Around The NHL Discussion 2019/20 - Part III

[kagei]

My dad asked me today if Seattle fans at games would be called krakheads at the krakhouse. I told him that was nonsense.....fans at games.....

 

[Brockon]

Well...who's going to be a Kraken in 21-22?

Sanford

 

[simon IC]

Interesting question. If you had to protect 7 forwards right now? I would go :

1. Tarasenko
2. ROR
3. Schenn
4. Thomas
5. Kyrou
6. Sundqvist
7. Schwartz* (If he is still here) If not, Kostin, Perron or Sanford depending on their respective development or decline.

 

[The Note]

Interesting question. If you had to protect 7 forwards right now? I would go :

1. Tarasenko
2. ROR
3. Schenn
4. Thomas
5. Kyrou
6. Sundqvist
7. Schwartz* (If he is still here) If not, Kostin, Perron or Sanford depending on their respective development or decline.

This is mine as well. W/r/t Kostin, I don’t believe he will need to be protected. From JR:
“Regarding Kostin, I’ve reported that players who are 18 and 19 must participate in 11 NHL games in a season for it to count as a “pro” year, and Kostin didn’t play in any NHL games at those ages. Once a player turns 20, it’s considered a pro year if he plays in one game in the NHL, AHL or ECHL or in Europe, and Kostin played in 52 this season. But even if Kostin plays in one game in 2020-21, he’ll have a maximum of two years of service at the time of the draft, so he’ll be exempt.”

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

I expect Sundqvist to be protected too. But Blais and Sanford are both young enough to be attractive choices. It just depends how badly they need defense vs forwards. Faulk might be one of the better options available to them, and he’s under team control during his prime age years, just overpaid. I’m no assuming he’d be picked, and I don’t believe for a moment Armstrong assumed he’d be picked when they acquired Faulk. But it’s pretty plausible.

 

[Mike Liut]

Sanford

I think people will change their minds about Sanford after these playoffs and after next year. He’s ready to take the next step and become a 25g scorer. He was showing signs before the shutdown. Was really playing well.

 

[Eldon Reid]

I expect Sundqvist to be protected too. But Blais and Sanford are both young enough to be attractive choices. It just depends how badly they need defense vs forwards. Faulk might be one of the better options available to them, and he’s under team control during his prime age years, just overpaid. I’m no assuming he’d be picked, and I don’t believe for a moment Armstrong assumed he’d be picked when they acquired Faulk. But it’s pretty plausible.

Faulk could be very attractive for Seattle to pick for several reasons.

#1 They have to get to the cap floor so they have to take some players with some salary.
#2 He is a player with a solid track record.
#3 Signed for long term (Overpaid a little bit for sure) but still solid 2nd pairing dman for sure.
#4 The Blues don't have any younger prospects that Seattle will be interested in. (Blues do have younger players that would be of interest like Blais Barbashev or Sanford

Blues definitely have some tough decisions to make this expansion draft on who to protect and leave exposed.

IMO they have 5 forwards for sure they will protect (maybe 6 if Kyrou has a good next year & 7 if Schwartz signs a long term deal)

Tarasenko
O'Reilly
Schenn
Thomas
Sundqvist

Kyrou** (I think he gets protected but never know)

That 7th forward spot could be an interesting choice If Schwartz walks in FA, you could protect one of the following: Sanford, Blais, Barbashev, or Perron

Defense all depends mainly on Pietrangelo.

 

[BlueDream]

Yeah still too many questions that will likely all work themselves out by the time the expansion draft rolls around. Next season will tell us a lot about:

- All of Sanford, Blais and Kyrou. Who will take the next step and be a legit top 6/9 forward? I see us protecting whichever one of these becomes the most valuable.
- Will Dunn and Pietrangelo still be here? How good of a 2021 season did Faulk have?
- Perron will be 33, is he worth a protection spot?

Either way, I have a feeling we will be okay. We either get Seattle to take Faulk off our hands, or they select one of our younger forwards that has become expendable on our roster anyways. I’m not too concerned at this point unless we have multiple guys that just explode with improvement. Other than that, we are gonna protect everyone we need, and whoever we lose would have likely become a cap casualty at some point anyways.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

It doesn’t make sense to protect Perron, but it would be a huge bummer if he got drafted again.

 

[Brockon]

I think people will change their minds about Sanford after these playoffs and after next year. He’s ready to take the next step and become a 25g scorer. He was showing signs before the shutdown. Was really playing well.

I think his consistency is going to lead to Sundqvist and someone like Barby and/or Blais being protected over Sanford. When he's on he's on...

But he takes nights off, when his defensive play isn't there, the back check is lazy and he's looking disengaged in board battles.

We give Tarasenko flack for the exact same thing, but Tarasenko's offence is a noticeable step up and has been for years. I remember the board shitting on Vova for this for ages.

Sanford is trending up, but I think if Schwartz is set to walk, the emphasis needs to go to protecting a guy like Blais with that motor that Sanford just doesn't show.

 

[Blueston]

I think his consistency is going to lead to Sundqvist and someone like Barby and/or Blais being protected over Sanford. When he's on he's on...

But he takes nights off, when his defensive play isn't there, the back check is lazy and he's looking disengaged in board battles.

We give Tarasenko flack for the exact same thing, but Tarasenko's offence is a noticeable step up and has been for years. I remember the board shitting on Vova for this for ages.

Sanford is trending up, but I think if Schwartz is set to walk, the emphasis needs to go to protecting a guy like Blais with that motor that Sanford just doesn't show.

We always underrate Sanford on here. Sanford has been significantly more productive than Blais, Barbs, or Kyrou. They are all younger and could surpass him but he is on upward swing too.

 

[Mike Liut]

It doesn’t make sense to protect Perron, but it would be a huge bummer if he got drafted again.

They won’t take Perron. They need young building blocks

 

[mw2noobbuster]

They won’t take Perron. They need young building blocks

I could see Perron being taken as a "James Neal" type veteran pick.

 

[Klank Loves You]

Best case for everyone is to pay Seattle to take Faulk.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

I could see Perron being taken as a "James Neal" type veteran pick.

I had that thought too. And if it happened, Perron would smile and go do his best to make the best of it. Stanley Cup Champion David Perron has experience with a successful expansion team, and has been around the league a lot. I could understand why he’d be picked. As a player-coach to set the bar for professionalism.

But more likely they’ll want to stockpile young assets, with Perron being past his time.

 

[Davimir Tarablad]

Perron gets picked by Seattle, then signs back here after a year there and is suddenly a 100pt player. Book it.

 

[542365]

Coyotes situation is bizarre. Their press release reads like an old George Steinbrenner clipping. Seems very bitter and contemptuous.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

I’m guessing the ownership green-lighted someone other than Chayka to negotiate with Hall. You can’t really be the GM if you don’t have the authority to do your job. I expect an ugly legal battle over Chayka’s remaining salary.

Watch them go on a big post-season run now.

 

[Davimir Tarablad]

Someone needed to pickup the slack on clown fiestas with Buffalo not being involved with hockey resuming. And Arizona most certainly obliged

 

[BlueOil]

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

In a little over 12 hours, there will be live hockey on TV. Feels good to say that, even if it’s just exhibition games.

 

[BlueKnight]

I'm sitting at home waiting for a meaningless game between 2 teams that i could care less about but...

 

[AjaxManifesto]

Watching Pitt vs Philly

Not bad....are they piping in ambient stadium noise? Or mic'ing the benches?

Not as quiet as I thought it would be.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

Comparing MLB playing in big empty stadiums with cardboard cutouts, which are funny but also look pretty sad after the initial humor wears off, the NHL was a lot smarter to cover the seats and create a smaller feeling arena.

I thought the fake crowd noise would bug me, but it works on the TV broadcast. I’m watching recorded games so I haven’t seen a goal yet.

Thinking about the players in the bubble. It’s not much different than if they went to hockey summer camp as kids. There are rules and a curfew (similar) and you can’t sneak off site.

LOL, the Canadian national anthem got a much more flowery rendition than the US anthem.

 

[BlueKnight]

It was a lot better than i thought i would be. I thought the piped in crowd noise would bug me, Actually i didn't mind it. Overall i thought it was good. Props to the NHL.