Could another coach get more offense out of our horses?

[tarheelhockey]

So, is it time to give up the ghost and finally let Estaal walk? Does anyone think even if he would sign for a discount, that he would keep the team from moving forward on some level?

I think the answer to that question is in the "big picture" conversations he had with Francis earlier this summer -- and none of us are privy to the content of those discussions.

 

[RodTheBawd]

Sadly, I think only our 4th line successfully executes Peters' "system", whatever people want to believe it to be (Terry looks terrible on that line, btw).

 

[Navin R Slavin]

If you want to look at our players from a value standpoint would it not be better to lose 4 to 5 than 1 to 2? That way we could sell Staal as a 70 pt player at deadline rather than a 50 pt player? If we decided to move Skins, and I'm not advocating it, we would get a ton more for a 24 yr old 30g scorer than what he is currently achieving.

I am interested in your ideas and wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

 

[RodTheBawd]

"4 to 5" and "1 to 2" really bother me.

 

[the halleJOKEL]

Yup. With better defensive players and goaltending, you can put more pressure on them and count on them to be able to handle it. If you put that same kind of pressure on our D, it would most likely implode spectacularly. We're playing a defensive system to mitigate our weakness there- in a few years, with Faulk/Hanifin/Fluery all up to speed, we'll be able to take all sorts of offensive risks and trust them to handle the fallout, but right now Faulk is really the only one I'd really trust putting under that kind of load.

what do you think you are doing providing reasons for optimism in an online forums posting

 

[Carolinas Identity*]

I am interested in your ideas and wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

OT, but are you on chess.com as well? I'm already friends w/ Dave, would love to play you sometime as well

Get to see Hank's Gambit live and in the flesh, even though that terrifies me like you wouldn't believe

 

[Blueline Bomber]

If you want to look at our players from a value standpoint would it not be better to lose 4 to 5 than 1 to 2? That way we could sell Staal as a 70 pt player at deadline rather than a 50 pt player? If we decided to move Skins, and I'm not advocating it, we would get a ton more for a 24 yr old 30g scorer than what he is currently achieving.

While that's true, another way to look at it is that our strength in terms of prospects is in on the back end, and its probably better for them not to be on the wrong end of 5-4 scores every night.

 

[nobuddy]

I am growing extremely skeptical of Peters' ability to properly coach an offensive system. He said a lot in training camp about opening up the system a little bit to be more tailored to generating offense, but I just haven't seen it. Are the percentages unlucky? Yes. Are we also failing miserably to create high danger scoring chances both on the cycle and off the rush? You bet.

The team scored more under Muller with roughly the same personnel and more aggressive tactics. The Tlusty-Staal-Semin line didn't fail under Peters because Semin was lazy, it failed because Peters got away from the aggressive 1-2-2 forecheck that made them great to begin with.

Peters has tightened up the defense nicely but that means jack all when the goaltending has been as bad as it has been under him. Whoever it was who made the comment about Peters' system being very much geared toward a low-talent WHL team grinding out a championship was spot on, I think.

 

[AD Skinner]

Good thing he's got a low-talent NHL team to work with

 

[nobuddy]

Good thing he's got a low-talent NHL team to work with

Muller had pretty much the same damn team, man.

 

[HisIceness]

I would not miss Eric Staal if he left. I for one have grown quite tired watching him getting paid like he is playing like he is. Said it before, but this guy could have been a top ten player in this league easily and hell even could have been today, 31 is not "old" despite what some people think. But he seems content with his career and frankly I think cutting ties w/ him would be a good thing for both parties.

 

[VAcaniac]

Why do we even want to score? #1 pick FTW

On the bright side, we're not Anaheim (I guess anyway). Talk about a team that isn't getting crap out of a lot of talent.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

OT, but are you on chess.com as well? I'm already friends w/ Dave, would love to play you sometime as well

Get to see Hank's Gambit live and in the flesh, even though that terrifies me like you wouldn't believe

I don't play chess. I used to play chess, but Dave cured me of that. It's a nasty, nasty little habit.

(login == gregdek)

 

[Navin R Slavin]

And seriously: why is this even a conversation?

This team is starting an 18-year-old defenseman, and he's the second-best defenseman on the team right now. Yes, that speaks to his talent -- but it also speaks to the fact that our roster is full of guys like Michal Jordan and John-Michael Liles.

The system is defense first. Step one: fill the pipeline with players that can actually defend at the NHL level. We're still in the middle of step one. Why are we even talking about step two?

Did we think this team got more talented in the off-season? No one seriously thought that, did they? Everyone was "cautiously optimistic," sure, but now that we see the reality, are we really that surprised?

We've got a lot of bills to pay before we've got a team that can contend year-in and year-out. Sure, it sucks that we're likely going to be out of it by New Year's Day again, but at least there's no question about what happens at the trade deadline. We're sellers. We're going to get more assets to work with.

In the meantime, look for silver linings, and watch more Checkers games.

 

[Joe McGrath]

Is there any chance a 51 point pace Versteeg fetches a 2nd from a contender at the deadline? Perhaps Chicago with salary retained?

 

[RodTheBawd]

Is there any chance a 51 point pace Versteeg fetches a 2nd from a contender at the deadline? Perhaps Chicago with salary retained?

Easily. Possibly without retention depending on the team.

 

[Cane mutiny]

I think the answer to that question is in the "big picture" conversations he had with Francis earlier this summer -- and none of us are privy to the content of those discussions.

Well in a way we don't need to be. He almost never gives post game interviews and he is his image is rarely pictured on the website anymore. It seems the face of the Canes is shifting, maybe for a reason.