GDT: The 2024 World Junior Championship Thread || Gothenburg, Sweden || Dec 26th - Jan 5th

[AndBoomGoesTheCannon]

Brindley heavy forecheck and assist!

 

[ViD]

That Brindley guy is pretty good huh ?

 

[stevo61]

Congrats USA. Sad I didnt get to watch anything today

 

[NotCommitted]

Im gonna bet that Oiva Keskinen, despite being a 7th round pick will at least get some NHL games on his belt. He scored 2+3 in 7 games in this years WJC and was the best faceoff guy and had the best xGF% for Team Finland, at least before the shitshow of a bronze game.

I'd say the way they managed to turn a 3rd period 5-2 lead into a 5-8 loss makes that bronze game the most convincing... he might already be ready for the Jackets!

 

[gritdash60]

I'd say the way they managed to turn a 3rd period 5-2 lead into a 5-8 loss makes that bronze game the most convincing... he might already be ready for the Jackets!

No but dude he actually is a good player...

 

[Cowumbus]

Best part about winning.

 

[Cowumbus]

11 pages, not bad for a WJC. Last year was only 10… so progress has been made.

 

[Cowumbus]

Starting to look more likely that Mateychuk will be AHL-bound next year, unless Jarmo is still the GM then. It was a good tournament for him by junior hockey standards, one of Canada's best offensive players for sure, but flaws in stickhandling, shooting and defensive game were still very visible. I don't expect such huge improvements in the next 9 months that he's going to be NHL-ready by opening night but we will see.

I haven't watched Svozil much this year but based on what I've read, he also hasn't shown so much progress that we could comfortably count him as part of top-7 D for next season. If hockey season ended today and I was Jackets GM, I'd give Bean a QO and possibly keep Provorov if a solid LD replacement couldn't be found from free agency. I don't think there's downside to letting Mateychuk and Svozil play top-4 minutes in Cleveland.

Many posters on the prospect and international board are rather harsh on Dumais, I'm not quite sure why. He could have been better at converting on his chances but on the other hand he had plenty of takeaways and was a sharp passer in general. Still can't predict how effective even-strength player he will be at NHL-level ultimately but I think he could at least be a some kind of PP specialist.

 

[tunnelvision]

That's nice. My main takeaway from this is that, once again, stats are only telling us a part of the story.

Btw I wanted CBJ to draft Dionicio in mid/late round. Fascinating that the scouting staff preferred Whitelaw, Strathmann and Pinelli over him.

 

[stevo61]

That's nice. My main takeaway from this is that, once again, stats are only telling us a part of the story.

Btw I wanted CBJ to draft Dionicio in mid/late round. Fascinating that the scouting staff preferred Whitelaw, Strathmann and Pinelli over him.

Dont know Dionicio at all but a quick look at a scouting report lists skating as a major hurdle and he went undrafted before. Maybe would have taken a chance a bit later but who knows. Id love to see teams actual lists, I know we never will but it would be endlessly fascinating

 

[joybang]

For people much smarter than me, how was Denton defensively? Always lots of talk about his offense.

 

[majormajor]

For people much smarter than me, how was Denton defensively? Always lots of talk about his offense.

In the big picture we should say he's very good defensively. He's a beast at the junior level.

He left big gaps at times (too much space when backing up on the rush) and we talked about that a page or two ago here. That's one of the things he'll have to clean up before joining the Jackets. I think he can clean it up no problem, @tunnelvision thinks it will be a lengthier process.

 

[Cowumbus]

That's nice. My main takeaway from this is that, once again, stats are only telling us a part of the story.

I’m not trying to convince you that you’re wrong, but maybe he’s a bit closer than you think? Idk. It’s certainly not a bad thing that the stats are saying he played well.

 

[tunnelvision]

I’m not trying to convince you that you’re wrong, but maybe he’s a bit closer than you think? Idk. It’s certainly not a bad thing that the stats are saying he played well.

What would people expect his D+3 season in the NHL to look like if he wasn't a much improved player from the player he currently is? Would he be closer to current level Mintyukov (young D who has proved he belongs) or Korchinski (young D who at times is making you think he might be ready but with a 30+ game sample is actually looking like a junior who should be playing elsewhere)? My guess is that 9 months from now his overall impact will be closer to what Korchinski is today, and I think players of that level and potential shouldn't be developing in the NHL.

I watch Mateychuk and I like him, but so far I haven't got similar confident vibes I got from Werenski's last season in college/AHL that made me believe "this guy will be a top-6 D for the Jackets next season and will not look out of place".

Imo, young NHL defensemen that are good defensively aren't extremely cautious on rush defense. In zone defense, they don't sit in the background waiting for a loose puck to jump on and hope that teammates will do most of the dirty work defensively with shot/pass blocking and checking in the corners. If Mateychuk is relatively often playing that passively against lower competition, it's expected he would continue to do it in the NHL where couldn't get away with that.

And even if he didn't and instead tried to be more assertive, it's likely his weaknesses in defensive awareness and defensive tools would become more and more obvious as the season went on. Most would realize he isn't quick/strong/mature enough just yet and should be growing in the AHL (even if people still wouldn't agree with my opinion about his shot and stickhandling techniques being also issues).

 

[stevo61]

What would people expect his D+3 season in the NHL to look like if he wasn't a much improved player from the player he currently is? Would he be closer to current level Mintyukov (young D who has proved he belongs) or Korchinski (young D who at times is making you think he might be ready but with a 30+ game sample is actually looking like a junior who should be playing elsewhere)? My guess is that 9 months from now his overall impact will be closer to what Korchinski is today, and I think players of that level and potential shouldn't be developing in the NHL.

I watch Mateychuk and I like him, but so far I haven't got similar confident vibes I got from Werenski's last season in college/AHL that made me believe "this guy will be a top-6 D for the Jackets next season and will not look out of place".

Imo, young NHL defensemen that are good defensively aren't extremely cautious on rush defense. In zone defense, they don't sit in the background waiting for a loose puck to jump on and hope that teammates will do most of the dirty work defensively with shot/pass blocking and checking in the corners. If Mateychuk is relatively often playing that passively against lower competition, it's expected he would continue to do it in the NHL where couldn't get away with that.

And even if he didn't and instead tried to be more assertive, it's likely his weaknesses in defensive awareness and defensive tools would become more and more obvious as the season went on. Most would realize he isn't quick/strong/mature enough just yet and should be growing in the AHL (even if people still wouldn't agree with my opinion about his shot and stickhandling techniques being also issues).

Mintyukov is dynamic but also has had his struggles defensively. Almost all young D struggle in that way. Luke Hughes aswell is dynamic but has his defensive warts. Id expect Mateychuk to be similar to that but maybe not the same numbers or oppurtunity. Its pretty rare young defenders come in and hit the ground running in their own end. I even think Ottawa fans arent super impressed with Sanderson in his own zone this year

I also think people can be a victim of playing to the competition. Not that I dont Mateychuk needs to improve but obviously playing junior and pro is very different so simply playing with more structure could help.

I believe he should start in the AHL (never against lettings prospects, specifically defensemen ripen in the AHL) either for the year or until his plays completes suggests he deserves a look but I think a lot can change for him between now and the start of next year. I dont think people expected Mintyukov to be what he is out of the gate but he is, sometimes a player just needs a look. We obviously drafted Mateychuk for the exciting things he does with the puck and some level of expectation to build up what he does without it

 

[Cowumbus]

Examples of gap control/defensive awareness issues from the QF game:

2:20
24:22
35:13
35:28
1:05:10
1:29:18
1:43:54

Probably largely a system thing, but either way I can't imagine him ever being a useful two-way defenseman in the NHL if the team encourages him to play defense that passively. Hopefully Haviland knows how to help him improve his defensive game.

Some of these aren’t even that bad, IMO. Like the last one, he’s about a stick length away, and defending on his off side. I would guess that the gap scheme is more system related. A lot of of these replays though, even while having a bad gap, he ends up breaking up the play which is encouraging to me.

What would people expect his D+3 season in the NHL to look like if he wasn't a much improved player from the player he currently is? Would he be closer to current level Mintyukov (young D who has proved he belongs) or Korchinski (young D who at times is making you think he might be ready but with a 30+ game sample is actually looking like a junior who should be playing elsewhere)? My guess is that 9 months from now his overall impact will be closer to what Korchinski is today, and I think players of that level and potential shouldn't be developing in the NHL.

I think they rushed Korchinski a bit, but even so he’s fine considering their roster. He’s logged Chicago’s 2nd most TOI at 5v5, is 2nd in Corsi% and Fenwick% while playing over 20 minutes a night.

My hope is that if Mateychuk made the team, he would be playing sheltered matchups and 15 or so minutes a night. And if that were the case I’d hope he would have more of an impact that Korchinski.