News Article: Hirose Amongst Favorites for Calder

[Mister Ed]

Of course, the whole article is behind a paywall (The Athletic), but here is the Hirose bit :

Taro Hirose, LW, Detroit

In talking to scouts about rookies who could surprise, Hirose is a name that came up consistently. He’s a highly skilled player with great vision who will get a lot of opportunity with Detroit. His skating has continued to improve, and I feel he’s shown he can absolutely play at the NHL pace. If he stays up on the first power play unit and gets to feed Anthony Mantha all season, Hirose could turn heads.

I have to say I'm suprised. I would have thought that Zadina would be up there, but here we are.

And by the way, The Athletic has some amazing Red Wings content.

Click to read more...

 

[NickH8]

I really like Hirose and Cholowski on PP1. Having those lefties there to fake a shot and pass to Mantha is huge, not to mention both of their main offensive tools are their passing. I also like him with AA, he'll rack up the points setting up AA for his breakaways. If he stays with AA and on PP1 I could easily see 30 assists for him.

 

[izlez]

I can't read the whole thing, but based on what's here I just want to say that "among favorites" and "could surprise" are two very different things.

But I do like Hirose, especially on the PP, where he should be getting a great opportunity for himself

 

[MBH]

Hirose has been invisible out there.
People see his college career, his points in 10 games or whatever last year, and just sort of assumed he was ready for the NHL.
Truth is, he was no better than Zadina in the rookie tournament and not as good as Veleno.
He got some PP points in the exhibition season, mostly on the PP. But he still needed almost twice as many minutes to get the same number of points as Svech did.

Now he's started the season and he's doing next to nothing on the ice.
He's really, really weak and of no use along the walls. I think he weighed in at 160. He's got average speed at best. And he doesn't seem to have much acceleration/burst that could make his stickhandling more effective.

His puckhandling hasn't been impressive - but it's only 3 games in. I do think that's obviously his strength. Puckhandling and passing, along with solid ozone IQ.

I see Hirose as a very poor man's Jiri Hudler. Maybe he can make living as a depth guy who plays the PP. I just don't see him doing enough at 5 on 5 to hold that PP spot.

 

[lilidk]

Hirose is skilled 23 year old , who only play in first or second line , I don't see him better even at this stage than Kakko or Hughes , don't even mention Gusev

 

[Henkka]

Don't think he will end up anywhere near of Calder.

Or maybe Calder Cup.

 

[Steve Yzerlland]

Hirose has been invisible out there.
People see his college career, his points in 10 games or whatever last year, and just sort of assumed he was ready for the NHL.
Truth is, he was no better than Zadina in the rookie tournament and not as good as Veleno.
He got some PP points in the exhibition season, mostly on the PP. But he still needed almost twice as many minutes to get the same number of points as Svech did.

Now he's started the season and he's doing next to nothing on the ice.
He's really, really weak and of no use along the walls. I think he weighed in at 160. He's got average speed at best. And he doesn't seem to have much acceleration/burst that could make his stickhandling more effective.

His puckhandling hasn't been impressive - but it's only 3 games in. I do think that's obviously his strength. Puckhandling and passing, along with solid ozone IQ.

I see Hirose as a very poor man's Jiri Hudler. Maybe he can make living as a depth guy who plays the PP. I just don't see him doing enough at 5 on 5 to hold that PP spot.

Just stop.

 

[TCNorthstars]

Of course, the whole article is behind a paywall (The Athletic), but here is the Hirose bit :

Taro Hirose, LW, Detroit

In talking to scouts about rookies who could surprise, Hirose is a name that came up consistently. He’s a highly skilled player with great vision who will get a lot of opportunity with Detroit. His skating has continued to improve, and I feel he’s shown he can absolutely play at the NHL pace. If he stays up on the first power play unit and gets to feed Anthony Mantha all season, Hirose could turn heads.

I have to say I'm suprised. I would have thought that Zadina would be up there, but here we are.

And by the way, The Athletic has some amazing Red Wings content.

He probably expects Zadina to be in the AHL all year. And Pronman was looking at who made their teams out of camp which Zadina did not.

 

[Spitfire11]

Hirose has been invisible out there.
People see his college career, his points in 10 games or whatever last year, and just sort of assumed he was ready for the NHL.
Truth is, he was no better than Zadina in the rookie tournament and not as good as Veleno.
He got some PP points in the exhibition season, mostly on the PP. But he still needed almost twice as many minutes to get the same number of points as Svech did.

Now he's started the season and he's doing next to nothing on the ice.
He's really, really weak and of no use along the walls. I think he weighed in at 160. He's got average speed at best. And he doesn't seem to have much acceleration/burst that could make his stickhandling more effective.

His puckhandling hasn't been impressive - but it's only 3 games in. I do think that's obviously his strength. Puckhandling and passing, along with solid ozone IQ.

I see Hirose as a very poor man's Jiri Hudler. Maybe he can make living as a depth guy who plays the PP. I just don't see him doing enough at 5 on 5 to hold that PP spot.

You might get some flak for this opinion, but I completely agree. I don’t think he’s been impressive at all, and if anything he’s been holding his line mates back. He’s being given a great opportunity to succeed though.

 

[SirloinUB]

I can't read the whole thing, but based on what's here I just want to say that "among favorites" and "could surprise" are two very different things.

But I do like Hirose, especially on the PP, where he should be getting a great opportunity for himself

Some additional context: Hirose was ranked 11 out of 12. Basically has Hirose listed as a longshot to be in the conversation.

He probably expects Zadina to be in the AHL all year. And Pronman was looking at who made their teams out of camp which Zadina did not.

Exactly. The author also emphasized that this ranking was merely based on who could have the largest single season impact this year.

 

[lilidk]

Zadina will be Calder next year

 

[Oddbob]

Nothing Hirose has done this season, resembles anything near a Calder favourite or even in the running for such. Right now, all I see is a poor man's Nyquist or Tatar.

 

[DatsDeking]

I thought we were much higher on him overall? Was it just a hot streak when he was first called up that I’m reading too much into?

He’s largely unknown to me.

 

[Go Wings]

I really like Hirose and Cholowski on PP1. Having those lefties there to fake a shot and pass to Mantha is huge, not to mention both of their main offensive tools are their passing. I also like him with AA, he'll rack up the points setting up AA for his breakaways. If he stays with AA and on PP1 I could easily see 30 assists for him.

Having watched the powerplay through all 3 games and the fact we have only scored one powerplay goal it is very clear that Hronek should be on the first unit over one of these guys. Having 2 right handed shots on the point on the 2nd unit is just dumb.

 

[MBH]

You might get some flak for this opinion, but I completely agree. I don’t think he’s been impressive at all, and if anything he’s been holding his line mates back. He’s being given a great opportunity to succeed though.

From day 1, too, he's had that opportunity.
From time to time he shows shiftiness and deceptiveness that could lead to something one day.

 

[Mlotek]

His puckhandling hasn't been impressive - but it's only 3 games in. I do think that's obviously his strength. Puckhandling and passing, along with solid ozone IQ.

I see Hirose as a very poor man's Jiri Hudler. Maybe he can make living as a depth guy who plays the PP. I just don't see him doing enough at 5 on 5 to hold that PP spot.

That basically describes Hudler in Detroit. Playing bottom 6 even-strength minutes and get half your offense done of the PP.

	ES TOI/GP	FWD ES Rank	PP TOI/GP
2006-7	8:31	12	1:31
2007-8	10:28	9	2:42
2008-9	10:37	9	3:01
2010-11	11:25	8	2:15
2011-12	13:25	6	2:15

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Just by watching him play, 95% of the time he is going to pass, even when he has a clear shot on net.

His biggest asset are his quick passes. He needs to play with someone like AA where a quick pass sets the other guy up for a rush.

He's mishandled a lot of pucks especially on the PP this season but its still early.

 

[MBH]

That basically describes Hudler in Detroit. Playing bottom 6 even-strength minutes and get half your offense done of the PP.

	ES TOI/GP	FWD ES Rank	PP TOI/GP
2006-7	8:31	12	1:31
2007-8	10:28	9	2:42
2008-9	10:37	9	3:01
2010-11	11:25	8	2:15
2011-12	13:25	6	2:15

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Just by watching him play, 95% of the time he is going to pass, even when he has a clear shot on net.

His biggest asset are his quick passes. He needs to play with someone like AA where a quick pass sets the other guy up for a rush.

He's mishandled a lot of pucks especially on the PP this season but its still early.

Except Hudler was really, really good.
And he showed it when he left Detroit and got more icetime.

 

[Gniwder]

Having watched the powerplay through all 3 games and the fact we have only scored one powerplay goal it is very clear that Hronek should be on the first unit over one of these guys. Having 2 right handed shots on the point on the 2nd unit is just dumb.

Caps run the same PP, Ovechkin on the left side and Carlson on the right. With the Wings, it's Green setting up Hronek (left side) for the one timer in the circle. Hronek did get a few shots off but the plays were slow to develop. On PP1, it's Cholo trying to set up Mantha (lefty playing right side), same thing the plays are developing too slowly.

Zone entries still need work but are better than last season, Larkin needs to stop losing FO on PP, passing looks better as well but still needs work, but most of all, the plays are too slow to develop with not enough traffic up front. Gibson had plenty of time to track the puck before Mantha, Cholo, or Hronek shot it.

 

[Fil Larkmanthanasiou]

I thought we were much higher on him overall? Was it just a hot streak when he was first called up that I’m reading too much into?

He’s largely unknown to me.

He was chosen as one of 10 candidates that fans had to choose from to vote for the 3 Hobey Baker finalists last year. He came in and was productive with the Wings in a 10 game stint and showed that he is a crafty puck distributor.

 

[Realgud]

I thought we were much higher on him overall? Was it just a hot streak when he was first called up that I’m reading too much into?

He’s largely unknown to me.

Well, you get flak for not being high on every single prospects here, but I've never been high on Hirose at all, same with Zadina and Cholowski (but both are super young, so it's alright). Cholowski is winning me over more and more, but he is just so uninvolved defensively.

People are hating on that one poster because he isn't praising Hirose as the next Gretzky (slight exaggeration ). The potential is there for all these young guys, but most of them will bust and y'all should expect this. There's no reason to overpraise your own team's prospects and be a biased fan, it only leads to disappointment.

 

[Realgud]

Hirose has been invisible out there.
People see his college career, his points in 10 games or whatever last year, and just sort of assumed he was ready for the NHL.
Truth is, he was no better than Zadina in the rookie tournament and not as good as Veleno.
He got some PP points in the exhibition season, mostly on the PP. But he still needed almost twice as many minutes to get the same number of points as Svech did.

Now he's started the season and he's doing next to nothing on the ice.
He's really, really weak and of no use along the walls. I think he weighed in at 160. He's got average speed at best. And he doesn't seem to have much acceleration/burst that could make his stickhandling more effective.

His puckhandling hasn't been impressive - but it's only 3 games in. I do think that's obviously his strength. Puckhandling and passing, along with solid ozone IQ.

I see Hirose as a very poor man's Jiri Hudler. Maybe he can make living as a depth guy who plays the PP. I just don't see him doing enough at 5 on 5 to hold that PP spot.

I agree with everything you've said in this thread. I see glimpses of awesome things with Hirose, but his overall hockey game is very lacking. He's young, it's not over and I hope I'm super wrong.

 

[Ghost of Ethan Hunt]

Gm 2 vs. Dallas: Both Hirose & Cholo w/ < 8min 5 on 5 (team lows), but each 8+min on PP. I didn't bother to look @ gms 1 & 3, but I don't imagine the %'s of EV vs. PP TOI are much different. Conversion rate 1PP goal in 3 gp (1 for 12) is 8.3% (24th).

On a positive note, our PK is 85.7% (tied for 9th best)! Shots For & Against, dead even at 31 to 31 is also a big improvement vs. 18-19. DDK 14 blocked shots, Nemeth w/5, Erne w/6. Hits: Luke 8, Erne 8, Helm 5, Abby 5. Howard & Bernier both with zero hits need to pick it up, I expect more Billy Smith.

 

[LeighDx59]

He really hasnt been overly impressive so far this season to me, granted its only three games in.

 

[Henkka]

That basically describes Hudler in Detroit. Playing bottom 6 even-strength minutes and get half your offense done of the PP.

This. 2nd line duties seems to be be too much for him.

But in our team, there's nobody better.

I think Hirose will be good future threat on an offensive 4th line.

 

[Sadekuuro]

He got some PP points in the exhibition season, mostly on the PP.

To be fair, it's very difficult to accumulate PP points anywhere else.