2019-2020 Around the League Thread - Part IV

[katfude]

The best part of this salvaged season is watching fanbases 1 by 1 change from "good opportunity to win the cup!" to "never wanted that tainted asterisk COVID cup anyway" overnight will be delicious schadenfreude.

 

[Richard88]

Aho skating after the puck along the boards for the empty net goal reminded me of Donald Duck running on water the way his legs moved so fast with short strides

 

[Tralfamadore]

I had forgotten that the Wild GDTs always have like 2 or 3 fans in them. Zzzzzz

Never understood that. Isn't hockey super popular in Minnesota?

 

[katfude]

Never understood that. Isn't hockey super popular in Minnesota?

From my time there, it's very popular locally around the college and high school levels. There's not nearly as many hardcore Wild fans as you'd think. I wear Avs gear every time I go up there and rarely even get a sideways look.

 

[Hennessy]

I think Minnesota fans congregate elsewhere. Can't remember where, but they've never been big on HFBoards. Which I don't really understand. I'm not here for you guys or Colorado. I come to these forums for general hockey stuff, and would do that even if I were active elsewhere as an Avs fan.

 

[Balthazar]

I think Minnesota fans congregate elsewhere.

Quick Google search shows that no, they don't. If there was a popular board/forum for Wild fans surely it would pop on Google else no one would have found it in the first place.

Some are here, some are on reddit and some on another lesser forum. No more than a handful at each place.

Wild fans don't like to discuss their team on the internet it seems.

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

Wow. JT Miller looking like Patrick Kane.

 

[dahrougem2]

Kevin Fiala looks like Mario Lemieux in comparison to Mikael Granlund these days.

 

[S E P H]

- Jets just absolutely capitulated after the 1st intermission against the Flames. They've been quite unfortunate, but it's not like the Flames have played amazing either. Jets shooting themselves in the foot constantly with either freebie goals, terrible decisions at prime moments, or awful penalties taken.

- Fiala is a penalty drawing machine, I think we're on the cusp of seeing the next star forward in the league.

- I laugh at the Rags, Shestyorkin randomly cannot play games one or two...but on a back-to-back to game three he randomly gets the start. Gotta love those NHL medical teams, fentanyl for everyone! I think Reimer stole that game for the Canes, not that I think they played poorly, but Rangers had some insane desperation and could've been up 3-1 by he second period without solid goaltending. Then Canes stars took over the show...actually I got a curious question for you lot and perhaps it's a tad unfair, but who would you take, Svechnikov or Lafreniere?

 

[dahrougem2]

- Jets just absolutely capitulated after the 1st intermission against the Flames. They've been quite unfortunate, but it's not like the Flames have played amazing either. Jets shooting themselves in the foot constantly with either freebie goals, terrible decisions at prime moments, or awful penalties taken.

- Fiala is a penalty drawing machine, I think we're on the cusp of seeing the next star forward in the league.

- I laugh at the Rags, Shestyorkin randomly cannot play games one or two...but on a back-to-back to game three he randomly gets the start. Gotta love those NHL medical teams, fentanyl for everyone! I think Reimer stole that game for the Canes, not that I think they played poorly, but Rangers had some insane desperation and could've been up 3-1 by he second period without solid goaltending. Then Canes stars took over the show...actually I got a curious question for you lot and perhaps it's a tad unfair, but who would you take, Svechnikov or Lafreniere?

Winnipeg just doesn't have the horses. No Scheifele, no Laine, no Little. They were already a worse team overall than Calgary before losing those players. They never stood a chance once Scheifele went down, and it was compounded when Laine went down.

I don't know how Lafreniere is going to translate to the NHL, but Svechnikov was playing at a 74 point pace as a 19 year old, and he's already bullying defensemen with his physicality, too. If it was our team specifically, I'd take Svechnikov without hesitation. I think he'd fit this team perfectly with his style of play.

Overall? Still TBD.

 

[McMetal]

actually I got a curious question for you lot and perhaps it's a tad unfair, but who would you take, Svechnikov or Lafreniere?

Man, that's tough. As good as Lafs looks, Svech is becoming an absolute monster even at his young age. They're both kind of similar players too in how they drive play from the wing with a blend of skill and power. Like you said, it's an unfair question because we haven't seen Alexis in the big leagues yet, but Svechnikov the Younger is just dynamite.

For a long time, the Canes lack of superstar talent up front really held them back. Somehow lucking into Aho and then winning the lotto for Svech really turned their fortunes around. I do kind of like the new draft lottery that gives bubble teams in the permanent hell of finishing 10-12 from the bottom a way to break out of the cycle.

 

[Avsboy]

I would take Svechnikov

 

[dahrougem2]

Speaking of Winnipeg, I think they're finished for the foreseeable future.

That defence is a monstrosity. They've got a 1st pairing guy in Morrissey, a 2nd pairing guy in Pionk and then a bunch of hot garbage. They'll probably have to overpay to keep DeMelo in free agency, which would be a mistake because overpaying a guy like that just isn't worth it.

It's not like they have a lot of cap space, either. Kulikov and his 4.3 million comes off the books this summer but not much more. Fringe NHLers like Beaulieu, Sbisa, Bitetto, Shore, Shaw, Letestu, and Gork all come off the books but not one of those players makes more than 1M per. Cody Eakin is a UFA so that's good.

This is good for us, though. The worse teams in the Central, the better. Blake Wheeler turns 34 this month. They don't have a lot of time to be good with Wheeler still being as good as he is.

 

[Avsboy]

The loss of Myers, Buff and Trouba completely destroyed that team

 

[The Kingslayer]

Aho skating after the puck along the boards for the empty net goal reminded me of Donald Duck running on water the way his legs moved so fast with short strides

Aho is so underrated.

 

[McMetal]

Speaking of Winnipeg, I think they're finished for the foreseeable future.

That defence is a monstrosity. They've got a 1st pairing guy in Morrissey, a 2nd pairing guy in Pionk and then a bunch of hot garbage. They'll probably have to overpay to keep DeMelo in free agency, which would be a mistake because overpaying a guy like that just isn't worth it.

It's not like they have a lot of cap space, either. Kulikov and his 4.3 million comes off the books this summer but not much more. Fringe NHLers like Beaulieu, Sbisa, Bitetto, Shore, Shaw, Letestu, and Gork all come off the books but not one of those players makes more than 1M per. Cody Eakin is a UFA so that's good.

This is good for us, though. The worse teams in the Central, the better. Blake Wheeler turns 34 this month. They don't have a lot of time to be good with Wheeler still being as good as he is.

Agreed, and to make things worse, Hellebuyck and their offensive depth will keep them from bottoming out for a while, too. They could always pull out another lottery win, but their future outlook isn't good right now.

 

[Balthazar]

David Poile major trades in the last 5 years:

Seth Jones for Ryan Johanson
Girard + Kamenev + 2nd for Turris
Weber for Subban
Fiala for Granlund


Forget Chiarelli, that's about as bad as it gets.

 

[Avsboy]

David Poile major trades in the last 5 years:

Seth Jones for Ryan Johanson
Girard + Kamenev + 2nd for Turris
Weber for Subban
Fiala for Granlund


Forget Chiarelli, that's about as bad as it gets.

Subban helped bring them to a Finals appearance, that one is debatable

 

[Balthazar]

Subban helped bring them to a Finals appearance, that one is debatable

Weber was and is still better and they ended up trading Subban for peanuts to NJ just to get rid of his cap hit.

 

[McMetal]

And even trading Weber's contract away, they still have the Sword of Damocles of his cap recapture looming over them.

When you look at it like that, it's really pretty stark how much value he lost there. The "just draft nothing but D and you can trade them for star forwards later" strategy really looks like a bust now.

 

[Colorado Avalanche]

The loss of Myers, Buff and Trouba completely destroyed that team

I don't mind that. They were tough team to play Vs.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

I dont agree with that Winnipeg evaluation at all.


They still have a very potent offense, between Scheif, Connor, Laine, Ehlers, and Wheeler that is the makings of a solid Top 6 right now. They also have some younger kids that I still think will be good options down the road in a couple of years also. I'm looking at Roslovic, Vesalainen, and Appleton all as guys I think could be Top 9 players in the next couple years. Plus they already have some good depth pieces in Lowry and Copp.


The Defense isn't as strong and it is here that they are going through a bit of a retool right now. But both Morrissey and Pionk are IMO Top pairing quality Dmen. Pionk in particular really impressed me this year and I think he will be a stud for them for a while.


Beyond those two, DeMelo is a solid bottom pairing guy who's playing a little above his head currently and the rest of that active group is pretty garbage I agree.... But they do have more than a couple really good prospects. Heinola has all the makings of a really good Top 4 Defender sooner then later, and Sami Niku should turn into a Top 4 guy as well. They also still have Logan Stanley kicking around, though he is looking more and more like a bust every year.



I think they'll end up going through a slight retool for another 1-2 years, but the offense is still playoff quality and the goaltending is certainly still playoff quality. Give Heinola and Niku a couple years to develop and they'll be back in the playoffs looking to make some noise.

 

[Colorado Avalanche]

And even trading Weber's contract away, they still have the Sword of Damocles of his cap recapture looming over them.

When you look at it like that, it's really pretty stark how much value he lost there. The "just draft nothing but D and you can trade them for star forwards later" strategy really looks like a bust now.

Success bias. They were top team in the NHL for few years. If they won it all you would be saying the opposite. They missed their windows, it happens. Now they need to retool again to be very good.

For example, if the Avalanche doesn't win the cup next five years, it would be disappointment BUT does it mean they would have done something wrong/badly? Not necessarily! There's a lot of luck in life people don't think about. Playoffs are still small margins and luck plays it part.

 

[Richard88]

I dont agree with that Winnipeg evaluation at all.


They still have a very potent offense, between Scheif, Connor, Laine, Ehlers, and Wheeler that is the makings of a solid Top 6 right now. They also have some younger kids that I still think will be good options down the road in a couple of years also. I'm looking at Roslovic, Vesalainen, and Appleton all as guys I think could be Top 9 players in the next couple years. Plus they already have some good depth pieces in Lowry and Copp.


The Defense isn't as strong and it is here that they are going through a bit of a retool right now. But both Morrissey and Pionk are IMO Top pairing quality Dmen. Pionk in particular really impressed me this year and I think he will be a stud for them for a while.


Beyond those two, DeMelo is a solid bottom pairing guy who's playing a little above his head currently and the rest of that active group is pretty garbage I agree.... But they do have more than a couple really good prospects. Heinola has all the makings of a really good Top 4 Defender sooner then later, and Sami Niku should turn into a Top 4 guy as well. They also still have Logan Stanley kicking around, though he is looking more and more like a bust every year.



I think they'll end up going through a slight retool for another 1-2 years, but the offense is still playoff quality and the goaltending is certainly still playoff quality. Give Heinola and Niku a couple years to develop and they'll be back in the playoffs looking to make some noise.

Samberg and Chisholm are pretty good D prospects too. Samberg was one of the best Dmen in the NCAA this season and might make the team next year. Chisholm put up the 3rd highest amount of points by a Dman in the WHL iirc.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

Winnipeg just doesn't have the horses. No Scheifele, no Laine, no Little. They were already a worse team overall than Calgary before losing those players. They never stood a chance once Scheifele went down, and it was compounded when Laine went down.

I don't know how Lafreniere is going to translate to the NHL, but Svechnikov was playing at a 74 point pace as a 19 year old, and he's already bullying defensemen with his physicality, too. If it was our team specifically, I'd take Svechnikov without hesitation. I think he'd fit this team perfectly with his style of play.

Overall? Still TBD.

I’d take Svech but I know I’ll be laughed at. A year ago I constantly said I’d take Svechnikov over Kakko and people thought I was dumb.