GDT: 11-4-14! PANTHERS@Bruins, TD Garden 7PM EST!

[ShootIt]

I disagree. He was passing the puck all last night seeing as he had no shots but has no help with Upshall and Hayes on his line. Hubby-Bjugs-Grimaldi would be a pretty good line I think.

This. I missed the first period, but I saw him passing the puck in the offensive zone as well. Just that no one could do anything with the puck. It's not like he puts his head down and drives to the net every play.

 

[Android 16]

Huberdeau on the Frolik path. Bjugstad on the Matthias path. It's looking that way for sure.

 

[Erick*]

Yeah, I don't see a similarity between Bjugstad and Matthias either.

 

[Chino Oscar]

4 points between Barkov, Huberdeau and Bjugstad is a huge problem and scary indication of a possible realization that these guys just aren't good offensive NHL players at the moment. Will they ever break out? Who knows. But one thing is for sure. We're still waiting.

Huberdeau on the Frolik path. Bjugstad on the Matthias path. It's looking that way for sure.

Your doom and gloom posts....
Barkov - 19yo
Bjugs - 22 yo
Hubby - 21 yo
They are too young, they still have time to figure it out.
Look at Kulikov... he is just starting to figure it out at 24 yo and over 300 games played

 

[Beezeral]

Your doom and gloom posts....
Barkov - 19yo
Bjugs - 22 yo
Hubby - 21 yo
They are too young, they still have time to figure it out.
Look at Kulikov... he is just starting to figure it out at 24 yo and over 300 games played

nevermind that these guys have NO help around them.

 

[Erick*]

Your doom and gloom posts....
Barkov - 19yo
Bjugs - 22 yo
Hubby - 21 yo
They are too young, they still have time to figure it out.
Look at Kulikov... he is just starting to figure it out at 24 yo and over 300 games played

Kulikov has limited his dumb giveaways this year (Gudbranson's been better too, imo).
For what it's worth though, Kulikov is still just another guy. Offensively, he still misses the net a bunch and is a reason why our powerplay doesn't get any better. He's just a top-4 guy (not that there's anything wrong with that, but he's not the top line defenseman that he was projected to be).

To the person who asked what I would give up for scoring, Kulikov is another asset I'd be willing to include to get a scorer on this team.

 

[Erick*]

nevermind that these guys have NO help around them.

Franchise players usually make mediocre veterans better, not the other way around.

 

[jrockett1096]

I agree. He'll definitely be yelled at by some fans as being soft. But, that's the way it is. It's rare to find a guy who can pot 30 goals and be a two way player. Those guys rarely pop up in trades/FA. And the odds of those guys wanting to sign here is low.

The way I see it, if we could get a guy like Semin, and get Pirri healthy, we could have a better looking top 6. We have expendable picks, and prospects. Now is not the time to be sitting on our hands if good deals are being floated around.

Totally agree with you. No one lets go of two way players with character who can score big. There are very few of those guys around. We need a guy who can just score and who can actually finish off a nice or bad pass, can score on goalies with little room and maybe just maybe have the ability to shoot a slap shot. The Panthers have picks, prospects etc to make the move and they should do it. A scorer and a reshuffling of the line up when everybody is healthy and this can be a playoff team with this defense and goaltending we have right now. We can't throwaway the year Luongo is having.

 

[IceManCat]

Barkov I have no doubt he will turn things around. Huberdeau on the other hand I think is more of a high maintenance type player. I think he really needs to be on a line where he has chemistry. I don't see any chemistry with Barkov and very little with Bjugstad. Ive said it before he needs to play with other quick and crafty players. Neither Barkov or Bjugstad are that as skilled as they are. They are big hulking two way players I'm not sure Huberdeau fits in with that.

I think he would look great with Trocheck, Grimaldi, Pirri, Shore. This would obviously be a problem as it would force Bjugstad to the wing or it would cause Huberdeau's and Bjugstad line to alternate as the 2nd and 3rd lines on any given night.

If he cant develop chemistry I think we have a real problem on our hands. There are people saying it is weight or lack of strength but that didn't really stop him from scoring his rookie year.

Barkov is the type to lay back and analyze the zone then jump in, Bjugstad is either battling in the corners or creating offense himself. Huberdeau I feel needs to be with players that are constantly moving and buzzing about in the offensive zone so he can feed them the puck and vice versa.

 

[IM Clutcm]

I'd love to see them go get Pulkkinen from Detroit. It's been suggested before, but the kid has a cannon and is pure offense. I think he'd look great next to Barkov. And the Wings have too many right wingers with Mantha and Jurco above him.

 

[IM Clutcm]

Barkov I have no doubt he will turn things around. Huberdeau on the other hand I think is more of a high maintenance type player. I think he really needs to be on a line where he has chemistry. I don't see any chemistry with Barkov and very little with Bjugstad. Ive said it before he needs to play with other quick and crafty players. Neither Barkov or Bjugstad are that as skilled as they are. They are big hulking two way players I'm not sure Huberdeau fits in with that.

I think he would look great with Trocheck, Grimaldi, Pirri, Shore. This would obviously be a problem as it would force Bjugstad to the wing or it would cause Huberdeau's and Bjugstad line to alternate as the 2nd and 3rd lines on any given night.

If he cant develop chemistry I think we have a real problem on our hands. There are people saying it is weight or lack of strength but that didn't really stop him from scoring his rookie year.

Barkov is the type to lay back and analyze the zone then jump in, Bjugstad is either battling in the corners or creating offense himself. Huberdeau I feel needs to be with players that are constantly moving and buzzing about in the offensive zone so he can feed them the puck and vice versa.

Huberdeau and Grimaldi had a lot of chemistry in training camp. I really want to see a Huberdeau-Bjugstad-Grimaldi/Trocheck line next year. That would be a lot of fun to watch. Pirri could go up to the top line on Barkov's left wing and Boyes can stay on the right. That would be a pretty good top 6.

 

[RainingRats]

Kulikov has limited his dumb giveaways this year (Gudbranson's been better too, imo).
For what it's worth though, Kulikov is still just another guy. Offensively, he still misses the net a bunch and is a reason why our powerplay doesn't get any better. He's just a top-4 guy (not that there's anything wrong with that, but he's not the top line defenseman that he was projected to be).

To the person who asked what I would give up for scoring, Kulikov is another asset I'd be willing to include to get a scorer on this team.

Disagree about Kulikov. He's playing 24 minutes against the opposing team's best players. He's playing like a first pairing guy this year. We trade Kulikov and you take a huge strength and make it a weakness by downgrading the best d-pair we have and trading off arguably our best d-man. We're winning games and collecting points because of our defense. We'd be dumb to trade him now that he's finally starting to break out.

 

[EnforceTheLaus]

I'm far less worried about getting a new guy to maybe score over getting the top 6 working properly. Less is more in this case IMO, if we can trim 1-2 guys off the roster than the team will be much better for it.

Also Bolland back will help offensively. Without Bolland, Barkov's became the shut down line getting the lion's share of defensive zone starts, and the more time in the Dzone = less time in the opposing zone. We're seeing that with Bjug's line right now as they are taking over the shut down role. In comparison Tro's line is getting the Ozone starts and thus creating more chances because they spend more time already on the attack. Bjug's line was invisible last? No not really, his line was doing the heavy lifting getting us out the Dzone.

 

[EnforceTheLaus]

Disagree about Kulikov. He's playing 24 minutes against the opposing team's best players. He's playing like a first pairing guy this year. We trade Kulikov and you take a huge strength and make it a weakness by downgrading the best d-pair we have and trading off arguably our best d-man. We're winning games and collecting points because of our defense. We'd be dumb to trade him now that he's finally starting to break out.

Agree his pair is our #1 pairing. They are taking the heavy lifting in our own zone while Blad-Soup goes to work in the offensive zone.

 

[GrumpyKelly]

I had high hopes for him...

But I don't see that, yet.

Last year he wasn't ready for hockey. His hip delayed him from getting stronger. This year, he started off with a goal, and then got injured a few games later. He looks better out there, but like the rest of the team, the offense is still a work in progress. If he still is struggling by game 40... then I'll start to worry.

Huby might still need another off-season to get his strength back and generally get more stronger/faster. Players don't always develop linearly... Way too early to worry about any of this kids IMO

 

[IM Clutcm]

I far less worried about getting a new guy to maybe score over getting the top 6 working properly. Less is more in this case IMO, if we can trim 1-2 guys off the roster than the team will be much better for it.

Also Bolland back will help offensively. Without Bolland, Barkov's became the shut down line getting the lion's share of defensive zone starts, and the more time in the Dzone = less time in the opposing zone. We're seeing that with Bjug's line right now as they are taking over the shut down role. In comparison Tro's line is getting the Ozone starts and thus creating more chances because they spend more time already on the attack. Bjug's line was invisible last? No not really, his line was doing the heavy lifting getting us out the Dzone.

This is what I saw, too. That's the reason Bolland was signed was to give these guys more chances in the offensive zone. Once he's back I'm hoping we'll see some improvements on the offensive end.

 

[BravePackCats27]

Huberdeau and Grimaldi had a lot of chemistry in training camp. I really want to see a Huberdeau-Bjugstad-Grimaldi/Trocheck line next year. That would be a lot of fun to watch. Pirri could go up to the top line on Barkov's left wing and Boyes can stay on the right. That would be a pretty good top 6.

Why next year? They are already up here now and have looked pretty good too.

 

[Jean Luc Discard]

Kulikov has limited his dumb giveaways this year (Gudbranson's been better too, imo).
For what it's worth though, Kulikov is still just another guy. Offensively, he still misses the net a bunch and is a reason why our powerplay doesn't get any better. He's just a top-4 guy (not that there's anything wrong with that, but he's not the top line defenseman that he was projected to be).

To the person who asked what I would give up for scoring, Kulikov is another asset I'd be willing to include to get a scorer on this team.

Kulikov has def played part in inflating the GA to the roof

The fact that everyone on the team is open for trading biz is an indication that the system itself isn't producing atm. Trading for certain player would mean taking the team further considering the playoffs; atm people see faults in every player regardless of what is reasonable to expect from players in their early 20s. Crosby and Ovie really did good job f**kin up people's perception of what to expect from top rookies. You really think that (not literally, ofc) GMs tell the top picks in the draft: "We need you to contribute significantly to our org. in the big show within four years regardless that you ain't even physically and mentally full grown man until you're around 24 years old". Really think that e.g. Kopitar was a franchise player straight from the get-go. Or look at Niederreiter: '11-12 55games - 1p ; '13-14 - 81g - 36p. Now the Clutterbuck for Nino-trade looks like that the Wild fleeced the Isles.

 

[Erick*]

Disagree about Kulikov. He's playing 24 minutes against the opposing team's best players. He's playing like a first pairing guy this year. We trade Kulikov and you take a huge strength and make it a weakness by downgrading the best d-pair we have and trading off arguably our best d-man. We're winning games and collecting points because of our defense. We'd be dumb to trade him now that he's finally starting to break out.

Wow, I didn't know that the Mitchell-Kulikov pairing was logging more minutes than the Campbell-Ekblad pairing. That's a good point.

I would still deal Kulikov if it meant getting a good scorer back in return though. We need that more than anything. Kulikov's been better this year (probably in part because he's paired with a guy like Mitchell), but the reality is also that his "breakout" has resulted in 1 point.

 

[GrumpyKelly]

To the person who asked what I would give up for scoring, Kulikov is another asset I'd be willing to include to get a scorer on this team.

Defense is the last place we can trade away guys that can play right now.

 

[RainingRats]

Gallant needs to move the lines around more. I was against it before but I'd move Bjugstad to the wing. Put him on the wing with Trocheck and Grimaldi. Move Hubs up to play with Barkov and see if they can get it going. I wouldn't break up Flash, Pirri, and Jokinen at this point but if Bolland comes back I'd slide Pirri up to Barkov's wing.

Hubs - Barkov - Pirri
Bjugstad - Trocheck - Grimaldi
Jokinen - Bolland - Flash
Kopecky - MacKenzie - Upshall/Bergie/Thornton

Thoughts? I guess we can't have all these guys up on the roster.

 

[Erick*]

Kulikov has def played part in inflating the GA to the roof

The fact that everyone on the team is open for trading biz is an indication that the system itself isn't producing atm. Trading for certain player would mean taking the team further considering the playoffs; atm people see faults in every player regardless of what is reasonable to expect from players in their early 20s. Crosby and Ovie really did good job f**kin up people's perception of what to expect from top rookies. You really think that (not literally, ofc) GMs tell the top picks in the draft: "We need you to contribute significantly to our org. in the big show within four years regardless that you ain't even physically and mentally full grown man until you're around 24 years old". Really think that e.g. Kopitar was a franchise player straight from the get-go. Or look at Niederreiter: '11-12 55games - 1p ; '13-14 - 81g - 36p. Now the Clutterbuck for Nino-trade looks like that the Wild fleeced the Isles.

I don't understand this type of thinking though.

Fair enough, not every rookie is Crosby/Ovechkin. Those are generational guys. A lot of people say that the reason why the young guys don't score is because they have a terrible supporting cast. However, we're not supposed to entertain the idea of giving up some of our young guys to better that supporting cast for the young guys we decide to keep? How are we going to get better then?

 

[IM Clutcm]

Why next year? They are already up here now and have looked pretty good too.

I think another year of development for those guys is big. They (especially Grimaldi since Trocheck was here last year) haven't really played a complete game this season, as they've had really sheltered minutes and have hardly had to defend at all. Every shift is in the offensive zone against one of the other teams' weaker lines. Give them another year to learn the ins and outs of the pro game and they'll come back next year and tear it up.

 

[jrockett1096]

I'm far less worried about getting a new guy to maybe score over getting the top 6 working properly. Less is more in this case IMO, if we can trim 1-2 guys off the roster than the team will be much better for it.

Also Bolland back will help offensively. Without Bolland, Barkov's became the shut down line getting the lion's share of defensive zone starts, and the more time in the Dzone = less time in the opposing zone. We're seeing that with Bjug's line right now as they are taking over the shut down role. In comparison Tro's line is getting the Ozone starts and thus creating more chances because they spend more time already on the attack. Bjug's line was invisible last? No not really, his line was doing the heavy lifting getting us out the Dzone.

Great observations. Gallant is a defense first coach and I think getting Bolland back is very important here because Gallant trusts that line to play against the top opposing offensive lines and if Bolland is not playing than he will have Barkov do it and if he's not available it falls to Bjugstad and its essentially turning them into checking line centers and thus no offense. Trocheck and Grimaldi were brought up to essentially be a scoring line. Obviously we can't have our supposed 2 best players playing checking line roles so we got to get Bolland back ASAP and get him to play that defensive role and free up our top lines again.

 

[Erick*]

Defense is the last place we can trade away guys that can play right now.

Our defense has been good.
We're probably only thinking this way because we're scoring less than two goals per game.

The reality is that we have a great goalie and a good defensive system. It's not just the d-men making us great defensively right now; it's the system.

We are not scoring. We have played 10 games, and 9 have been decided by one goal. We desperately need a game-breaker. The best case scenario would be that one on the roster emerges, but that doesn't appear to be the case.

This isn't a small sample size either. The lack of scoring has been a problem for a long time now with basically the same core players on the roster.