Player Discussion: Bryan Little

[Vekke]

Went through some stats and one can hardly claim that 2nd C has done offensively good job with 37 pts while there is wingers with 75, 62, 52, 41 and 37. This with fair amount of PP time and solid TOI.

It can be claimed that he is solid defensively but 2nd C gets paid for offence also.

 

[Vekke]

Little is a far better two way center than he gets credit for here. He has become the guy that people love to hate for no reason. When he makes a mistake during a game (everyone does once in a while), the board pounces on him. When he makes a great play - crickets. He will put up about 45 -50 points this year which is not too far off his typical year. He wins faceoffs. He takes very few penalties. He is strong defensively. He is smart on the ice and seldom out of position. He is putting up decent points. He has been loyal to this franchise. He can be trusted out there late in a close game.

It seems like now that we have some very flashy high skill or high speed forwards like Ehlers and Laine, or since Nickels has evolved into a premier center, some people cannot appreciate a not so flashy but solid north south quality two way player like Little. Show the guy some respect. Be objective. He has earned it.

Jets haven’t had this skillfull and depth wingers department so comparison to his average production in history is a bit irrelevant.

 

[Bigfish]

I absolutely agree about fit. Stastny looks to be a great player with those 2 but the post I was referring to wanted to go back and not do the Little deal for him.

I think that's a really short sighted take based on a very small sample size.

Little is not and has not been a bad player for us.

If this goes really really well and Stastny wants to be a Winnipeg Jet I imagine they find a way to make it work.

Depends what Stastny wants. Chevy would make it work. Probably cost us a Kyle Connor or Roslovic or JoMo or Trouba in the long term....

Guess it depends on what position we believe is most replaceable.

If you're happy running a really deep veteran center ice group and bringing in high level prospects on ELCs to fill the winger void.

Dano
Petan
Lemieux
Vesalainen
Appleton

Do we believe 2 of these guys can replace Connor and Roslo?

If so ride out Connor and Roslo's ELC's and trade them for 1st rounders + more picks and insert Vesa and Appleton.

My thinking would be if Connor and Roslo can replace Wheeler and Little you trade Wheeler and Little.

 

[AlphaLackey]

Went through some stats and one can hardly claim that 2nd C has done offensively good job with 37 pts while there is wingers with 75, 62, 52, 41 and 37. This with fair amount of PP time and solid TOI.

It can be claimed that he is solid defensively but 2nd C gets paid for offence also.

Since the day we got Stastny, I visualized Little as "the best 3C in the league" rather than "a struggling 2C" and I think in that former role, he's good for a few more years. I mean, the dude is still a defensive wizard and unless I'm mistaken, above average in the dot.

 

[Vekke]

Since the day we got Stastny, I visualized Little as "the best 3C in the league" rather than "a struggling 2C" and I think in that former role, he's good for a few more years. I mean, the dude is still a defensive wizard and unless I'm mistaken, above average in the dot.

Yes but Jets winger department is something totally different and we need top10 2nd C for next season.

 

[Jetfaninflorida]

Jets haven’t had this skillfull and depth wingers department so comparison to his average production in history is a bit irrelevant.

His production is now irrelevant? Wow, that's being objective.

 

[Vekke]

His production is now irrelevant? Wow, that's being objective.

I meant that it is little irrelevant to compare his production to his previous seasons because there haven’t been that much good wingers in Jets. He should be able to produce better than before because of the winger situation.

 

[AlphaLackey]

Yes but Jets winger department is something totally different and we need top10 2nd C for next season.

Maybe that's Roslovic? Maybe that's Lowry even? Maybe Stastny is so stoked about us winning the cup he signs at a discount? I have no idea, that's for next year's worries

 

[Vekke]

Maybe that's Roslovic? Maybe that's Lowry even? Maybe Stastny is so stoked about us winning the cup he signs at a discount? I have no idea, that's for next year's worries

Thats true. Lets just enjoy the ride!

 

[AlphaLackey]

Thats true. Lets just enjoy the ride!

Right? Like I'm sorry but "uh, how are we going to resolve the 2C/3C debate in 2018" is a million miles away from enjoying being a fan of a legit Cup contender for the first time ever.

 

[Adam da bomb]

No clue why they gave him a nmc those only end up hurting teams.

 

[Arthur Fonzarelli]

Went through some stats and one can hardly claim that 2nd C has done offensively good job with 37 pts while there is wingers with 75, 62, 52, 41 and 37. This with fair amount of PP time and solid TOI.

It can be claimed that he is solid defensively but 2nd C gets paid for offence also.

It's no wonder you had to go "through some stats"...being on hfboards for 9 days hardly displays a full understanding of Bryan Little & his enormous contributions to this organization.

He's actually only a year removed from his best season in terms of point production per game played.

Jets haven’t had this skillful and depth wingers department so comparison to his average production in history is a bit irrelevant.

You can only be on one line at a time. Yes the Jets have a deeper team this season, but Little has always been surrounded by quality wingers. With Ladd & Wheeler at his side they spent much of the last 5 years as one of the best forward lines in the NHL, dominating their opposition game after game.

Yes but Jets winger department is something totally different and we need top 10 2nd C for next season.

Regardless of Little's past play, it's true that he will begin to regress soon. Pure numbers alone may suggest this has begun already. Long time fans are inclined to give him some benefit of the doubt due to the fact he's spent much of this season covering up for his constantly out of position euro wingers. This isn't all on Laine & Ehlers, Little has been a bit spoiled having consummate pro's like Ladd & Wheeler complement his game. It's tough to spend a half decade with veterans always doing the little things right to sophomores playing with reckless abandon.

Looking forward, the Jets certainly need a quality #2 centre to appear within the next 2 seasons, but for the present we're pretty good.

I noticed the "we" in your last post. Perhaps a little early? You've only jumped on this bandwagon 4 games ago.

I doubt many mind however. It actually feels nice! Have we ever had a band wagon before?

 

[Vekke]

It's no wonder you had to go "through some stats"...being on hfboards for 9 days hardly displays a full understanding of Bryan Little & his enormous contributions to this organization.

View attachment 103649

He's actually only a year removed from his best season in terms of point production per game played.



You can only be on one line at a time. Yes the Jets have a deeper team this season, but Little has always been surrounded by quality wingers. With Ladd & Wheeler at his side they spent much of the last 5 years as one of the best forward lines in the NHL, dominating their opposition game after game.



Regardless of Little's past play, it's true that he will begin to regress soon. Pure numbers alone may suggest this has begun already. Long time fans are inclined to give him some benefit of the doubt due to the fact he's spent much of this season covering up for his constantly out of position euro wingers. This isn't all on Laine & Ehlers, Little has been a bit spoiled having consummate pro's like Ladd & Wheeler complement his game. It's tough to spend a half decade with veterans always doing the little things right to sophomores playing with reckless abandon.

Looking forward, the Jets certainly need a quality #2 centre to appear within the next 2 seasons, but for the present we're pretty good.

I noticed the "we" in your last post. Perhaps a little early? You've only jumped on this bandwagon 4 games ago.

I doubt many mind however. It actually feels nice! Have we ever had a band wagon before?

Time spent on the HFboards really accurately tells how long you have been around... I don’t even bother to answer

 

[Jets 31]

To me Little can be our Kesler , just not a dirty POS like him . Great in the face offs and at defense with a little bit of offense thrown in . I think he is going to play a huge role in the playoffs for us .

 

[buggs]

Went through some stats and one can hardly claim that 2nd C has done offensively good job with 37 pts while there is wingers with 75, 62, 52, 41 and 37. This with fair amount of PP time and solid TOI.

It can be claimed that he is solid defensively but 2nd C gets paid for offence also.

Chuckle. check this link. While a bit dated it's a reasonably accurate post that starts the topic and shows the average number of points for each position by line. The average for second line centers is about 48 points (for an entire season). Looking at Little's production this year and being around 0.5-0.6 ppg he'll end up around 45 points which would place him just below the average for all second line centers. Sure, there are wingers out there with more points but you're feeding your own bias by looking at those numbers. Little's had a bit of an off year and I'd agree that he didn't develop chemistry with Laine and Ehlers but to suggest he's not a 2nd line center isn't a very accurate statement. His offense is right on par with the average second line center. He's the new Ladd (3rd liner) on this board.

 

[Vekke]

Chuckle. check this link. While a bit dated it's a reasonably accurate post that starts the topic and shows the average number of points for each position by line. The average for second line centers is about 48 points (for an entire season). Looking at Little's production this year and being around 0.5-0.6 ppg he'll end up around 45 points which would place him just below the average for all second line centers. Sure, there are wingers out there with more points but you're feeding your own bias by looking at those numbers. Little's had a bit of an off year and I'd agree that he didn't develop chemistry with Laine and Ehlers but to suggest he's not a 2nd line center isn't a very accurate statement. His offense is right on par with the average second line center. He's the new Ladd (3rd liner) on this board.

Thank you for link. It states that 2nd line wingers average is around 33-34 pts. One could argue that center hasn’t been good if he finishes about average and there are at least five wingers on the team finishing lot higher than 2nd line wingers average. Those wingers should increase average also.

I am jus trying to point out that you can not compare production to average if your wingers arent average.

 

[Adam da bomb]

Chuckle. check this link. While a bit dated it's a reasonably accurate post that starts the topic and shows the average number of points for each position by line. The average for second line centers is about 48 points (for an entire season). Looking at Little's production this year and being around 0.5-0.6 ppg he'll end up around 45 points which would place him just below the average for all second line centers. Sure, there are wingers out there with more points but you're feeding your own bias by looking at those numbers. Little's had a bit of an off year and I'd agree that he didn't develop chemistry with Laine and Ehlers but to suggest he's not a 2nd line center isn't a very accurate statement. His offense is right on par with the average second line center. He's the new Ladd (3rd liner) on this board.

Is the avg second liner getting paid as much as Little? Also you don't just pay for what they have done you also pay for they will and in Bryan Little's case it will probably decline. He might not, but, he probably will.

 

[PhilJets]

I think he is taking on a different more ( i mean more) defensive role tHn before.
Same as Buff and Enstrom.
Its one of the reason team is really good defensively besides the obvious; Helly.

He can probably pot in a few more goals or 6-8 more points. It would have been good for offense.

But that ELL had no chemistry together.

Hope Maurice keep him with Wheeler. For awhile

 

[Channelcat]

Since the day we got Stastny, I visualized Little as "the best 3C in the league" rather than "a struggling 2C" and I think in that former role, he's good for a few more years. I mean, the dude is still a defensive wizard and unless I'm mistaken, above average in the dot.

I agree. Sure we'd all like to see more points, but otherwise he's been very good. He gets the dzone starts and tough matchups now too.

 

[MrBoJangelz71]

Lits has always been a streaky point getter, and he has yet to have one this season, yet has 37 pnts.

I could see him going on a point streak in the final stretch here, and end the season with a respectable number.

 

[Arthur Fonzarelli]

Is the avg second liner getting paid as much as Little? Also you don't just pay for what they have done you also pay for they will and in Bryan Little's case it will probably decline. He might not, but, he probably will.

Little's salary as a 2nd line centre is on par with what others make. With 31 teams in the league, you'd expect Little's salary to fall between 32-63 for centres. CapFriendly lists him at 52.

Browse - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

Your second question refers to decline. Looking at that same list of 52 there are 27 other centres appearing that are all Bryan Little's age (30) or older on it. Yes Little is aging, but so are other centres.

I'm assuming your post meant to ask if Little was worth his contract. The answer is yes.

 

[blues10]

We can’t afford to pay Brian Little 2nd line centre money if he slots in as a Hendricks replacement next season. He is just not jiving with anyone.

Loves the signing when it happened now thinking we need to move him before July 1.

 

[tntkid]

I am going to be honest and say that I have no problem whatsoever with Little and Enstrom not be a part of this team in the near future

 

[mcpw]

he must be traded because he missed an open net that one time

 

[Ducky10]

I think Little has a bit of a run in him yet this season. The verdict on his permanent decline is pretty funny imo.

Even if he doesn't , I'm just going to wait until playoffs and watch in amusement as people suddenly start to realize how important Little is to this team.