Are the Jackets finally on the cusp of something great ?

[EspenK]

We are missing two main pieces. 1C and 1G. Without those no one can succeed. Fantilli can maybe be 1C but not in 2years.

I disagree. He could very well be that by season end.

We could also be missing a 2C if KJ doesnt work out. Maybe Grindley or Sillinger but no sure guy.

 

[JacketsDavid]

As this is rebuild potential wise the ceiling of the team looks higher than ever.

Top prospects
Fantilli
Jiricek
Johnson

You can put up that against anyones in the league& they’ve never had that kind of a talent pool before

Then add Werenski, Gaudreau, Laine, Provorov, Severson, Mateychuk, Svozil, Jenner, Marchenko, Chinakhov, Dumais so on and how could you not see the potential?
Only Gaudreau& Severson are the only key players around 30y, the rest of them are 26 or under.

The next step and something they need to figure out within the next 12 months is the goaltending, that’s really the main concern/limiting factor moving forward



When have they had this talent before?

There’s only one answer and it’s never

Klesla, Nash, Zherdev is the top example I can think of of top prospects assembled at same time. Never panned out in helping the CBJ win.

Listen the CBJ have had more prospects flop and/or requested to be traded than any other team I know (to me it's lack of development). We've very consistently picked in the lottery (very few times have we traded our own 1st round pick) and every year it's "look at my shiny new toy". Couple seasons later that shiny new toy is pretty worthless in most cases but we have another shiny new toy.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

Luck seems to be changing … no ? Gaudreau , and now Fantilli in consecutive off seasons

That's JUST when they pull the rug out

 

[BB88]

Klesla, Nash, Zherdev is the top example I can think of of top prospects assembled at same time. Never panned out in helping the CBJ win.

Listen the CBJ have had more prospects flop and/or requested to be traded than any other team I know (to me it's lack of development). We've very consistently picked in the lottery (very few times have we traded our own 1st round pick) and every year it's "look at my shiny new toy". Couple seasons later that shiny new toy is pretty worthless in most cases but we have another shiny new toy.

You legit don’t see a difference today vs those?

Fantilli would easily get picked 1st overall out of those, he’s a legit 1st overall talent& franchise C prospect.
Jiricek is a legit franchise prospect& Johnson was an elite/A tier prospect.

On top of them they have a proven 26y 1D in Werenski, superstar winger in Gaudreau and star winger in Laine, not to mention all thr depth they have

For some reason you can’t separate tiers between prospects and see them just as one

 

[NotTooWideArena]

I think "cusp" is a little premature. I think the core group has to potential to grow into something special but there are a lot of "if"s, particularly in goal. If they can get a really promising season out of one of the goalies on this roster, that would be a huge leap forward.

I do think there draft luck has changed. The past two drafts the (mostly) obvious "best-available player" at their draft slot has played the position where the CBJ most needed young talent. That's been a huge help in building a potential core, I think.

We shall see.

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

I'm hopeful and I wish the team is on the verge of greatness but as the saying goes...

"wish in one hand and sh*t in the other and see which one fills up first.'

The metro is still stacked and it will be hard to get into the top 3. In my mind, give Carolina and NJ 2 of those 3 spots for the next few years. The other teams are working to get better too and being more aggressive with trades that we have.

I'm not going to get my hopes up but it should inevitably be better than last year for the next couple of years.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

Magic tricks.

That's JUST when they pull the rug out

Hmm.

 

[Toe Pick]

And here I thought I was one of the most pessimistic CBJ fans around. Some of you put me to shame!

I’ll take my chances with this vet/youth core ANY day over previous iterations. It’s not even close for me.

Just need to address a couple more gaps in our spine (top 6 center and goalie) but even as is I’m incredibly optimistic as to what this could turn into 2 to 3 years down the road.

 

[JacketsDavid]

You legit don’t see a difference today vs those?

Fantilli would easily get picked 1st overall out of those, he’s a legit 1st overall talent& franchise C prospect.
Jiricek is a legit franchise prospect& Johnson was an elite/A tier prospect.

On top of them they have a proven 26y 1D in Werenski, superstar winger in Gaudreau and star winger in Laine, not to mention all thr depth they have

For some reason you can’t separate tiers between prospects and see them just as one

To end this back and forth - no I don't see a difference. We had a cornerstone dman (Klesla), and 2 elite offensive forwards (Nash and Z). Throw in a 1st round goalie shortly after and it looked like a great foundation.
You can't believe everything people tell you -if Fantilli was that great why did Anaheim pass on him? I have no doubt he looks the part as a future 1C. But we also though RyJo was, we thought Sillinger was rounding into a top 6 center and Johnson was drafted as a C and really didn't play there much last season.

 

[MissADD]

To end this back and forth - no I don't see a difference. We had a cornerstone dman (Klesla), and 2 elite offensive forwards (Nash and Z). Throw in a 1st round goalie shortly after and it looked like a great foundation.
You can't believe everything people tell you -if Fantilli was that great why did Anaheim pass on him? I have no doubt he looks the part as a future 1C. But we also though RyJo was, we thought Sillinger was rounding into a top 6 center and Johnson was drafted as a C and really didn't play there much last season.

I think the minor difference in perceived hockey IQ, combined with overall fit (I think Carlsson may fit better in Anaheim,) plus Fantilli saying he would like to go to Columbus might have pushed Anaheim to Carlsson. The difference between these players right now is very miniscule, so those tiny differences can be enough to push a team toward a certain player. People are saying Fantilli would have been No 1 in any draft beside this one and 2015, but lets be honest, there were 4 legit 1OVA talents in the draft, Bedard, Fantilli, Carlsson and Michkov. Obviously Bedard is on an island by himself, but those other 3 are just as far from the rest of the draft as Bedard is from them. The jackets got a good player, not because Anaheim thought something was wrong with Fantilli, but because they thought something was right with Carlsson

 

[BB88]

To end this back and forth - no I don't see a difference. We had a cornerstone dman (Klesla), and 2 elite offensive forwards (Nash and Z). Throw in a 1st round goalie shortly after and it looked like a great foundation.
You can't believe everything people tell you -if Fantilli was that great why did Anaheim pass on him? I have no doubt he looks the part as a future 1C. But we also though RyJo was, we thought Sillinger was rounding into a top 6 center and Johnson was drafted as a C and really didn't play there much last season.

They’ve never had either Fantilli or Carlsson level prospect.
Fantilli is Eichel level prospect

& you should know you don’t build around wingers.

& you don’t see anything else different?
This rebuild isn’t solely build around prospects, they’ve added proven talent in

Gaudreau
Werenski
Laine
Provorov
Severson
Jenner.

So again when have they been in this position before?
Never is the answer

 

[EDM]

JD, seriously, you don’t see any difference between this team & the Doug Maclean team with Nash, Z, and Klesla? The one lonviuos difference is DM is not involved. That alone is a gigantic difference.

 

[koteka]

Let’s look are the veterans on this team:


I think some people are counting a lot on Severson and Provorov. They both had plenty of critics among their old fan bases. Plus Provorov is likely gone in 2 years. Don’t tell me he doesn’t want to hit free agency.

Laine and Werenski both have had enough injuries to make me wonder how good this team will be going forward.

Gaudreau is great, but he turns 30 next month. I hope he can keep it up.

I hope Jenner’s back can hold up.

Roslovic is Roslovic. Gudbranson is Gudbranson.

Kuraly and Robinson are good for what they are, which is 4th liners that can occasionally play up. Neither one will be here in 3 years.

 

[squashmaple]

Wow, the "no, actually we do suck and will always suck just like we always have, there is no hope and you are a (expletive) fool for thinking good things could ever happen" backlash is swift this year. Usually it takes at least til training camp. Untempereed optimism is naive, but assuming you're the only one who's right with the most pessimistic possible takes is equally ridiculous.

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

I will counter everyone's Browns comparisons with my own Reds/Bengals comparisons.

3 team with historically bad management.

The Reds still have bad management but seem to have caught lightning in a bottle with a GM who basically rebuilt the talent pool on a shoestring budget and some good drafting/scouting. Will it last and will ownership pay to keep them when the time comes or will they sell them to the highest bidder like the Pirates? Time will tell.

The Bengals were just a horrible business for years and still have some work to do but youth has came in and changed the tide. From a business aspect, Mike Brown's daughter and 2 granddaughters have begun a complete overhaul of the business and social media image to engage fans. From a football side they drafted game changing players who are the best and marketable across the league. I'm still critical of their coaching at times but these players will run through a brick wall for Zac Taylor. I'm also really critical of David Bell for the Reds but they players want to play well for him too.

Will the CBJ be able to follow suit? We'll see. We "might" possibly have a couple of players who can actually be franchise players in this league. I'm still suspect about this team from a business aspect. I think they are too conservative in a lot of business ways. The front office on the operations side still seems like a bunch of stuffy corporate suits. Leave that to the bean counters. The CBJ exist because of wild, aggressive marketing done by the Chill in the 90's. Every promotion they do seems outdated and nothing to get excited about. I do give them a lot of credit for the facilities upgrades. This is something the Bengals are stating to take more seriously as well.

Will these young guys be able to have fun and have the same sort of family feeling where they want to play well for themselves, each other and the coach like the Bengals and Reds do right now? Is Babcock going to be able to be a coach you want to play well for, not out of fear but because you want to?

The CBJ still lack strong veteran presence who has been there and done that. The reds have Joey Votto. The Bengals acquired guys strong team guy like Michael Thomas to mentor DBs and Ted Karras to anchor the O-line. I think Gudbranson has something to offer in the aspect but the CBJ need more.

The Reds are winning in spite of poor pitching for the most part but it is starting to perform better. Can CBJ goaltending work the same way?

I'm hesitant but time will tell. I'm having no expectations of where this will go. I'll just let the system play out.

 

[stevo61]

You legit don’t see a difference today vs those?

Fantilli would easily get picked 1st overall out of those, he’s a legit 1st overall talent& franchise C prospect.
Jiricek is a legit franchise prospect& Johnson was an elite/A tier prospect.

On top of them they have a proven 26y 1D in Werenski, superstar winger in Gaudreau and star winger in Laine, not to mention all thr depth they have

For some reason you can’t separate tiers between prospects and see them just as one

Klesla is the one that stands out to me. As prospects I probably liked Klesla more back then than Jiricek now. I always thought he'd be what Weber eventually became. Atleast now we are in a position to develop Jiricek and insulate him vs just relying on our teenagers to carry the team

 

[Halfboard]

Klesla, Nash, Zherdev is the top example I can t

Listen the CBJ have had more prospects flop and/or requested to be traded than any other team I know (to me it's lack of development). We've very consistently picked in the lottery (very few times have we traded our own 1st round pick) and every year it's "look at my shiny new toy". Couple seasons later that shiny new toy is pretty worthless in most cases but we have another shiny new toy.
Listen the CBJ have had more prospects flop and/or requested to be traded than any other team I know (to me it's lack of development). We've very consistently picked in the lottery (very few times have we traded our own 1st round pick) and every year it's "look at my shiny new toy". Couple seasons later that shiny new toy is pretty worthless in most cases but we have another shiny new toy.

Two words: Gilbert Brule……

 

[Finner]

I disagree. He could very well be that by season end. 1G I totally agree.

We could also be missing a 2C if KJ doesnt work out. Maybe Grindley or Sillinger but no sure guy.

Yeah Fantilli can be 1C in 2years but 1C who can lead us to the cup? Maybe in 5years

 

[Byrral]

The odds of another injury ridden season like last year is low. Hockey is rough and as I don't expect Werenski or Laine to play 82 games 70-75 is a reasonable expectation. Jenner is different as they have to be smarter/more careful with him. He's an important guy to have in the lineup when games mean something and hopefully they get somewhere closer to that this year.

 

[stevo61]

Two words: Gilbert Brule……

How do we pick the Slovenian over the Canadian. Fun times

 

[Monstershockey]

I will counter everyone's Browns comparisons with my own Reds/Bengals comparisons.

3 team with historically bad management.

The Reds still have bad management but seem to have caught lightning in a bottle with a GM who basically rebuilt the talent pool on a shoestring budget and some good drafting/scouting. Will it last and will ownership pay to keep them when the time comes or will they sell them to the highest bidder like the Pirates? Time will tell.

The Bengals were just a horrible business for years and still have some work to do but youth has came in and changed the tide. From a business aspect, Mike Brown's daughter and 2 granddaughters have begun a complete overhaul of the business and social media image to engage fans. From a football side they drafted game changing players who are the best and marketable across the league. I'm still critical of their coaching at times but these players will run through a brick wall for Zac Taylor. I'm also really critical of David Bell for the Reds but they players want to play well for him too.

Will the CBJ be able to follow suit? We'll see. We "might" possibly have a couple of players who can actually be franchise players in this league. I'm still suspect about this team from a business aspect. I think they are too conservative in a lot of business ways. The front office on the operations side still seems like a bunch of stuffy corporate suits. Leave that to the bean counters. The CBJ exist because of wild, aggressive marketing done by the Chill in the 90's. Every promotion they do seems outdated and nothing to get excited about. I do give them a lot of credit for the facilities upgrades. This is something the Bengals are stating to take more seriously as well.

Will these young guys be able to have fun and have the same sort of family feeling where they want to play well for themselves, each other and the coach like the Bengals and Reds do right now? Is Babcock going to be able to be a coach you want to play well for, not out of fear but because you want to?

The CBJ still lack strong veteran presence who has been there and done that. The reds have Joey Votto. The Bengals acquired guys strong team guy like Michael Thomas to mentor DBs and Ted Karras to anchor the O-line. I think Gudbranson has something to offer in the aspect but the CBJ need more.

The Reds are winning in spite of poor pitching for the most part but it is starting to perform better. Can CBJ goaltending work the same way?

I'm hesitant but time will tell. I'm having no expectations of where this will go. I'll just let the system play out.

It would always crack me up when every new Browns season they fans would always chalk up the Bengal games as automatic wins. The Browns were just as bad or worse than Cinci but they always thought the Browns were better. Must be a Paul/Mike Brown thing where they haven't gotten past that.

As bad as the Bengals were for a while, I bet they never had a playbook as good as Maurice Carthon's when he was our OC.

This always was good for a laugh when he was here. God those were some bad teams.

 

[ViD]

I mean PLD was clearly our 1C by his second year, he was certainly carried by Panarin at times, but we got Gaudreau to do that as well if needed

 

[BB88]

Klesla is the one that stands out to me. As prospects I probably liked Klesla more back then than Jiricek now. I always thought he'd be what Weber eventually became. Atleast now we are in a position to develop Jiricek and insulate him vs just relying on our teenagers to carry the team

There’s really few game changers in the comparison.

That comp has nothing to stack up against Fantilli.

& 2nd as I mentioned earlier this rebuild isn’t solely relying on prospects.

Werenski 1D
Gaudreau, superstar W
Laine, star W
Provorov, top4
Severson, top4
Jenner, top6

Right now the current setting has a top 2/3 prospect pool in the league lead by a legit 1st overall caliber franchise C and s proven roster with high end talent.

Also the prospects feel safer as we have data on Jiricek playing against pro competition for couple of seasons including ahl, we’ve seen Johnson rookie season in the NHL& Fantilli at the NCAA level with NHL pro ready frame& elite skating

 

[BB88]

I mean PLD was clearly our 1C by his second year, he was certainly carried by Panarin at times, but we got Gaudreau to do that as well if needed

Matthews& Eichel are the best comps for Fantilli.

& by year 2 they absolutely were game changers

 

[CoachWithNoTeam]

Nash, Zherdev, and Klesla always needed a Fantilli.

Klesla always struggled with health and Zherdev was never a franchise building block, as entertaining as he was, and no matter how he was sold to us. So we had a top end/franchise wing, a dynamic top 6 wing, and an oft-injured top 4 defenseman. The clear difference between then and now is additional top end prospect depth at every position, coupled with a star veteran group (Gaudreau, Laine, Werenski) that we just frankly didn’t have then.

Sure, we are missing a hot goalie. It’ll happen eventually and it’s not that hard to get when you need it.