Half-Assed GDT: World Championships 2018 - Bluesy

[EastonBlues22]

hah, how long did you hold on that gif. ?

Do you say i'm completely off the table saying Yeo hasn't show nothing good at Canada's powerplay?

I know players need to 'buy-in' in short tournament how to play, but Jeesus Canada has so many good individuals and so much offensive skill that without even saying '****' how to play powerplay (what are setups), players should in this level produce at poweplay never less who is coach, but currenlty looks like Yeo is negative thing for this team. Wonder why Blues are NHL #2nd worst powerplay team.

We should be really worried about Blues our powerplay future.

Hold onto a gif? I made it a few seconds before I posted it.

Yeo's PPs being bad is nothing new. That complaint has followed him around for as long as I can remember...back to the Penguins days, even, when he was in charge of it there.

I don't think all the blame for last season's PP struggles should fall on his shoulders, but he's not one that I think is capable of squeezing blood from a stone, either.

 

[EastonBlues22]

@Ranksu

Here's another one just for you.

 

[Ranksu]

Husso is in vs. Germany.

 

[EastonBlues22]

Finland is out-shooting Germany 25-8 through two periods, but is losing 2-1.

Losing to Germany would undo pretty much everything they had just accomplished in beating Canada.

 

[stl76]

Finland is out-shooting Germany 25-8 through two periods, but is losing 2-1.

Losing to Germany would undo pretty much everything they had just accomplished in beating Canada.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaannd it's gone.

Tough break for Finland to fight their way back and then lose in OT like that. Not saying Husso was at fault on the OT goal, but it looked like he didn't get a great push across.

 

[Ranksu]

Mathias Niederberger > Ville Husso

 

[stl76]

Mathias Niederberger > Ville Husso

Haha, to be fair, Niederberger played an incredible game.

It's been a weird tournament for Husso. It seems like every bounce that could go against him has ended up in the back of the net. Several miracle shots from the point thru thick screens in front and cross crease back door tap-in goals. It's not like he has played terribly or anything, but he has struggled a bit. Not overly concerned for the long run, but it's a shame because I was really hoping to see him play more...and Sateri will probably be the starter moving forward (especially after beating Canada).


Jaskin, on the other hand, is quietly having a monster tournament (6GP 4G 3A +9). Another goal and assist for him today in the Czech's win over France. Jaskin has been playing on a line with Krejci and Pastrnak, which obviously helps his stats. But he also led the entire Czech team in TOI today, and has been really good in the Czech highlights/bits of games I've seen. Check out his snipe around 0:55...

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

The solution is simple: acquire Pastrnak and Krejci

 

[Dbrownss]

The solution is simple: acquire Pastrnak and Krejci

 

[BlueDream]

But seriously, what the f*** Jaskin? I've hardly ever seen him shoot the puck like that in an NHL game. Most of the time he can barely lift it.

He seems to have talent. I mean he's a good 4th liner but jeez it'd be nice if he could just be a little better and at least become a 3rd liner...

 

[Ranksu]

But seriously, what the **** Jaskin? I've hardly ever seen him shoot the puck like that in an NHL game. Most of the time he can barely lift it.

He seems to have talent. I mean he's a good 4th liner but jeez it'd be nice if he could just be a little better and at least become a 3rd liner...

I think major thing is bigger ice is helping him. More time and space. I can imagine that Jaskin could be pretty darn good at KHL level.

 

[STL fan in MN]

But seriously, what the **** Jaskin? I've hardly ever seen him shoot the puck like that in an NHL game. Most of the time he can barely lift it.

He seems to have talent. I mean he's a good 4th liner but jeez it'd be nice if he could just be a little better and at least become a 3rd liner...

Yeah, Jaskin is playing very well this tourney. Leading the Czechs in scoring and getting top line minutes too. Who is this guy?!

It’s frustrating to watch these spurts of offense from Jaskin. It just leaves you wanting more and then that’s when he reverts back to Mr. Stone Hands. Great possession and cycle player though.

 

[stl76]

The solution is simple: acquire Pastrnak and Krejci

Sobotka + Thompson + 1st should be enough for both, right?

But seriously, what the **** Jaskin? I've hardly ever seen him shoot the puck like that in an NHL game. Most of the time he can barely lift it.

He seems to have talent. I mean he's a good 4th liner but jeez it'd be nice if he could just be a little better and at least become a 3rd liner...

Ranksu makes a good point about the extra time/space on the bigger ice. Part of it may also just be confidence, it's hard to say really...but I get the feeling that being "the guy" on a scoring line has given Jaskin some confidence in this tournament.

Jaskin clearly has it in him to be, at minimum, a quality bottom 6 winger in the NHL. We have seen him play at a 3rd line level before and he has spurts where you can see obvious talent. For better or for worse, I really think developing under Ken Hitchcock has turned Jaskin into the "safe" defensively responsible possession player/4th line grinder we have seen in recent years.

Remember when Jaskin got his first real extended NHL action in 2014-15 and scored at a great pace, before Hitch had a chance to really mold him into his type of player? That year Jaskin was aggressively crashing the net and scored on lots of rebounds/shots from the slot. He was throwing everything on net, and they were going in. He was playing with confidence and it showed in the scoresheet. But it seems like since then he just doesn't shoot as often or drive to the net consistently, and instead looks to make a "safe" play (i.e. pass or hold the puck to maintain possession). I just see Hitchcock's finger prints all over the player Jaskin has become.

Maybe some extended time under a new coach, some international scoring success, and a good offseason can give Jaskin the confidence he needs to really push for a 3rd line spot in camp. Not holding my breath, but if Jaskin can gain the confidence to shoot more, drive to the net consistently, and take a risk or two offensively, then there's no real reason why he can't score at a 3rd line level.

 

[Ranksu]

This guy looks like pretty darn good prospect for mid/late round for Wild. Could we speak of him being boom/bust type of player? @Alklha

Kirill Kaprizov - Elite Prospects

 

[Alklha]

This guy looks like pretty darn good prospect for mid/late round for Wild. Could we speak of him being boom/bust type of player? @Alklha

Kirill Kaprizov - Elite Prospects

He is an outstanding prospect, and I'd be very surprised if he wasn't an impact player in the NHL. He was tied for most points on CSKA this season, which is a good achievement. Easy to overlook the point production when it's tainted by the numbers that the SKA team puts up.

The issue with him is that he is signed for 2 more seasons with CSKA, at a decent salary. I can't see him buying out his contract to come and play on an ELC. So the Wild won't have him until 2020/21. He'll definitely come to the NHL though, I know enough people from Novokuznetsk to know that the parents all tell their kids the same thing.

 

[Brian39]

Husso's play this tournament doesn't worry me in the slightest and Jaskin's play doesn't make me at all optimistic for an improvement to his NHL game.

This does solidify my belief that Jaskin will probably leave the NHL for the KHL in a few years. He could make some decent money in the KHL that I don't think he will make in the NHL. If I were a betting man, I'd say he is a Blue for 2 more years (maybe 1), tries to make it as a top 9 player somewhere else for a year (maybe 2 if he only has 1 more year as a Blue), and then heads to the KHL for 2-3 times as much money.

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

Husso's play this tournament doesn't worry me in the slightest and Jaskin's play doesn't make me at all optimistic for an improvement to his NHL game.

This does solidify my belief that Jaskin will probably leave the NHL for the KHL in a few years. He could make some decent money in the KHL that I don't think he will make in the NHL. If I were a betting man, I'd say he is a Blue for 2 more years (maybe 1), tries to make it as a top 9 player somewhere else for a year (maybe 2 if he only has 1 more year as a Blue), and then heads to the KHL for 2-3 times as much money.

My biggest take-away from the Jarmo/Davidson era is don’t over-weight international performances, positively or negatively. If anything, we should be leveraging this peak in Jaskin’s performance to exploit his trade value; it likely hasn’t been this high since his 13-goal year.

The thing about Jaskin is that the signs of a good player are all there, except one. His possession metrics are similar to top-6 players across the league, he shoots a lot, he hits, and he’s great along the boards. His shooting percentage is just abysmal though. I haven’t looked at his stats for this tournament, but I would predict that he’s riding a massive spike in shooting percentage right now.

That should lead us to one of two conclusions. We should trade him to a team that thinks this spike is sustainable in their system, or we should find him a better shooting coach to sustain that ourselves. In other words, this performance is either a sign that he’s about to break out, or it’s an outlier that we should exploit for our benefit. I think the vast majority of evidence would suggest that the former is a lot more likely, but this is also a guy who scored 99 points in the Q, looked great in his first AHL season, and posted 13 goals in his first full NHL season.

There will be teams intrigued by this performance and his skill set, so we need to be prepared to make a decision on who he is before they make a trade call to us.

Edit: he’s shooting 22% right now, which is a huuuge spike. Even in Moncton, he topped out at 17.75%

 

[Blueston]

My biggest take-away from the Jarmo/Davidson era is don’t over-weight international performances, positively or negatively. If anything, we should be leveraging this peak in Jaskin’s performance to exploit his trade value; it likely hasn’t been this high since his 13-goal year.

The thing about Jaskin is that the signs of a good player are all there, except one. His possession metrics are similar to top-6 players across the league, he shoots a lot, he hits, and he’s great along the boards. His shooting percentage is just abysmal though. I haven’t looked at his stats for this tournament, but I would predict that he’s riding a massive spike in shooting percentage right now.

That should lead us to one of two conclusions. We should trade him to a team that thinks this spike is sustainable in their system, or we should find him a better shooting coach to sustain that ourselves. In other words, this performance is either a sign that he’s about to break out, or it’s an outlier that we should exploit for our benefit. I think the vast majority of evidence would suggest that the former is a lot more likely, but this is also a guy who scored 99 points in the Q, looked great in his first AHL season, and posted 13 goals in his first full NHL season.

There will be teams intrigued by this performance and his skill set, so we need to be prepared to make a decision on who he is before they make a trade call to us.

Edit: he’s shooting 22% right now, which is a huuuge spike. Even in Moncton, he topped out at 17.75%

Small sample sizes are generally unreliable predictors, so I don't want to suggest that this is a harbinger of stardom. That said, Jaskin seems to at times have confidence issues and seems in this tourney to be playing with more comfort. JR mentioned that he can be rather aloof and doesn't seem close to many of his teammates. Perhaps if he felt more comfortable here he could better reach his potential?

 

[jura]

The solution is simple: acquire Pastrnak and Krejci

or

 

[AjaxManifesto]

I'm a Jaskin fan, even if he's a loner in the locker room.

 

[turkulad]

In case you're interested, here's a quote from Brodeur at the WHC's (from a Finnish article about him).

Brodeur had a long conversation with Liiga star Antti Suomela on the hallway of the Herning arena. The content of the discussion was obvious - Blues are interested in the center who's just made a deal with (Liiga team) HIFK.
- "He's one of those players that our scouts have been following. They're excited about him and think that he could be very useful for the Blues"

Suomela was one of our team's finest players during the warmup games at the Euro hockey tour but somehow he's slipped onto the 13th slot on the team right now. Some weren't that impressed by his play during the first few games but some are also speculating an injury. Interesting, either way.

 

[stl76]

In case you're interested, here's a quote from Brodeur at the WHC's (from a Finnish article about him).

Brodeur had a long conversation with Liiga star Antti Suomela on the hallway of the Herning arena. The content of the discussion was obvious - Blues are interested in the center who's just made a deal with (Liiga team) HIFK.
- "He's one of those players that our scouts have been following. They're excited about him and think that he could be very useful for the Blues"

Suomela was one of our team's finest players during the warmup games at the Euro hockey tour but somehow he's slipped onto the 13th slot on the team right now. Some weren't that impressed by his play during the first few games but some are also speculating an injury. Interesting, either way.

Very interesting information, thank you for sharing this article. Just from looking at Suomela's stats, he put up very good numbers in Liiga last year (lead the entire league in points!). At 24 he is still relatively young and has decent size (6' 175lbs).

Can you tell us a bit about Suomela as a player? How is he defensively, is he good at faceoffs? How is his shot/skating/etc? Do you think he can play center in the NHL or would he likely be a winger?

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

Best case scenario, Suomela would be our Finnish Dadanov/Panarin, worst case scenario he’s a Shipachyov/Lindstrom. Worth taking a shot for sure

 

[Bluesnatic27]

I hope this indicates the Blues are going to start looking into the European market for free agents again.

 

[stl76]

Best case scenario, Suomela would be our Finnish Dadanov/Panarin, worst case scenario he’s a Shipachyov/Lindstrom. Worth taking a shot for sure

Agreed, definitely worth taking a shot. Low risk, moderate-to-high-reward move.

I hope this indicates the Blues are going to start looking into the European market for free agents again.

That was really the biggest takeaway for me. Obviously they have signed European players in the past with varying results, so it's not unprecedented. But it's just encouraging to the see Blues getting creative in finding players. Looking at the larger picture, moves like signing more college UFAs and players out of Europe could be really beneficial in the long run. Finding contributing players without giving up assets is always a win.