Observations XIX

[Mortiest Morty]

He actually doesn't have a great contract, I don't like seeing that so often around here. It's a decent contract, maybe 500k or so less than you'd expect to pay for a similar player as a UFA. The only way it would be a great contract is if he had some untapped potential that we'd see develop over those 6 years. I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't see that happening at all. He's a low end 3rd liner, which is fine because he's pretty good defensively and on the PK. Personally I'd like to see him moved to wing permanently and be used to help cover for his linemates defensive shortcomings and score the occasional goal. He's actually a fair goal scorer but he cannot pass at all and he can't create anything. He should never center a line that's expected to contribute offensively.

 

[GoldOnGold]

I've defended protecting Jarnkrok before, but I can't say you're too far off on your evaluation of him as a player. Both the eye-test and advanced stats show him to be pretty putrid at playmaking, and I've sometimes thought he would be best as a 2nd/3rd line winger where he would be able to shoot more and depend on someone else to carry the play. I think he's at least a passable penalty killer, and I'd rank him above a POS player, but I'm less and less sure he was worth losing Neal.

Actually, now that I think about it, I think he's one of those players (not sure if there is a name for them) that causes shots and chances for both teams to go down by a bunch.

 

[GoldOnGold]

If we were to call up Kamenev and shift Jarnkrok to wing our lineup could be something like this:

Forsberg - Johansen - Arvidsson
Fiala - Kamenev - Smith
Hartnell - Sissons - Jarnkrok
Salomaki - Gaudreau - Watson

 

[AdmiralsFan24]

He actually doesn't have a great contract, I don't like seeing that so often around here. It's a decent contract, maybe 500k or so less than you'd expect to pay for a similar player as a UFA. The only way it would be a great contract is if he had some untapped potential that we'd see develop over those 6 years. I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't see that happening at all. He's a low end 3rd liner, which is fine because he's pretty good defensively and on the PK. Personally I'd like to see him moved to wing permanently and be used to help cover for his linemates defensive shortcomings and score the occasional goal. He's actually a fair goal scorer but he cannot pass at all and he can't create anything. He should never center a line that's expected to contribute offensively.

This is exactly why I would've kept Neal. Poile didn't because even though he's not a bargain, there's cost certainty in knowing you have a bottom 6 player for 5 years at $2 million. In a salary cap league, GM's value cost certainty. I do think that if Neal had two years left on his deal instead of one, Poile would've exposed Jarnkrok. He should've exposed him anyways but with Neal only having a year left on his deal and the unknown future contract, he must've thought he wasn't going to sign him long term.

 

[King Weber]

so did we send Girard back to juniors or what, cause QMJHL just announced their rosters for the Canada-Russia series and Girard is in there.

 

[NoNecksCurse]

Fiala, Smith, Hartnell and Aberg are not the problems here. With Bonino between Hartnell and Aberg they were generating chances shift after shift. Fiala and Smith did the same the other night against Colorado. Both lines have driven the play in many games this year, just not in the same game.

What's been the constant when they don't drive the play? Anyone? Want to venture a guess where I'm going with this? Two words, Calle Jarnkrok. He does not make lines better that he plays on, he actually hurts their play. Sissons centered Smith and Fiala the other night and they drove the play. Aberg and Hartnell were non-existent with Jarnkrok between them.

If Jarnkrok is as good as everyone says he is, especially his hockey IQ, why does he not score more? Wouldn't he know where to be to set up good offensive chances for himself or his linemates? I don't see that in his game. He needs great players around him to elevate his game to the 40 point level - see Johansen/Forsberg from two years ago. He is not physical. He's not an elite penalty killer. He's not great in the dot. Yeah, he's got a great contract but so freaking what.

It was a mistake letting Neal walk as we had another year of him at the very least. The only reason I can see why he was left unprotected was he was a problem in the locker room. Other than that, losing him to keep a borderline 3rd line center was asinine. You can always find a guy like Jarnkrok in free agency, always. While we would've ended up losing Neal after this year anyway, he would've provided some insurance for some of the guys who were unknown entities as they learned to produce at this level.

Watch any line that has Jarnkrok and watch the players on his wings. It's like they go there for a place to die because he kills any offensive flow for his line. Just not seeing it with this kid and while people complain about Fiala and Aberg, Jarnkrok is older, been in the league longer and should be producing as well but he isn't yet no one calls him out on it. He's a POS player in my very straight forward opinion.

i couldn't agree more with you in regards to jarnkrok. i just try my best not to bring it up to avoid beating a dead horse over the expansion draft. although i could complain about protecting jarnkrok till my death. fiala still needs to step up regardless. and i predict aberg doesn't cut it in the NHL long term. agree with you though.

 

[Legionnaire11]

I'm not ready to write off anyone of our forwards just yet, but if this song is still stuck on repeat around thanksgiving then it'll definitely be time to start looking at what kind of action can be taken to rectify the situation.

 

[AdmiralsFan24]

so did we send Girard back to juniors or what, cause QMJHL just announced their rosters for the Canada-Russia series and Girard is in there.

Dubois is on there too and he's with the Blue Jackets. I'm guessing that they put them on there in case their NHL teams send them back and if they don't they'll name a couple of replacements.

 

[PredsV82]

Getting pretty fun to watch the games these days. Need a little more chemistry on offense and they will be really clicking

I know we probably need to give Saros another start sometime but I sure hate the thought of Peks getting out of his rhythm right now

 

[Pred303]

well.. that was sweet. nerve wracking, but sweet.

 

[drwpreds]

I'm not ready to write off anyone of our forwards just yet, but if this song is still stuck on repeat around thanksgiving then it'll definitely be time to start looking at what kind of action can be taken to rectify the situation.

Yep- and its why I am trying not to overreact to anything that happens early on. If our offense winds up being below par, I 100% believe we will add a top 6 forward somehow. We have plenty of trade chips to play with. Add a forward, get Ellis back in 2nd half and keep getting this kind of play from Rinne and I will like our chances to be a true contender again.....

 

[NoNecksCurse]

have to get ellis back for sure! man i hate him being out so long. emelin playing 20+ minutes a night like tonight is not a long term plan for success imo but what can we do.

i think we should consider moving jarnkrok to 4th line wing and scratching mcleod unless there is an obvious need. i think we need some help to bolster our offense but jarnkrok centering a 2-3 line is going to kill the offense as he is average at playmaking at best.

sissons/smith/fiala looked good tonight. let's see what we have with them. fiala needs to be smarter with the puck in the neutral zone and getting stood up at the blueline leading to a chance the other way. sometimes putting it in deep is the right play even if it isn't fancy. sissons scoring the way he did tonight gave me flashbacks to game 6 against anaheim where his hat trick put us in the finals.. ahhh

im really starting to think ekholm is our best defender a lot of nights. guy is just smooth and really gives other teams fits when he circles down low and makes them focus on their assignments.

pekka looked great. i give him shit a lot but he is a great guy and i love seeing him get the shutout

i really don't like jarnkrok and hartnell on a line together. would like to give kamenev a shot and move jarnkrok to wing on the 4th line.

teams in the northeast sure hate PK. love him though. that in game interview he gave in the 1st period was awesome even though his answers would be the same as anyone else's. he just has whatever it is that makes people pay attention to him.

irwin and bitetto are obviously a liability. it seems like no matter who is on the 3rd pair, never impresses me. i thought bitetto looked okay but there was a couple of iffy spots he put himself in. still don't understand the girard plan moving forward. i feel like he should be in as he is a puck moving defenseman. and our bottom pair is consistently getting stuck in our zone because they can't move the puck out. girard will make mistakes but there is room for growth. these other turds are what they are. just send him back to juniors then and let our rotating bottom pair of turds duke it out i guess.

and as PredsV82 said.. play rinne till he doesn't look so good.

 

[sparkle twin]

I'm really happy Pekka is playing so well, but he could have 4 shutouts in a row right now if not for some bad luck/non calls.

Dallas - 1 goal. Benn should not have had been allowed to take 3 or 4 whacks at the puck. Someone clear him out!

Chicago - 2 allowed. But the 1st goal should have never counted in the first place so we wouldn't have even gone to OT. Should have been a penalty called for holding the stick and/or throwing the stick.

Colorado - 1 allowed. It went in off of Josi's skate.

Philly - finally got the shutout!

 

[Scoresberg]

Play like that defensively and you'll win most nights.

We're playing really well in front of Pekka of course he's had to make some tough saves but in general we're clearing the puck out and letting him see the shots. We're being dominated at times but we just keep our cool and let the shots come from outside.

Good that we're talking about depth scoring. Right now, before making any moves I want to see Kamenev up. He doesn't care to play in AHL anymore he needs a decent chance in the NHL.

I too think we should move Jarny on the wing. We have players that if they work out we don't need to acquire a forward but that's a pretty big IF. But we knew that coming in.

With looking at our roster those are the games we need to play, especially on the road if we want to be successful. We started to play like that in April and where did that take us?

 

[Armourboy]

I tend to agree on Kamenev, if he can't crack the roster with our current centers then we need to move him. Frankly play Sissons on the 2nd, Kamenev on the 3rd, and Gaudreu on the 4th and move Jarnkrok to a wing. At least give the guys a chance to prove it or not because frankly it's pretty rough scoring wise right now.

 

[triggrman]

Fiala was flying tonight and has some good chances. The thing I'd like to see him do better is forecheck. His angles are all wrong and it's just not as effective as it should be with his speed.

He'll get there though.

 

[triggrman]

Oh, also, Sissons looks good on the 2nd line. Better than Bonino IMHO.

 

[Armourboy]

Say what you will about Sissons but when given better linemates and an opportunity he seems to rise to the occassion.

 

[triggrman]

He does, when you watch him nothing stands out but he gets it done.

 

[Scoresberg]

His development will stagnate if he just stays in the AHL. Nothing to prove there anymore, bring him up, surround him with good linemates and see how he does.

 

[Drake744]

Fiala is frustrating but in a good way if that makes sense. You know he has the tools, he looks the part, he seems to have good instincts with the puck. He just struggles to consistently contribute on the scoresheet but you can tell it's coming. He had a big league move to start the rush and pass that set up the goal. The talent is there, he just looks like he's trying to find his place. I know his line played a great game, I just hope this can be something that gets him, among others, going in the right direction.

 

[token grinder]

I forget who it was/how many were talking about how they wish media guys were critical of the Preds. But Hal Gill is your guy. I had to listen to chunks on the game on the radio and he was on point which his assessments of the JOFA line and them starting slow and reaching rather than skating. There were other assessments, but that stood out to me as it wasn't one of the normal "They need to get it going" rah rah speeches. He told you exactly why they were stinking up the joint.

He reminded me a lot of a guy I listened to later in the night in a different sport-Tony Romo. Not near as polished, but I think there is something to having smart former players in the booth that are excited and says things upon observation. No canned answers. Was nice.

That was a tough win last night, You know the last game was embarrassing for both teams when they played and knew both would hunker down and play a lot of the game in the neutral zone. I don't think I've seen so many flip passes out of the defensive zone as I did last night.

I don't like McLeod in the lineup, but early in the game it seemed like he, Gaudreau and Watson were the only unit playing with energy and was consistent.

We all have our lines we want to see-I want a 10 game run of Salomaki-Sissons-Watson. Put Gaudreau between Fiala and Smith while Bonino is out. Aberg Hartnell and Jarnkrok can fill PP/PK roles and play 4th line ES minutes.

 

[Pred303]

a few morning after thoughts;

..that was a good win. we played a fine road game.
..once you get to the halfway mark of a scoreless game, you just know that first goal wins about 90% of the time.
..encouraging (to a degree) that we won a game with our top line playing poorly.

..two shots from the top line, both by arvy, will lose us 9 of 10 times. luckily it was time 10.
..obviously i agree that fiala-sissons-smith was our best line all night. only fitting they were ones that scored.
..Rinne. what a great few games. Magically he sits at .932 and 2.01. playoff-like numbers.

..rinne's rebound control was top notch.
..only really thought rinne was forced to make 4 really tough saves, but they were tough saves. and he made them.
..what a fast up and down paced game. really unusual to see that few shots in that type game.

..PHI PP looked dangerous all night.
..our PK really played well despite that. have killed 16 of 17 these past 3 games now.
..don't have a feel for Muse yet,other than him and Saros are the blandest in game interviews possible.
..but if he can get the PK to play like this i'm an instant fan.
..having said that, the PK at the end of the second where we gave up 5 shots we were hanging on by our fingernails.
..you never like to see penalties, and we are taking too many. but a couple of the ones we took last night i would consider 'good' penalties in that they stopped high danger chances.
..oh and the Salomaki stick grab one was a crock of shit

..emelin with a pretty good game. obviously it suits him to pair with subban.
..don't exactly know why, but smith has more 'good' saves made against him than any player. always has. somehow he must tip off goalies exactly where his shot is headed.
..ekholm and subban continue to be forces in the defensive zone.

..strange to see such a free skating game with almost no odd man rushes.
..the early ekholm/smith one where we fumbled the puck amd then the game winner.
..our defensemen did a good job of staying back and not allowing odd man rushes.
..hartnell's age and lack of speed really shows in 5 on 5 play. only effecitve there if we can get into the o zone and grind a little.
..thought the 4th line, in limited minutes, were effective.
..we outshot them 24-21 even strength. we are getting better here.
..nothing to say about the PP with only 2.5 minutes of PP time. no shots though.

this game doesn't exactly make one not worry about the true potential of our offense. but it was a win. a good win. a road win. and we all know deep down the secret to this team is rinne's year.

 

[King Weber]

Rinne now tied 1st with Miikka Kiprusoff in shutouts by a Finnish goalie in the NHL

 

[Legionnaire11]

Steve beat me to it, but I was going to ask if anyone else thought that was Emelin's best game as a Predator? Not that he was great, but he was much more consistent and relaxed it seemed. Still got in a fee good hits, didn't get burned in transition or beaten around the net.

He doesn't have to be amazing, but if he can just be good enough on a consistent basis, that would be pretty big for him on the third pair when Ellis is healthy.