Devils Team Discussion (team/player news and notes) ‎2015 offseason VI

[Feed Me A Stray Cat]

So circumstances can conspire against Loktionov, though the numbers say he's an "NHL quality player"?

And yet, without factoring in context, you can say that Quenneville/Black/etc. are likely to be middling prospects because their numbers say so?

Good to know.

To me the numbers are pretty simple: three NHL teams gave Loktionov a look. Three NHL teams said bye-bye.

Loktionov was far more impressive in his junior days than JQ and Black. And he produced in the AHL. And he looked decent in his short NHL stint. I think odds are above 50% that neither JQ or Black end up with as many NHL points as Loktionov's 48.

The only the reason the Kings let him go was because they had a log jam of center on their team and Loktionov didn't have a spot. The Canes didn't qualify him because of a serious shoulder injury. If a young prospect who needs to fight for a spot gets hit with injuries or runs into roster log jams, it's difficult to stick. Meanwhile, Josefson has had the benefit of playing on a team with zero young forward talent to take his spot.

I'm not saying Loktionov is the savior or anything, but some of you have very warped impressions of him as a player. Meanwhile, a guy like JJ is generally well-regarded despite being worse. If JJ were a third rounder instead of a first rounder, he'd probably be in Sweden right now.

 

[goonybird]

I was pretty disappointed that Loktionov didn't put up a 60 pt season, though. It seemed everything was in line for it to happena nd *poof*