Rumor: 2019 Free Agent Boredom Part IV

[BrickNHL]

Zadorov might be the most bi-polar hockey player I've ever seen. It's crazy how good or how bad he can be depending on where the dice land that night.

Ed Jovanovski

 

[Balthazar]

Even if he isn't in Colorado, he makes sense as an expansion target. Likely not good enough to be protected, but good enough to have a role on a team. Seattle can get an every night defensemen out of him, and on his good stretches, he can help cover the top 4. If I was building a team out of scraps, he'd be one of my top targets.

Also fan appeal which is important for an expansion team.

Seattle won't be Vegas 2.0, a guy like Zadorov could become a fan favorite real quick.

 

[JLo217]

This place can be summarized in a single photo

View attachment 253047

So we should start discussing Barrie again? Or maybe Landeskog's trade value!

 

[Balthazar]

If only we were as tough as the Penguins n Hawks, then it wouldn’t matter that we weren't as good as them *sigh*

Didn't matter for LA, Washington, STL and Boston did it? Pittsburgh was a fairly heavy team as well led by the top 2 C's in the NHL. There is no new NHL, size mattered back then and still does.

Hockey is like combat sport: Size alone won't beat skills but being heavier is a huge advantage.

Also, Rinaldo sucks but we can't blame Calgary to try to get tougher after watching what we've done to Gaudreau in the last playoffs.

 

[AllAboutAvs]

Didn't matter for LA, Washington, STL and Boston did it? Pittsburgh was a fairly heavy team as well led by the top 2 C's in the NHL. There is no new NHL, size mattered back then and still does.

Hockey is like combat sport: Size alone won't beat skills but being heavier is a huge advantage.

Also, Rinaldo sucks but we can't blame Calgary to try to get tougher after watching what we've done to Gaudreau in the last playoffs.

The problem with this discussion is often that when somebody says that teams still need size there are some people that thinks the said teams will become slower and/or less skilled...hence the discussion going around and around.

 

[UncleRisto]

One thing's for sure, it's one or the other, we just haven't figured out which yet.

 

[Muffin]

One thing's for sure, it's one or the other, we just haven't figured out which yet.

Why not both? Feels like we've been targeting bigger players that can skate all summer. Guys like Burakovsky and Nichushkin.

 

[AllAboutAvs]

Another thought...
Maybe the smaller teams that won the SC (like the Hawks) beat teams that weren't that big to begin with. I know CHI beat VAN one year. I don't remember VAN being very big that year.

I'm at work right now so I don't have time to do the research but it would be interesting to find that out.

 

[McMetal]

You need a mix of size and skill for sure. The Hawks also had Hossa up front who was a premier power forward, they had size sprinkled all through their dynasty lineup.

However, even acknowledging that you do need toughness to some extent, I think skill trumps toughness in the end, and having more skill and less "grit" is a winning recipe more often than not.

 

[lonelybadger]

We have the grit of Landeskog, Cole, and now Kadri.....ALL THE GRIT NEEDED!

 

[Muffin]

We have the grit of Landeskog, Cole, and now Kadri.....ALL THE GRIT NEEDED!

We need Landeskog-Kadri-Compher to be a line.

 

[Foxtail]

Didn't matter for LA, Washington, STL and Boston did it? Pittsburgh was a fairly heavy team as well led by the top 2 C's in the NHL. There is no new NHL, size mattered back then and still does.

Hockey is like combat sport: Size alone won't beat skills but being heavier is a huge advantage.

Also, Rinaldo sucks but we can't blame Calgary to try to get tougher after watching what we've done to Gaudreau in the last playoffs.

and Zadorov setting the tone on the Tkachuk hit

 

[Balthazar]

Why not both? Feels like we've been targeting bigger players that can skate all summer. Guys like Burakovsky and Nichushkin.

The problem with them is you have to play a heavy game for it to be effective (especially in the playoffs), it's not just a scale thing.

Watching the Josh Anderson dismantle the super skilled Lightning in the playoffs last year was something else. He had 21 hits in 4 games and was a major factor in that series.

 

[Bubba Thudd]

That's a good reason to keep Big Z around, eh?

 

[Pokecheque]

The problem with them is you have to play a heavy game for it to be effective (especially in the playoffs), it's not just a scale thing.

Watching the Josh Anderson dismantle the super skilled Lightning in the playoffs last year was something else. He had 21 hits in 4 games and was a major factor in that series.

Not true at all and once again it just proves those who are "heavy hockey" adherents simply refuse to weigh arguments equally. Skilled, fast teams beat big, slow teams to a pulp on a regular basis, but the moment a "heavier" team beats the team everyone has deemed to be "small" then suddenly it's set in stone.

It's also a complete myth that those who use analytics favor smaller teams. All the analytics folks have tried to say for years is that you shouldn't necessarily overlook a skilled, fast player simply because he's not big.

The 48-point Avs team was one of the biggest rosters in franchise history. I guess I need to keep reminding people of that until it sticks.

 

[Balthazar]

Not true at all and once again it just proves those who are "heavy hockey" adherents simply refuse to weigh arguments equally. Skilled, fast teams beat big, slow teams to a pulp on a regular basis, but the moment a "heavier" team beats the team everyone has deemed to be "small" then suddenly it's set in stone.

It's also a complete myth that those who use analytics favor smaller teams. All the analytics folks have tried to say for years is that you shouldn't necessarily overlook a skilled, fast player simply because he's not big.

The 48-point Avs team was one of the biggest rosters in franchise history. I guess I need to keep reminding people of that until it sticks.

Ever wonder why President trophy winners almost never win the cup?

 

[Pokecheque]

Ever wonder why President trophy winners almost never win the cup?

I'm willing to guess that if you took the best regular season team in every other pro sport and gauged how many times they won the championship, it'd be about the same rate as it is in the NHL. Sometimes it just comes down to dumb luck and a team that just happens to get hot at the right time.

Jon Cooper said it best: For four games in April, the Bolts were not the better team.

 

[flyfysher]

Not true at all and once again it just proves those who are "heavy hockey" adherents simply refuse to weigh arguments equally. Skilled, fast teams beat big, slow teams to a pulp on a regular basis, but the moment a "heavier" team beats the team everyone has deemed to be "small" then suddenly it's set in stone.

It's also a complete myth that those who use analytics favor smaller teams. All the analytics folks have tried to say for years is that you shouldn't necessarily overlook a skilled, fast player simply because he's not big.

The 48-point Avs team was one of the biggest rosters in franchise history. I guess I need to keep reminding people of that until it sticks.

When Caufield destroys Zadorov with an on ice hit then I will subscribe to the validity of your argument.

 

[Pokecheque]

When Caufield destroys Zadorov with an on ice hit then I will subscribe to the validity of your argument.

When hits become as valuable as goals, I will subscribe to the validity of yours.

 

[flyfysher]

When hits become as valuable as goals, I will subscribe to the validity of yours.

I'm willing to bet a couple of big Zadorov hits on Caufield will take him out of the game. Can't score goals if you're not playing.

 

[Pokecheque]

I'm willing to bet a couple of big Zadorov hits on Caufield will take him out of the game. Can't score goals if you're not playing.

Really? That's the crux of your argument? Zadorov injuring someone else's star player? I like Z as much as the next guy but if that's where this is going, then you're just choosing to die on a crumbling hillside.

Don't really recall the last team that won Stanley Cup glory in recent years who had a guy who targeted and took out the team's best players. If Zadorov is that guy, then frankly, he's really shitty at it.

But go ahead. Bet. I suppose it's your money to lose.

 

[henchman21]

There is certainly a place in hockey for size, and it will always be there. There is a place for skill too. If you don't have both, you're gonna have a bad time.

 

[The Abusement Park]

Is size important? Yes. Is skill important? Yes, it’s more important than size 100%. But it’s important to set an identity for your team and build the right combination of size and skill that fits your play style.

 

[henchman21]

Is size important? Yes. Is skill important? Yes, it’s more important than size 100%. But it’s important to set an identity for your team and build the right combination of size and skill that fits your play style.

This is most important... build a core, figure out what they are good at, then build around that. Don't square peg a round hole.

 

[AllAboutAvs]

Not true at all and once again it just proves those who are "heavy hockey" adherents simply refuse to weigh arguments equally. Skilled, fast teams beat big, slow teams to a pulp on a regular basis, but the moment a "heavier" team beats the team everyone has deemed to be "small" then suddenly it's set in stone.

It's also a complete myth that those who use analytics favor smaller teams. All the analytics folks have tried to say for years is that you shouldn't necessarily overlook a skilled, fast player simply because he's not big.

The 48-point Avs team was one of the biggest rosters in franchise history. I guess I need to keep reminding people of that until it sticks.

Of course it will most of the time but you made my point. Why do people always assume that pro-size people mean just size and not speed and skill as well or combination of.