Speculation: 2018-19 Roster Discussion Part I

[Fistfullofbeer]

Ryan-Burns
Vlasic-Karlsson
Ferraro-Merkley

That’s very drool....

An offensive D-man on every pairing and 6 D-men who can skate. Not sure if I could handle that.

 

[CanadienShark]

Yeah we missed on Barzal and Rantanen, but at least we got Meier. He's blossoming into a real nice player. A rare player, and very valuable in today's game. I'm not really upset with him as a #9 pick, ignoring the stars after him.

 

[Juxtaposer]

Yeah we missed on Barzal and Rantanen, but at least we got Meier. He's blossoming into a real nice player. A rare player, and very valuable in today's game. I'm not really upset with him as a #9 pick, ignoring the stars after him.

If you look at it this way:

McDavid
Eichel
Rantanen
Barzal
Werenski
Provorov
Aho
Marner
Boeser
Connor
Hanifin
Maybe Chabot
Meier

He’s basically the 12th or 13th best player in this draft, and this was a stupidly stacked draft. Meier is absolutely fine for being a 9th overall draftee. We just got spoiled a bit over the years at the historical 9th spot with Ehlers, Trouba, and Hamilton because several worse players were taken before 9th in all of those drafts.

 

[Friday]

 

[Hinterland]

Yeah we missed on Barzal and Rantanen, but at least we got Meier. He's blossoming into a real nice player. A rare player, and very valuable in today's game. I'm not really upset with him as a #9 pick, ignoring the stars after him.

Barzal can stay right where he is. This happens to him regularly while Timo didn't get run over like that even once...at least not that I remember. Barzal has an intriguing skillset but about as high of an IQ as the bread I ate this morning. If you watch him closesly, he's a selfish player who tries to do everything alone. He's not aware of where his opponents and teammates are and therefore turns the puck over pretty often. Trotz apparently tried to talk some sense into him but it hasn't worked so far. Barzal also still sucks defensively and in terms of faceoffs. He could be a star but he thinks he's already one and doesn't need to work on anything or play with his teammates. Even if Barzal would be any better than Meier I'd still take the hard worker over the spoiled brat every day of the week. Like I mentioned above I wouldn't hold my breath for Barzal to ever mature. Difficult to change a caracter.

 

[OrrNumber4]

Barzal can stay right where he is. This happens to him regularly while Timo didn't get run over like that even once...at least not that I remember. Barzal has an intriguing skillset but about as high of an IQ as the bread I ate this morning. If you watch him closesly, he's a selfish player who tries to do everything alone. He's not aware of where his opponents and teammates are and therefore turns the puck over pretty often. Trotz apparently tried to talk some sense into him but it hasn't worked so far. Barzal also still sucks defensively and in terms of faceoffs. He could be a star but he thinks he's already one and doesn't need to work on anything or play with his teammates. Even if Barzal would be any better than Meier I'd still take the hard worker over the spoiled brat every day of the week. Like I mentioned above I wouldn't hold my breath for Barzal to ever mature. Difficult to change a caracter.

What did Barzal ever do to you?

 

[Hinterland]

What did Barzal every do to you?

Nothing, apart from being a selfish one way player. Not the greatest fan of those. They never won anybody anything in the NHL.

 

[Juxtaposer]

Nothing, apart from being a selfish one way player. Not the greatest fan of those. They never won anybody anything in the NHL.

Yeah, those 63 assists last year really scream “selfish” to me.

 

[CanadienShark]

Barzal can stay right where he is. This happens to him regularly while Timo didn't get run over like that even once...at least not that I remember. Barzal has an intriguing skillset but about as high of an IQ as the bread I ate this morning. If you watch him closesly, he's a selfish player who tries to do everything alone. He's not aware of where his opponents and teammates are and therefore turns the puck over pretty often. Trotz apparently tried to talk some sense into him but it hasn't worked so far. Barzal also still sucks defensively and in terms of faceoffs. He could be a star but he thinks he's already one and doesn't need to work on anything or play with his teammates. Even if Barzal would be any better than Meier I'd still take the hard worker over the spoiled brat every day of the week. Like I mentioned above I wouldn't hold my breath for Barzal to ever mature. Difficult to change a caracter.

Wow. You must really hate Barzal. He's a fantastic player and yes, already a star.

 

[do0glas]

Meier certainly fits our identity very well. But its kinda like saying youd take simmonds over panarin. Not considering age.

Yea simmonds can run the boards and drive the net but panarin is bossing the game. Meier will likely be a 60 pt guy but barzal will probably eat top center minutes, run a pp and be ppg.

And im not too sure of the defensive comment always getting used. Meier isnt close to having the type of impact defensively that would close the gap in offense.

 

[Hinterland]

Yeah, those 63 assists last year really scream “selfish” to me.

Most of those on the PP I guess...you can write here all you want...at the end of the day, his new Coach called him out on a number of occasions already. And why wouldn't he? Barzal is a whopping -7, doesn't win faceoffs, his defensive game consists of puck watching and daydreaming. On top of all that he thinks he's Pavel Datsyuk but gets run over with his head down game after game instead of playing with his teammates.

 

[stator]

Wow. You must really hate Barzal. He's a fantastic player and yes, already a star.

Only because he plays in NYC on the east coast, and even then:

Barzal - 1G, 9A, for 10 points with 6PPA
Meier - 6G, 3A, for 9 points with 2PPG

Say what you want about Barzal, but so far, Meier is having the better season on a much more talent stacked team, and a Spott-stained PP.

Barzal's stats is only assists with 2/3rds from the PP. It's out of necessity because of the loss of JT. Otherwise, he's not having a great season so far. Quite poor for ES compared to how many talk about him here.

 

[Jwec]

Most of those on the PP I guess...you can write here all you want...at the end of the day, his new Coach called him out on a number of occasions already. And why wouldn't he? Barzal is a whopping -7, doesn't win faceoffs, his defensive game consists of puck watching and daydreaming. On top of all that he thinks he's Pavel Datsyuk but gets run over with his head down game after game instead of playing with his teammates.

Who the hell cares if he scores many pp-points. If Barzal gets 55 es-points and 30 pp-points that just tells me he is elite pp-player and besides that outscores Meier only with his ES-production. I love Timo and he fits with our group so well and I am happy to have him and his play is perfectly fine for a player selected 9th overall. But there happened to be a player who's profile was quite like Meier who was selected just right after him who already outscored him way over 2/1 ratio and is currently potential Art Ross winner and leads the league in scoring. And then there was a chance to fill our franchises biggest need with picking a elite-potential center who as of now has already scored over PPG-pace on his rookie year. Thing which hasn't happened like over a decade.

I would not rant about these thing at aĺl but if I would've been in charge on 2015 draft we would have PPG-winger now in our roster. Also I would've picked Eeli Tolvanen on 2017 draft. And I would've traded up in second round to get DeBrincat on 2016.

Also not Sharks related but I predicted on 2016 draft that Jesse Puljujärvi would be a bust!

 

[Jaleel619]

I'm fine with Timo, of course by himself barzal is better, but you need a strong identity to win the cup and he helps that with Hertl and Evander Kane lighting the way.

Right now, our team i'd say is pretty darn tough... We win the games and fights, we can come back 2 goals in the 3rd period vs a conference contender so we're still mentally tough like we always have been. We have 3 power forwards in our line up bruising their way down for 50 minutes of the game. This isn't even the main story, people! We're talking Erik Karlsson and Brent Burns, this is nucleaur fusion with divine power!

For those reasons I think having Meier has turned out to be a big part of our identity, and an experienced power forward in Evander Kane will be HUGE for his development. So and we know power forwards take longer to develop, he'll probably end up being a major leader on our team.

 

[The Kingslayer]

Timo is better than them. They're not even close from him physically or defensively. If you look at scoring only Timo may never equal their totals but if you look at overall performance I'd take Timo over them every day of the year. Especially if you're as focused on possession as the Sharks are. Try find a player stronger on the puck than Meier. There probably isn't a single one.

Plus, Meier, together with Hertl, has proven to be the gamechanger recently. Other players may have scored more but if you look at important goals you'll find out that their sticks were almost always involved. They're clutch players and their ability to dominate every single line in the NHL is intriguing.

Hahahaahahhahahahahahaha

 

[Lebanezer]

This is no disrespect to Rantanen, he’s obviously supremely talented, but he’s stapled to Nathan MacKinnon who is the better player. That team goes as MacKinnon goes.

Comparing Timo to Rantanen and Barzal isn’t really fair to Timo. Barzal and Rantanen get top line minutes, play on the #1 power plays for their teams, and essentially have been in that situation for their entire careers. Timo was drafted by the Sharks. A team that has had a plethora of top 6 wingers above him on the depth chart until this season. Timo is finally playing consistently in the top 6, he’s a regular on the #2 power play and he’s playing great and scoring at almost a PPG. It’s good to see him coming into his own.

I’m not saying that Timo is better than either of Barzal or Rantanen, but Timo hasn’t been asked to step into the roles those 2 play for their teams. The Sharks haven’t needed him to. His role has increased this year and he’s thriving. Will Timo become a 1st line winger? He absolutely can be one. Will he ever be depended on in the same way that Barzal and Rantanen are? I just can’t see it happening anytime soon with the amount of the depth the Sharks have. Especially getting on the top power play unit. Now just imagine what would have happened with Connor or Rantanen or Barzal if the Sharks drafted them? They’d all have been similarly blocked by other “better” or more established players. The situation the player is put into obviously plays a huge role in their usage not just their development.

 

[Jester9881]

Barzal can stay right where he is. This happens to him regularly while Timo didn't get run over like that even once...at least not that I remember. Barzal has an intriguing skillset but about as high of an IQ as the bread I ate this morning. If you watch him closesly, he's a selfish player who tries to do everything alone. He's not aware of where his opponents and teammates are and therefore turns the puck over pretty often. Trotz apparently tried to talk some sense into him but it hasn't worked so far. Barzal also still sucks defensively and in terms of faceoffs. He could be a star but he thinks he's already one and doesn't need to work on anything or play with his teammates. Even if Barzal would be any better than Meier I'd still take the hard worker over the spoiled brat every day of the week. Like I mentioned above I wouldn't hold my breath for Barzal to ever mature. Difficult to change a caracter.

Show me the other videos of Matt Barzal getting trucked. He's had two close calls where the other player ended up getting the worst of it, and this hit by Proverov.

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

Show me the other videos of Matt Barzal getting trucked. He's had two close calls where the other player ended up getting the worst of it, and this hit by Proverov.

I would take Barzal on my team if he got flattened like that every single game. There’s really no point in arguing with that guy about Barzal.

 

[Agent Zub]

This is no disrespect to Rantanen, he’s obviously supremely talented, but he’s stapled to Nathan MacKinnon who is the better player. That team goes as MacKinnon goes.

Comparing Timo to Rantanen and Barzal isn’t really fair to Timo. Barzal and Rantanen get top line minutes, play on the #1 power plays for their teams, and essentially have been in that situation for their entire careers. Timo was drafted by the Sharks. A team that has had a plethora of top 6 wingers above him on the depth chart until this season. Timo is finally playing consistently in the top 6, he’s a regular on the #2 power play and he’s playing great and scoring at almost a PPG. It’s good to see him coming into his own.

I’m not saying that Timo is better than either of Barzal or Rantanen, but Timo hasn’t been asked to step into the roles those 2 play for their teams. The Sharks haven’t needed him to. His role has increased this year and he’s thriving. Will Timo become a 1st line winger? He absolutely can be one. Will he ever be depended on in the same way that Barzal and Rantanen are? I just can’t see it happening anytime soon with the amount of the depth the Sharks have. Especially getting on the top power play unit. Now just imagine what would have happened with Connor or Rantanen or Barzal if the Sharks drafted them? They’d all have been similarly blocked by other “better” or more established players. The situation the player is put into obviously plays a huge role in their usage not just their development.

I like Meier ( future 30 goalaso pwf) but the reason he doesn't get depended on like Barzal and Rantanen is because he's simply not as good. It has very little to do with depth.

 

[Hinterland]

I like Meier ( future 30 goalaso pwf) but the reason he doesn't get depended on like Barzal and Rantanen is because he's simply not as good. It has very little to do with depth.

Fake news:

Meier: 3,17 P/60, 60,3% Corsi, +3
Barzal: 3,70 P/60, 55,6% Corsi, -7

If you take into account that Meier is the much better player in every area (even faceoffs) except scoring then you don't need to ask twice who's the better player. Barzal spent 10mins more on the PP and is getting a whopping 25% more offensive zone starts...yet still he fails to really outscore Meier. As a Coach, I'd have scratched Barzal long ago. Can't be -7 after 9 games with 75% offensive zone starts. That's beyond bad, no other way to put it. His powerplay assists are a nice thing to have but they don't make up for his turnovers/terrible positioning against the puck leading to way more goals/chances for the opponents than Barzal could possibly create for the Isles. Trotz called Barzal out a few times already...wonder how far his patience will go...he apparently tried to talk some sense into Barzal but to no avail until now. DeBoer would have sent him to the Barracuda already. I can promise you that. DeBoer wouldn't want a Center who loses every faceoff, turns over pucks like a machine, misses defensive assignments on a regular basis and is -7 after 9 despite getting 75% offensive zone starts.

Rantanen is producing strong numbers...I'm gonna give you that. His allround game also isn't nearly as bad as Barzal's. I do however watch lots of Avs games and I'm convinced that MacKinnon is currently the best Center in the NHL. Most underrated player leaguewide. He's a beast...especially in terms of possession. Rantanen is a good fit for MacKinnon but remains a co-product of MacKinnon's dominance. When MacKinnon went down last season, Rantanen had 1G, 3A in 7 games and was -4. Small sample size but I'd say that's about his ceiling without a superstar Center on his line. Timo can do much better than that with less offensive zone starts and PP-time.

 

[Agent Zub]

What's up with Vlasic? All of Braun, Ryan, and Dillion have been better and easier to play with. Is this just a recent trend?

If not and he is declining it would be a shrewd move to trade him before the league catches on. I think his reputation is still that of the best defensive player in the league so DW could parley that into a Nylander type player.

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

What's up with Vlasic? All of Braun, Ryan, and Dillion have been better and easier to play with. Is this just a recent trend?

If not and he is declining it would be a shrewd move to trade him before the league catches on. I think his reputation is still that of the best defensive player in the league so DW could parley that into a Nylander type player.

It is but his no-trade clause will prevent us from trading him.

 

[rangerssharks414]

I can't believe that we're still arguing about this Timo over Barzal and Rantanen thing. Just be thankful that they didn't pick Lawson Crouse.

 

[Alwalys]

What's up with Vlasic? All of Braun, Ryan, and Dillion have been better and easier to play with. Is this just a recent trend?

If not and he is declining it would be a shrewd move to trade him before the league catches on. I think his reputation is still that of the best defensive player in the league so DW could parley that into a Nylander type player.

what's up is he gets the hardest minutes on the team and some of the hardest in the league.

 

[Eklund72]

I would definitely like the idea of shopping Labanc for another forward. He just doesn't bring much at all at even strength and is too slow. Could also see us shopping Braun at the deadline but he has been playing very well of late.