Value of: Signing UFA Andreas Athanasiou

[Bounces R Way]

Future flameout if he doesn't work on changing his game significantly. Has more even strength goals over the past three seasons than Taylor Hall and the same amount as Boeser, Hertl, and Wheeler but is somehow -70 in that time frame.

2 years 1.75 per to a rebuilding team that hopefully has a coach that knows what to do with him I think is the best he can hope for.

 

[jetsforever]

I really like Athanasiou although we probably have too many wingers to add him.

 

[zar]

From what I witnessed in his short stint on the Oilers and the odd game I saw him play with the Red Wings... in today's NHL economical climate, AA wasn't worth what his QA offer would have had to have been.

To be fair to AA, I don't think he had an opportunity to settle in and build chemistry with any line mates in his small sample size playing with the Oil.

He is definitely an NHL player and should be able to get short term deal in the $1.5 - $2 million dollar range. Dependent on his commitment to his game and developing chemistry with his line/team mates, he could be anywhere between a 2nd to 4th line NHL winger.

 

[belair]

Galchenyuk special coming up. Not good enough for top 6 minutes long-term. Terrible on a checking line. Low motivation player who can fly. Needs to find a team with a glaring hole on a scoring line wing position who needs a placeholder. Ride his one good hot streak and be prepared to pull your hair out the rest of the year. Detroit doesn't want him back. Kahun will be so much more useful than this guy for the Oilers.

The guy in a nutshell. Exceptionally talented puck-carrier and a phenomenal straight line skater. The problem is that he's an exceptionally difficult player to play with. This is why teams willing to throw him in their top six are probably few and far between.

His play style is acceptable for high pedigree forwards two or three years out of the draft. He's 26.

 

[MBH]

The more Athanasiou plays, the better he plays.
When coaches under-utilize him, he tends to sulk.
Last year could be another story, however. He hurt is back in preseason and never looked right until the playoffs, when he started skating like Athanasiou again.
Over his final 16 games in 2018-19, he played 19:25 a night - mostly with Hirose, Helm or Glendening.
And he went 16 games 8-7-15 +1. He also went 104 vs 109 on faceoffs.
Throughout his career, he's elevated his game with ice time.

That year he went 30-24-54 in 76 games.
His top linemates? Luke f***ing Glendening, Frans Nielsen and Darren Helm.

Heading into this year, he was among the best 5on5 goal scorers in the league.
He could be a great bargain for someone.

 

[Smitty426]

Future flameout if he doesn't work on changing his game significantly. Has more even strength goals over the past three seasons than Taylor Hall and the same amount as Boeser, Hertl, and Wheeler but is somehow -70 in that time frame.

2 years 1.75 per to a rebuilding team that hopefully has a coach that knows what to do with him I think is the best he can hope for.

DEVS

 

[Shaman464]

This is not how he played in Edmonton, in Edmonton he looked like all he wanted to do was get focus on getting a luck in the net and had no idea what to do when the puck got out of the offensive zone. He was regularly out of position unless there was offensive potential on the play. He had no clue how to play the rest of the time. Your effort level comments might be true, but I did not see a smart hockey player who can contribute outside of the offensive zone.



Your second point is 100% accurate but thats not what I want on a 3rd line. He needs to be on an offensive line, a 3rd line needs some accountability in their own end and he doesn't have it. I'd want him to be on a purely offensive second line that gives up a goal a game, but scores 2 goals a game. But that's not how Edmonton is built.

He played just a shade over a dozen games in Edmonton. I have nearly 300 games of laser focused hatred for him. I am his biggest detractor on HFboards and anyone can vouch for that. Dude has the brains. He. Just. Doesn't. Care. He only cares about his highlight reel goals. And its that much worse when you see the handful of games where he's engaged and he shows he has soft hands, and can read plays well for passes, or get into position to show off his shot.

 

[Shaman464]

The more Athanasiou plays, the better he plays.
When coaches under-utilize him, he tends to sulk.
Last year could be another story, however. He hurt is back in preseason and never looked right until the playoffs, when he started skating like Athanasiou again.
Over his final 16 games in 2018-19, he played 19:25 a night - mostly with Hirose, Helm or Glendening.
And he went 16 games 8-7-15 +1. He also went 104 vs 109 on faceoffs.
Throughout his career, he's elevated his game with ice time.

That year he went 30-24-54 in 76 games.
His top linemates? Luke f***ing Glendening, Frans Nielsen and Darren Helm.

Heading into this year, he was among the best 5on5 goal scorers in the league.
He could be a great bargain for someone.

Except he hasn't. I can dig up posts where I show that games where he played 18 minutes plus he was still streaky as hell and hot garbage most nights. He plays when he wants, how he wants, and you're right when he sulks you might as well just throw 4 men over the boards instead of 5.

 

[WingsMJN2965]

Future flameout if he doesn't work on changing his game significantly. Has more even strength goals over the past three seasons than Taylor Hall and the same amount as Boeser, Hertl, and Wheeler but is somehow -70 in that time frame.

2 years 1.75 per to a rebuilding team that hopefully has a coach that knows what to do with him I think is the best he can hope for.

Athanasiou coached by Torts would be some entertaining shit, to say the least.

 

[belair]

The more Athanasiou plays, the better he plays.
When coaches under-utilize him, he tends to sulk.
Last year could be another story, however. He hurt is back in preseason and never looked right until the playoffs, when he started skating like Athanasiou again.
Over his final 16 games in 2018-19, he played 19:25 a night - mostly with Hirose, Helm or Glendening.
And he went 16 games 8-7-15 +1. He also went 104 vs 109 on faceoffs.
Throughout his career, he's elevated his game with ice time.

That year he went 30-24-54 in 76 games.
His top linemates? Luke f***ing Glendening, Frans Nielsen and Darren Helm.

Heading into this year, he was among the best 5on5 goal scorers in the league.
He could be a great bargain for someone.

The more he plays, the better he produces. This guy is a much bigger liability than he is an offensive driver.

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

The more Athanasiou plays, the better he plays.
When coaches under-utilize him, he tends to sulk.
Last year could be another story, however. He hurt is back in preseason and never looked right until the playoffs, when he started skating like Athanasiou again.
Over his final 16 games in 2018-19, he played 19:25 a night - mostly with Hirose, Helm or Glendening.
And he went 16 games 8-7-15 +1. He also went 104 vs 109 on faceoffs.
Throughout his career, he's elevated his game with ice time.

That year he went 30-24-54 in 76 games.
His top linemates? Luke f***ing Glendening, Frans Nielsen and Darren Helm.

Heading into this year, he was among the best 5on5 goal scorers in the league.
He could be a great bargain for someone.

104 of 213 is not a good face off man.

And frankly, look at how teams played the Wings and what happened in those last 16 games. The Wings had their dead cat bounce of 8 wins in 9 games while icing a roster that included Matt Puempel, Dylan McIlrath, Jake Chelios, Ryan Kuffner, Brian Lashoff, and Taro Hirose fresh off the street. Teams clearly didn’t take the Wings at all seriously while gearing up for the playoffs themselves. The Wings iced an AHL roster and won 8 of 9. The roster to end 18-19 was worse than the roster they put out this past season.

The whole knock on AA is that he doesn’t use his linemates well and he doesn’t play anywhere near as well and consistent of a two-way game as his physical tools imply he should.

Pointing out that he scored a lot with really shitty linemates does nothing to deflate that narrative. Ignoring his massive -45 (I know +/- is a bullshit stat, but that’s still quite alarming) also does no favors in addressing those problems.

He was hurt early this year and it did affect him. He may even be a bargain for some team. However, he’s going to struggle to get more than a league minimum deal in COVID locked cap world because his limitations have been out on display and it’s harder to bury/dump him if you get the sulky AA

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

Athanasiou coached by Torts would be some entertaining shit, to say the least.

I think Torts might murder AA or some unfortunate staffer

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

He played just a shade over a dozen games in Edmonton. I have nearly 300 games of laser focused hatred for him. I am his biggest detractor on HFboards and anyone can vouch for that. Dude has the brains. He. Just. Doesn't. Care. He only cares about his highlight reel goals. And its that much worse when you see the handful of games where he's engaged and he shows he has soft hands, and can read plays well for passes, or get into position to show off his shot.

Yes. I know I’ve been painted as a huge hater of his... but a lot of it is really “I’m not mad. I’m disappointed”. He has too much talent to be the flaky, streaky player that he is. Like I would be hard pressed to find a player in the NHL with the speed and skill AA has.

 

[Ghost of Ethan Hunt]

To be fair, that was -45 in 46gp, very consistent.

But hey, (shuffles deck) only 26 PIM's & 26 yrs old with a difficult agent.

Added bonus: 1pt / 9gp Playoffs career.

 

[Habs Halifax]

I think he would fit well on a team with solid centers and good team D. A team with size but looking to add speed on wing.

 

[Mr Positive]

If not for covid, the Oilers would have kept him. He didn't pan out as hoped but was still a great project to take on. He was much more committed to defense while he was here, compared to his Redwing days. And of course his skills were impressive. Over time he could have asserted himself more. On a good team, his negatives would be less of an issue

Teams are not signing him because all these remaining players are being nickel and dimed to death. Its GMs smelling blood in the water.

 

[MBH]

The more he plays, the better he produces. This guy is a much bigger liability than he is an offensive driver.

Disagree.
The more he plays, the more he's engaged.

 

[MBH]

104 of 213 is not a good face off man.

That's not the point.
48.8 is below average, obviously.
But for a guy with limited experience at center, it's not bad.
And consider how bad he was the rest of the year. (67/186). 36 percent.
AA was asked faceoffs. He said he'd get better with repetition. He was right.

And frankly, look at how teams played the Wings and what happened in those last 16 games. The Wings had their dead cat bounce of 8 wins in 9 games while icing a roster that included Matt Puempel, Dylan McIlrath, Jake Chelios, Ryan Kuffner, Brian Lashoff, and Taro Hirose fresh off the street. Teams clearly didn’t take the Wings at all seriously while gearing up for the playoffs themselves. The Wings iced an AHL roster and won 8 of 9. The roster to end 18-19 was worse than the roster they put out this past season.

Nice theory.
8/16 teams were playoff teams. 1 was a team 2 points out.
Teams might have played their backup goalie.
The Wings went 9-7 in those 16 games. They weren't world beaters.

He was hurt early this year and it did affect him. He may even be a bargain for some team. However, he’s going to struggle to get more than a league minimum deal in COVID locked cap world because his limitations have been out on display and it’s harder to bury/dump him if you get the sulky AA

He was literally butt hurt. He scored a goal in the preseason and crashed butt/back-first into the boards. Left the game. Misse the the rest of the preseason. Missed the opening games of the season.
And totally didn't look like AA all year.

Goals/60 went from 1.22 to .59
That's elite to run of the mill.

Shots/60 went from 9.32 to 7.98 - worst of his career.

Scoring chances for/60 went from 9.5 to 7.1.

Penalties drawn 60 went from 1.45 to .69.
Elite to average.

In the playoffs, AA's scoring didn't come back.
But his shots/60 rebounded to 8.55.
Scoring chances/60 rebounded to 14.25.
And he drew penalties again (4.28).

 

[Kranix]

8yr x league min

 

[Double Dion]

I don't see him getting more than 1M for one year. Better players have signed for less. He is fast and has a shot, but his attention to detail is atrocious. He has to score you 25 goals to not be a detriment to your teams and he has only done that once. I'd want to know I could bury him in the minors if he didn't perform.

 

[Debrincat93]

skillset to be a dominate NHLer who could break open games by himself.
Lacks work ethic and hockey IQ and zero give a shit meter reader.

If you can get the spark fired up, he'd be a great fit. I could see him on the Pens, Hawks, Kings with all the cup winning vets to try and turn him around. But i cant see anyone taking him for more than 1y.

 

[TopCheese]

If he can’t work out in Edmonton next to mcdavid or draitsaitl with their poor winger depth then he’s pretty much done. Best he can hope for is a 1 year deal from a team like Ottawa or LA. He is poor defensively and seems to be weak. Most the time he doesn’t even try To defend

 

[mattihp]

Could Wild try him at center? They are thin there..

 

[TS Quint]

Could Wild try him at center? They are thin there..

No!

I’ve always said AA has the speed to out race 99% of the league from 5 strides behind but he insists on being 3 steps head. Not only does he blow the Dzone consistently but when he is there he has no idea what he is doing.

 

[voxel]

If he can’t work out in Edmonton next to mcdavid or draitsaitl with their poor winger depth then he’s pretty much done. Best he can hope for is a 1 year deal from a team like Ottawa or LA. He is poor defensively and seems to be weak. Most the time he doesn’t even try To defend

I'd rather have Yakupov back than AA.... did not like what I saw with AA on the Oilers. It's a positive that he's gone.