Confirmed with Link: Bill Zito is the Panthers new GM

[Dread Clawz]

I would too but I don't think Connolly would equal Nurse in this case. Panthers would have to add.

Oh i know, i would add a 2nd to get nurse

 

[Pigge]

Meaning that he's not a top6 player. Decent for 3rd line duties but if he's not scoring then he's not doing much out there, like creating plays, checking, special teams player, etc.

His 5v5 P/60 was higher than Dadonov's this past season, despite worse line mates. If he is bumped up in the depth chart, his scoring may as well.

 

[Jean Luc Discard]

His 5v5 P/60 was higher than Dadonov's this past season, despite worse line mates. If he is bumped up in the depth chart, his scoring may as well.

He is trending downward under Q's tutelage. In the first half of the season his minutes hovered around 15-17mins and then in Jan-Feb his minutes sunk into 10-12mins range. Moreover, in the qualifier series against the Isles he was a complete trainwreck. Therefore, his fancy stats can look decent because Q isn't giving him the opportunity of making them look bad.

 

[Pigge]

He is trending downward under Q's tutelage. In the first half of the season his minutes hovered around 15-17mins and then in Jan-Feb his minutes sunk into 10-12mins range. Moreover, in the qualifier series against the Isles he was a complete trainwreck. Therefore, his fancy stats can look decent because Q isn't giving him the opportunity of making them look bad.

When Q looks back at the season he may notice that the team did worse in Jan-Feb. And the four games in August are probably not too significant for decisions going forward.

 

[GermanPanther]

When Q looks back at the season he may notice that the team did worse in Jan-Feb. And the four games in August are probably not too significant for decisions going forward.

Connolly is nothing more or less then a better 3rd Line player. Yes he had around 0.47 PPG, and scored 19 important Goals special in the early Season. But his lack of energy and engagment was horrible.
Sorry when i see a Player skating on the Ice and loose like a Bear in winter dormancy, then something is horrible wrong. We took him cause he showed the last 2 Season in Washington a ton of good thing, energy, power scoreing, skating boardbattle, a solid Player in Florida he played around 70-80 what he can play. And even 19 Goals doesnt make this better.

 

[Jean Luc Discard]

When Q looks back at the season he may notice that the team did worse in Jan-Feb. And the four games in August are probably not too significant for decisions going forward.

Well, that's the issue right there. This team waits for the easy games in order for them to put the hardhat on and get to work. As soon as the second half of the season began this team started to fade away as the others teams woke up from their hibernation. If decisions cannot be made on highly significant games then you end up rolling the dice based on the info acquired from games against inferior opponents. Therefore, the Cats end up with a team that can dazzle with some skill here 'n there in the lineup but only like a half or a third of the team actually is willing to fight for a victory on any given game. iirc Muzzin was telling similar story to the reporters about the Leafs, that it is a soft team which is unwilling to break a sweat, be physical, etc. in order to win meaningful games.

 

[KW]

Well, that's the issue right there. This team waits for the easy games in order for them to put the hardhat on and get to work. As soon as the second half of the season began this team started to fade away as the others teams woke up from their hibernation. If decisions cannot be made on highly significant games then you end up rolling the dice based on the info acquired from games against inferior opponents. Therefore, the Cats end up with a team that can dazzle with some skill here 'n there in the lineup but only like a half or a third of the team actually is willing to fight for a victory on any given game. iirc Muzzin was telling similar story to the reporters about the Leafs, that it is a soft team which is unwilling to break a sweat, be physical, etc. in order to win meaningful games.

Which is why Connolly is a crap player to have around. Maybe he tried harder in the past; he doesn’t do so now. Maybe he made some important plays in the past; he’s making none of them now when it matters. Maybe he played more engaged and physical in the past; he’s soft and uninterested now.

A big no thanks for his subpar services. Trade him for anything and the team will improve.

 

[violaswallet]

Connolly is pretty much irrelevant in that regard since he cannot be relied on to be a steady point producer.

I disagree: Connolly is a second-third like tweener who is offensively motivated. If we lose our two top right wingers in the same offseason we want continuity

 

[FrolikFan67]

Meaning that he's not a top6 player. Decent for 3rd line duties but if he's not scoring then he's not doing much out there, like creating plays, checking, special teams player, etc.

I’d actually argue the opposite. Not that he’s necessarily a top-6 player, but more so that he’s only relevant in the top-6. I really wanted a vatrano-Acciari-Connolly third line, but I’ve shifted on that view point since I think he isn’t useful in a bottom-6 role. He has a good shot and will fire home a handful because of that fact, but he doesn’t bring much of anything else. And right now without a reliable 2C, I don’t see him being much of a factor this upcoming season. For the cap hit, the ability to touch 20g makes him an asset that’s worth his pay. No more, no less. But only as a top-6 forward who can score 20g.

we may be forced to hang onto him if we don’t re-sign either hoff or dads, in that case he’d have to play in the top-6. If tippett and Denisenko both make it, and huberdeau is retained, then he’ll round out that final winger spot. Although I’d be more inclined to take the 2nd and free up the salary if we didn’t have to take anything back.

 

[ProjectPanthers]

I’d actually argue the opposite. Not that he’s necessarily a top-6 player, but more so that he’s only relevant in the top-6. I really wanted a vatrano-Acciari-Connolly third line, but I’ve shifted on that view point since I think he isn’t useful in a bottom-6 role. He has a good shot and will fire home a handful because of that fact, but he doesn’t bring much of anything else. And right now without a reliable 2C, I don’t see him being much of a factor this upcoming season. For the cap hit, the ability to touch 20g makes him an asset that’s worth his pay. No more, no less. But only as a top-6 forward who can score 20g.

we may be forced to hang onto him if we don’t re-sign either hoff or dads, in that case he’d have to play in the top-6. If tippett and Denisenko both make it, and huberdeau is retained, then he’ll round out that final winger spot. Although I’d be more inclined to take the 2nd and free up the salary if we didn’t have to take anything back.

Connolly won a cup playing 12 minutes with the Capitals so I'd say 3rd line is exactly where you want him.

This team struggles a lot because of no goal scoring in the bottom 6. If the usual names aren't scoring then no one is. Connolly helps with that. I don't see how trading 20 goals for a draft pick helps this team at all.

 

[Pigge]

Connolly won a cup playing 12 minutes with the Capitals so I'd say 3rd line is exactly where you want him.

This team struggles a lot because of no goal scoring in the bottom 6. If the usual names aren't scoring then no one is. Connolly helps with that. I don't see how trading 20 goals for a draft pick helps this team at all.

Sounds fair. There are different ideas what a third line is supposed to accomplish, which may influence the split opinions. In Washington he seems to have played a lot with Eller and Burakovsky, which is hardly a grinding third line. If we can run Connolly-Saarela-Vatrano on the third line, there should be decent secondary scoring. No grinding though.

For some cherry picking stats, Connolly had the second highest PPG/60 on the Panthers this year. Slight ahead of Hoffman and behind only Dadonov. I think he can be a useful sniper on the left side, with the ability to roam into the high slot for redirections.

 

[GrumpyKelly]

Connolly is a third liner and third liners are inconsistent scorers. If they weren't they'd be first or second liners.

 

[FrolikFan67]

Sounds fair. There are different ideas what a third line is supposed to accomplish, which may influence the split opinions. In Washington he seems to have played a lot with Eller and Burakovsky, which is hardly a grinding third line. If we can run Connolly-Saarela-Vatrano on the third line, there should be decent secondary scoring. No grinding though.

For some cherry picking stats, Connolly had the second highest PPG/60 on the Panthers this year. Slight ahead of Hoffman and behind only Dadonov. I think he can be a useful sniper on the left side, with the ability to roam into the high slot for redirections.

I think that’s the fair way of putting it. In most cases the 3rd line/bottom-6 are used in more defensive capacities. But if that line included him and two other more “skilled” players rather than checking players, and they weren’t given the task of playing more defensively, then it just becomes another line. Making a he top-9 more even in objective and just the 4th line more “defensive”. So it depends on what Q expects out of the third line and who he’s playing with, as well

 

[KW]

Connolly is a third liner and third liners are inconsistent scorers. If they weren't they'd be first or second liners.

It’s not Connolly’s inconsistent scoring that bothers me, it’s his lack of defense and skating. He plays like he doesn’t give a crap.

 

[Jean Luc Discard]

It’s not Connolly’s inconsistent scoring that bothers me, it’s his lack of defense and skating. He plays like he doesn’t give a crap.

For an instance, Armia as a somewhat similar player on the stats sheet is an excellent PKer and overall is a top notch forechecker with a similar salary. I'd swap Connolly for Armia with no second thoughts about it.

 

[MintyFresh88]

It’s not Connolly’s inconsistent scoring that bothers me, it’s his lack of defense and skating. He plays like he doesn’t give a crap.

Yeah, I'm not sure how to feel about him. Can't really complain about his production...he would have ended up with 35-40 points, which is in line with his contract/position in the lineup.

If someone is interested and is willing to give up something decent, I definitely wouldn't be opposed to moving him, though. I think we can insert a younger guy in the lineup in his spot and not take a step backward.

 

[FrolikFan67]

Wild just extended Brodin for 7yrs btw, 6per

 

[pantherbot]

Figured I'd just put this here. The Athletic had a "fun" article ranking franchises in the post salary cap era. Basically teams get points for playoffs, conference finals, cup finals, and a stanley cup win. Guess where we ranked?

Zito's got some work to do and he's had a good start. Here's hoping he is the solution to the worst NHL franchise ever.

 

[KW]

Figured I'd just put this here. The Athletic had a "fun" article ranking franchises in the post salary cap era. Basically teams get points for playoffs, conference finals, cup finals, and a stanley cup win. Guess where we ranked?

Zito's got some work to do and he's had a good start. Here's hoping he is the solution to the worst NHL franchise ever.

Well, I can’t think of another team who’d be dead last, so we must be it.

 

[ucanthanzalthetruth]

Figured I'd just put this here. The Athletic had a "fun" article ranking franchises in the post salary cap era. Basically teams get points for playoffs, conference finals, cup finals, and a stanley cup win. Guess where we ranked?

Zito's got some work to do and he's had a good start. Here's hoping he is the solution to the worst NHL franchise ever.

Where? They'd have to be ahead of Buffalo and Arizona. That's about it.

edit: is it post '04 or post '13 because if it's post '04, probably last. At least in the past 7 years they went from 30th to 28th

 

[violaswallet]

Where? They'd have to be ahead of Buffalo and Arizona. That's about it.

edit: is it post '04 or post '13 because if it's post '04, probably last. At least in the past 7 years they went from 30th to 28th

Post '06, which gives Buffalo and Arizona bumps for their conference finals runs and Edmonton to the cup. The criteria was:

Winning the Stanley Cup (SC): 11 points
Losing in the Stanley Cup Final (SCF): 5 points
Losing in the conference final (CF): 3 points
Making the playoffs: 1 point

If we arbitrarily went to 2012, we' be ahead of Buffalo and Edmonton, which is our best showing, If we go to 2016, we tie with Edmonton/Montreal/LA and are head of: AZ, Buffalo, Devils, Vancouver, Detroit.

We never had sustained success. No idea what happened after 2016 tbh.

 

[ucanthanzalthetruth]

Wanna know the 1 name I cant figure out still being here, even more than Joyce? Robbie Tallas. Goaltending was an abomination in 2019 and Bobrobsky, while better than Reimer, obviously had a very mediocre year. I also noticed Bob flopping on his belly more as the year progressed.

 

[Ghoste]

Wanna know the 1 name I cant figure out still being here, even more than Joyce? Robbie Tallas. Goaltending was an abomination in 2019 and Bobrobsky, while better than Reimer, obviously had a very mediocre year. I also noticed Bob flopping on his belly more as the year progressed.

Yeah, I wanted us to bring in someone fresh as well. I don’t want him anywhere near Knight when he gets closer.

-ghoste

 

[pantherbot]

Wanna know the 1 name I cant figure out still being here, even more than Joyce? Robbie Tallas. Goaltending was an abomination in 2019 and Bobrobsky, while better than Reimer, obviously had a very mediocre year. I also noticed Bob flopping on his belly more as the year progressed.

I dunno, the results aren't there, but the goalies all seem to like him and say good things about him at least publicly. They could just say nothing. Goalie coach is a funny thing though, some are more hands on than others, some goalies need more hands on than others. Many goalies already have their own personal coaches, just like how players have skills coaches now. We don't really know what role Tallas has, is he more of a communicator between the goalies and the coaching staff and the rest of the team? Does he actually introduce new skills or does he just work with the goalie to see what he wants?

There's a lot of variation here so it's hard for us to judge. The guy's been around a long time, including times when we had good goaltending, so he can't be that bad. I'd be fine if they brought in a new guy (or woman, like Cat Silverman), but I wouldn't say it's a key position we need to change.

 

[drktmplr12]

Figured I'd just put this here. The Athletic had a "fun" article ranking franchises in the post salary cap era. Basically teams get points for playoffs, conference finals, cup finals, and a stanley cup win. Guess where we ranked?

Zito's got some work to do and he's had a good start. Here's hoping he is the solution to the worst NHL franchise ever.

was it good enough to pick 12?