The Tank Thread - 2022-23 edition (Lottery Drawing 05/08/23 7PM)

[Cowumbus]

Too early to scoreboard watch? Because the Sharks/Ducks + Preds/Canucks games going to OT was the best case scenario.

 

[Halberdier]

Future 1C MacKinnon drafted in 2013. The next 4 seasons for the Avs with MacKinnon and Landeskog:
Lost in Round 1
Out of Playoffs, drafted Rantanen with pick #10
Out of Playoffs
Out of Playoffs

Should CBJ also scramble for another 4 years or so after gaining high pick for 2023 draft? That's their masterplan? Which core players are going to get traded down the road, who is our O'Reilly and Duchene? Werenski, Laine, Gaudreau? Let's hope they'll grab the next MacKinnon with that top pick instead of future Dylan Strome or Jonathan Drouin.

I think CBJ already has "Landeskog" and "Rantanen" level guys drafted, so they are in the pipeline.

So I think the team might be "one draft away" being ready. That doesn't mean being contender 23-24, but that does mean that the building blocks should be mostly in place by then.

While Sillinger has been a major disappointment this season, Johnson has already shown he'll be future 1C or at least 2C/"1B center". Also if they can fix skating and confidence problems for Silly, he should be quality 2C/3C in 1-2 years.

Jiricek/Mateychuk/Ceulemans should be ready enough in 2-3 years.

Mediocre goaltending might need trade.

Terrible coaching is fixable.

If on top of everything in the pipeline they can draft a superstar center, things are looking really sweet in 2 years.

It's a shame if they end up firing Jarmo before this team is ready, but even if they do that, he is the man that did build that team we have in ~2 years. Right now it is terrible time for being impatient. Patience is the key.

 

[tunnelvision]

While Sillinger has been a major disappointment this season, Johnson has already shown he'll be future 1C or at least 2C/"1B center". Also if they can fix skating and confidence problems for Silly, he should be quality 2C/3C in 1-2 years.

Disappointing start for Sillinger but not surprising at all if nobody from CBJ ever told him to dedicate a lot of his summer training solely on skating drills.

You can already predict KJ will be a future top-6 C? I'd like to watch at least 1-3 full NHL seasons first, preferrably with some playoff games.

Mediocre goaltending might need trade.

No reason to trade Elvis now when the value is low. Barring a resurgence year for Korpi, he will be gone in the summer for nothing.

Terrible coaching is fixable.

Agreed.

It's a shame if they end up firing Jarmo before this team is ready, but even if they do that, he is the man that did build that team we have in ~2 years. Right now it is terrible time for being impatient. Patience is the key.

He surely deserves some credit for that future team if players end up progressing as we project today, just like Howson probably should've received more acknowledgement for building those "tough to play against" Blue Jackets in TR/Torts era.

 

[Halberdier]

You can already predict KJ will be a future top-6 C? I'd like to watch at least 1-3 full NHL seasons first, preferrably with some playoff games.

Good post, agreeing to all parts, but will just comment this one:

I agree that we need to see more from KJ, but his play and his vision (that is super hard to develop if you haven't it in the first place) looks so good already, so barring career altering injuries etc. it's very hard to me to think him worse than a 2C on NHL. (I see both his vision and his skill tier above Sillinger, who could develop into future "Jenner", which is not bad.)

The team in general is underachieving right now so it's hard to stay positive about anything, but I think we have seen a lot of positive things regarding certain players that will be core pieces for this team for long.

 

[majormajor]

Disappointing start for Sillinger but not surprising at all if nobody from CBJ ever told him to dedicate a lot of his summer training solely on skating drills.

I'm sure they told him. But the club was really over the top with praising him last year and I don't think that helped.

If I was in charge I would take Sillinger out of games until he fixes the skating, and just do all skating training sessions. The neural rewiring that has to happen to fix the form gets undone in intense game action when he falls back on old habits. I know some folks think game action is where the player development happens but for a young forward like him I think it is all practice and training.

You can already predict KJ will be a future top-6 C? I'd like to watch at least 1-3 full NHL seasons first, preferrably with some playoff games.

I would project him that highly, yes.

 

[NotCommitted]

I'm sure they told him. But the club was really over the top with praising him last year and I don't think that helped.

If I was in charge I would take Sillinger out of games until he fixes the skating, and just do all skating training sessions. The neural rewiring that has to happen to fix the form gets undone in intense game action when he falls back on old habits. I know some folks think game action is where the player development happens but for a young forward like him I think it is all practice and training.

Skating is tricky, he looks like he needs a lot of work there, unless he's some kind of freak of nature with weird body mechanics

I was in the Sillinger hype train with the rest of the folks early on last season, he really came out the gate great for an 18-yo rookie center, but in hindsight he should've stayed up for the 7 or 9 games or whatever the limit is for burning an ELC year and gone to Cleveland. And he should still be there.

I'm all for player development in game action in the NHL, if certain conditions are met - and I don't think they are for Sillinger. Besides the type of game he plays, he could just as well play in the AHL, get some confidence and have more time to train and work on things like skating. I'm still optimistic about him for the future though.

Not sure what should be done with Johnson, the way he sees the game I think NHL is the right place for him, but physically it might be a different matter.

 

[LJ7]

Not sure what should be done with Johnson, the way he sees the game I think NHL is the right place for him, but physically it might be a different matter.

I'm fine with Johnson up here if he's on a line with veterans but if they're going to play him on this kid line then stick all three of them in Cleveland in exchange for Bemstrom, Marchenko, and Meyer

 

[5th Line Fanatic]

I'm sure they told him. But the club was really over the top with praising him last year and I don't think that helped.

If I was in charge I would take Sillinger out of games until he fixes the skating, and just do all skating training sessions. The neural rewiring that has to happen to fix the form gets undone in intense game action when he falls back on old habits. I know some folks think game action is where the player development happens but for a young forward like him I think it is all practice and training.



I would project him that highly, yes.

I'm not being critical of your post. It lead me to to ask this question- The son of a an NHL Center, who played over 1000 games, is a poor skater and we don't think this kid has been given every possible advantage to be a great skater since he could walk? I just don't see what kind of training he's going to get that he hasn't already had. I think he's going to have to learn to be good with what he has because the cake is already baked.

 

[majormajor]

I'm not being critical of your post. It lead me to to ask this question- The son of a an NHL Center, who played over 1000 games, is a poor skater and we don't think this kid has been given every possible advantage to be a great skater since he could walk? I just don't see what kind of training he's going to get that he hasn't already had. I think he's going to have to learn to be good with what he has because the cake is already baked.

I'm sure he's had skating coaches since he was a kid. It doesn't mean he won't benefit from them now. Barkov, for example, is another son of a pro, and his skating took off after he became an NHLer.

He's had skating training but I'm not sure Sillinger has ever been scratched so that he can focus on the skating. I really believe the neutral rewiring is set back by game action.

 

[tunnelvision]

I'm sure he's had skating coaches since he was a kid. It doesn't mean he won't benefit from them now. Barkov, for example, is another son of a pro, and his skating took off after he became an NHLer.

Didn't he have a figure skating coach to work with well into his 20s? Waiting for Laine fans to chime in here.

Regarding the thread topic, both metro teams Caps and Isles won last night to worsen their draft positions.

 

[NotCommitted]

Didn't he have a figure skating coach to work with well into his 20s? Waiting for Laine fans to chime in here.

Regarding the thread topic, both metro teams Caps and Isles won last night to worsen their draft positions.

He worked with one during the summer back in 2017 at least. It was a bit of a fad back then, I recall Granlund also doing that. Seemed to work though, it's hard to recall the time when Barkov's skating was a weakness.

 

[tunnelvision]

NJD over CGY
PHI over STL
MTL over DET in OT
ARI over BUF

Pretty good night so far.

 

[DoingItCoolKiwi]

The tankjob is about to get very real if Werenski is out long-term

 

[Halberdier]

He worked with one during the summer back in 2017 at least. It was a bit of a fad back then, I recall Granlund also doing that. Seemed to work though, it's hard to recall the time when Barkov's skating was a weakness.

Barkov's skating was okayish when he was young, but it obviously was not one of his strengths. Big frame, long limbs, slow cadence also makes it look worse than it is. His father, Alexander Barkov (senior) was notorious for slow-looking skating that was still faster than the high cadenze defenders he could overtake sometimes at ease.

Skating training has turned Sasha's okayish-but-kind-of-mediocre skating into a strength, that's for sure.

Sillinger desperately needs the same, but also play is now quite often dying on his stick as his stickhandling is also of right now. That might be partially about him feeling the pressure.

 

[I3LI3]

The tankjob is about to get very real if Werenski is out long-term

we can only hope.

 

[JacketFanInFL]

Send down Chinakhov, Johnson, and Sillinger yesterday and let them get some confidence.

Let the bums like Olivier, Foudy, Gaunce, Bemstrom stay up and solidify the tank.

 

[DoingItCoolKiwi]

Werenski out for season, Blanks for a couple of months, Boq still out for at least a month.
edit. Oh, Jake and Kuraly on IR too. That's something else.

Yeah, it's full tank mode now, whether we wanted it or not. Fantilli highlight reels, here I come

 

[LJ7]

Sorry I'm late but I'm all aboard now. It's officially over now. A silver lining may be that the team has a huge built in excuse for losing now and this can be a guilt free "building year"

 

[cbjthrowaway]

Disappointing start for Sillinger but not surprising at all if nobody from CBJ ever told him to dedicate a lot of his summer training solely on skating drills.

In Sillinger's defense, he had some slumps last year, too. He's still young, progress isn't linear.

Case in point: Ryan Johansen had a similar (actually, worse) season as a 19-year-old rookie (9-12–21 in 67 games) on an atrocious team in 2011-12. The next year, he was even worse (5-7–12 in 40 games) as a 20-year-old.

The next two years, he put up 33-30–63 and 26-45–71 lines.

Plenty of guys have had sophomore slumps, worked through them, and made major jumps in year three.

You can already predict KJ will be a future top-6 C? I'd like to watch at least 1-3 full NHL seasons first, preferrably with some playoff games.

Not OP but I'm comfortable as projecting Kent as a top six forward – he's got top-line talent, for sure – and I think his skillset makes him a perfect fit to play center. He needs to add some explosiveness and quickness, but that'll come in time.

His smarts, skill and stick are enough to project him as a top six center, imo.

 

[ViD]

The tank is official now. It is what it is.

 

[tunnelvision]

Who to root for tonight:

PIT over TOR
WSH over TBL
SJS over DAL

 

[majormajor]

In Sillinger's defense, he had some slumps last year, too. He's still young, progress isn't linear.

Case in point: Ryan Johansen had a similar (actually, worse) season as a 19-year-old rookie (9-12–21 in 67 games) on an atrocious team in 2011-12. The next year, he was even worse (5-7–12 in 40 games) as a 20-year-old.

The next two years, he put up 33-30–63 and 26-45–71 lines.

Plenty of guys have had sophomore slumps, worked through them, and made major jumps in year three.
.

I don't envision that kind of growth from Sillinger absent a giant leap in his skating. Johansen wasn't hard skill limited like Sillinger is.

 

[cbjthrowaway]

I don't envision that kind of growth from Sillinger absent a giant leap in his skating. Johansen wasn't hard skill limited like Sillinger is.

Sillinger has the frame/strength/IQ to be a defensively-minded middle-six center (i.e. Jenner), but has top six skill and a really good shot. He had to play a simple north-south game last year, so he didn't get to show those things off quite as much, but I saw glimpses of it.

I think his ceiling is a low-end 1C if his skating improves. Kind of a Bo Horvat type, 60-ish points.

 

[majormajor]

Sillinger has the frame/strength/IQ to be a defensively-minded middle-six center (i.e. Jenner), but has top six skill and a really good shot. He had to play a simple north-south game last year, so he didn't get to show those things off quite as much, but I saw glimpses of it.

I think his ceiling is a low-end 1C if his skating improves. Kind of a Bo Horvat type, 60-ish points.

It really just depends on the skating. If it doesn't markedly improve then he'll never even be a 2C.

And I don't take that kind of improvement for granted. There are stories of guys who fixed their skating (Horvat is a good example) but there also poor skaters in the NHL who could never get it fixed.

 

[BB88]

It really just depends on the skating. If it doesn't markedly improve then he'll never even be a 2C.

And I don't take that kind of improvement for granted. There are stories of guys who fixed their skating (Horvat is a good example) but there also poor skaters in the NHL who could never get it fixed.

Barkov hired a figure skating coach and we can see the results today.

Would recommend it for Sillinger