GDT: #63: Sharks at FLYERS, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020, 7:00 pm ET

[BiggE]

Please, please, please stop using raw Points. Please. I'm begging you all. You have to account for Usage and Shooting% in some way.

This. A million times, this!

Anaheim only used Grant as a middle 6 player because they are a bad team, especially up front. Grant is a 4th line player on any playoff team.

 

[Curufinwe]

I'm going to look the other way and just blindly take the lineup as a tryout for 4C and not AVs optimal lineup (no Farabee).

Fletcher makes it sound like AV wants Frost and Farabee up. But Fletcher has final say.

 

[deadhead]

I'll take it over Grant being 2LW but Laughton on the second line will always be meh to me.

Laughton played well with Hayes earlier in the season, and he is scoring at a 2nd line rate.
Obviously, we'd prefer Lindblom in that role, but . . .

I expect AV to look at Grant at both center and LW the next few games to get a feel for his strengths and limitations. If Grant can handle 3C, that gives you 3 solid lines and the option of moving Laughton around if you want to play Farabee down the road.

Grant isn't guaranteed a job, a 4th rd pick and a low salary means the GM feels no pressure for his acquisition to play, Grant will have to earn his TOI like everyone else in the bottom six.

 

[deadhead]

Fletcher makes it sound like AV wants Frost and Farabee up. But Fletcher has final say.

I think this is exaggerated, if AV wanted to PLAY Frost and Farabee, they'd be up and in the lineup.

AV wants the option of using Frost and Farabee, but given how close LHV is to Philly, and the limited AHL schedule, it's no big deal bringing them up for certain matchups.
Right now I'm sure he wants to look at his new toys in action and see how they fit.

Once you get to the playoffs, Frost and Farabee are close to locks as part of the 14 forwards on the roster.

 

[bobbythebrain]

No Ghost.

You could make an argument that AV doesn't want to mess the lines up while winning, but that's out the window w the new guys.

You could say he wants to stay bigger w Hagg, but again, new guys

Not playing Ghost tonite makes no sense unless he is truly viewed as the 7th d now

 

[bennysflyers16]

Laughton on the 2nd line, Grant on the 3rd, no Ghost...

Yuck.

How long does Robert "Cockroach" Hagg manage to survive? He'll get absolutely dominated again but get a lucky 2nd assist and stay in.

Laughton at 2LW is the best option for now ( no Farbee )

And I am in such Hogg shock I didn't even realize he is still in over Ghost,,,

 

[bennysflyers16]

No Ghost.

You could make an argument that AV doesn't want to mess the lines up while winning, but that's out the window w the new guys.

You could say he wants to stay bigger w Hagg, but again, new guys

Not playing Ghost tonite makes no sense unless he is truly viewed as the 7th d now

Hoping it is just the Sharks factor and Kane will be running D all night.

Please Ghost come back for the weekend.

 

[Hollywood Cannon]

Laughton at 2LW is the best option for now ( no Farbee )

And I am in such Hogg shock I didn't even realize he is still in over Ghost,,,

Embrace the Bobby Hogg until the dam breaks.

We are all Witnesses.

 

[deadhead]

No Ghost.

You could make an argument that AV doesn't want to mess the lines up while winning, but that's out the window w the new guys.

You could say he wants to stay bigger w Hagg, but again, new guys

Not playing Ghost tonite makes no sense unless he is truly viewed as the 7th d now

Or because he's not ready, but was brought up to practice with the team instead of LHV and will go back into the lineup this weekend.

 

[BiggE]

JVR-Grant-Pitlick is just comical. None of the three drive possession nor are either Grant or Pitlick even mediocre playmakers who can get Pigeon the puck where he can be effective. Also JVR is horrid defensively and Grant is only so-so at best in that dept at ES.

This line is a disaster waiting to happen.

 

[deadhead]

JVR-Grant-Pitlick is just comical. None of the three drive possession nor are either Grant or Pitlick even mediocre playmakers who can get Pigeon the puck where he can be effective. Also JVR is horrid defensively and Grant is only so-so at best in that dept at ES.

This line is a disaster waiting to happen.

Laughton doesn't drive play and he's not a playmaker, so it's not that big of a difference, and Grant is probably better defensively than Laughton.

JVR was driving that line, his passing the last few games has been a revelation.

And his defensive deficiencies have been exaggerated, he's had a number of line combinations, is scoring at a 1st line rate and has an excellent xGA/60 when he's on the ice. Must be doing something right.

 

[BiggE]

Laughton doesn't drive play and he's not a playmaker, so it's not that big of a difference, and Grant is probably better defensively than Laughton.

JVR was driving that line, his passing the last few games has been a revelation.

And his defensive deficiencies have been exaggerated, he's had a number of line combinations, is scoring at a 1st line rate and has an excellent xGA/60 when he's on the ice. Must be doing something right.

JVR always has these short streaks where he plays well (though he was pretty bad vs the Jets) but then he’ll disappear for a few weeks. But even if he is playing well, he’d be better off with a skilled center like Frost to work with. I’m ok with Farabee going down for a bit, but not if Grant is his replacement in the middle 6. That guy should be Frost.

 

[AdamParrot]

Before season we were so happy about Raffl-Laughton-Pitlick can be our 4th line.

After deadline: Laughton is 2LW.

Nice job, Fletcher. (And I know it isn't his fault that #OskarStrong).

 

[Tripod]

JVR always has these short streaks where he plays well (though he was pretty bad vs the Jets) but then he’ll disappear for a few weeks. But even if he is playing well, he’d be better off with a skilled center like Frost to work with. I’m ok with Farabee going down for a bit, but not if Grant is his replacement in the middle 6. That guy should be Frost.

JVR's streaks this year are epic:

Started the season with 0 points in 7 games
followed by 9 points in 9 games
followed by 0 points in 8 games
followed by 14 points in 13 games
followed by 0 points in 8 games
followed by 15 points in 14 games
Now he has 0 points last 3 games....so is the 7/8 games with no points coming?

So either no points for 7/8 games....or a PPG player ove a 9-14 games period. Talk about extremes. But his good streaks are not "short" as they are longer than the bad ones.

 

[Flyerfan4life]

Im excited to watch all games now, this is the best team we have had in close to a decade and are on a legit run right now !!

remember when that guy posted "we gunna get a shutout, just before we get scored on"... yah cool...

 

[PhlthyRich]

Last time I saw the Sharks play us at home it was the home opener and we got destroyed. Just bought tickets for tonight; please no repeats.

 

[bennysflyers16]

Grant looks massive at practise !!

Sounds like he skates very well, is he physical too ?

 

[AdamParrot]

I have really bad feeling about this one game...

Grant on 3C isn't upgrade. Absolutely not.

 

[deadhead]

JVR's streaks this year are epic:

Started the season with 0 points in 7 games
followed by 9 points in 9 games
followed by 0 points in 8 games
followed by 14 points in 13 games
followed by 0 points in 8 games
followed by 15 points in 14 games
Now he has 0 points last 3 games....so is the 7/8 games with no points coming?

So either no points for 7/8 games....or a PPG player ove a 9-14 games period. Talk about extremes. But his good streaks are not "short" as they are longer than the bad ones.

His advanced metrics are pretty consistent this season, just shows how much scoring is impacted by "puck luck," he just needs to rub Hagg's head before every game.

 

[Curufinwe]

No Ghost.

You could make an argument that AV doesn't want to mess the lines up while winning, but that's out the window w the new guys.

You could say he wants to stay bigger w Hagg, but again, new guys

Not playing Ghost tonite makes no sense unless he is truly viewed as the 7th d now

Provorov-Niskanen
Sanheim-Myers
Hagg-Braun
Goner

 

[bennysflyers16]

Of course it looks like Couture may make his return tonight

 

[JojoTheWhale]

Grant scores enough that it's not like the offense will spiral into a black hole with him on the ice.

He scores at about the same 5v5 rate as 2018-19 Dale Weise or 2016-17 Matt Read that was ripped as being unable to score anymore.

 

[AdamParrot]

It's unbelievable that some fans believe Grant's production is really (good) answer for that he is 3C.

My god, he is all-career 4th line player. Just like Thompson, Gordon, Varone, VandeVelde etc...

 

[Tripod]

This. A million times, this!

Anaheim only used Grant as a middle 6 player because they are a bad team, especially up front. Grant is a 4th line player on any playoff team.

wait, wait, wait......they did not use him as a middle 6 player.

Getzlaf, Henrique and Steel have been their top 3 centers. And listening to Ducks fans, the 4th line took on the hard matchups and sheltered the 3rd line centered by Steel giving them the easiest matchups. Realistically, what we SHOULD have done this year with Frost....but that's another discussion.

Let's look at ES TOI/Game for those centers:

Getzlaf: 15:40
Hentique 13:57
Steel 13:36
Grant 10:39

And in fact, Grant's toi/game is the 3rd worst out of any player to play a game on the Ducks this year.
So to say he was used as a middle 6 player is wrong. So out of 19 players that have played at least a game with the Ducks, only 2 played less at ES. Who played less? Rowney(10:18) and Deslauriers(9:41).

Oh....and speaking of Row and Desl, let's look Grant's most common linemates at ES:

Rowney 428 minutes
Deslauriers 287 minutes
Max Jones is the next highest F he has played with, and played with him 53 minutes

So it should be 100% CLEAR that Grant has played #4C all year with the 2 least used players. In NO WAY did he play middle 6. He "may" have played more minutes than some other 4th lines given game situations and facing top lines more. And that looks to be the case in which his most common Dmen he has played with is Lindholm and Fowler.

So he didn't have much help production wise from his wingers and in Philly, he will play with better guys. He also likely gets easier matchups. So those 2 things "could" offset his high S% that likely comes down. So while he may score less with us, we might see his assists go up.

But in the end, how he does on the ice with us will determine everything. He...and others know they must play well or they could be the one sitting while Farabee plays. We have internal competition, options, and good depth for the 1st lime in a long time. And when Farabee gets in, he will need to show he should not be the next one to get scratched. I said it before, scratch someone like JVR for a game and that will get his attention and maybe these pointless streaks that go 7/8 games will start ending at 2/3.

And for the 100th time, we will have injuries. It will be a war or attrition so all these guys will play...and should play.

Oh yeah, just win.....and go Hagg.

 

[Flyerfan4life]

Of course it looks like Couture may make his return tonight

tbh i picked the Flyers to win in tonites predictor..

but secretly i suspect they lose this game

 

[Tripod]

Grant looks massive at practise !!

Sounds like he skates very well, is he physical too ?

how are you seeing practice?