2018-19 Regular Season Thread

[Magua]

Must be all of those OZ starts...oh wait.

Do you think Sanheim has been better than Hagg?

 

[FLYguy3911]

Do you think Sanheim has been better than Hagg?

Yes, but Hagg was +5 last year and Sanheim was -6 so I don't think this is sustainable for Sanheim.

 

[deadhead]

Well, Hagg is obviously the better offensive defenseman, and we know he's the more physical defenseman.

I think they're both playing better than last year, and Gudas is doing his analytics magic.

 

[Magua]

Yes, but Hagg was +5 last year and Sanheim was -6 so I don't think this is sustainable for Sanheim.

I've been working on a new advanced statistic which measures "softness":

Hits +/- = Hits Given - Hits Taken​

Hagg: +9 Hits (team best)
Sanheim: -5 Hits (team worst)

Sanheim does have one less giveaway than Hagg though. Something to keep an eye on.

 

[kudymen]

Sanheim does have one less giveaway than Hagg though. Something to keep an eye on.

Watching Farmer's veterany play for years, I believe Sanheim needs more giveaways to be more veterany and better than Hagg.

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

Yes, but Hagg was +5 last year and Sanheim was -6 so I don't think this is sustainable for Sanheim.

Hagg’s self aware of the Green Jacket.

 

[FLYguy3911]

I've been working on a new advanced statistic which measures "softness":

Hits +/- = Hits Given - Hits Taken​

Hagg: +9 Hits (team best)
Sanheim: -5 Hits (team worst)

Sanheim does have one less giveaway than Hagg though. Something to keep an eye on.

You might be on to something.

 

[Magua]

This feels like a good time to remember that Jeff, in his infinite wisdom, scratched Gudas for Folin.

5 games into the season, Gudas is rocking 4 points in 4 games (fluky but hey), along with +20% relative numbers compared to the team in every major stat. He has an xGF% of 54% on a team where the next best is 45% (Trav), 42%, and 40%. Gudas has a GF% of 58% with a PDO of 97.

The foolish would say that scratching Gudas was a moronic decision born out of awful talent evaluation. The enlightened realize it was only the healthy scratch that led to this. Praise be!

 

[baudib1]

I think Hakstol should be fired.

Fire Hakstol

#FireHakstol

 

[deadhead]

Or he and Hextall both wanted to see what they had in Folin, and thought that replacing Gudas (another RHD) might be least disruptive.
Given that Folin also had good stats that game, 50.0% CF, xGFrel +11.49, maybe they weren't crazy
Actually Folin was OK after a horrible first period.

This is part of the early season in any sport, it takes a month or so but eventually you see who is for real, who aged over the summer, and which kids are ready to step up.
AMac had been bad, but did he come back too soon or has he fallen off the cliff?
With Folin as the only viable alternative at the moment, when does Hextall make a move?

 

[Stizzle]

Hmmmmmm

Sanheim does have one less giveaway than Hagg though. Something to keep an eye on.

Hagg should have no turnovers. He absolutely refuses to pass the puck forward in the D-zone unless it's a chip to center ice.

 

[Curufinwe]

Knight added to the roster.

So I guess Weise goes to Allentown when JVR is back. Or maybe when Neuvirth is back if they want to carry 3 goalies.

 

[Appleyard]

What is really concerning is not even the results...

but that 7 games into the season and so far there have only been ~2 where they outplayed the opponent at 5v5.

 

[Appleyard]

 

[OzFlyers]

Hagg should have no turnovers. He absolutely refuses to pass the puck forward in the D-zone unless it's a chip to center ice.

Hagg is the darling of the Fantasy world with his hits and assists!

 

[Tripod]

We could have signed Lehner this past offseason. He is looking good under a real coach.

2-1 .935 SV% 2.09 GAA signed for 1.5 million.

Oh wait....we could have signed that real coach too!

That coach has gotten 4 goals + 2 assists in 6 games out of Filppula. I wonder what he could get out of our guys?

Oh well, who cares. Time to sit for a few years and see if Hart is a saviour or not.

 

[Jtown]

We could have signed Lehner this past offseason. He is looking good under a real coach.

2-1 .935 SV% 2.09 GAA signed for 1.5 million.

Oh wait....we could have signed that real coach too!

That coach has gotten 4 goals + 2 assists in 6 games out of Filppula. I wonder what he could get out of our guys?

Oh well, who cares. Time to sit for a few years and see if Hart is a saviour or not.

After that article came out, I 100 percent understand why teams would not take a chance on Lehner. I can't blame Hexy for that. But you're right. He should have made a big push to go after trotz. When hak is inevitably fired, there will not be a coach close to Trotz's caliber on the market.

 

[Audible Velvet]

What is really concerning is not even the results...

but that 7 games into the season and so far there have only been ~2 where they outplayed the opponent at 5v5.

Even before the power play in the first period, I was thinking "they look terrible when Columbus gets in their zone". What a mess behind own blue line, yikes.
The better players will get points, but never going to be enough for success until things are cleaned up.

 

[Appleyard]

 

[hatcher]

Team d

 

[deadhead]

MacDonald clearly wasn't ready and lied to his coach and GM.
They won't say anything publicly, but my suspicion is Hextall is fuming b/c roster moves were partially predicated on the expectation that he was working his way into shape and would be fine to start the season (not that he would have kept Myers up, but he might have looked for another veteran stopgap).

The biggest problem has been the best players, especially the forwards, too many sloppy turnovers and failure to back check.
And Simmonds is worse 5x5 than last season, when JVR returns Hextall has to shop him while any value remains.
He just lacks any open ice skills at this point in his career, can't pass, can't shoot, can't skate with the puck.
Provorov - Ghost have been off, especially Provorov, who is starting to look tentative.

The bright spots are Sanheim, TK and Lindblom. Patrick comes back, hopefully Laughton back to LW, Vorobyev bounces back.
But the stars who supposedly carry this team (like any good team, imagine NJ without Hall and Nico!) better starting hauling.

 

[Beef Invictus]

The universal problem of turnovers and poor checking are both signs of a collapsed system. A badly coached team.

 

[Appleyard]

Pretty big contrast...

 

[Appleyard]

 

[Beef Invictus]

MacDonald clearly wasn't ready and lied to his coach and GM.
They won't say anything publicly, but my suspicion is Hextall is fuming b/c roster moves were partially predicated on the expectation that he was working his way into shape and would be fine to start the season (not that he would have kept Myers up, but he might have looked for another veteran stopgap).

The biggest problem has been the best players, especially the forwards, too many sloppy turnovers and failure to back check.
And Simmonds is worse 5x5 than last season, when JVR returns Hextall has to shop him while any value remains.
He just lacks any open ice skills at this point in his career, can't pass, can't shoot, can't skate with the puck.
Provorov - Ghost have been off, especially Provorov, who is starting to look tentative.

The bright spots are Sanheim, TK and Lindblom. Patrick comes back, hopefully Laughton back to LW, Vorobyev bounces back.
But the stars who supposedly carry this team (like any good team, imagine NJ without Hall and Nico!) better starting hauling.

It's hilarious that you try to blame MacDonald, when the fault here very obviously lies with Hakstol for somehow not seeing that MacDonald is atrocious, and then playing him heavily to boot.