First impressions of new additions?

[jetsforever]

JETS:

Laine - Excellent, still adjusting a bit but he definitely fits in the NHL and has been one of our better players

Matthias - Not great, not terrible - fine for 3rd/4th line

Connor - Showing great flashes but also clearly new to NHL; AHL time may be beneficial

Morrissey - Surprisingly one of our best defencemen, he's playing great

Tanev - Great speed, not scoring but looks good on 4th line

 

[Wabit]

For the Wild:
Staal has been great. Fast, 2-way, killing the draws, scoring, etc.

Stewart has been up and down, but his teammates love him, and I can see why, and he is producing.

Pulkkinen, well he scored a goal, and has been decent. Good depth signing for now. The Wild as a team are in a state of flux, so he may yet find his niche. He doesn't get a lot of ice time at present.


Ex-Wild, am happy to see Vanek have success. He had flashes of brilliance, and was not a Yeo kind of guy - think he would have done great in Boudreau's system.

You forgot to add Boudreau and Stevens as coaches. Those two are as big of signings as any of the players.

JEE if you count rookies (and he sticks for more than 9 games). Looked good so far in his 3 games.

Agree on Staal. Stewie even in his up and down is an improvement over the 4th line we had last year. Big plus for adding some emotion to the team of Yoebots.

 

[Joe Sakic]

Colborne - His scoring has indeed been streaky as advertised. Hat trick the first game of the season, I don't think he's scored a goal since (or maybe 1?). Although I do love his net front presence. Something this team has for some reason been lacking in very heavily the past few years. I also like his size and board battling ability.

G. Bourque - Better than expected. Fine bottom 6 player for us so far. Plays with a lot of hustle and has a tenacious forecheck.

R. Bourque - Also better than expected. He has been producing offensively and plays a very steady, solid game for us. Should also ideally be used in the bottom 6.

Tyutin - Steady so far, I just hope he doesn't run out of gas as the season lags on. If he can maintain his play for us I will be happy.

Zadorov - I've liked what I have seen up to this point. He's had a few bad turnovers and can get caught out of position from time to time but for how young he is and the fact that he plays on our top pairing and against the other team's toughest competition I have been pleasantly surprised with him. He has been playing "wise beyond his years" so far, this may be a big development year for Zadorov.

Wiercioch - Plays well offensively. His biggest asset to us so far has been the ability to get shots through to the net, and he has been rewarded with points for it. Weak in the defensive zone imo. He fits in just fine (and plays well) on our bottom pairing.

 

[McFlyingV]

Colborne - His scoring has indeed been streaky as advertised. Hat trick the first game of the season, I don't think he's scored a goal since (or maybe 1?). Although I do love his net front presence. Something this team has for some reason been lacking in very heavily the past few years. I also like his size and board battling ability.

G. Bourque - Better than expected. Fine bottom 6 player for us so far. Plays with a lot of hustle and has a tenacious forecheck.

R. Bourque - Also better than expected. He has been producing offensively and plays a very steady, solid game for us. Should also ideally be used in the bottom 6.

Tyutin - Steady so far, I just hope he doesn't run out of gas as the season lags on. If he can maintain his play for us I will be happy.

Zadorov - I've liked what I have seen up to this point. He's had a few bad turnovers and can get caught out of position from time to time but for how young he is and the fact that he plays on our top pairing and against the other team's toughest competition I have been pleasantly surprised with him. He has been playing "wise beyond his years" so far, this may be a big development year for Zadorov.

Wiercioch - Plays well offensively. His biggest asset to us so far has been the ability to get shots through to the net, and he has been rewarded with points for it. Weak in the defensive zone imo. He fits in just fine (and plays well) on our bottom pairing.

You'll love him in the shootout. He's got some slick hands.

 

[BlueDream]

Blues:

Yakupov - pretty good. Very fast, and has obvious skill. Has shown solid chemistry with Berglund on the 3rd line and is fitting in well. Has a lot to learn but is showing the willingness and that's all we can ask for. He's been solid and it was a great trade to take a chance on.

Hutton - Decent backup. As advertised. Can't bail out Allen like Elliott could, but that's more Allen's fault than Hutton's so whatever.

Perron - Well we already knew Perron but he's really rounded out his game a lot more since his first stint in St. Louis. Much more complete player and has been very good, thus earning way more ice time from Hitchcock. Pleased with how he's turned out.

 

[M2Beezy]

Eriksson - F - No offense. Play dies on his stick. Lucky to get 4 pts in 7 games and he knows it more then anyone

Gubranson - D - Kinda physical and can clear the puck but cant make an offence to save his life PLUS takes dumb penalties and ices the puck constantly

Stretchy - Only one game which he was great but too early to tell

Larsen - D - Not much expected not much got. Classic #7 in a Benning #6 roll

Pretty crumby new group by a pretty crumby GM

 

[SLAPSHOT723]

Forgot to mention Seidenberg, who's been awesome.

 

[GellMann]

Kulikov - smooth skater, does things in the o-zone I haven't seen a Sabre defender do since Campbell. Our best defenseman so far. Not bad at all in his own zone. Better than I thought he'd be.

Okposo - Also better than I expected, was meh on his signing. Heavy game, smart passer, and not as slow as I feared he was.

 

[Bouboumaster]

Habs

Weber - Still mad about the trade, would have wish we kept Subban, but damn son. Weber is a total beast in his own right.

Radulov - A total beast. He works his ass like he's possessed. Heck, he might works even harder than freaking Gallagher. Not nearly as skilled as Kovalev, but his heart is like 10 times bigger.

Montoya - Great, great second goalie.

Shaw - Aside of the ******** thing he did in the pre-season, he's good. A great pest too.

 

[57special]

Staal - better than expected. We had low expectations.

Stewart - no stranger to us, so again low expectations. Very well liked...smallish team doesn't mind having him around.

Dalpe- ok for a fourth liner.

Ek- Good size, smart, good wheels, will only get stronger. Remains to be seen what his offensive upside is

Pulkkinen- has done nothing of note so far.

 

[kingsholygrail]

Teddy Purcell: Pretty much as he was when he was last here in LA, a bench warmer and a disappointment. Healthy scratch after two games.

 

[SladeWilson23]

Not one complaint from me yet.

 

[Lindys Lazy Eye]

Sharks:

-Schelemko has been an absolute revelation on the third pairing. He looks like a legit top 4 d-man, and his puck movement is a perfect compliment for Dillon.
-Boedkker- super fast, good hands, but soft on the puck. He hasn't yet fit in with the team. The sharks are trying to figure out a way to run three good lines, but Thornton-Pavelski, and Couture-Donskoi are the only things that look like long-term options in the top 9. Fitting in Marleau, Boedkker, Hertl, Ward, and eventually, Meier is the tough part.
-Aaron Dell is 1 for 1, so that's solid

-Also, Goldobin, Carpenter, Haley, Sorensen, and Labanc all could impact the roster at some point.

Thanks Ray...

 

[SladeWilson23]

Hall: No words. A++

Auvitu: People need to be talking about this guy, he's absolutely incredible. Instant top-4 defenseman with superb skating and offensive instincts. A

Zacha: Dynamic, smart, oozes skill, is immediately one of the top-3 forwards on the team. Would like to see him get his first goal soon. A-

Fiddler: Nice 4th liner, kinda bothers me he's getting put out onto the ice for literally every faceoff but he's better than Stephen Gionta so I can't complain. B

Parenteau: When he doesn't score you don't notice him. Good waiver pickup but I can definitely see why he's never stuck anywhere. B-

Bennett: Not particularly noticeable, but his possession numbers look good so I guess that's nice. C+

Quincey: Passable. Getting overplayed and takes a lot of dumb penalties. C

Lovejoy: Average bottom-pairing D that is inexplicably getting +20 minutes a game and looks like trash because of it. Not liking the three year term at all. Would much rather have shelled out that money to Schlemko C-

Wood: Typical bull in a china shop player, lots of fun to watch. Physically ready, but needs to learn the pro game. INC

Speers: Definitely not NHL ready, but gets all the details right. Plays a mature game and will definitely have a career in this league. INC

Agree with everyone except Quincey. He's got solid possession numbers, and the eye test confirms those numbers imo. He's been an adequate replacement for Schlemko. I give him a B personally.

His problem is the dumb penalties.

 

[HenriquesJawLine]

Glad to see Schlemko doing well, I became a big fan last year. Even if we made a move to keep him I can't blame him taking a 4 year deal with the western conference champs.

 

[Levitate]

Read the post and thought the exact same thing. Clending was not an NHL calibre player in his short stint in Edmonton, and he was given a chance to prove himself.

He has only gotten in a few games and most Rangers fans are having their perceptions colored by his preseason play. He has been OK when called on but it's also looks like he's often on the verge of a giant screw up. To his credit, he hasn't looked like the game is moving too fast for him, which is a compaint I heard, but sometimes his plays with the puck can be a bit iffy

He also looks tiny

 

[krutovsdonut]

-erikkson -- playing ok and a quality crafty player but slower than i expected. not as good a fit with the sedins as hoped because he becomes a slightly less good sedin and defers to them too much. plus he is slow like them. will be very useful as a spare sedin in case of injury!

-rodin -- out since the preseason.

-skille -- an honest 4th liner with no upside. struggles if asked to play up in the lineup so not a good fit for a team with many holes.

-gaunce -- a young raw 4th liner who keeps exceeding my very limited expectations.

-granlund -- exceeding everyone's limited expectations and is a pretty decent third line centre or winger so far. could have upside. looked very small in california though.

-gudbranson -- easily our best defenceman in his own zone. is not showing much offensively and only adequate in transition. has a nice shot but shows no puck handling, and tends to dump the puck out blindly a lot just to get it out. has not fought yet.

-larsen -- looked at first like he might be a nice three zone dman until he got run over in california. good transition game and seems to have more offensive upside if he gets some confidence, but clearly limited defensively in a physical game.