Player Discussion Player most likely to improve in 2017/2018

DrEasy

Out rumptackling
Oct 3, 2010
10,908
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Stützville
To sum up, the following are expected to do better this year:

Ryan, Brassard, Ceci: they're all capable of doing better
Turris, Stone: Turris a year removed from the gumby accident should be back to his old form, Stone just needs to stay healthy all year
Claesson, Dzingel: should get better purely due to the added experience

The following will probably show us more of the same: Pageau, Smith, Hoffman, Pyatt, Boro, Wideman, Karlsson (assuming he's back to 100% when he plays), Condon.

The following will get a year older and will probably decline: Anderson, Phaneuf, Burrows

Question mark: McArthur (fully healthy and in shape, but a year older?)

Methot replaced with Oduya is a net loss most probably. But Kelly replaced with Nate Thompson is a gain.

We have White who could make an impact at forward, Chabot on defense, and we have some depth, albeit unproven, defensively in Harpur, Englund.

On paper this team should be a little bit better than last year. A lot depends as usual on injuries. One more top 6 on offense and one more top 4 on defense would be better to sustain said injuries, but that was also the case last year. Then there's the competition: Montreal seems on the downside, whereas Tampa, Toronto and maybe Buffalo should prove dangerous.

Looks like we should be on the favorable side of the bubble.
 

Sensinitis

Registered User
Aug 5, 2012
15,934
5,526
I would add Ceci, Pageau, MacArthur to this list.

Pageau had 33 points and a monster playoffs. What do you expect more?

MacArthur can't really bounce back considering his sample size, unless you mean GP.

Agreed for Ceci. I think he should hit 30 pts with good two way play.
 

DanyHeatley

Registered User
Dec 6, 2016
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787
Dzingel.

Start out as a top9-12 forward but will finish the year as our #2 LW behind Hoffman. 20-20 season for 40-55pts
 

Micklebot

Moderator
Apr 27, 2010
53,116
30,333
Dzingel.

Start out as a top9-12 forward but will finish the year as our #2 LW behind Hoffman. 20-20 season for 40-55pts

Dzingel is hard to gauge.

His start to last season was great, but his finish was bad. It's easy to suggest that he should improve his consistency, and overall have a better season, but do the circumstances exist for that to happen?

If Dzingel is to have a better season, it is my opinion that he consistently needs to be deployed as a middle 6 or better winger. With Hoffman, Smith, and MacArthur all seemingly ahead of him on the left side, and Stone, Ryan certainly ahead of him on his off-side, it's an uphill battle. Burrows or Pyatt likely occupy that last top 9 RW position, along with the potential of White cracking the roster.

I think that Dzingel will be the odd man out, and because of that, I do not predict a better season, however, he will be the first option to move up the lineup in case of injury. He also likely gets the benefit of being moved up for double shifts and in cases where juggling the lines is deemed appropriate, and finally, relegation to the 4th line should be less of a death sentence compared to last year when it meant playing with Kelly, and perhaps Neil.

If Dzingel manages to hit 30 pts this year, that's a win in my books.
 

Cosmix

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Jul 24, 2011
17,791
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Ottawa
Mark Stone. I still think he have another level of his game he has yet to show thus far.
He's in his contract year, so if he can stay healthy I'm saying Stone.

I considered Stone but felt his potential, while similar to Ryan's, left little room for improvement over last season's performance, compared to Ryan's very poor performance last season which provides far more room for improvement.
 

thadman

Registered User
Jul 23, 2015
138
44
There's a difference between the player most likely to improve next season and the player with the most career potential.

IMO the obvious answer here is Ryan.
 

BonHoonLayneCornell

Registered User
Oct 16, 2006
15,227
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Yukon
Pageau had 33 points and a monster playoffs. What do you expect more?

MacArthur can't really bounce back considering his sample size, unless you mean GP.

Agreed for Ceci. I think he should hit 30 pts with good two way play.

I thought Pageau had some pretty quiet stretches offensively but he contributes regardless. Technically it was a notable step back production wise from the year prior but that seems to be status quo for a lot of guys under Boucher. I do think though that he can get closer to the 20 goal mark than the 12 he had last year.
 

DanyHeatley

Registered User
Dec 6, 2016
1,358
787
Dzingel is hard to gauge.

His start to last season was great, but his finish was bad. It's easy to suggest that he should improve his consistency, and overall have a better season, but do the circumstances exist for that to happen?

If Dzingel is to have a better season, it is my opinion that he consistently needs to be deployed as a middle 6 or better winger. With Hoffman, Smith, and MacArthur all seemingly ahead of him on the left side, and Stone, Ryan certainly ahead of him on his off-side, it's an uphill battle. Burrows or Pyatt likely occupy that last top 9 RW position, along with the potential of White cracking the roster.

I think that Dzingel will be the odd man out, and because of that, I do not predict a better season, however, he will be the first option to move up the lineup in case of injury. He also likely gets the benefit of being moved up for double shifts and in cases where juggling the lines is deemed appropriate, and finally, relegation to the 4th line should be less of a death sentence compared to last year when it meant playing with Kelly, and perhaps Neil.

If Dzingel manages to hit 30 pts this year, that's a win in my books.

If anyone's going to be the odd man out, I think it's going to be MacArthur. He's 32 and will start to regress. Dzingel, having just played his first full season, will be hungry and would want to prove himself and his new contract. He's 25 and just about to hit his prime. His first year was a good learning curve he made a lot of mistakes and fanned/shot wide on countless opportunities. He won't be new to the game anymore, he'll have 1 full season and a long play off run under his belt at the start of this season and those will make him a better player. He's also got the speed to thrive in the NHL he just needs more finesse and finish. Boucher will use his best attributes and put him in a position where he will strive offensively. It's true Smith is ahead of Dzingel in LW depth but I think he will be heavily relied on for defence as a shut down line that from time to time can chip offensively with JGP and Burrows. Our 4th line will also have the same role, but just at a tier below Smith-JGP-Burrows.

Predicted line up
Hoffman(60) - Turris(60) - Stone(60)
Ryan(50+) - Brassard(40+) - Dzingel (40+)
Smith - Pageau - Burrows (100+ pts combined)
Pyatt - Thompson - White (50+ pts combined)
 

Sensinitis

Registered User
Aug 5, 2012
15,934
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I thought Pageau had some pretty quiet stretches offensively but he contributes regardless. Technically it was a notable step back production wise from the year prior but that seems to be status quo for a lot of guys under Boucher. I do think though that he can get closer to the 20 goal mark than the 12 he had last year.

Pageau is what he is offensively imo, and that's streaky.

Keep in mind he got most of his points with Stone and Smith the year prior. I can't see him getting closer to that 20 goal mark unless he plays with Stone again, personally. Maybe White can help him a bit. I can see them having nice chemistry.
 

Cosmix

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Jul 24, 2011
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I thought Pageau had some pretty quiet stretches offensively but he contributes regardless. Technically it was a notable step back production wise from the year prior but that seems to be status quo for a lot of guys under Boucher. I do think though that he can get closer to the 20 goal mark than the 12 he had last year.

His role changed with Turris back from injury. Pageau was playing with Hoffman and Stone and being more offensive oriented so his stats improved. After Turris' return, Pageau was back in third line checking duties with Hoffman and Pyatt. I would rather see Dzingle and Hoffman be Pageau's wingers as they would be offensive than Pyatt. Pyatt is basically a 4th line winger on a very good team and not third line due to lack of offensive ability.

It might have been Smith instead of Hoffman. My memory is fuzzy.
 

thadman

Registered User
Jul 23, 2015
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Chabot played one game so it has to be him

Technically true, but I feel that the intent of the question was the most improved among established players, not rookies.

I mean technically if any of Brown/Jaros/Chlapik/Perron get a single NHL game this season, they will improve infinity% over last year in every recognized NHL statistic. That's way better than the measly 8100% Chabot could improve in GP.
 

guyzeur

Registered User
Mar 25, 2009
5,412
614
Ottawa
Technically true, but I feel that the intent of the question was the most improved among established players, not rookies.

I mean technically if any of Brown/Jaros/Chlapik/Perron get a single NHL game this season, they will improve infinity% over last year in every recognized NHL statistic. That's way better than the measly 8100% Chabot could improve in GP.

They don't qualify since they had to play at least one game.

Fishing has been good in this thread.
 

thadman

Registered User
Jul 23, 2015
138
44
They don't qualify since they had to play at least one game.

Fishing has been good in this thread.

I say Chabot doesn't qualify since he has to play at least 7:10 and he only played 7:09.

White played two games so it has to be him.
 

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