Speculation: Minor League Affiliates (Hershey Bears, SC Stingrays) - summer 2018 to summer 2019

[kicksavedave]

Yeah, that's true! Couldn't believe my eyes when read bout it!

Hey Tomppa, hope you're doing well. Can I send my son to live with you so he can get a good education?

 

[SDBondra]

I can/will blame him. There's nothing that says "competitor" like seeing a Travis Boyd ahead of you on the depth chart and thinking "yeah, I'm going to quit now after 10 games instead of try to beat him out".

Maybe he's disappointed and frustrated that he choose to join a good team, and instead should have joined a weak team where he had an easier path to the big show. Again guys like that aren't the types you win championships with.

Either way, good riddance.

“Can’t blame him” was really just intended as a figure of speech. I meant “I can empathize.” The guy probably had higher expectations than just middling around in the AHL this year. Perhaps he had unrealistic expectations. Perhaps he’s just not good enough. Perhaps he didn’t realize how deep the AHL really is. Maybe the team misled him. I don’t know - so I won’t judge his character.

Travis Boyd is really good though. I knew he was likely going to crack the lineup this year but after watching him I think the guy could be a legit top6 for a long time. I bet his success is discouraging for a lot of other fringe guys too.

 

[Tomppav]

Hey Tomppa, hope you're doing well. Can I send my son to live with you so he can get a good education?

Everything's fine here, but you better send him soon because there has already been changes made in our education system and results aren't so good anymore!

 

[Hivemind]

“Can’t blame him” was really just intended as a figure of speech. I meant “I can empathize.” The guy probably had higher expectations than just middling around in the AHL this year. Perhaps he had unrealistic expectations. Perhaps he’s just not good enough. Perhaps he didn’t realize how deep the AHL really is. Maybe the team misled him. I don’t know - so I won’t judge his character.

Agreed.

Travis Boyd is really good though. I knew he was likely going to crack the lineup this year but after watching him I think the guy could be a legit top6 for a long time. I bet his success is discouraging for a lot of other fringe guys too.

Keep in mind that Boyd is already 25. That's older than Vrana, Burakovsky, Stephenson, and Wilson.

 

[Tomppav]

Thanks for your input. There are threads on the prospects board on each of them I think, although Mantykivi's is pretty scant. Kallionkieli in the USHL is another I've read a bit about as an early round candidate. One of these years it'll happen...

Very very early on I think I'd hope for Kaliyev or Pelletier to slide to the Caps but Guskov, a Russian forward playing with London, also seems like a natural enough fit.

I know Mäntykivi isn't a top prospect, but I'm hoping that he gets drafted and it's Caps who take a chance on him. His chances gets better if he makes the U-18 WC team which can happen if keeps playing well. Even if he doesn't make the team I'd like to see Caps drafting him in later rounds. Mäntykivi is playing in quite a bad U-20 team so it's possible that many teams ignore him because of that (a Mike Green effect). He played last night only 4+ minutes, had one good scoring chance and got one PP for his team. He looked sometimes out of place and got outplayed by stronger opponents, but IMO he also showed some of his offensive skills in couple of plays. It's interesting to see if he gets more games as Santeri Virtanen is heading to U20 WJC's and there's lots of injuries in Saipa at the moment.

I haven't followed next summer's draftees much so don't know who could slip to Caps. I'd like to see them drafting a center and if possible maybe prefer to get a North American center.

 

[Langway]

I know Mäntykivi isn't a top prospect, but I'm hoping that he gets drafted and it's Caps who take a chance on him. His chances gets better if he makes the U-18 WC team which can happen if keeps playing well. Even if he doesn't make the team I'd like to see Caps drafting him in later rounds. Mäntykivi is playing in quite a bad U-20 team so it's possible that many teams ignore him because of that (a Mike Green effect). He played last night only 4+ minutes, had one good scoring chance and got one PP for his team. He looked sometimes out of place and got outplayed by stronger opponents, but IMO he also showed some of his offensive skills in couple of plays. It's interesting to see if he gets more games as Santeri Virtanen is heading to U20 WJC's and there's lots of injuries in Saipa at the moment.

I haven't followed next summer's draftees much so don't know who could slip to Caps. I'd like to see them drafting a center and if possible maybe prefer to get a North American center.

Yeah, hopefully he does get the exposure of the U18s in the spring. I see SaiPa is a playoff team (?) so that could also help (or possibly impact his U18 availability should he gain a real foothold with the big club).

There are a couple of American centers that could maybe push for the first round in Beecher & Farinacci. There are a couple of other Russian centers worth mentioning in Alexeyev's teammate in Red Deer, Oleg Zaitsev, and Ilya Nikolayev that could also interest them. There are a lot of Swedish defensemen once again that could be in the mix as well. It's still super early to really hone in on and separate players but it looks like it should track to at least be a fair back-end of the first round. Maybe not loaded overall but that really depends on how strongly players finish.

 

[Sam Spade]

And so endeth the saga.

 

[Sam Spade]

Watching the Bolts/Leafs game, and Vasilevskiy going insane, I couldn't help but think of this thread and how the player Samsanov is most compared with is Andrei Vasilevskiy.

I also remember how he backed up Bishop for two seasons then took the job and hasn't looked back.

#patience

 

[traparatus]

Watching the Bolts/Leafs game, and Vasilevskiy going insane, I couldn't help but think of this thread and how the player Samsanov is most compared with is Andrei Vasilevskiy.

I also remember how he backed up Bishop for two seasons then took the job and hasn't looked back.

#patience

I wish Holtby's contract didn't expire after next season. Life would be a lot easier if he was signed through 20-21.

 

[Langway]

The problem with patience is diminishing ELC value. It's fine to stand by believed ultimate upside but ELC value is in large part why point producing skaters should populate the top of boards. Perceived ELC value maybe should outright influence The Board itself per se but if it's a close call in a head-to-head scenario? It probably should. It's one thing to project a player to be best in their prime but sacrificing value whether it's due to being blocked at a position or just taking longer to develop has to be part of the calculus involved. It shouldn't be so compartmentalized where the overall shortcomings of the scouting staff is cleared out via the front office making trades to straighten out excess areas amassed. I get maybe mastering in certain areas/positions and exploiting those evaluative strengths but I don't think they've quite reached that level. They're good. They get hits. They'll likely be able to move some of their defensemen the next few years but they're also fortunate to go four drafts without taking a forward in the first round without it negatively impacting the parent roster, esp. with Burakovsky not really panning out. (This has also given him a longer leash than he otherwise would and probably should have gotten to everyone in the org's detriment.)

 

[Hivemind]

My concern with patience is Holtby's contract. Signing him to a new contract could end up being something that the Capitals regret, as the success rate of long-term goalie contracts tends to be pretty low. Holtby's contract status is basically going to force the team to part ways with Copley and shoehorn Samsonov into the back-up role next season in order to assess his NHL readiness.

Watching the Bolts/Leafs game, and Vasilevskiy going insane, I couldn't help but think of this thread and how the player Samsanov is most compared with is Andrei Vasilevskiy.

I also remember how he backed up Bishop for two seasons then took the job and hasn't looked back.

#patience

A lot of the Vasya comparisons are because of lazy comparisons across countrymen. Russians get compared with Russians. Swedes with Swedes. Etc.

Heck, if I were to compare Samsonov to another Russian goaltender, he reminds me more of young Varlamov than he does of Vasya. Great lateral mobility and "gumby" potential, but still has to work on positioning/reading the play to avoid over-movement in the crease. Could also stand to improve rebound control. Varlamov got a lot better about this once he started working with Francois Allaire.

 

[Tomppav]

Yeah, hopefully he does get the exposure of the U18s in the spring. I see SaiPa is a playoff team (?) so that could also help (or possibly impact his U18 availability should he gain a real foothold with the big club).

He played his 2nd game today and scored his 1st pro career goal in an ugly 7-2 loss. You can find the highlights video from his thread, I posted it there.

 

[Langway]

He played his 2nd game today and scored his 1st pro career goal in an ugly 7-2 loss. You can find the highlights video from his thread, I posted it there.

Thanks.

Alexeyev back in the lineup for Red Deer. High-sticked and bloodied by the sounds of it but operational.

 

[Sam Spade]

My concern with patience is Holtby's contract. Signing him to a new contract could end up being something that the Capitals regret, as the success rate of long-term goalie contracts tends to be pretty low. Holtby's contract status is basically going to force the team to part ways with Copley and shoehorn Samsonov into the back-up role next season in order to assess his NHL readiness.

MacClellen has shown he won't live in the past and can be a cut throat mother (Johnasson, Alzner, Williams, Orpik, Trotz), I don't think Holtby gets another contract from the Caps. Samsanov will be given the net in 2020.

 

[Langway]

MacClellen has shown he won't live in the past and can be a cut throat mother (Johnasson, Alzner, Williams, Orpik, Trotz), I don't think Holtby gets another contract from the Caps. Samsanov will be given the net in 2020.

If, and it's a big if, he has full confidence in him to seamlessly be capable of taking over. There's a long way to go on that front.

 

[SoulessGingerCapsFan]

If, and it's a big if, he has full confidence in him to seamlessly be capable of taking over. There's a long way to go on that front.

Dude can’t stop a beach ball with a broomstick right now. I’m hoping it’s just growing pains, but I think 2020 is wayyy to early to just give him the net

 

[4thTierSport]

What’s stupid about it? He’s been horrible so far in NA

Culture and game are two huge adjustments. I believe Hershey is pretty light on Euros and Russians this year too. Not to mention Hershey is a hot mess. Holtby, Varly and Nuevy were all over the place. Hell, Holtby had a decent chunck of ECHL time and was pretty questionable at first.

 

[twabby]

And don't goalies always say it takes them a while to get used to smaller ice? It messes with their positioning and angles when the rink suddenly looks different after years of training on a bigger sheet of ice.

 

[kicksavedave]

MacClellen has shown he won't live in the past and can be a cut throat mother (Johnasson, Alzner, Williams, Orpik, Trotz), I don't think Holtby gets another contract from the Caps. Samsanov will be given the net in 2020.

Not disagreeing entirely here, but I would not be surprised to see Copley take over until Sammy beats him out. I like what I see from Copley in his first 10 or so games. I think he can grow into a solid starter some day. And if Holts does one of his nose dives again, we may find out sooner than later.

 

[Sam Spade]

Not disagreeing entirely here, but I would not be surprised to see Copley take over until Sammy beats him out. I like what I see from Copley in his first 10 or so games. I think he can grow into a solid starter some day. And if Holts does one of his nose dives again, we may find out sooner than later.

And I wouldn't have any problem with Copley as a placeholder for Samsanov.

 

[Hivemind]

Dude can’t stop a beach ball with a broomstick right now. I’m hoping it’s just growing pains, but I think 2020 is wayyy to early to just give him the net

Reminder that Carter Hart was barely sporting a .900sv% and had a GAA over 3.00 before his call-up to the NHL. AHL goaltending stats are not to be taken seriously when evaluating a goalie prospect.

Not disagreeing entirely here, but I would not be surprised to see Copley take over until Sammy beats him out. I like what I see from Copley in his first 10 or so games. I think he can grow into a solid starter some day. And if Holts does one of his nose dives again, we may find out sooner than later.

Remember that Copley is already 26 years old (older than guys like Vasya, Hellebuyck, Murray, and Gibson). While he may be an NHL rookie, he's already fairly seasoned professionally. While goaltenders do often blossom at a later age than other positions and there are instances of career back-ups breaking through on new teams (Carter Hutton comes to mind). But if Copley is going to become an NHL starter, more than likely he's going to need to do so sooner rather than later.

 

[Melkor]

Another terrible game for Samsonov. The guy just can't catch a break.

 

[Langway]

Look at that Hershey defense, though: Cliff Watson, Ryan Sproul, Colby Williams, Aaron Ness, Joey Leach & Steve Johnson.

 

[Melkor]

I mean I get that, the defense is an ahl tryout level but to sport a SV% of 85-86% through 15 or so games is reeaaal bad . He has to pick it up one way or another. At least not giving up 4+ goals a game would be a good start.

 

[searle]

I mean I get that, the defense is an ahl tryout level but to sport a SV% of 85-86% through 15 or so games is reeaaal bad . He has to pick it up one way or another. At least not giving up 4+ goals a game would be a good start.

Can almost see him getting a call up and a game just to give him a confidence boost, has been fed to the wolves in his first year in NA