Defense, goaltending main strengths for Tampa Bay Lightning

[HF Article]

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It seems that, as a general manager, Steve Yzerman can do no wrong. In his first year as the Tampa Bay Lightning's GM, Yzerman made a number of shrewd moves that helped put the team into the playoffs, and while they finished outside of the playoffs this past season, Yzerman has continued to build a winning system.



Not only did the Lightning's AHL affiliate, then the Norfolk Admirals, win the 2012 Calder Cup, but several prospects took steps forward in their development, and Yzerman also added promising goaltender Andrey Vasilevskiy and sturdy defender Slater Koekkoek in the first round of last June's draft.… read more



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[TheDaysOf 04]

Finally, 2010 fourth round pick Geoff Schemitsch has been a vital part of the Oshawa Generals, having scored three goals and adding 15 assists. It is however his overage year.

Who?

At the NCAA level, it does not appear that the Lightning have much in either Luke Witkowski or Kirill Gotovets. Witkowski is in his senior year with Western Michigan University and has three assists in 12 game. Gotovets meanwhile has been held pointless in the first nine games of his junior year with Cornell University. It is unlikely that either player signs an NHL contract.

what?

Evan Oberg is the only other defender of note playing for Syracuse.

Korobov maybe?

Gusev has yet to cement a roster spot in the KHL, has been scoring at near a point-per-game Russia's second tier league, the VHL.

For CSKA, sure, but that doesn't seem to be an issue since he was traded to Khabarovsk. He's been playing a lot there.

http://www.hockeysfuture.com/articl...sive-group-of-prospects-with-elite-potential/

Weaknesses: The Lightning's prospect pool could use more depth at center, and there are no true goal-scorers in the pipeline either. There is a steep drop-off in talent on defense behind Mark Barberio and the 2012 picks.

Wait I thought Defense was suppose to be a strength? Title above says strength right? And Johnson (lead the WHL in goals in 2011 + leads the AHL in goals now) and Conacher (lead the AHL in goals last season) aren't true goal-scorers? How about Kucherov? Scored what....a goal a game last season, plus the best goal scorer at the U-18s, and Super Series a year ago? Huh?

The club also made Andrey Vasilevskiy the first goaltender taken in the draft, adding a blue-chipper to a position that had grown weak.

Weak? Weak? Janus, Tokarski, Wilcox, and Helenius is weak? And again above says strength. Am I missing something?

 

[SemireliableSource]

I mean I would ask if they even try but it's so obvious that they don't. I could write a better article just looking at stats and watching 5 seconds of a YouTube video about cats.

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

I mean I would ask if they even try but it's so obvious that they don't. I could write a better article just looking at stats and watching 5 seconds of a YouTube video about cats.

_________, a ____ round pick has _____ goals and _________ points this season for________. He looks comfortable.

 

[Yzlamic Preacher*]

I mean I would ask if they even try but it's so obvious that they don't. I could write a better article just looking at stats and watching 5 seconds of a YouTube video about cats.

I for one would read that article. It couldn't be worse than the written vomit I just read by HF writers. Better yet why don't we get Canuck, Leafs, Oilers, Flyers, and Habs fans to write an "accurate" assessment of our prospects.

EDIT: TIL Chris Roberts knows as much about hockey as Donald Fehr

 

[Felonious Python]

A list of stats, in word form.

Saying Jaroslav Janus was 'loaned' is a bit of misnomer, if by loaned they mean 'signed a two-year contract with that team' then they'd be right.

and we don't even have the rights to Geoffrey Schemitsch anymore.

http://www.boltprospects.com/content/janosik-schemitsch-re-enter-draft

 

[Yzlamic Preacher*]

A list of stats, in word form.

Saying Jaroslav Janus was 'loaned' is a bit of misnomer, if by loaned they mean 'signed a two-year contract with that team' then they'd be right.

and we don't even have the rights to Geoffrey Schemitsch anymore.

http://www.boltprospects.com/content/janosik-schemitsch-re-enter-draft

These articles are like pulling teeth friend.

 

[The Hockey Hitman]

I can appreciate someones attempt at writing a piece for our prospects. I know its not as "easy" task by any means. In an article like this though, its really important to check your facts. There are many of us here who know a lot about our prospects, most of which I'm sure would be willing to lend some insight. Consult with us, break bread with us...most of us dont bite(very hard).

It should be about producing a factual, quality article that best represents our prospect system, which has literally never been stronger in our 20+ year history than it is today.

No offense is meant by my post, really, just being honest. Kudos for mentioning Wilcox's great season so far.

 

[Jacko95]

It's the same thing, why so many people think Tampa is no way near a top ten prospect pool ( just look at the rankings thread), but to be honest how many other teams have 5 forwards, who fight for a roster spot when ever they sart playing some hockey. And that excludes Brett Conolly.

Which other team has 5 Goalie prospects that all play pretty great in their league?

How many teams have 3 prospects fighting for an NHL spot in the next camp (excluding Aulie and Taormina)
The only thing we lack right now is the sure fire superstar prospect.

I think our pool is one of the deepest in the league right now , but somehow everybody is ignoring us.

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

I think as an outsider when you look at our group you see Johnson, Conacher, and Brown are all free agent signings and Janus, Tic, Palat, and Barberio are late round picks. There's not a lot of 1st rounders. Koekkoek, Vasilevski, and Namestnikov are the only ones. I think people have a problem with placing too much importance on when/where a player was drafted. Why else would HF have Blujus in their top 10 over Cory Conacher and Tyler Johnson? Look here and see who they mention. Koekkoek, Vasilevski, Blujus, Namestnikov, and Panik. The only 1st and 2nd rounders in our pool. (plus Kucherov) It's the reason they don't acknowledge guys like Peca for his amazing 39 points in 39 games during his freshman year. Kid didn't have a profile made until the end of the year. Looks like the same thing has happened to Korobov now with no mention above. Kid plays top line duties in the WC, had a spot in Minsk for a few seasons in the KHL, and is doing quite well now in N.A. Nothing though. Although this could also be laziness to not actually care to look or follow what's happening here.

I think that's a shame for a website that claims to be "the #1 online prospects resource." They do a nice job with info on players yet to be drafted, but when it comes to NHL teams, it's not even close. And when it comes to the Lightning, it's laughable. Painfully so. There will be things we never agree on like player grades and the placement of the players on their lists which is understandable, but get the facts down. The plain facts have been what has lost you your credibility on this board. It's not that hard to see who has a contract and who doesn't, or even what our logo looks like. Other teams have writers who discuss and post about this stuff on their forum and write monthly articles. We only see stuff when HF is forced to include us as part of a HF feature where they do one for each team. And we see no response from them here on our board.

Why even write these reports anymore? What is the point? They obviously don't care what we think, but then again maybe these clearly aren't for lightning fans to enjoy. The days of them attempting to write insightful articles is pretty much done here by the looks of this latest piece. Now it's just a rehash of stats. It's frustrating they don't care. A place called Hockey's Future that specializes on NHL prospects should care about their work enough to hold themselves to a higher standard. There's no attempt to provide the people on the other side here at HFBoards with something worth reading.

I know my rants and critiques of their reports over the years fall on deaf ears, but I hope someday they come here and see what's going on. Their stuff was originally what led me to this forum. Thankfully there will always be BoltProspects.

 

[ThunderAlleyNomad]

I know my rants and critiques of their reports over the years fall on deaf ears, but I hope someday they come here and see what's going on. Their stuff was originally what led me to this forum. Thankfully there will always be BoltProspects.

Amen. Actually, wasn't BP created specifically because of this kind of thing?

Whatever, they do a bang up job.

 

[Yzlamic Preacher*]

I think as an outsider when you look at our group you see Johnson, Conacher, and Brown are all free agent signings and Janus, Tic, Palat, and Barberio are late round picks. There's not a lot of 1st rounders. Koekkoek, Vasilevski, and Namestnikov are the only ones. I think people have a problem with placing too much importance on when/where a player was drafted. Why else would HF have Blujus in their top 10 over Cory Conacher and Tyler Johnson? Look here and see who they mention. Koekkoek, Vasilevski, Blujus, Namestnikov, and Panik. The only 1st and 2nd rounders in our pool. (plus Kucherov) It's the reason they don't acknowledge guys like Peca for his amazing 39 points in 39 games during his freshman year. Kid didn't have a profile made until the end of the year. Looks like the same thing has happened to Korobov now with no mention above. Kid plays top line duties in the WC, had a spot in Minsk for a few seasons in the KHL, and is doing quite well now in N.A. Nothing though. Although this could also be laziness to not actually care to look or follow what's happening here.

I think that's a shame for a website that claims to be "the #1 online prospects resource." They do a nice job with info on players yet to be drafted, but when it comes to NHL teams, it's not even close. And when it comes to the Lightning, it's laughable. Painfully so. There will be things we never agree on like player grades and the placement of the players on their lists which is understandable, but get the facts down. The plain facts have been what has lost you your credibility on this board. It's not that hard to see who has a contract and who doesn't, or even what our logo looks like. Other teams have writers who discuss and post about this stuff on their forum and write monthly articles. We only see stuff when HF is forced to include us as part of a HF feature where they do one for each team. And we see no response from them here on our board.

Why even write these reports anymore? What is the point? They obviously don't care what we think, but then again maybe these clearly aren't for lightning fans to enjoy. The days of them attempting to write insightful articles is pretty much done here by the looks of this latest piece. Now it's just a rehash of stats. It's frustrating they don't care. A place called Hockey's Future that specializes on NHL prospects should care about their work enough to hold themselves to a higher standard. There's no attempt to provide the people on the other side here at HFBoards with something worth reading.

I know my rants and critiques of their reports over the years fall on deaf ears, but I hope someday they come here and see what's going on. Their stuff was originally what led me to this forum. Thankfully there will always be BoltProspects.

A'****ing'Men. DAYS FOR PRESIDENT! 2016!

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

Amen. Actually, wasn't BP created specifically because of this kind of thing?

Whatever, they do a bang up job.

yep

http://boltprospects.com/content/cleaning-hockeys-future

Part of the reason BoltProspects was founded was that we felt fans were getting poor information from Hockey's Future and there needed to be some other outlet to keep you accountable. At the risk of giving you something that could be interpreted as praise, which we're loathe to do, there's been improvement over the years. But, this last round of rankings is the worst I've seen since about 2005 and is a huge step backwards and the team page on Hockey's Future just continues to get worse with its lack of updates and corrected information. When people Google the name of a Lightning prospect, the links to both our websites come up toward the top in the search, and we're never pleased if your link has incorrect information. We want Lightning fans to be the best informed fans in the NHL about their prospects, and because we can't force everyone who hops on the internet to come here, we have to push other major websites like Hockey's Future to improve their quality, too, if we're going to meet that goal.

 

[Felonious Python]

The question I always ask myself is, 'what's in it for them?'

Why would someone write crap articles? Would they think they're crap articles?

If HF writers are doing this for personal advancement, it's exactly because they don't do their research or write anything in less than quantities of 30 that I think they won't likely be moving up.

I've found several impressive people on HFBoards. People who I think could find themselves gainful employment in professional hockey in a variety of areas. I can't say the same for HF itself.

The fact that HF has a hard time identifying talent, or a lazy approach, for their own purposes is indicative of the job they'll do with judging prospects.

 

[Vasilevskiy]

I think as an outsider when you look at our group you see Johnson, Conacher, and Brown are all free agent signings and Janus, Tic, Palat, and Barberio are late round picks. There's not a lot of 1st rounders. Koekkoek, Vasilevski, and Namestnikov are the only ones. I think people have a problem with placing too much importance on when/where a player was drafted. Why else would HF have Blujus in their top 10 over Cory Conacher and Tyler Johnson? Look here and see who they mention. Koekkoek, Vasilevski, Blujus, Namestnikov, and Panik. The only 1st and 2nd rounders in our pool. (plus Kucherov) It's the reason they don't acknowledge guys like Peca for his amazing 39 points in 39 games during his freshman year. Kid didn't have a profile made until the end of the year. Looks like the same thing has happened to Korobov now with no mention above. Kid plays top line duties in the WC, had a spot in Minsk for a few seasons in the KHL, and is doing quite well now in N.A. Nothing though. Although this could also be laziness to not actually care to look or follow what's happening here.

I think that's a shame for a website that claims to be "the #1 online prospects resource." They do a nice job with info on players yet to be drafted, but when it comes to NHL teams, it's not even close. And when it comes to the Lightning, it's laughable. Painfully so. There will be things we never agree on like player grades and the placement of the players on their lists which is understandable, but get the facts down. The plain facts have been what has lost you your credibility on this board. It's not that hard to see who has a contract and who doesn't, or even what our logo looks like. Other teams have writers who discuss and post about this stuff on their forum and write monthly articles. We only see stuff when HF is forced to include us as part of a HF feature where they do one for each team. And we see no response from them here on our board.

Why even write these reports anymore? What is the point? They obviously don't care what we think, but then again maybe these clearly aren't for lightning fans to enjoy. The days of them attempting to write insightful articles is pretty much done here by the looks of this latest piece. Now it's just a rehash of stats. It's frustrating they don't care. A place called Hockey's Future that specializes on NHL prospects should care about their work enough to hold themselves to a higher standard. There's no attempt to provide the people on the other side here at HFBoards with something worth reading.

I know my rants and critiques of their reports over the years fall on deaf ears, but I hope someday they come here and see what's going on. Their stuff was originally what led me to this forum. Thankfully there will always be BoltProspects.