GDT: 1/16/20 - 8:00PM EDT - Tampa Bay @ Minnesota

[Todd1a]

Do we really want Cooper guys like Condra, Morrow and Kunitz? None of them have done anything worthwhile except take minutes from a kid. Guys like Panik, Connolly, Drouin or Marchessault should have been playing more not less but Coop needed his guys to get minutes. This year it's Verheaghe, Joseph and Volkov losing out to Maroon. Maroon hasn't been that bad compared to past Coop guys but he shouldn't be playing 12 a night while a promising prospect is getting 8.

He tried to ruin Kucherov but Kucherov was too good for that and Yzerman gutted the RW depth which forced Coopee to move Kucherov up. The only reason Johnson or Palat got a chance was because he coached them prior and we were so thin up front he had to play them. The only way a prospect gets minutes from him is if they are very defensive, it's why Paquette, Point and Cirelli have done well, he only plays you if you know about the two nets.

It’s a shame then I see players like jam, Connolly and miller leave and look very good!

 

[HoseEmDown]

weve lost to minn for 18 str8 years i think smdh.....usually given someone a hatty lmfao

its def sick..... i dont get why you choose mcc last night over vasy .... you should play your good goalie for the worst team when can just saying..... unless you expect 2 wins on back to back and I dont.... maybe get lucky here and there but usually best scenario is keep close tie get one point maybe lol

see told you to stay now you got someone whom agrees with ya hockey man !!

as far as maroon this is something WE need and in playoffs will truly need probably should add another guy like him imho..... i dont know what people expect but i give him an B+ rating for play in all situations this year for a fourth liner thats pretty good when hold paquette at a solid C.... verhaegh i got as a D and should be back in cuse or moved..... if he gets hot ever.....

i really like stephens he can stay... look forward to adding nolan foote next year.....smith should be up verhaegh down immediately ..... joseph 9 games 3 goals 8 points

cal foote 39 games 3 goals 21 points but a minus 15 while gaunce is a plus 9

I really like to know how a guy with 9 points in 34 games playing 9 minutes a night with some of the best puck possession numbers is a D? I also would like to know when Smith leads the AHL in scoring like Verheaghe did last year. The same Smith who has the worst possession numbers on the team besides Witkowski. I would like to know what he offers that Verheaghe isn't better at?

Joseph is playing pretty good in Syracuse but we don't have a spot for him when Maroon is healthy. No need to call him up when he won't play every game. Nolan Foote shouldn't be on the team next year if we still have Killorn, Palat, Gourd and Johnson. We have too many forwards we are struggling to get proper minutes to and Foote will just be wasted by Cooper, let him play in Syracuse.

If you watch Syracuse you would know that Foote has been more than fine. The Crunch problem is they have the worst goaltending in all the AHL and I don't know why they haven't tried to address that yet? If they don't soon there's no chance they'll get out of the hole their in and make the playoffs. They are good enough to get in but without proper goaltending that won't happen.

 

[Tampacuseforever]

I like players who produce well with their ice time and contract. Verheaghe does that well, Stamkos has played 10 more games, plays almost five more minutes 5v5 a game yet only has 4 more 5v5 goals while making 10x more money I will call them out. Stamkos doesn't help our playoff performance either yet we'll keep throwing him out there every other shift. It's hard for guys like Verheaghe to show anything when they get one shift every 5 minutes, start in their own zone and then are expected to make something happen. If Cooper would give the kids a fair chance I wouldn't complain but he doesn't ,they're stapled to the bench for long stretches and expected to make miracles. That's poor coaching.

Do you think maybe Verhaeghe’s numbers are good because Cooper is putting him in situations and matchups that he will succeed in ? It’s what most good coaches do.

 

[HoseEmDown]

Do you think maybe Verhaeghe’s numbers are good because Cooper is putting him in situations and matchups that he will succeed in ? It’s what most good coaches do.

No because as you said he is an offensive player yet he has more defensive zone starts than offensive ones. He plays him with bottom 6 players who don't mesh too well with his style. The times he was given an extended look with other skill players he had 3 point nights. The first was with Stamkos and Johnson and the other he got on the PP and scored. So if you put him in an offensive position he can produce, Cooper has only done that on a few occasions so he isn't getting the best out of him.

 

[DFC]

I see a lot of positives with Verhaeghe. More and more as he settles in. He has good offensive instincts, but the only way he's able to show them off is by being a one man show, because there's no room in the top-6, and no way to shuffle things around to see where he'd have good chemistry. He has chemistry with Stephens, but Stephens is never gonna be a big offensive threat.

 

[Todd1a]

I really like to know how a guy with 9 points in 34 games playing 9 minutes a night with some of the best puck possession numbers is a D? I also would like to know when Smith leads the AHL in scoring like Verheaghe did last year. The same Smith who has the worst possession numbers on the team besides Witkowski. I would like to know what he offers that Verheaghe isn't better at?

Joseph is playing pretty good in Syracuse but we don't have a spot for him when Maroon is healthy. No need to call him up when he won't play every game. Nolan Foote shouldn't be on the team next year if we still have Killorn, Palat, Gourd and Johnson. We have too many forwards we are struggling to get proper minutes to and Foote will just be wasted by Cooper, let him play in Syracuse.

If you watch Syracuse you would know that Foote has been more than fine. The Crunch problem is they have the worst goaltending in all the AHL and I don't know why they haven't tried to address that yet? If they don't soon there's no chance they'll get out of the hole their in and make the playoffs. They are good enough to get in but without proper goaltending that won't happen.

Pretty much knew the goaltending would be a problem down there this year wonder why Brisebois hasn’t addressed that yet ?

 

[Tampacuseforever]

No because as you said he is an offensive player yet he has more defensive zone starts than offensive ones. He plays him with bottom 6 players who don't mesh too well with his style. The times he was given an extended look with other skill players he had 3 point nights. The first was with Stamkos and Johnson and the other he got on the PP and scored. So if you put him in an offensive position he can produce, Cooper has only done that on a few occasions so he isn't getting the best out of him.

Who is he facing on these defensive zone starts ? Is cooper sending him out against the oppositions top line ?
PS his big point nights were against a couple of goalies that were unable to stop a beach ball that night. Maybe Cooper was trying to boast his confidence ?

 

[Tampacuseforever]

I see a lot of positives with Verhaeghe. More and more as he settles in. He has good offensive instincts, but the only way he's able to show them off is by being a one man show, because there's no room in the top-6, and no way to shuffle things around to see where he'd have good chemistry. He has chemistry with Stephens, but Stephens is never gonna be a big offensive threat.

There is plenty of positives with Verhaeghe it’s the fit that is the problem. Do we need more one dimensional offensive players ?

 

[HoseEmDown]

Who is he facing on these defensive zone starts ? Is cooper sending him out against the oppositions top line ?
PS his big point nights were against a couple of goalies that were unable to stop a beach ball that night. Maybe Cooper was trying to boast his confidence ?

I'm pretty sure he is being matched up with the other teams top lines but their coach quickly changes because they don't want any part of Verheaghe. He also scored against an All Star goalie, Markstrom, when he had his hattrick.

 

[HoseEmDown]

There is plenty of positives with Verhaeghe it’s the fit that is the problem. Do we need more one dimensional offensive players ?

We're paying Stamkos 8.5M to be just that so we must not have that big a problem with those types.

 

[Lord Stan 2020]

ok will handle ALL of this here....

TO BE BLUNT how in the hell is verhaegh gonna help this team to the cup??? im serious if had smith is a chance he leans on guys and wears them out


when boston wash pitt top lines equal or outplay our top line and when 2nd and 3rd lines struggle to SCORE in playoffs per USUAL the one ingredient that might help us is a SUPER big badass 4th line that wears down these players on those teams..... leaning on them putting together great 8-10 minute games roughing them up a bit so to speak

and this is my scenario why im over verhaegh.... his d is not good enough hes not big enough to be the GUY we need in playoffs....

now can verhaegh have a decent hockey career in nhl??? that is up for debate....

as far as syracuse ya i do watch at times foote is progressing but not a lock for next year as I had thought.....

todd brought up simmonds might be available.... i saw backes on waivers today and both could help with WHAT this teams IMHO to win the cup this year....

i want a vet forward here playing with paq and maroon badly dont need them to score need them to bring energy and get pucks deep so 1st line can come on and win face offs and hopefully score !!

and just SO I am CLEAR verhaegh is the GUY i wanted on this team BADLY this year..... i was sure his game would translate and 200 foot game was good enough to be a very good 2 way 200 foot player..... i dont see us using him for that much really and he gets overmatched too often where weve had others whom we lost who did a better job....

that is all i like the kid.... i think he probably can have a decent nhl career honestly just we need something MORE probably a LOT more for the cup and I want us all in this time enough of the games do what it takes to pick up the missing pieces upgrade and take it down stanley needs the tan

 

[Tampacuseforever]

We're paying Stamkos 8.5M to be just that so we must not have that big a problem with those types.

Your comparing verhaeghe to Stamkos again ???

 

[Sky04]

We're paying Stamkos 8.5M to be just that so we must not have that big a problem with those types.

Do we need more one dimensional offensive players ?

You're slipping.

 

[Hockeyman1962]

This debate is old it all comes down to Coaching and the Lightning have coach that can't figure out minutes or playing time. Any hockey person that has watched the Lightning already know this about Cooper. With Cooper if Kuch, Point , Stamkos are playing like dog s--t it doesn't matter he will still play them 20 minutes a game. If you are not those three players you may play some minutes but they are never consistent from game to game. The players already know this about Cooper don't you think some of the players are just saying it doesn't matter any more we cant win with this guy.

 

[HoseEmDown]

Your comparing verhaeghe to Stamkos again ???

No, I'm comparing Stamkos to Verheaghe. Stamkos makes 8.5M while Verheaghe 700k, so Stamkos makes 12.15 more a year than Verheaghe and I expect him to score that much more. Verheaghe is on pace to score 22 points this year, I expect Stamkos to score 267. He is currently at 46 so he has a lot of work to do the second half of the season to be considered on par with Verheaghe to me.

 

[Tampacuseforever]

No, I'm comparing Stamkos to Verheaghe. Stamkos makes 8.5M while Verheaghe 700k, so Stamkos makes 12.15 more a year than Verheaghe and I expect him to score that much more. Verheaghe is on pace to score 22 points this year, I expect Stamkos to score 267. He is currently at 46 so he has a lot of work to do the second half of the season to be considered on par with Verheaghe to me.

Then let’s get rid of Stamkos and get all kinds of verhaeghe’s. Think of the money we would save and the games that we would win.

 

[Lord Stan 2020]

This debate is old it all comes down to Coaching and the Lightning have coach that can't figure out minutes or playing time. Any hockey person that has watched the Lightning already know this about Cooper. With Cooper if Kuch, Point , Stamkos are playing like dog s--t it doesn't matter he will still play them 20 minutes a game. If you are not those three players you may play some minutes but they are never consistent from game to game. The players already know this about Cooper don't you think some of the players are just saying it doesn't matter any more we cant win with this guy.

every team does this ..... also we give those guys LESS time then 98% of the league gives their top line flat out so this argument is really mute UNLESS you can show a chart saying tyjo at 15 minutes is better then kucherov at 20 minutes.... which i do not think can be done..... now joseph last year DESERVED more time he was 5th on team overall i think in scoring per toi..... i get you have favorites plain and simple but usually 99% of time when top line is playing like shit???? all lines are playing like shit lol..... is a once in awhile occasion that palat tyjo have an all in on fire game....

is not every game or even every three games honestly...