Player Discussion: Erik Cernak

[42]

So?

Losing your stuff is bad

 

[Shoresy Snipes]

So?

I'll take "Poor Asset Management" for a $1000 Alex.

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

 

[BowDownToVasilevskiy]

First career fight for Cernak tonight. Still needs to get his first career goal

 

[DFC]

He and Paquette turned the physical tide tonight.

 

[LightningStrikes]

 

[DFC]

Decision goes to Cernak.

I love his skillset for a depth D. It's not so much like he's a generic player who can block the odd shot, but he's like a poor man's top-2 defender. Skates really well for his size, knows how to use his size, sticks up for teammates, handles the puck better than expected. He lacks a little something offensively, but that's about all that separates him from being in a higher tier. I'm fine with that.

Was he playing with Hedman more last night? Or did I keep noticing them together mid-line change?

 

[VoluntaryDom]

What I’ve noticed is that he’s a good shot blocker but not in the Dan Girardi “dive in the lane and block it at all costs” way. He’s very good at just subtly tipping shots wide with his stick.

 

[VoluntaryDom]

Decision goes to Cernak.

I love his skillset for a depth D. It's not so much like he's a generic player who can block the odd shot, but he's like a poor man's top-2 defender. Skates really well for his size, knows how to use his size, sticks up for teammates, handles the puck better than expected. He lacks a little something offensively, but that's about all that separates him from being in a higher tier. I'm fine with that.

Was he playing with Hedman more last night? Or did I keep noticing them together mid-line change?

I think they played some shifts together. I didn’t see as much Girardi as usual this game.

 

[Sky04]

Decision goes to Cernak.

I love his skillset for a depth D. It's not so much like he's a generic player who can block the odd shot, but he's like a poor man's top-2 defender. Skates really well for his size, knows how to use his size, sticks up for teammates, handles the puck better than expected. He lacks a little something offensively, but that's about all that separates him from being in a higher tier. I'm fine with that.

Was he playing with Hedman more last night? Or did I keep noticing them together mid-line change?

The biggest difference between him and other young big defenseman we've had (Sustr, Hedman) is that he pins guys along the boards, the guy imposes his size which was one of the biggest issues with Hedman when he was younger. How can you be 6'6 and play a stick checking game. Cernak will pin one of the better forwards and take him out of the play, his physical game is outweighing anything he needs to do offensively.

 

[42]

Cernak needs to stay. If that means sitting Girardi then so be it. He provides a physical aspect without hurting the team by taking dumb penalties that no other dman has. He's also jelled nicely with McD and has earned Cooper's trust. The team is better with him in the lineup.

 

[CupsOverCash]

Cernak needs to stay. If that means sitting Girardi then so be it. He provides a physical aspect without hurting the team by taking dumb penalties that no other dman has. He's also jelled nicely with McD and has earned Cooper's trust. The team is better with him in the lineup.

Agree he doesnt need to go back down. What do we do when Stralman gets back though? Im not against trading Koekkoek but we might need him to start next year.

 

[42]

Agree he doesnt need to go back down. What do we do when Stralman gets back though? Im not against trading Koekkoek but we might need him to start next year.

Chances Koekkoek clears waivers?

 

[CupsOverCash]

Chances Koekkoek clears waivers?

None. Former 1st round pick D on a small cap hit. Still young. Honestly kind of want to trade Girardi but hes got a ntc and is well liked in the locker room. Maybe we just trade Koekkoek.

 

[The Macho King]

Chances Koekkoek clears waivers?

Someone would take a flyer on him. He wouldn't clear.

 

[Werewolf]

We don’t need to trade anyone, or am I mistaken. We can carry 2 extra D on the big club. For me best scenario would be to rotate Coburn, Girardi, Koekkoek, and Cernak. We can even rotate Sergachev and give some PP2 to McDonagh ... keep everyone fresh. Only ones that don’t come out are Hedman, Stralman and McDonagh.

 

[The Macho King]

We don’t need to trade anyone, or am I mistaken. We can carry 2 extra D on the big club. For me best scenario would be to rotate Coburn, Girardi, Koekkoek, and Cernak. We can even rotate Sergachev and give some PP2 to McDonagh ... keep everyone fresh. Only ones that don’t come out are Hedman, Stralman and McDonagh.

Oh yeah we only have one extra forward. You're right.

Potential downside - we have about 1.8m in cap space. Point is going to hit his bonuses (but he doesn't have that many because 3rd rounders get shitty ELCs). Cirelli and Joseph will probably hit at least some of their bonuses. With all of them, that may eat up up to 600k of our 1.8m (overages from bonuses carry into next season, which we don't want obviously).

That leaves 1.2m (conservatively). Sergachev has about 900k in potential bonuses. It's doubtful he maxes out, but he'll probably eat up another 500-750k. That leaves 300k, with us also having Cernak's ~200k in potential bonuses.

So it ends up being pretty close. If everyone maxes out their bonuses, it leaves us 100k this season (even on daily cap hits that leaves us with next to zero room for a rental if they feel the need to grab one).

 

[CupsOverCash]

We don’t need to trade anyone, or am I mistaken. We can carry 2 extra D on the big club. For me best scenario would be to rotate Coburn, Girardi, Koekkoek, and Cernak. We can even rotate Sergachev and give some PP2 to McDonagh ... keep everyone fresh. Only ones that don’t come out are Hedman, Stralman and McDonagh.

Didnt know we could do that. Thanks for the info!

 

[TampaJay]

We don’t need to trade anyone, or am I mistaken. We can carry 2 extra D on the big club. For me best scenario would be to rotate Coburn, Girardi, Koekkoek, and Cernak. We can even rotate Sergachev and give some PP2 to McDonagh ... keep everyone fresh. Only ones that don’t come out are Hedman, Stralman and McDonagh.

Answer: Partially mistaken. We don’t need to trade anyone but someone needs to be moved. We currently have 14 forwards and 7 Dmen on the roster. Martel and Erne are healthy scratches/not IR aren’t they? If Cernak stays up when Stralman comes off IR, if there isn’t a trade then they need to send someone down. Erne and KK won’t clear waivers and if Martel doesn’t, so what. Seems like the clear choice. I like the rotation plan. Lose Martel and rotate the D.

 

[The Macho King]

Answer: Partially mistaken. We don’t need to trade anyone but someone needs to be moved. We currently have 14 forwards and 7 Dmen on the roster. Martel and Erne are healthy scratches/not IR aren’t they? If Cernak stays up when Stralman comes off IR, if there isn’t a trade then they need to send someone down. Erne and KK won’t clear waivers and if Martel doesn’t, so what. Seems like the clear choice. I like the rotation plan. Lose Martel and rotate the D.

I forgot about Erne...

 

[VinikToWinIt]

I forgot about Erne...

So did Cooper.

 

[God King Fudge]

Gonna be real tough to justify sitting him when Stralman comes back. I wouldn't be oppposed to rotating guys like Girardi, Stralman, Coburn to keep them a bit fresher and to keep Cernak playing. If he's with TB, he needs to be on the ice. No reason to have him on the bench when he could be logging #1 minutes with Syracuse.

 

[waterboy65]

After how well Cernak has performed, not sure going back to the Crunch even as #1 Dman will be all that beneficial- we dont need him to be a scoring Dman for this year. You just cant reproduce NHL level speed down there. Even if Cernak rotates in only one out of every 3 games but continues to practice and learn from fellow NHLers, I think it serves him better for his development. Injuries will come and he will find a way into the line-up regularly!

 

[LTIR Trickery]

Decision goes to Cernak.

I love his skillset for a depth D. It's not so much like he's a generic player who can block the odd shot, but he's like a poor man's top-2 defender. Skates really well for his size, knows how to use his size, sticks up for teammates, handles the puck better than expected. He lacks a little something offensively, but that's about all that separates him from being in a higher tier. I'm fine with that.

Was he playing with Hedman more last night? Or did I keep noticing them together mid-line change?

He is like a younger, less polished Stralman and that isn't bad.

 

[LTIR Trickery]

Gonna be real tough to justify sitting him when Stralman comes back. I wouldn't be oppposed to rotating guys like Girardi, Stralman, Coburn to keep them a bit fresher and to keep Cernak playing. If he's with TB, he needs to be on the ice. No reason to have him on the bench when he could be logging #1 minutes with Syracuse.

Its funny you say this, too, because i'm guessing this will be the plan. Keeping those three healthy and sharp down the stretch was a focus at the start of the year.