Kulak has reached the potential of borderline NHLer, big ****ing deal. He's been a pro for 3 years, has played a mere 30 NHL games and he has done so at a position with very little organizational depth. Let's not pretend like he has made this great achievements, the guy couldn't even beat out Matt Bartkowski for a job.
Slander him? Maybe you shouldn't use words you don't understand the meaning of. Just because I am not on my knees kissing Kulak's feet like you and a couple others do doesn't make it slander. I think his absolute peak is a #6 defenseman, he has done nothing to prove otherwise.We have no depth at the NHL level at any position. That's not exclusive to the defense.
He has great potential. You slander him any chance you get, just like you did (actually still do) with Ferland. Prepare to be wrong.
Kulak is a nice young player, but he's not in the same caliber of tier that Brodie was, even Kylington for that matter. We are looking a #5 Dman or at best, a #4 which is maybe pushing it a bit. A nice prospect and all, but he's ceiling is what it is.
Anybody think Brodie or Giordano were potential top pair guys at that age?
I don't expect a ton out of anyone left tbh, but I think Foo has upside. We will see though. But there have been some decent college UFA signings in the past (not from us)I've also been pretty heavily conditioned to expect nothing out of college UFAs. Even the good ones usually turn out to be kinda meh. So Spencer Foo doesn't really excite me. Maybe I'm over-generalizing, but it is what it is.
I've also been pretty heavily conditioned to expect nothing out of college UFAs. Even the good ones usually turn out to be kinda meh. So Spencer Foo doesn't really excite me. Maybe I'm over-generalizing, but it is what it is.
I'd say for every Bozak there is 30 Morrison'sAgreed, for every Bozak there is a Gilroy or Morrison.
I'd say for every Bozak there is 30 Morrison's
I would also like to point out that Hathaway was a college UFA signing, as was Jooris.
Yes, but it is better than MorrisonSo two fringe NHL players
Kulak is a nice young player, but he's not in the same caliber of tier that Brodie was, even Kylington for that matter. We are looking at a #5 Dman or at best, or a #4 at absolute best which is probably pushing it a bit. A nice prospect and all, but he's ceiling is what it is.
Kulak's ceiling is a better hockey player than guys like Russell / Stone whom have played huge minutes for us. Even if you want to call that a 4 or a 5, it's an important piece to have as guys like those are plus-assets.
Overall I see no reason Kulak can't top out as a Jake Muzzin tier strong all-around defenseman. It may not be for us so long as we're rolling a stacked blue line, but things also change quickly in that regard.
You break Kulak's game down and you have a player who:
- Can break the puck out with an excellent first pass
- Dominates the neutral zone with high-end skating ability and excellent gap control
- Is able to keep the puck low and get it on net at a steady rate offensively
- has a strong defensive stick to break up rushes that might have been sure goals
- is getting stronger in the corners/frontnof the net every year and has a project-able frame
- like most 23 year old defensemen, is not a finished product in his own zone
So I don't see where the short-selling of his ceiling comes from. He has a lot of tools, even if he's not an offensive juggernaut.
Personally I have more issue with the idea that he'll become a #4 this upcoming season consistently for the whole year. I more expect something similar to Bealieau, where he had really great stretches and looked like a #4 and then has stretches where he looks lost on the bottom pairing.
Personally I have more issue with the idea that he'll become a #4 this upcoming season consistently for the whole year. I more expect something similar to Bealieau, where he had really great stretches and looked like a #4 and then has stretches where he looks lost on the bottom pairing.
I'll leave you to your devices on the Beaulieu comparision but I'll say this:
Minutes define a vast majority of what people consider to be consistency. Players who play less minutes have more issues being consistent because they can't make up a bad play with five good ones. A big minutes player like Monahan can be AHL caliber for half a season but finally "click" for the other half and no one will question their consistency. A player like Ferland can barely ever hit the ice, play well 90% of the time, but never have a dominating game because they are never on the ice long enough to do so, and the knock on them becomes consistency somehow. It's magnified with defensemen. If Stone has a bad game, we chalk it off as a bad game. Kulak has a bad game, he may not see the ice for another two months. Defensemen can even have solid games that appear to have been weak because the goalie didn't make a routine save, and there go the minutes.
Ah, we're finally at that point in the offseason. Getting a tingly nostalgic feeling
I'll leave you to your devices on the Beaulieu comparision but I'll say this:
Minutes define a vast majority of what people consider to be consistency. Players who play less minutes have more issues being consistent because they can't make up a bad play with five good ones. A big minutes player like Monahan can be AHL caliber for half a season but finally "click" for the other half and no one will question their consistency. A player like Ferland can barely ever hit the ice, play well 90% of the time, but never have a dominating game because they are never on the ice long enough to do so, and the knock on them becomes consistency somehow. It's magnified with defensemen. If Stone has a bad game, we chalk it off as a bad game. Kulak has a bad game, he may not see the ice for another two months. Defensemen can even have solid games that appear to have been weak because the goalie didn't make a routine save, and there go the minutes.
I hate defending OKG, but he was only calling him a 3rd liner. Someone else called him an AHLer.Honestly, Monahan wasn't far off from being AHL-calibre in the first half of the season. The point of contention was that OKG was alleging that that was what he was, when most of us were just frustrated at it being a bad stretch.