Speculation: 2018 Off-season Thread

[Kyle003p]

Show me a correlation

Points:
1. Nashville
2. Winnipeg
3. Tampa By
4. Boston
5. Vegas
6. Washington
7. Toronto
8. Minnesota
9. Anaheim
10. Pittsburgh

Hits:
1. Montreal
2. Edmonton
3. Los Angeles
4. Arizona
5. Ottawa
6. Pittsburgh
7. Anaheim
8. Boston
9. St. Louis
10. Dallas

Major PIMs:
1. Florida
2. Calgary
3. Anaheim
4. Boston
5. Dallas
6. Edmonton
7. Nashville
8. Los Angeles
9. Washington
10. Philadelphia

Anaheim and Boston are the only two teams to appear on all three lists. Winnipeg, Tampa, Vegas, Toronto, and Minnesota appear only on the list of best NHL teams and not on either of the hits or majors lists.

I thought stats like hits and shot blocking were more of an indication of puck possession. If you're leading those categories, most likely you don't have the puck all that much.

 

[rt]

I thought stats like hits and shot blocking were more of an indication of puck possession. If you're leading those categories, most likely you don't have the puck all that much.

Yep. I don't have a metric for "physical" other than hits and fights, though.

 

[SniperHF]

Yep. I don't have a metric for "physical" other than hits and fights, though.

I think there's being physical and playing big. Related but different.
Minnesota is a good example of the latter. They are middle of the pack size wise in terms of height/weight but don't actually hit that much. However all their players from 5 foot 9 terror Spergeon to big Charlie Coyle know how to space themselves on the ice and use their teammates to protect the puck. The last game we played against the Wild was a good example of them playing big.

Playing big makes it optional to play physical. You don't need to knock guys out of the crease when you block their lane to it in the first place. Teams can do this whether they are actually big and play a physical game like the Kings or middle of the road in size like the Wild who aren't that physical by the numbers.

The Stickybois were able to do this in February and March. They couldn't score but they could keep the puck. The Stepan line really came on in March and was starting to be able to do this before the defense fell apart from injuries.

 

[cobra427]

My views of D men continue to evolve as the game gets faster. Mobility is so much more important then any other factor for D men. D men that are bigger and known for their checking ability are so, because they are behind the play or late to the puck. Think about a mobil D man, he can stand a player up at the blue line because he has enough speed to not let the forward skate by him. If the forward dumps the puck, the mobil D can get to the puck first. A mobil D that can make that quick decision and good first pass is what also matters. I'm not down on Schenn, but don't see his role in our top 6D, because he isn't mobil and not great at the first pass mostly because he has no time and the forward is on him instantly. As a 7th D he fills in fine.

I want mobil D moving forward. If the mobil D is big and can check somebody, added bonus. Big D can't pound guys in front of the net any more, it's all positional and stick work (being mobil and crafty).

 

[Matias Maccete]

My views of D men continue to evolve as the game gets faster. Mobility is so much more important then any other factor for D men. D men that are bigger and known for their checking ability are so, because they are behind the play or late to the puck. Think about a mobil D man, he can stand a player up at the blue line because he has enough speed to not let the forward skate by him. If the forward dumps the puck, the mobil D can get to the puck first. A mobil D that can make that quick decision and good first pass is what also matters. I'm not down on Schenn, but don't see his role in our top 6D, because he isn't mobil and not great at the first pass mostly because he has no time and the forward is on him instantly. As a 7th D he fills in fine.

I want mobil D moving forward. If the mobil D is big and can check somebody, added bonus. Big D can't pound guys in front of the net any more, it's all positional and stick work (being mobil and crafty).

I prefer circle k D. Maybe shell D. Qt D might work too though

 

[IPreferPi]

I prefer circle k D. Maybe shell D. Qt D might work too though

I'm all about 76 D. Both on the blueline and on women.

 

[Mosby]

I would argue that Chayka and Maloney had more or less the same amount of money to work with year in and year out.

I can't believe we got Philly out of jail on the Pronger deal and all we got for our efforts was Niklas Grossman.

Compare that to Crouse (Bolland) and Chychrun (Datsyuk).

 

[Jakey53]

2.5 mil is about the max I'd offer Richie. Much more than that and we're wasting Barroway Bucks on what would be better served adding talent to the lineup.

When Rieder was traded, Chayka mentioned that one of the reasons was because of the depth in the organization, highlighting Crouse.

Maybe he's thinking a fourth line of Crouse - Cousins - Martinook?

It has Martinook on his off hand but that's not as important for the lower lines.

No way I offer Richardson that.

Cousins isn't very good at taking draws (and please, lets not put Martinook back at center again). There are affordable veteran options to replace Richardson in UFA, like Beagle, Nash, Letestu, Ryan.

If Richardson goes, I would try Dauphin. Not the best in the dot but getting better. Like Beage and Nash not Letestu.

You're not going to get top 6 26-29 year olds without trading roster players. I expect Fischer or Perlini to be gone. I expect Strome will stay.

I don't. I think all three start the year with the Yotes.

 

[Jamieh]

Show me a correlation

Points:
1. Nashville
2. Winnipeg
3. Tampa By
4. Boston
5. Vegas
6. Washington
7. Toronto
8. Minnesota
9. Anaheim
10. Pittsburgh

Hits:
1. Montreal
2. Edmonton
3. Los Angeles
4. Arizona
5. Ottawa
6. Pittsburgh
7. Anaheim
8. Boston
9. St. Louis
10. Dallas

Major PIMs:
1. Florida
2. Calgary
3. Anaheim
4. Boston
5. Dallas
6. Edmonton
7. Nashville
8. Los Angeles
9. Washington
10. Philadelphia

Anaheim and Boston are the only two teams to appear on all three lists. Winnipeg, Tampa, Vegas, Toronto, and Minnesota appear only on the list of best NHL teams and not on either of the hits or majors lists.

Whoever does the stats that have the Montreal Midgets outhit the Jets should really be ashamed of themselves. Winnipeg is a very physical team.

 

[Jakey53]

@TheLegend There is a reason Schenn was good last year and bad this year.

Schenn was damn good when he got back into the line up.

I thought that he was good, at least good enough, during the 2nd half of the season. We don't need another slim puck handling defenseman to put up 25 points. We need muscle on the back end if we are to replace Schenn

I was a bit surprised but I don't think we missed Schenn and his muscle, but I agree, if he is gone, we need more muscle on the back end.

 

[SniperHF]

I can't believe we got Philly out of jail on the Pronger deal and all we got for our efforts was Niklas Grossman.

We did get to dump Gagner who wasn't fitting with Tippett at the time. And I think it was also a different world back then where the cap was thought to be going up more each year. Where as these days it goes up a little or stays about flat a lot of years.

Also with Bolland we do have to actually pay him a bit. Where as I think Pronger's real dollar cost was only 500k. Bolland gets 1.5 ish.


And Flordia just does weird stuff, like give up perfectly good top 4 D for meh tweener Wingers on a down season like McGinn

 

[Jakey53]

Chayka never had to deal with NHL ownership and the bankruptcy clown circus.

Nice to see someone understands.

 

[IPreferPi]

And Flordia just does weird stuff, like give up perfectly good top 4 D for meh tweener Wingers on a down season like McGinn

In some fairness to Florida, Demers was coming off a bit of a down year too. And McGinn rebounded this year with the Panthers to his career averages. I think both teams made out well with the trade.

 

[Jakey53]

My views of D men continue to evolve as the game gets faster. Mobility is so much more important then any other factor for D men. D men that are bigger and known for their checking ability are so, because they are behind the play or late to the puck. Think about a mobil D man, he can stand a player up at the blue line because he has enough speed to not let the forward skate by him. If the forward dumps the puck, the mobil D can get to the puck first. A mobil D that can make that quick decision and good first pass is what also matters. I'm not down on Schenn, but don't see his role in our top 6D, because he isn't mobil and not great at the first pass mostly because he has no time and the forward is on him instantly. As a 7th D he fills in fine.

I want mobil D moving forward. If the mobil D is big and can check somebody, added bonus. Big D can't pound guys in front of the net any more, it's all positional and stick work (being mobil and crafty).

This is true, but I would like us to add some muscle, if not at D then forward. That is why I like Crouse, who is big and can skate.

 

[Dirty Old Man]

I prefer circle k D. Maybe shell D. Qt D might work too though

Yeah, my OCD was really acting up there *twitch* *twitch*

 

[Bonsai Tree]

Haven't we seen Keller get run enough times? Haven't we seen Domi get provoked enough times in order to get him off the ice with a 5 or 10 minute? We need a 4th liner or D who concerns teams enough that they don't pull this stuff anymore.

 

[Dirty Old Man]

Domi had but 1 major and 1 misconduct in 82 games this year Keller also didn't miss a game so he must be pretty good at taking care of himself?

I dunno, I rather like the de-goon-ification of the NHL. I mean, yeah, a dirty slimeball hit like Frolik's should be dealt with, but there isn't a team in the NHL that doesn't have to take big hits sometimes.

 

[RABBIT]

I do worry Keller will be more targeted next year. I just don't see any goons out today that can still play decent hockey. Matt Martin might be worth a gamble, but he's seemed to fall out of favor this last year and may demand too much money. Rinaldo can play hockey, but I get the impression that he doesn't want to fight because he's afraid to be suspended again. He seems to be really close with the guys in the locker room, especially Max, Chych and Fish, but I'm afraid being a good dude in the locker room only goes so far.

Also, say we end up drafting Tkachuk. I don't want him focusing on protecting other players, I want him to primarily focus on scoring and only step in when he has to. Kind of like his brother. You don't spend a top 6 pick on an enforcer. It seems physicality is phasing out of the game a bit, but not quite there yet. I do want some protection for Keller and the boys, but I just don't see a decent fit anywhere in the league right now.

 

[IPreferPi]

If we want a useful top six player who can still bust some heads in, pony up for Simmonds.

 

[RABBIT]

Simmonds would be dope, I just don't see him wanting to come here. Who knows though, he did start in L.A.

 

[The Feckless Puck]

Chayka never had to deal with NHL ownership and the bankruptcy clown circus.

No, but he did have to deal with the IceArizona clown circus which was arguably as bad, and he's currently dealing with Andy Barroway and the Empty Pockets.

 

[IPreferPi]

No, but he did have to deal with the IceArizona clown circus which was arguably as bad, and he's currently dealing with Andy Barroway and the Empty Pockets.

Be that as it may, poor ownership is still better than no ownership/league ownership.

 

[Jakey53]

Domi had but 1 major and 1 misconduct in 82 games this year Keller also didn't miss a game so he must be pretty good at taking care of himself?

I dunno, I rather like the de-goon-ification of the NHL. I mean, yeah, a dirty slimeball hit like Frolik's should be dealt with, but there isn't a team in the NHL that doesn't have to take big hits sometimes.

I don't think Bonsai is talking goon rather muscle. If Schenn and Rinaldo are gone next year, we have to add muscle and that is why I like Crouse. He adds muscle, can skate and can PK.

 

[Jakey53]

If we want a useful top six player who can still bust some heads in, pony up for Simmonds.

Love Simmonds. The question would be cost.

Simmonds would be dope, I just don't see him wanting to come here. Who knows though, he did start in L.A.

The bigger question would be why Philly would trade him?

 

[Grimes]

Love Simmonds. The question would be cost.


The bigger question would be why Philly would trade him?

Gain assests before he is UFA because they do not feel like his contribution next season is worth more than those assets. I think they end up holding onto him if they have a good run this post season.