Is The Cat the second best passer on the Hawks?

[LDF]

Can’t put our three best playmakers on one line. Cat with Toews and Saad, Schmaltz with AA and Kane. Balances size, grit, and finesse on both, and both lines get a playmaker. My only concern is whether Saad an Toews are good enough for Cat.

that is why i really thought that Cat would be perfect for the 2nd line, along with Kane and a big center in AA to pester the Goalie by parking in front of him.

 

[LDF]

Watching Toews this year, he's been pretty good. Maybe not $10.5mn good, but good enough to have much better counting stats. His teammates haven't done him justice. I'm not really too worried about Toews.

i am with you, i think Toews and Saad is or would be fine.

 

[pvr]

Watching Toews this year, he's been pretty good. Maybe not $10.5mn good, but good enough to have much better counting stats. His teammates haven't done him justice. I'm not really too worried about Toews.

Agree. Hence my sarcasm emoticon.

 

[BobbyJet]

Schmaltz is a better passer, IMO.

Unfortunately, Schmaltz passes well but without purpose. Cat has a better hockey IQ and instincts, hence passes with more purpose and shoots when he should shoot.

 

[BK]

Unfortunately, Schmaltz passes well but without purpose. Cat has a better hockey IQ and instincts, hence passes with more purpose and shoots when he should shoot.

Schmaltz overpasses for sure but to say he passes without a purpose is wrong. The purpose is there. He 100% needs to shoot more though.

Good news for the Hawks both are producing and should score 50+ points this season.

 

[migi]

If we are on a hunt:

Saad - Toews - Schmaltz (possession monsters with some serious speed and take-away ability)
DeBrincat - Anisimov - Kane (you know what you get)
Sharp - Filppula - Sikura
Hartman - Wingels - Hayden

Go after Filppula at TDL, Flyers wont make playoffs and Filppula will be available. 50% retained, throw some picks and maybe some prospect. Sign Sikura and let him have great impact. He can do it.

Keith - Murphy
Forsling - Rutta
DeHaan - Seabrook

Not sure if we will get more cap space than 2,46mil which CapFriendly has for us in TDL but if we do, go after DeHaan. For me Franson is not long-term option and I cant really see Murphy playing as LD long period of time.

Well a bit offtopic but Cat is better passer with purpose. Schmaltz will get there.

 

[BobbyJet]

Schmaltz overpasses for sure but to say he passes without a purpose is wrong. The purpose is there. He 100% needs to shoot more though.

I don't see it. Many times he has passed into a crowd this season when he could take the puck to the net or just SHOOT the flipping thing. Seems to me, if he thinks he has a pass, no matter where the teammate is, he makes it. Hopefully, he'll grow out of it but the coaching staff needs to drill it in that he needs to shoot more.

 

[crazyhawk]

Can’t put our three best playmakers on one line. Cat with Toews and Saad, Schmaltz with AA and Kane. Balances size, grit, and finesse on both, and both lines get a playmaker. My only concern is whether Saad an Toews are good enough for Cat.

I hear you. But just for the fun of it ala Q-blender why not try mixing Debrincat and Schmaltz between line 1 & 2 for a different look from time to time. I just think Kane and Debrincat could find something special .. perhaps even superior to Kane and Panarin ..

 

[Blue Liner]

Schmaltz overpasses for sure but to say he passes without a purpose is wrong. The purpose is there. He 100% needs to shoot more though.

Good news for the Hawks both are producing and should score 50+ points this season.

Yeah, he overpasses but to say he passes without purpose is off, for me. That's ignoring all of the "holy crap how did he find that guy" passes he makes. He absolutely does need to shoot more but that doesn't make his passes non-purposeful on the whole. The best part of all of this is we have players to actually have this debate about and that DeBrincat has thrust himself into these conversations already and legitimately.

 

[LDF]

I hear you. But just for the fun of it ala Q-blender why not try mixing Debrincat and Schmaltz between line 1 & 2 for a different look from time to time. I just think Kane and Debrincat could find something special .. perhaps even superior to Kane and Panarin ..

that is what i was thinking. the skillset of both Cat and kane can do wonders.

 

[EbonyRaptor]

Happy this thread got kicked. Reading the comments from when it was started (Oct 11) I remember thinking DCat already showed his passing ability after only 4 games - as incredulous as that sounds. Now, after another 20 games under his belt, my initial thoughts are confirmed - DCat is right there with Schmaltz as a passer, just a tick behind Kane. He would have more than 8 assists right now if his line mates hadn't mishandled the pass of flubbed the shot.

I think ideally Kane, Schmaltz and DCat should be on different lines so there would be an elite play maker on the top three lines. However, whereas Kane and DCat both pass and shoot, Schmaltz really doesn't shoot - only passes, therefore Schmaltz needs to be with shooters. Considering Saad-Toews and Anisimov-Kane should stay together and considering Sharp and Panik are both shoot first guys, I would go with this:

Saad-Toews-DCat
Hartman-Anisimov-Kane
Sharp-Schmaltz-Panik

 

[LDF]

Happy this thread got kicked. Reading the comments from when it was started (Oct 11) I remember thinking DCat already showed his passing ability after only 4 games - as incredulous as that sounds. Now, after another 20 games under his belt, my initial thoughts are confirmed - DCat is right there with Schmaltz as a passer, just a tick behind Kane. He would have more than 8 assists right now if his line mates hadn't mishandled the pass of flubbed the shot.

I think ideally Kane, Schmaltz and DCat should be on different lines so there would be an elite play maker on the top three lines. However, whereas Kane and DCat both pass and shoot, Schmaltz really doesn't shoot - only passes, therefore Schmaltz needs to be with shooters. Considering Saad-Toews and Anisimov-Kane should stay together and considering Sharp and Panik are both shoot first guys, I would go with this:

Saad-Toews-DCat
Hartman-Anisimov-Kane
Sharp-Schmaltz-Panik

for discussion purpose, what you wrote is what i was thinking. that is why i thought Schm would be perfect with Toews and Saad.

the skillset of Cat would do fantastic with Kane, both in scoring goals and later setting up both AA and Kane.

lastly Hartman / Hayden - Hayden / Hartman - Panik. this would be the lineup to have Hayden break out.

 

[Robsker]

Well, I like both these guys. that said, they are different types of players. Speed, quickness, stick-handling all go to Schmaltz over Cat. Hockey IQ, positioning, shot release, shot accuracy and overall scoring ability to the Cat (by a wide margin). Both are not bad defensively. passing? Well... since that is essentially all that Schmaltz does, he passes much more often. But, with time, opponents will realize that he will almost never shoot and look pass first almost every time --- people will jump his passes. He does pass well though. The Cat passes well too --- but we have seen much less of that from him. Tough to compare just yet.

Anyway, if Schmaltz learns to shoot and can be coached away from his pass only perspective --- his upside with time will be much improved. That said, the Cat's performance, especially given his youth and inexperience --- even if Schmaltz learns to shoot --- the Cat's upside exceeds that for Schmaltz by a substantive amount. By this I mean if i were to extrapolate out three years from now, i would predict at that time Debrincat will have distanced himself from Schmaltz pretty clearly (with Schmaltz being good to very good and Cat being very good, at the least, to, at best, being a star player). I do not see Schmaltz ever being a star. But he will be good (maybe very good) and i am glad we have him. Cat? he is a potential star.

 

[EbonyRaptor]

I didn't mention the 4th line earlier because it has been playing so well lately I would rather leave it alone ... but, I would also like to see Hayden with more ice time and better line mates to see if he can produce more. He has been very noticeable in a good way the last few games, especially hanging onto the puck and making plays in the o-zone. Just not sure where he fits right now. I'd also like to see Hinostroza get a call up. A Hartman-Hinostroza-Hayden line might be interesting. Lots of interesting possibilities.

 

[Marotte Marauder]

I put Dcat ahead for 2 reasons. The timing of his passes is unreal and the passes are mostly buttery soft when they hit the target, very receivable.

 

[ChiHawks10]

Kid is damn good. A bright spot for the future, that's for sure. Him and Forsling both. Rutta too. Schmaltz also, when he plays his game.

 

[pvr]

Kid is damn good. A bright spot for the future, that's for sure. Him and Forsling both. Rutta too. Schmaltz also, when he plays his game.

Great...four out of the 22 future roster spots. Hawks will just fill out the other 18, no problem.

 

[pvr]

Another question to ask right now is whether he’s the best goalscorer on the Hawks. Really, the only competition is Kane.

 

[Roost]

Another question to ask right now is whether he’s the best goalscorer on the Hawks. Really, the only competition is Kane.

He was the best goal scorer on the otters for the 3 years he was here. His shot is so deceptive I think goalies have a hard time reading it. Barely any wind up but the puck explodes off his stick. IMO he was a second round steal.

 

[LDF]

He was the best goal scorer on the otters for the 3 years he was here. His shot is so deceptive I think goalies have a hard time reading it. Barely any wind up but the puck explodes off his stick. IMO he was a second round steal.

while i was having a difficult time in deciding, i came to the conclusion that yes, D-cat is in fact the better player, the better scorer and within that scorer mentality the better passer. i am convince that he is more advance than Schm now and see a much better future for D-cat.

 

[Pez68]

He was the best goal scorer on the otters for the 3 years he was here. His shot is so deceptive I think goalies have a hard time reading it. Barely any wind up but the puck explodes off his stick. IMO he was a second round steal.

It's all in the release. Captain Serious used to have that deceptive release too. Maybe he should work with DeBrincat in practice on getting that back...

 

[b1e9a8r5s]

Schmaltz is a nice player but if he would just shoot more he could be so much better than he is. At least once a game it seems that he passes on a good shooting opportunity for a risky pass.

 

[Toews2Bickell]

When Schmaltz is on he absolutely dominates. Typically that's when he's willing to shoot and a force on the puck. Really enjoyable to watch his A game. If he ever finds consistency to his game he will be a 1C imo. Maybe not a high end offensive 1C, but a guy who can put up 60-65 points and play PP, PK, etc. In the ilk of a Patrice Bergeron type player. That is a very valuable asset to have.

 

[TLEH]

He's more of a Krejci than a Bergeron.