Around the NHL Discussion Part XIV

[Bobby Orrtuzzo]

He and Karlsson were my first two picks. Admittedly I can't complain because I'm top of my league but it's definitely frustrating.

In my main league my first two picks were Burns and Eichel...I haven't been to pleased with them so far.

 

[Dbrownss]

Angry Bruce Boudreau is one of my favorite sights. He gets so mad and all I can do is laugh even harder at him.

 

[Evocable Manager]

Angry Bruce Boudreau is one of my favorite sights. He gets so mad and all I can do is laugh even harder at him.

One of the most important aspects of a coach is how you carry yourself and body language. Your players feed off that.

That guy is a fat, grey haired 6 year old girl when things don't go the way he wants.

 

[Dbrownss]

Lol...f***ing clowns in Nashville missed 2 or 3 open nets trying to be cute and missed. Canadiens took it back down and scored to tie it

 

[shpongle falls]

I'm glad to see the Oilers have a good victory over the Red Wings, I couldn't help but feel a little bit sorry for that team after the Blues desecrated them lol.

 

[EastonBlues22]

How much does this matter in terms of history? I imagine you would have to look at this draft team (ie the Armstrongs) and this ownership. And then look at how many players are actually coming out that size worth drafting. It's a minute level analysis.

I previously calculated in a different post here the rate of "high" picks (generally considered to be the early, or 1st three, rounds) spent by this draft team on players under 5'11'' and compared that to the rate spent on very tall players, and then compared both those to the prevalence of actual NHLers in each of those size ranges.

IIRC, the Blues have spent about 5% of their picks in the top three rounds on players under 5'11'' under this draft team...a rate well below what I eyeballed most other teams to be around, and a rate that is also far lower than the actual percentage of NHLers who are under 5'11''. Going off memory, I believe that Schwartz and Fabbri are the only two picks who fit that bill over the studied period, and both came in at 5'10''. Any team that drafted three or more guys under 5'11'' in the first three rounds over that span probably has a higher percentage of picks spent on that height range than the Blues because the Blues had a pretty good chunk of picks over that span themselves. I'd wager they are comfortably within the bottom five teams in the league in that category.

Anyway, I really don't think it's a controversial stance to take to say that the current Blues organization has generally shied away from that population with high draft picks since there's ample objective and anecdotal evidence that support that statement. They've generally drafted well, regardless, but that's besides the point here since we're specifically discussing DeBrincat.

DeBrincat interviewed with 21 of 30 NHL teams at the combine, and IIRC the Blues weren't one of them. The Blues had two chances to draft him, and passed both times. I can't recall the Blues ever being connected in any way to him as an interested party by news report, insider speculation, factual inference (i.e. interviewing him), or anything else even semi-credible. Maybe that was all smoke-screen to hide legitimate interest, but that's a bold assumption considering they passed twice on him and they had to figure the chances of him making it to their next pick were virtually nonexistent.

I said it back during that draft season and I still believe it now: There's absolutely no concrete reason to believe that they would have valued him highly enough relative to the rest of the league to have any prayer of actually landing him in the draft, and the reason why is obviously his size.

 

[ezcreepin]

I previously calculated in a different post here the rate of "high" picks (generally considered to be the early, or 1st three, rounds) spent by this draft team on players under 5'11'' and compared that to the rate spent on very tall players, and then compared both those to the prevalence of actual NHLers in each of those size ranges.

IIRC, the Blues have spent about 5% of their picks in the top three rounds on players under 5'11'' under this draft team...a rate well below what I eyeballed most other teams to be around, and a rate that is also far lower than the actual percentage of NHLers who are under 5'11''. Going off memory, I believe that Schwartz and Fabbri are the only two picks who fit that bill over the studied period, and both came in at 5'10''. Any team that drafted three or more guys under 5'11'' in the first three rounds over that span probably has a higher percentage of picks spent on that height range than the Blues because the Blues had a pretty good chunk of picks over that span themselves. I'd wager they are comfortably within the bottom five teams in the league in that category.

Anyway, I really don't think it's a controversial stance to take to say that the current Blues organization has generally shied away from that population with high draft picks since there's ample objective and anecdotal evidence that support that statement. They've generally drafted well, regardless, but that's besides the point here since we're specifically discussing DeBrincat.

DeBrincat interviewed with 21 of 30 NHL teams at the combine, and IIRC the Blues weren't one of them. The Blues had two chances to draft him, and passed both times. I can't recall the Blues ever being connected in any way to him as an interested party by news report, insider speculation, factual inference (i.e. interviewing him), or anything else even semi-credible. Maybe that was all smoke-screen to hide legitimate interest, but that's a bold assumption considering they passed twice on him and they had to figure the chances of him making it to their next pick were virtually nonexistent.

I said it back during that draft season and I still believe it now: There's absolutely no concrete reason to believe that they would have valued him highly enough relative to the rest of the league to have any prayer of actually landing him in the draft, and the reason why is obviously his size.

I also recall people wondering if he was a great player in and of himself or if he benefited from the environment he was in. He has been on some really amazing teams the 3 years he was in the OHL, so I think it could be a fair argument. Also, this was the year the Blues NEEDED to draft centers, so I think they didnt really have DeBrincat in mind since he only played the wings. I dont fault them for not drafting him as we have plenty of forward depth right now, keeping players like Thompson and Kyrou on their respective minor and junior teams. There's still time for Kyrou to impress us all and say he was the better pick, so I'll keep my mouth shut for now.

On a side note, are the Golden Knights ever going to slow down? You'd think after basically losing 4 goalies that they'd be the league's worst team in decades, but Arizona is proving that they can compete with the Avalanche on that one. Impressive to say the least at how well that team is doing with a pretty meh roster.

 

[Dbrownss]

I also recall people wondering if he was a great player in and of himself or if he benefited from the environment he was in. He has been on some really amazing teams the 3 years he was in the OHL, so I think it could be a fair argument. Also, this was the year the Blues NEEDED to draft centers, so I think they didnt really have DeBrincat in mind since he only played the wings. I dont fault them for not drafting him as we have plenty of forward depth right now, keeping players like Thompson and Kyrou on their respective minor and junior teams. There's still time for Kyrou to impress us all and say he was the better pick, so I'll keep my mouth shut for now.

On a side note, are the Golden Knights ever going to slow down? You'd think after basically losing 4 goalies that they'd be the league's worst team in decades, but Arizona is proving that they can compete with the Avalanche on that one. Impressive to say the least at how well that team is doing with a pretty meh roster.

The fans on FB are insufferable. Planning their cup run

 

[Thallis]

The fans on FB are insufferable. Planning their cup run

At this point just going to facebook is a mistake. Reading people's hockey opinions there is a punishment

 

[Dbrownss]

At this point just going to facebook is a mistake. Reading people's hockey opinions there is a punishment

Concerning vegas though....its the only place to find their fans.

 

[DoubleK81]

The fans on FB are insufferable. Planning their cup run

They make me want to pull my non-existant hair out. There was a guy a few days ago proclaiming that Fleury must have some other injury because he's never heard of someone having concussion issues for more than a couple weeks.

 

[Evocable Manager]

It's interesting that Strome has 22 points in 13 games in the AHL, yet Arizona is insistent on playing Zac Rinaldo instead.

 

[Dbrownss]

They make me want to pull my non-existant hair out. There was a guy a few days ago proclaiming that Fleury must have some other injury because he's never heard of someone having concussion issues for more than a couple weeks.

There awful...but getting on FB is like pulling a tooth, it hurts but your compelled to do it.

It's interesting that Strome has 22 points in 13 games in the AHL, yet Arizona is insistent on playing Zac Rinaldo instead.

his foot speed is still an issue, but the main reason is they didn't want to inject him into that circus with how their season started. They've been chatting about it on NHL radio lately

 

[bluesfan94]

I previously calculated in a different post here the rate of "high" picks (generally considered to be the early, or 1st three, rounds) spent by this draft team on players under 5'11'' and compared that to the rate spent on very tall players, and then compared both those to the prevalence of actual NHLers in each of those size ranges.

IIRC, the Blues have spent about 5% of their picks in the top three rounds on players under 5'11'' under this draft team...a rate well below what I eyeballed most other teams to be around, and a rate that is also far lower than the actual percentage of NHLers who are under 5'11''. Going off memory, I believe that Schwartz and Fabbri are the only two picks who fit that bill over the studied period, and both came in at 5'10''. Any team that drafted three or more guys under 5'11'' in the first three rounds over that span probably has a higher percentage of picks spent on that height range than the Blues because the Blues had a pretty good chunk of picks over that span themselves. I'd wager they are comfortably within the bottom five teams in the league in that category.

Anyway, I really don't think it's a controversial stance to take to say that the current Blues organization has generally shied away from that population with high draft picks since there's ample objective and anecdotal evidence that support that statement. They've generally drafted well, regardless, but that's besides the point here since we're specifically discussing DeBrincat.

DeBrincat interviewed with 21 of 30 NHL teams at the combine, and IIRC the Blues weren't one of them. The Blues had two chances to draft him, and passed both times. I can't recall the Blues ever being connected in any way to him as an interested party by news report, insider speculation, factual inference (i.e. interviewing him), or anything else even semi-credible. Maybe that was all smoke-screen to hide legitimate interest, but that's a bold assumption considering they passed twice on him and they had to figure the chances of him making it to their next pick were virtually nonexistent.

I said it back during that draft season and I still believe it now: There's absolutely no concrete reason to believe that they would have valued him highly enough relative to the rest of the league to have any prayer of actually landing him in the draft, and the reason why is obviously his size.

Oh I agree that is not controversial; I was just thinking theory out loud.

 

[Ranksu]

Oh Boy, Eeli Tolvanen will be Tarasenko 2.0

 

[TruBlu]

The jets and preds quietly catching up to us in the standings. Looks like they've caught their stride.

 

[Ranksu]

Vegas style of PK and it works. Puck is on Jumbo.

 

[TheDizee]

David Backes Stats and News

blues dodged a big bullet not being stuck with that contract. i like backes but man that is rough

 

[TruBlu]

I am a big Backes fan, but DA did us a big favor by not meeting his demands. The Bruins will most likely end up spending a first to get rid of his contract or have to flat out buy him out.

 

[Majorityof1]

I am a big Backes fan, but DA did us a big favor by not meeting his demands. The Bruins will most likely end up spending a first to get rid of his contract or have to flat out buy him out.

He's been battling a major illness during his 5 games this year, and potentially last year as well. He just had surgery to take care of it. He will be back for the playoffs. I'm sure they will wait to see how well he plays upon coming back, before Boston starts paying people to take him. He had a down year last year but was still top 6 in 5v5 p/60 on the team, and was >50% on all the advanced stats (CF%,GF%, SCF%, HDCF%). So for a down year, it wasn't terrible either. Definitely not worth his salary, but again, let's see if that was due to the diverticulitis, and if the colon surgery will get him back closer to worth that amount.

 

[Tryblot]

Jets are gonna cause some problems this year. In both games I've watched they've looked very, very good.

 

[LetsGoBooze]

Jets are gonna cause some problems this year. In both games I've watched they've looked very, very good.

Based on their team comp im surprised it's taken them this long to be good. Their roster is pretty solid.

 

[mw2noobbuster]

Coaching is the only thing holding them back at this point. Pray that management is too incompetent to fire Maurice.

 

[Evocable Manager]

The Jets are an interesting team.

For years it was that they just needed a goalie.

Now all of a sudden their goalie has the team on his shoulders and if not for him standing on his head they'd be getting plummeted every game.

Kinda like Edmonton last year where they have a few great forwards (Oilers have only two but their two are better than any of Laine, Ehlers, Scheifele and Wheeler), shit defense minus 1 guy (Klefbom and Trouba) and then a red hot goalie who's exploded into a beast and has the team on his back (Hellebuyck and Talbot).

Either way, I hope they can ride it out into the playoffs because you already know us and Nashville are in, meaning Chicago might finally f***ing miss. Not that I hate the Hawks, but I would like to see some fresh blood in there.

 

[elkranio]