Prospect Info: 2015 NHL Draft - Pick #62 - Robin Kovacs

[Hunter Gathers]

@Hunter Gathers maybe the whole wolfpack team sucked last year including the coaching staff when we were ranked #29 with our farm, and G. Clarke was upset with his prospects were not performing at Traverese.
When I look at the AHL roster and exclude the guys we acquired this summer, and like Jim said from Undergrounds radio and many others that Boo Nieves have spent 5 years to try adapt to NHL and obviously struggle to reach NHL quality - and many believe he don`t have it in NHL, but we will see this year. We`ve Graves from last year in Wolfpack who is a promising prospect, but it`s not a luxury we have with our farm compare to Flyers farm for instant.

There were a lot of guys that sucked. Him being a trash player isn't due to the Wolfpack. He was a trash player because he was trash. His awful play contributed to Hartford sucking.

Kovacs was one of the biggest disappointments in recent memory. Nothing about his game translated.

 

[Hunter Gathers]

So context doesn't matter at all? Gotcha... Not going to waste more time on you, have a nice day.

You've provided literally nothing. At least Ori made an attempt to post something even if I disagree with him. Your lazy post was a throwaway.

 

[ManUtdTobbe]

I'm not saying he didn't have a bad season, i even explicitly said he did have a bad season... I'm saying one bad season being the youngest player on the worst team in the AHL when you're moving to a new country for the first time playing on a new rink size with a new style of play doesn't make you a bad player... i'm saying outside context matters... He was also not put in a position to succeed by the coach, he was put in a tough position and he failed, shit happens. The fact that Hartford also play purely dump and chase which is definitely not Kovács game certainly didn't help, nor that he was almost exclusively in the bottom-6 getting no PP time at all...

 

[Ori]

I`ve not watched a single game from Wolfpack last year, but I`ve examine some stats so I`m not going to argue about strength and weaknesses based on the Wolfpack team and system.
Although I look at other sources as well and various hockey writers and many are not impressed with our farm hence our low power #ranking before the summer draft this year - so maybe something changed recently with scout staff and inside the org. before this summer draft, and we improved our future prospects immensely in one summer and start climbing again.

What you think about Boo Nieves @Hunter Gathers ?
In my view it`s so hard to evaluate him - I saw him couple of games in this pre-season and he did some good stuff on the ice, but did he show enough to convince AV and his coaching staff?

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

What you think about Boo Nieves @Hunter Gathers ?
In my view it`s so hard to evaluate him - I saw him couple of games in this pre-season and he did some good stuff on the ice, but did he show enough to convince AV and his training staff?

After that concussion he hasn't been the same. Could have been our 1C

 

[Ori]

• Boo Nieves Birthplace: Syracuse, NY, USA
• Draft: 2012 NYR, 2nd rd, 29th pk (59th overall) Boo Nives - I know it`s wrong topic, but I`m too lazy to create a Boo Nieves player discussion at the moment, but there are many Ranger fans including fans who live in New York who are sceptical about our 2nd 29th overall pick.

 

[TheTakedown]

Just a heads up, CapFriendly has NOT reported that Kovacs has been placed on unconditional waivers... Simply states that he was placed on Standard waivers yesterday, and that he cleared waivers today (at noon I presume)

 

[Hunter Gathers]

I'm not saying he didn't have a bad season, i even explicitly said he did have a bad season... I'm saying one bad season being the youngest player on the worst team in the AHL when you're moving to a new country for the first time playing on a new rink size with a new style of play doesn't make you a bad player... i'm saying outside context matters... He was also not put in a position to succeed by the coach, he was put in a tough position and he failed, **** happens. The fact that Hartford also play purely dump and chase which is definitely not Kovács game certainly didn't help, nor that he was almost exclusively in the bottom-6 getting no PP time at all...

Yawn.

That’s called busting.

 

[Ori]

After that concussion he hasn't been the same. Could have been our 1C

Yeah, it`s unfortunate, of course, I`m not sure how severe that concussion was, but no one question our previous scouts and poor drafting decisions in 2012?

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

Yeah, it`s unfortunate, of course, I`m not sure how severe that concussion was, but no one question our previous scouts and poor drafting decisions in 2012?

Nieves was always a long-shot. I didn't like the pick at the time but with him going through college I liked what I saw. His development was a positive. The question is if he can use his speed at the NHL level to make a difference

 

[nyr2k2]

Just a heads up, CapFriendly has NOT reported that Kovacs has been placed on unconditional waivers... Simply states that he was placed on Standard waivers yesterday, and that he cleared waivers today (at noon I presume)

That doesn't really make sense, though. He's a waiver-exempt player, so why else would he be on waivers?

 

[TheTakedown]

That doesn't really make sense, though. He's a waiver-exempt player, so why else would he be on waivers?

Hmm, good point, but again why wouldn't cap friendly notate that? All official sources are stating "Kovacs on waiviers", not unconditional waivers

 

[Hunter Gathers]

I`ve not watched a single game from Wolfpack last year, but I`ve examine some stats so I`m not going to argue about strength and weaknesses based on the Wolfpack team and system.
Although I look at other sources as well and various hockey writers and many are not impressed with our farm hence our low power #ranking before the summer draft this year - so maybe something changed recently with scout staff and inside the org. before this summer draft, and we improved our future prospects immensely in one summer and start climbing again.

What you think about Boo Nieves @Hunter Gathers ?
In my view it`s so hard to evaluate him - I saw him couple of games in this pre-season and he did some good stuff on the ice, but did he show enough to convince AV and his coaching staff?

Sorry, I would've gotten to this before but I was at a business lunch (well, without the business folks as they had to cancel thus giving me a free $150 lunch).

It's an interesting question re: Boo. He is hard to evaluate, but I think his game away from the puck is a heck of a lot better than Kovacs's was. My issue with Nieves is that he sometimes seems aloof and lackadaisical. His game seems to translate a lot more to the pro level and he kind of seems like a guy who can play a bottom six game against men. Kovacs SEEMED like a guy who could do that as a younger kid but it never really fleshed out. I'm not sure if that's due to a strength issue or just how the cards fell for him.

I think Nieves will be a NHL player, but I don't see much more than a third or fourth line role for him. And that's fine! You really do need cheap role players in a cap-world NHL. If he can be an effective bottom sixer, we at least get a cost-controlled NHL player out of it.

To me, Hartford was crappy. But it was extra crappy due to the awful play of guys that should've contributed more (Kovacs, Tambellini, Fontaine, Brown, and McRae were all really bad last year at times). So it's a bit of a chicken-or-the-egg scenario as well. But when I compare what Kovacs game was prior to the AHL, I think most of his struggles were that he just couldn't translate his play at that level. It's not like this is something uncommon, either. It happens all the time. It just is what it is.

 

[Levitate]

Fontaine didn't play in Hartford last year

 

[ManUtdTobbe]

Justin Fontaine did and he was good, easily one of Hartfords best players.

 

[Levitate]

oh OK that makes sense

too many Fontaines

 

[nyr2k2]

Just an update on this. Eliteprospects lists him as having transferred from NYR to unknown. There's also this article where some front office type from Rogle is talking about Kovacs' future; it's behind a pay wall so I don't know what it actually says. It does however look like he's officially done here.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

He couldn't even drive a car without ****ing up.

Come on, thats a low blow. Leave his legal issues out of a discussion about his hockey.

I agree with your assessment, for the most part, I don't care about the age excuse some use, but he does have some skill. He's a good skater with good enough puck skills and a good enough shot. Whether or not he's good enough for the NHL eventually, I have no clue. Guys who go back to Europe after coming to the USA usually don't come back, so I'd assume not, but we've have less talented players leave after signing a contract.

 

[Steve Kournianos]

Lots of skill, very low IQ. Smart players anticipate well, position themselves well and sniff out opposing plays with a high probability for failure. This when combined with effort leads to increased ice time (see Hagelin circa 2012)

Kovacs didn't set some precedent like being the first rookie Euro AHLer on a bad team. There are dozens upon dozens of examples of successful Euro prospects who started out on crappy AHL teams with crappy coaches. The bottom line is to make the most of the 5-9 mins you play a game, turn that into 10-12 mins a game, and then 13-17 mins a game etc etc.

There are a bunch of reasons to get yourself buried on the 4th line. Here are a few (in no order):

1) Low IQ plays -- passing puck to covered guys to save your own tail, centering feeds to nobody, bad-angle shots on OMRs, etc
2) poor effort in practice
3) unforced turnovers
4) bad/lazy penalties
5) failure to consistently win puck battles

Can't speak for No. 2, but Kovacs was guilty of 1, 3, 4 and 5. This is indisputable, and he had the same issue in the Allsvenskan and with Team Sweden. He was definitely an opportunist who was a good forechecker (to an extent), but he overcommitted a ton and was always racing back up ice to catch guys who blew past him.

Prospects need to earn respect. Unless you're a top overall pick, ice time is earned. If you have to coddle a prospect, chances are, they're too high maintenance to begin with and will have a very short career. It's like the teacher with 45 students who spends all his/her time with the one window licker who hijacks every lesson and the other 44 get shortchanged. Not worth it. Cut the cord and move on.


If I'm not going to blame John Muckler for "ruining" Manny Malhotra, I sure as shit won't blame Gernander for "ruining" Kovacs.

 

[Ori]

Robin Kovacs Cleared waivers yesterday on the 2nd October - so I`m not sure where he ends up this season. Maybe AIK since he had some success there in Sweden some years ago?

I`ve an hour old swedish article about Robin Kovacs - it`s in their native language though (not english).
(I`m positive u can translate the article to english in the Chrome browser.)

http://hockeybladet.nu/silly-season/kovacs-nara-ny-klubb-atervander-till-shl/

Brief content from the sport article: His agent Michael Rosell has not talked to Robin yet, and the agent mentioned he won`t talk to a journalist concerning Robin`s future - so it`s still unknown what will happen.

 

[ManUtdTobbe]

Seems like it's Luleå or Skellefteå for Kovács according to something i read this morning, don't have the link right now though.

 

[nyr2k2]

I think Rogle still owns his rights for another year, but I could be mistaken.

 

[ManUtdTobbe]

They don't, we don't have "rights" in Sweden. Either you're under contract or you're a free agent.

 

[Ori]

Many players prefer the Russian or Swedish league compare to AHL though. I think we will see transfer activity in Sweden and Russia the next couple of days based on NHL waivers this year. A. Martinsen - I really doubth he will play on Canadians farm team in age of 27.

 

[Hunter Gathers]

Just an update on this. Eliteprospects lists him as having transferred from NYR to unknown. There's also this article where some front office type from Rogle is talking about Kovacs' future; it's behind a pay wall so I don't know what it actually says. It does however look like he's officially done here.

"And now, from Parts Unknown . . . ROBIN KOVACS!"