing great, not perfect but great. It does not mean they won't fail, but so far so good.

I would give Svechnikov another shot, but I don't know if Yzerman will. I doubt he gets claimed. It seems the GMs have some kind of gentlemen's agreement and they don't pick up the waived players.

 

[Gniwder]

It seems like it is difficult and stupid to criticise blashill as he is a .500 coach at home, but obviously for the lack of talent struggles on the road.
Yzerman is a holly cow and nobody criticises him, until now as the people are getting impatient.
But I think both Yzerman and blashill are doing great, not perfect but great. It does not mean they won't fail, but so far so good.

I would give Svechnikov another shot, but I don't know if Yzerman will. I doubt he gets claimed. It seems the GMs have some kind of gentlemen's agreement and they don't pick up the waived players.

A few players get claimed, most of them don't because they're usually borderline NHL players like Djoos. This season is a bit interesting because of the cap space.

Players claimed this season:
Hockey Player News - Daily Faceoff

 

[TheOtherOne]

It is so strange to read posts here.
1st we will see if he gets claimed
2nd this is Yzerman's decision, not Blashill's
3rd how many of you have followed and analysed his game?

I have said I will follow the players and here is what he did in his last but one game.
He throws a wild pass to dekeyser forcing Dekeyser to leave his position going deep. Then with Dekeyser deep in Florida's zone Hronek is the lone defender back, but that should be fine as they are 2 players vs our 4. Guess what, they score. Who was the closest player? Svechnikov. He did not cover that guy. But we have to forgive him as it is his learning curve. So what does he do next? He gets angry he slashes a guy twice and then follows with cross checking and gets 2 min.
This is what I remember. I am not sure if this was from the last 2 or 1 game.

Any of you noticing anything positive or negative about his play lately?

I'm gonna be honest, I haven't noticed him enough to trust myself with a legit evaluation. I've missed a couple games and the ones he did play in he only had like 10 minutes anyway.

All I know is he can apparently find the back of the net, which isn't trivial in the NHL. That's not everything, but it's something.

If we had a bubble team, you could convince me that he's not good enough. But we have a bottom 3ish roster. I just don't believe we have 8 wingers who are so important that we can't give this guy a shot. Even if it amounts to nothing. What's the worst that can happen? In his 10 minutes he causes us to drop from 29th to 30th? Who cares?

Again, I'm admitting I don't know the guy's game well enough. I wouldn't argue the point to Blashill's face or anything. I just think it's a shame to throw away what little opportunity we might have had to rescue a career.

 

[Filppula]

I don’t think Svech is a world beater by any means, and I’m not sure what his long term potential is, but cmon, he deserves a real crack. Especially over some of the washed up, non producers we regularly roll out with. A bit strange really.

 

[MBH]

You will get to see soon if league GMs agree with you.

We will see if Ryan or Gagner fetch Detroit any value back. We already know Svech got the team nothing and was a first round pick.

I don't care all that much about adding 3rd and 4th round picks. We've got 6 top 90 picks as it is.
We've got our own former first rounder here who showed a pulse. I think if you revive him, that's more valuable than whatever junk you get for Sam Gagner.

 

[MBH]

It is so strange to read posts here.
1st we will see if he gets claimed
2nd this is Yzerman's decision, not Blashill's
3rd how many of you have followed and analysed his game?

I have said I will follow the players and here is what he did in his last but one game.
He throws a wild pass to dekeyser forcing Dekeyser to leave his position going deep. Then with Dekeyser deep in Florida's zone Hronek is the lone defender back, but that should be fine as they are 2 players vs our 4. Guess what, they score. Who was the closest player? Svechnikov. He did not cover that guy. But we have to forgive him as it is his learning curve. So what does he do next? He gets angry he slashes a guy twice and then follows with cross checking and gets 2 min.
This is what I remember. I am not sure if this was from the last 2 or 1 game.

Any of you noticing anything positive or negative about his play lately?

Svech's pluses-
1) One of the best shots on the team.
2) Good passer.
3) Good hockey IQ
4) Size and ability to wall off, win puck battles.

Svech's minuses
1) Speed/acceleration
2) Sometimes makes misreads defensively (as guys with 30 NHL games played do)

We watched Brome skate around on Larkin's line for 2 f***ing weeks. Brome has 325 career NHL minutes to Svech's 291.
Heaven forbid you give Svechnikov - a kid who's worked his ass off through two rehabs - the same opportunity you gave to some no-name UFA from Sweden.

 

[MBH]

I think it's Stevie's decision, and NONE of these players will have any impact on the long term trajectory of this team other than Ryan possibly getting us a draft pick.

I agree that Stecher looks way better than Djoos. I'd even go so far as saying Cholo looked better. Keep in mind Stecher played last night and Djoos got benched, so you really can't complain about that today.

I'm gonna repeat myself.... so much commotion for a player that can't even fetch a 2026 7th.

If Blashill played him, he wouldn't be getting waived by Yzerman.

 

[kliq]

If Blashill played him, he wouldn't be getting waived by Yzerman.

Honestly, I just think Yzerman isnt high on him. If he was, I'm sure he would ask Blashill to play him more.
You were right last year, Yzerman gave up on him as actions speak louder than words.

 

[Gniwder]

If Blashill played him, he wouldn't be getting waived by Yzerman.

Who's the boss?

Stevie could easily force Blash like he did with Perlini and Erne last season or Brome this season. The main reason why I think Blash might be back next season is because it gives Stevie complete control, I really doubt an experienced coach would have as much patience with an experiment like Brome.

(Note: Blash actually has 405 games as head coach, but I don't count 4 seasons of suck as experience)

 

[deca guard]

i dont think svetch thinks quick enough to thrive at the nhl level

 

[MBH]

Honestly, I just think Yzerman isnt high on him. If he was, I'm sure he would ask Blashill to play him more.
You were right last year, Yzerman gave up on him as actions speak louder than words.

You think if Svech was playing every game, 13-16 minutes a night on line 3, getting 2nd unit PP time, that Yzerman would waive him?
I don't.
I agree Yzerman isn't high on him. But Yzerman demotes the players Blash doesn't use.

I don't think Yzerman is the type of guy who tells coaches who to play.

 

[MBH]

Who's the boss?

Stevie could easily force Blash like he did with Perlini and Erne last season or Brome this season. The main reason why I think Blash might be back next season is because it gives Stevie complete control, I really doubt an experienced coach would have as much patience with an experiment like Brome.

(Note: Blash actually has 405 games as head coach, but I don't count 4 seasons of suck as experience)

Where's the evidence Blashill was ordered to play Perlini/Erne?

 

[Gniwder]

Where's the evidence Blashill was ordered to play Perlini/Erne?

Come on, anybody with any sort of hockey knowledge can tell they were both completely useless last season, especially Perlini. You really think Blash is a complete imbecile, don't you?

Keep in mind even the worst NHL coach ever got further in a hockey career than any of us.

This is why I never visit forums related to my real job, everyone thinks they can do the job including the guys flipping burgers for a living. If it was that easy, why is it that you don't have that job?

 

[MBH]

Come on, anybody with any sort of hockey knowledge can tell they were both completely useless last season, especially Perlini. You really think Blash is a complete imbecile, don't you?

Keep in mind even the worst NHL coach ever got further in a hockey career than any of us.

This is why I never visit forums related to my real job, everyone thinks they can do the job including the guys flipping burgers for a living. If it was that easy, why is it that you don't have that job?

So you don't have evidence.
GMs don't usually tell coaches who to play. GMs who interfere develop a lot of friction.

Coaches, however, particularly weak coaches interested in keeping their jobs, may want to play the players their GM acquires to keep them happy.

 

[13to40]

Lots of upset fans and rightfully so... I guess at this point, fingers are crossed he clears and then is back up post trade deadline... or that Carolina picks him up and he gets to play with his brother !

 

[Gniwder]

So you don't have evidence.
GMs don't usually tell coaches who to play. GMs who interfere develop a lot of friction.

Coaches, however, particularly weak coaches interested in keeping their jobs, may want to play the players their GM acquires to keep them happy.

LOL, semantics. You just basically reworded what I said was going on.

BTW, I know somebody that played juniors with Trotz. Apparently there was a lot of friction between Troz and MacLellan, he didn't go to the Isles just because of the money. Didn't stop them from winning the Cup together though.

 

[kliq]

You think if Svech was playing every game, 13-16 minutes a night on line 3, getting 2nd unit PP time, that Yzerman would waive him?
I don't.
I agree Yzerman isn't high on him. But Yzerman demotes the players Blash doesn't use.

I don't think Yzerman is the type of guy who tells coaches who to play.

I do. I think Blashill and Yzerman sit down weekly if not daily and go over the roster. I think if Yzerman saw Svech as a piece of this roster moving forward, he would get more playing time.
I just dont see a coach of a last place team fighting with a GM over a 4th liner playing or not playing. I think both probably look at him in the same light, that being expendable.

 

[14ari13]

I'm gonna be honest, I haven't noticed him enough to trust myself with a legit evaluation. I've missed a couple games and the ones he did play in he only had like 10 minutes anyway.

All I know is he can apparently find the back of the net, which isn't trivial in the NHL. That's not everything, but it's something.

If we had a bubble team, you could convince me that he's not good enough. But we have a bottom 3ish roster. I just don't believe we have 8 wingers who are so important that we can't give this guy a shot. Even if it amounts to nothing. What's the worst that can happen? In his 10 minutes he causes us to drop from 29th to 30th? Who cares?

Again, I'm admitting I don't know the guy's game well enough. I wouldn't argue the point to Blashill's face or anything. I just think it's a shame to throw away what little opportunity we might have had to rescue a career.

That is the reason why I think he should get another shot. I tried to follow him, but I did not find him on the ice much expect the bad plays vs Florida.

 

[14ari13]

Svech's pluses-
1) One of the best shots on the team.
2) Good passer.
3) Good hockey IQ
4) Size and ability to wall off, win puck battles.

Svech's minuses
1) Speed/acceleration
2) Sometimes makes misreads defensively (as guys with 30 NHL games played do)

We watched Brome skate around on Larkin's line for 2 f***ing weeks. Brome has 325 career NHL minutes to Svech's 291.
Heaven forbid you give Svechnikov - a kid who's worked his ass off through two rehabs - the same opportunity you gave to some no-name UFA from Sweden.

Lol, did you read his report card?
If Yzerman puts him on waivers for the 2nd time then Yzerman does not think he is good enough. We will see if any other GM takes him, and even if it does happen we will see how he does with another team.
Maybe he is not a coachable player and has no enough talent to make up for it.

 

[Gniwder]

I do. I think Blashill and Yzerman sit down weekly if not daily and go over the roster. I think if Yzerman saw Svech as a piece of this roster moving forward, he would get more playing time.

Totally agree. It's like people here don't have jobs. How often do you talk to your boss? Even working from home, I talk to him at least 3 times a week. Unfortunately for me, my new boss is also firends on FB (he got promoted), so he hits me up on FB once a week too, lol.

Lol, did you read his report card?
If Yzerman puts him on waivers for the 2nd time then Yzerman does not think he is good enough. We will see if any other GM takes him, and even if it does happen we will see how he does with another team.
Maybe he is not a coachable player and has no enough talent to make up for it.

To be fair, I don't see any evidence of an attitude issue. First 2 games he got caught up ice multiple times, but not so much in his recent games which indicates he's listening to the coaches. At the same time he hasn't really scored since.

He just doesn't skate well enough to keep up with the play. If he commits offensively, he gets caught up ice, and if he commits defensively then he can't catch up to the play. He also doesn't read plays well enough defensively to compensate for his skating which lead to the goal against in the last game.

 

[Number1RedWingsFan52]

6 Minutes and we'll know if Evgeny Svechnikov clears or not. My gut tells me that he will clear.

 

[Gniwder]

6 Minutes and we'll know if Evgeny Svechnikov clears or not. My gut tells me that he will clear.

Crap, I forgot I'm on PST. (Hangover, lol.) Yeah, we'll see soon.

 

[Steve Yzerlland]

Cleared again!

 

[Number1RedWingsFan52]

Yup he cleared, So hopefully he's in todays lineup against Tampa.