Michoulicious
Registered User
- Dec 9, 2014
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Thing is, many think he should have (he certainly was top 10 on many lists).If he has 75% chance of being a 30 goal scorer in the NHL, he would’ve gone top 5
Thing is, many think he should have (he certainly was top 10 on many lists).If he has 75% chance of being a 30 goal scorer in the NHL, he would’ve gone top 5
2-way play can always be corrected. He just needs to put the effort into it.
I always felt like there were natural roles in a team and that players kind of naturally fell into them. If you are talented enough to be on the first line, you feel a need to produce and will naturally take a bit more chances to get that first point on the score board. When you are on the third line and points aren't coming that often, you have a tendency to take extra care of your D assignments and feel valued for little things like killing a power-play and such.People always say this, I find it kind of bizarre or like when someone says a player can grow more or whatever. If a guy wasn't committed defensively at the lower levels do we have to give him benefit of the doubt that he will once he gets to the higher levels? Not that I think Cole is a joke on the opposite side of the puck or anything like that. There are guys who get a wake-up call at the top levels but I don't know how often it really happens that a guy becomes honest late in his career (by pro hockey a guy has been playing competitive hockey for quite a while). Anyway I basically agree with the rest of your post.
Yeah I get what you are saying, though I wonder if Carbonneau is a good example considering he is one of the greats, but sure when you go up your game needs adjustment. I was just challenging the idea that some people say so-and-so is not good defensively, then they say, oh yes, that can be changed when they go up the ranks (where players are better offensively and harder to defend). Even if they were to improve marginally, the players they are defending have improved by a similar or even greater margin due to the level of play, you know? I don't know how realistic it is that someone becomes a massively better player in his own end if he's already being criticized for cherry-picking or the equivalent at the low levels. Though I'm sure there are guys who are desperate to win and say, yeah I guess I'm not good enough to just be a top level scorer and I need to radically change how I approach the game if I want to be one of the bestI always felt like there were natural roles in a team and that players kind of naturally fell into them. If you are talented enough to be on the first line, you feel a need to produce and will naturally take a bit more chances to get that first point on the score board. When you are on the third line and points aren't coming that often, you have a tendency to take extra care of your D assignments and feel valued for little things like killing a power-play and such.
I know for sure that (although it has changed recently) the Quebec Junior Hockey League had an history of being a league with a major focus on Offense. A guy like Guy Carbonneau is know as one of the best defensive forward the league has seen and he scored 182 points in his last year in the Q. You go from a league where you are the best player on your team to a league where there's a lot of players as talented as you are, you have to change your game a bit unless you are Wayne Gretzky.
If he can't score at the NHL level he will be a bust, simple as that. Not even worth thinking about converting him to a shutdown forward.
I think his ability to put away pucks is the only thing we know 100% would convert to the NHL. It's just, like, how many/how often, what kind of situations can he playWell ya... But so far there is no reason to think his NHL shot won't convert to the NHL.
True, but that can be said for a lot of young foward...
But Debrincat can wheel, I’m not seeing the same skating ability from him. Plus he’s not gonna have Kane feeding him.So is Alex DeBrincat
He clearly wasn’t on a lot of teams top 10. As soon as we drafted Podkolzin. Teams started trading picks to move back and the ones that moved up weren’t there to draft him. I mean he didn’t get drafted until mid first round lots of chances for teams to move up and acquire him.Thing is, many think he should have (he certainly was top 10 on many lists).
He clearly wasn’t on a lot of teams top 10. As soon as we drafted Podkolzin. Teams started trading picks to move back and the ones that moved up weren’t there to draft him. I mean he didn’t get drafted until mid first round lots of chances for teams to move up and acquire him.
I would prefer him spending a year in the AHL with Joel Bouchard as i'm really not a fan of what Granato has done with Wisconsin. I think just being around professional athletes will absolutely help him develop his game further. Some of the plays he makes (or doesn't make) in the NCAA won't be tolerated in the AHL I'm very confident Caufield will do whatever it takes to be an NHLer including fixing the holes in his game.
The talent to be an extremely good NHLer is absolutely there, but there needs to be some adjustments in his game.
It's generally tough to get top-flight American kids to leave the NCAA without the guarantee of NHL time, at least to start. Sometimes they struggle off the bat like Kyle Connor and go down. But, usually, if it is between AHL and going back to their school for their sophomore year they go back. They also generally try to get the burn year like Boeser and Q. Hughes got in Van. The thing is though, if Caufield signs at the end of this season, he would be only in his 19 year old year, which means if he plays less than 9 NHL games this year he won't burn a year off the ELC. But, more importantly for him, if he's in the AHL all of next year, his ELC will slide again. His "advisor" will likely tell him to go back to Wisconsin, play that season out, sign with you guys after next NCAA season (where if he plays a single game he burns a year), and then hope that extra year has got him ready for the NHL for 2021/22, and then hit RFA status at the end of 22/23. Unless he has problems with how his time at Wisconsin is going, I'd be surprised to see him leave for anything less than an NHL promise to at least start next year similar to Kyle Connor's situation.I think that it's nuts to already have a firm opinion on what this guy will be or won't be at this point in time. Players don't all progress at the same pace or at the same time. Caufield is a project, everybody knows that. He wasn't drafted 15th overall because he is a finished product and ready to go. There will always be some risk with this type of player, but the reward can be huge too. Unless he progresses like crazy over the next 6 months, Caufield absolutely needs another year in the NCAA or a full year in the AHL to refine his game. He's done a lot of positive this year (obviously just looking at the fact he's leading most rookie categories in the NCAA) but he also has some holes in his game that need to be fixed for him to continue to grow as a player.
I would prefer him spending a year in the AHL with Joel Bouchard as i'm really not a fan of what Granato has done with Wisconsin. I think just being around professional athletes will absolutely help him develop his game further. Some of the plays he makes (or doesn't make) in the NCAA won't be tolerated in the AHL I'm very confident Caufield will do whatever it takes to be an NHLer including fixing the holes in his game.
The talent to be an extremely good NHLer is absolutely there, but there needs to be some adjustments in his game.
It's generally tough to get top-flight American kids to leave the NCAA without the guarantee of NHL time, at least to start. Sometimes they struggle off the bat like Kyle Connor and go down. But, usually, if it is between AHL and going back to their school for their sophomore year they go back. They also generally try to get the burn year like Boeser and Q. Hughes got in Van. The thing is though, if Caufield signs at the end of this season, he would be only in his 19 year old year, which means if he plays less than 9 NHL games this year he won't burn a year off the ELC. But, more importantly for him, if he's in the AHL all of next year, his ELC will slide again. His "advisor" will likely tell him to go back to Wisconsin, play that season out, sign with you guys after next NCAA season (where if he plays a single game he burns a year), and then hope that extra year has got him ready for the NHL for 2021/22, and then hit RFA status at the end of 22/23. Unless he has problems with how his time at Wisconsin is going, I'd be surprised to see him leave for anything less than an NHL promise to at least start next year similar to Kyle Connor's situation.
No, they need to be NHL games to activate the ELC since he's only in his 19th year when he'd sign.There is a big chance that Caufield's season with Wisconsin ends on March 8. There would be more than 9 games left at that time but I doubt he plays all of them thought. I'd rather see him play in the AHL; Laval would have more than 10 games left too. Would he burn a year off his contract if he plays 10 games in the AHL?
He might get an ATO. I think it's too early, myself. I think he's a good skater, just not that fast. Good edges and imagination, though. A couple more years and his man muscles will kick in, hopefully, giving him an extra burst.
The guy has proven this year that he can score consistently at a higher level of hockey. It's not exactly a newsflash that many scorers don't pay attention to the other end of the ice. He can work on two way play, but MTL drafted him for his sniping ability, not to be the next Bob Gainey.
But Debrincat can wheel, I’m not seeing the same skating ability from him. Plus he’s not gonna have Kane feeding him.