GDT: Game 33: Columbus at Vancouver | 3/26 10:00 PM EDT

[KJ Dangler]

Amen! The draft, in theory, is designed to give the worst teams the best chance to improve. Not being among the worst teams, the CBJ (again, theoretically) needs less help to get better. Whether improvement comes through the draft, free agent signing, or internal system development, the goal is to need the help of high draft choices less and less.

Pete, Dont entirely agree, in a short season, a hot goalie can mask alot of our flaws. I think Bobs save percentage was over 95% during our points steak, many games we won by 1 goal because of him. If hes not playing at the level he was, we are well below a 500 record. So what happens once Bob starts fighting the puck, or just plays slightly above the average nhl goal keeper. Our margin of error is razor thin, and we need to keep that in perspective. Yes, we are not the worst team in the NHL, but if Bob gets hurt, and we have to throw Mason back out there, how do you feel about our team at that point ?

 

[major major]

Looking at what the franchise adds through this year's maturation of players and draft, it's hard to feel bad about it. Yes, we've once again played our way into that (5-15) sinkhole where we miss out on the surefire elite players, but we still have 3 first rounders and we've added a potential #1 goalie, who might just be one of the league's best for many years to come.

Earlier this season many of us projected our future depth chart, and found we missed three key pieces: two top line stars, and a #1 goalie. Well we got our goalie, and though that goalie has played us out of the best chance for a top scorer, we still stand a good chance of getting one (I think >50% of getting a top line player if Jarmo picks all forwards, and a fair chance of more than one.)

 

[blahblah]

I just look at it, lets take this team, and add a Mckinnon, now all a sudden you have most likely a 20 to 25goal scorer in his first season,

A lot of assumptions and expectations for a player that has never played a NHL game. We do that a lot.

I guess that, in our haste to look at the prospect depth, we tend to forget the guys already on our roster. There are 3 guys that I can think of that are capable of 20-30 goal seasons. As far as the rest of our depth, we have no one that projects to a elite forward or a 30 goal scorer. Outside of Jenner, JAM, and Tynan they are more the role player type. Although some would say Jenner is a role player in the making.

We have 3 1st round picks coming up, at least two of them will probably be forward. It is a deep draft. Relax and let them develop. We can look at the trade route and let our players develop to improve our forward ranks.

In our angst in regards to scoring, we tend to forget that there are guys on this team capable of putting the puck in the back of the next with some regularity. A guy like Brassard should be flourishing with the guys he is with. Yet, he is still kind of floundering around.

 

[Crede777]

We have 3 1st round picks coming up, at least two of them will probably be forward. It is a deep draft. Relax and let them develop. We can look at the trade route and let our players develop to improve our forward ranks.

I don't know how deep the draft is for forward though. Guys like Shinkaruk and Lazar don't seem to be THAT enticing. The only real enticing forwards to me are Mackinnon, Drouin, Barkov, Monahan, and Lindholm. That's 5 total beyond which I kind of yawn. Nichushkin scares me btw. I'm skeptical of Monahan's ability to have an offensive impact like we need.

 

[pete goegan]

Pete, Dont entirely agree, in a short season, a hot goalie can mask alot of our flaws. I think Bobs save percentage was over 95% during our points steak, many games we won by 1 goal because of him. If hes not playing at the level he was, we are well below a 500 record. So what happens once Bob starts fighting the puck, or just plays slightly above the average nhl goal keeper. Our margin of error is razor thin, and we need to keep that in perspective. Yes, we are not the worst team in the NHL, but if Bob gets hurt, and we have to throw Mason back out there, how do you feel about our team at that point ?

I'm not sure where you see a disagreement, JJ. Nothing you've said here contradicts my previous post.

 

[blahblah]

I don't know how deep the draft is for forward though. Guys like Shinkaruk and Lazar don't seem to be THAT enticing. The only real enticing forwards to me are Mackinnon, Drouin, Barkov, Monahan, and Lindholm. That's 5 total beyond which I kind of yawn. Nichushkin scares me btw. I'm skeptical of Monahan's ability to have an offensive impact like we need.

The closer we get the more people will start to question the depth. Same thing every year.

 

[KJ Dangler]

The closer we get the more people will start to question the depth. Same thing every year.

Hopefully the closer we get to the draft, we position ourselves back in the top 5, with the amount of road games coming up, its certainly possible

 

[Crede777]

The closer we get the more people will start to question the depth. Same thing every year.

I know but seriously did you hear much about the depth players outside of Mackinnon/Drouin/Barkov/Monahan/Jones? I didn't, all I heard was "This draft is deep as far as top-end talent goes. As opposed to a single 1st overall quality player there may be 3 or 4."

Also I think there will be a run on forwards early in the draft this year. Where we are sitting is prime position to pick a defenseman... the one thing we don't need!

 

[blahblah]

Hopefully the closer we get to the draft, we position ourselves back in the top 5, with the amount of road games coming up, its certainly possible

I won't wish that. If it happens it happens. I'm not hung up on draft position.

 

[blahblah]

I know but seriously did you hear much about the depth players outside of Mackinnon/Drouin/Barkov/Monahan/Jones? I didn't, all I heard was "This draft is deep as far as top-end talent goes. As opposed to a single 1st overall quality player there may be 3 or 4."

Also I think there will be a run on forwards early in the draft this year. Where we are sitting is prime position to pick a defenseman... the one thing we don't need!

All I've heard from day one is how deep this draft is in forward talent. To be honest, I don't really pay attention to much beyond the top 15. I leave that up to the obsessed.

 

[Crede777]

All I've heard from day one is how deep this draft is in forward talent. To be honest, I don't really pay attention to much beyond the top 15. I leave that up to the obsessed.

True and of course there could be a real good player in there that we haven't heard much about.

Ultimately I think Kekkalainen will need to be active at the trade deadline. I don't know if 3 1st's in the 12-25 range will help as much as 1 in the top-6. This team has a pretty good roster from the 4th forward spot on down. Guys like Foligno, Umberger, Calvert, Atkinson, Brassard, Anisimov, Dubinsky, and Letestu can thrive if they are further down in the lineup. The only guy with the potential to thrive as a top line player right now is Johansen IMO and that's far from a sure thing.

So what's the point of acquiring a guy who can become a good 2nd line winger? We have those. We need a guy who has a good shot to be a top line forward in the mold of 30+ goals and 70+ points. If we can't get that... then are we really moving forward all that much?

I think we move a forward in a package with 1st rounders to get a high 1st round pick.

 

[JacketsFanWest]

Possible Barkov shoulder injury. I hate for him to be injured but if it caused him to drop to the Jackets...?

 

[blahblah]

So what's the point of acquiring a guy who can become a good 2nd line winger? We have those. We need a guy who has a good shot to be a top line forward in the mold of 30+ goals and 70+ points. If we can't get that... then are we really moving forward all that much?

I guess your assumption is that a guy drafted in the range of 10-30 will not likely develop into a top line player. 30 goal scorers aren't all that common. At most that is one per team and you have 3 top line players per team. Last year we had 30 or 31 and there were a handful of playoff teams that didn't have one. It is true that injuries prevented a few more.

You don't have to score 30 goals to a top line player. I think we, as a fan base, have a hard time getting our heads around what it is to be a top six player and, especially, what is a top line player. We do lack elite forwards, it would be nice to have a couple. But we can't all be the Hawks or the Pens.

We actually have more talent that what the players get credit for. Frankly I think the mix is a little off, but far better than what we give them credit for. What I find fascinating is the lack of shots on goals we get. Jack Johnson, of all people, is tied for the team lead and he's missed a few games. You aren't going to score 30 goals, very often, averaging two shots a game.

I'll just end with, I like that Tarasenko kid and he was drafted #16.

 

[major major]

True and of course there could be a real good player in there that we haven't heard much about.

Ultimately I think Kekkalainen will need to be active at the trade deadline. I don't know if 3 1st's in the 12-25 range will help as much as 1 in the top-6. This team has a pretty good roster from the 4th forward spot on down. Guys like Foligno, Umberger, Calvert, Atkinson, Brassard, Anisimov, Dubinsky, and Letestu can thrive if they are further down in the lineup. The only guy with the potential to thrive as a top line player right now is Johansen IMO and that's far from a sure thing.

So what's the point of acquiring a guy who can become a good 2nd line winger? We have those. We need a guy who has a good shot to be a top line forward in the mold of 30+ goals and 70+ points. If we can't get that... then are we really moving forward all that much?

I think we move a forward in a package with 1st rounders to get a high 1st round pick.

I agree with you. We're loaded at middle-six, we need top end, and Jarmo will be aggressive in moving up if he doesn't think he can get one of the top forwards on his list.

We're having a parallel discussion on the draft speculation board if anyone wants to post draft speculation there.

 

[EspenK]

Same rant as many others have had. Nothing new.

What I said before and I will say it again, there is more than one path to winning. We don't have to have a top 2 or 3 pick to win, Nash didn't get us any closer. I'd argue that we are closer to winning without Nash. Edmonton is stock piling them and hasn't shown anything yet. Who knows how the Islander are going to finish this year with Taveres, but they aren't on the path to be the next Pens.

We pretend that just because we get a potential, elite, player in the draft it is going to make a difference. We also pretend that if we don't get one we will never be a good team. Both are false.

To be honest, I would rather have Bob develop into an elite goal tender for the next decade or more than worry about a top 5 pick in this draft. Bob is doing what he needs to do to help us win, but let's not pretend that we aren't helping him. In the game against Nashville, when we let up, they scored a quick two on him. If we aren't playing well in front of him, he will give up goals.

There is not doubt that we need some help on the offensive side of things, but we also have a few prospects coming up that might be able to help in that respect. Probably no PPG players, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a couple of 60+ point scorers develop.

I think this point about Bob is a very good one. If he does develop into that, lack of offense is less of a concern.

In another thread I mentioned some of the guys picked in mid to late 1st and 2nd or later since 2005. Among the names were Giroux, Eberle,Simmonds & Benn. Not saying we could replicate that in one draft but to pluck one or two such players from say 12-42 could happen. I am less concerned about winning our way out of a top 4 than I was a month or so ago.

 

[jacketsinDC]

didn't get to finish watching this game til 4am, which made work fun today. really like bob and the defense, but some of these forwards need to be shipped out in favor of some people who can perform offensively. Maybe its not time yet since they seem capable of surviving and playing a hard game until those scorers are brought in through the draft. I read somewhere that dubinsky was back? really?

and matt calvert is thrilling to watch on the forecheck.