GDT: Game 13: Anaheim Ducks Vs Vegas Golden Knights | 5:00PM | Playing Better Edition

[willy702]

Better even.

If it makes you feel better, Gallant is trying to make a first line center out of Cody Glass by incubating him on a third line wing spot. If it were up to me he'd be getting first line AHL minutes getting developed in the role he's supposed to play but everyone seems to think talented enough for the NHL=can't learn or grown in the AHL.

What would he learn in the AHL at this point? Would he be playing with any of the same linemates in the NHL in the future? I see that his real learning challenge this year is getting used to the speed and skill of the NHL game. He also needs to bond with and learn about his teammates on and off the ice, as well as get used to the NHL lifestyle. Last on the list is learn how to play the center position specifically, he's already got plenty of good learning behind him on that. What little he can still learn in the AHL is nowhere near the value of what he can learn starting games however possible in the NHL. Besides with injuries he's almost certain to get more time at C later provided he doesn't get injured.

Certainly liked the lineup tonight and make no mistake Glass is probably the one guy the lineup doesn't fit well. It does suggest Stastny could be traded if needed, but teams don't do that. Right or wrong, GMs don't give up quality depth at the C position unless you absolutely need to because you don't get fair value in a trade.

 

[HanSolo]

...

What would he learn in the AHL at this point?

Center deployment at a near professional level while playing first line first pp minutes and learning how to drive play and dominate his peers. I give Ken from SinBin a lot of shit and he's not entirely right about Glass not driving play but he's not entirely wrong either. Not with Glass' current situation. He plays with guys who can't get open for him and don't convert when they do. The third line as is is little more than a 2004-2009 era checking line. Also playing center in the AHL would allow him to hone his faceoff ability outside of practice. He's not getting that in the NHL. Like it or not, even if Glass is better than even every player in the AHL, there's enough competition that he can hone his abilities, build confidence, and learn to deal with the physical demands of professional adult hockey. It wouldn't be an ideal place for him but neither is the bottom 6 on his off position with linemates that don't gel well with him.

Would he be playing with any of the same linemates in the NHL in the future?

Do you mean potential AHL linemates or his current third line linemates? Either way I doubt he's going to be sharing a line with Eakin, Pirri, Nosek, or any player currently on the Chicago Wolves into the future.

He also needs to bond with and learn about his teammates on and off the ice

This can happen whenever. If he genuinely needed another year in the AHL or there was some rule that said he couldn't enter the NHL till next year or something, he'd still need to do this next year.

What little he can still learn in the AHL is nowhere near the value of what he can learn starting games however possible in the NHL. Besides with injuries he's almost certain to get more time at C later provided he doesn't get injured.

However possible? So if Gallant trotted out Glass as a number 6 defenseman playing only 8 minutes a night that would be a good thing? I get the argument in favor of keeping him in the NHL in regardless of the situation. I do. But I think we can see that he can handle the NHL fine enough. Where he's got weaknesses, skating and being out-muscled by bigger guys can be coached and honed in the AHL while simultaneously continuing development in the center role.

My problem is at some point he's gonna plateau with NHL level development. He'll have learned all he needs to get by with the speed and physicality and everything and then what's left? All the tendencies of playing on the wing and not getting to truly develop his playmaking having to play with guys who cannot convert and many times even receive his passes. I don't think that necessarily mean he can't maximize his potential down the line but this is just not the best scenario for him. Most teams with elite center prospects make room for them to be developed in the middle. We're not because of some inexplicable sense of loyalty to a third line pending UFA.

And why should we have to base Glass' development on the health of his teammates?

Certainly liked the lineup tonight and make no mistake Glass is probably the one guy the lineup doesn't fit well. It does suggest Stastny could be traded if needed, but teams don't do that. Right or wrong, GMs don't give up quality depth at the C position unless you absolutely need to because you don't get fair value in a trade.

Right. I don't think Stastny will be or should be moved unless Glass proves he's better as a second line center. Which...he can't if he's playing third line wing and kinda sorta but not really playing center for 1-3 minutes of powerplay time a game. The most annoying part about all of this is he's probably better than anyone who's been deployed on the third line this year save for Stastny so he's too good for Gallant to be sent down but he's not good enough to justify taking Stastny off the second line, or apparently good enough to move Eakin to the wing. So what he amounts to is basically a checking line winger who gets powerplay time. It's my opinion that one of the best young prospects in the NHL deserves better than that.

So, in my mind the best compromise and I suppose this is the TLDR statement: for his being stuck between a rock and a hard place is for Gallant to just get the f*** over it and let Glass center the third line. It's probably not gonna give the third line much more offense at least until Tuch gets back but at least we can develop our top prospect in the position he was meant to play.

 

[Vegan Knight]

What would he learn in the AHL at this point?

Center deployment at a near professional level while playing first line first pp minutes and learning how to drive play and dominate his peers. I give Ken from SinBin a lot of **** and he's not entirely right about Glass not driving play but he's not entirely wrong either. Not with Glass' current situation. He plays with guys who can't get open for him and don't convert when they do. The third line as is is little more than a 2004-2009 era checking line. Also playing center in the AHL would allow him to hone his faceoff ability outside of practice. He's not getting that in the NHL. Like it or not, even if Glass is better than even every player in the AHL, there's enough competition that he can hone his abilities, build confidence, and learn to deal with the physical demands of professional adult hockey. It wouldn't be an ideal place for him but neither is the bottom 6 on his off position with linemates that don't gel well with him.

Would he be playing with any of the same linemates in the NHL in the future?

Do you mean potential AHL linemates or his current third line linemates? Either way I doubt he's going to be sharing a line with Eakin, Pirri, Nosek, or any player currently on the Chicago Wolves into the future.

He also needs to bond with and learn about his teammates on and off the ice

This can happen whenever. If he genuinely needed another year in the AHL or there was some rule that said he couldn't enter the NHL till next year or something, he'd still need to do this next year.

What little he can still learn in the AHL is nowhere near the value of what he can learn starting games however possible in the NHL. Besides with injuries he's almost certain to get more time at C later provided he doesn't get injured.

However possible? So if Gallant trotted out Glass as a number 6 defenseman playing only 8 minutes a night that would be a good thing? I get the argument in favor of keeping him in the NHL in regardless of the situation. I do. But I think we can see that he can handle the NHL fine enough. Where he's got weaknesses, skating and being out-muscled by bigger guys can be coached and honed in the AHL while simultaneously continuing development in the center role.

My problem is at some point he's gonna plateau with NHL level development. He'll have learned all he needs to get by with the speed and physicality and everything and then what's left? All the tendencies of playing on the wing and not getting to truly develop his playmaking having to play with guys who cannot convert and many times even receive his passes. I don't think that necessarily mean he can't maximize his potential down the line but this is just not the best scenario for him. Most teams with elite center prospects make room for them to be developed in the middle. We're not because of some inexplicable sense of loyalty to a third line pending UFA.

And why should we have to base Glass' development on the health of his teammates?

Certainly liked the lineup tonight and make no mistake Glass is probably the one guy the lineup doesn't fit well. It does suggest Stastny could be traded if needed, but teams don't do that. Right or wrong, GMs don't give up quality depth at the C position unless you absolutely need to because you don't get fair value in a trade.

Right. I don't think Stastny will be or should be moved unless Glass proves he's better as a second line center. Which...he can't if he's playing third line wing and kinda sorta but not really playing center for 1-3 minutes of powerplay time a game. The most annoying part about all of this is he's probably better than anyone who's been deployed on the third line this year save for Stastny so he's too good for Gallant to be sent down but he's not good enough to justify taking Stastny off the second line, or apparently good enough to move Eakin to the wing. So what he amounts to is basically a checking line winger who gets powerplay time. It's my opinion that one of the best young prospects in the NHL deserves better than that.

So, in my mind the best compromise and I suppose this is the TLDR statement: for his being stuck between a rock and a hard place is for Gallant to just get the **** over it and let Glass center the third line. It's probably not gonna give the third line much more offense at least until Tuch gets back but at least we can develop our top prospect in the position he was meant to play.

I think you have valid criticisms but some of it is very sky is falling mentality.

I think we should only have one or two games until Tuch is playing, if he is skating. Centering the third line with Eakin and Tuch on the wings is not a bad place to develop, when they put him at center.

And a minor quibble, in the AHL, he would be centering Elvenes, which, if you haven't heard, could be a connection on our third line next season and top six in future seasons.

 

[hangman005]

I can see both sides of the argument. I'm a here and now kind of guy generally speaking so I'd be lying to pretend I'd be "happy" for Glass to be sent down. Then again I don't think anyone here at HFVGK is happy to see it. I do not understand Turks insistence at playing Eakin over Glass at 3C, but I'm not going to pretend I'm some kind of coaching genius, or any kind of genius for that matter . To my mind though in terms of development I don't understand at least why Eakin and Glass don't alternate, maybe weeks, every couple of games as to who plays as the C.

 

[HanSolo]

I think you have valid criticisms but some of it is very sky is falling mentality.

I think we should only have one or two games until Tuch is playing, if he is skating. Centering the third line with Eakin and Tuch on the wings is not a bad place to develop, when they put him at center.

And a minor quibble, in the AHL, he would be centering Elvenes, which, if you haven't heard, could be a connection on our third line next season and top six in future seasons.

It's not that I think the sky is falling. I've said many times that everything can still go right for Cody. It's not a black and white boom or bust situation. Glass is a top prospect. But he's not a McDavid or Crosby who's talented enough to figure it out regardless of how the team develops him. How the team handles him still matters. Even if there's a 5-10% chance that spending too much of his early development time on the wing limits his ceiling as a future center and even if that limitation is the difference between and 80-90 point player and a 65-70 point player I don't think that risk is a good thing. I don't think it's a risk a team with a relatively shallow prospect pool and no true #1C (let's be real. Karlsson is a great #2c) should be taking.

And sure. Centering Tuch and Eakin wouldn't be bad. But that requires Gallant to get over whatever hangups he has with trying Eakin on the wing. I can't say he never tried him on the wing anymore cause he did for like 30 seconds against Colorado. But the risk I mentioned above exists. No matter how seriously people want to take it, and no matter how minuscule a chance it may be, it's there. And Turk won't try to minimize that risk for Eakin's sake. A guy who probably isn't going to be on the team next year. It's more important that we give him whatever nebulous due Turk feels he's owed than it is to maximize the potential of a guy who could be the best player on the team for years to come? It's absurd.

Also I'm still not sold on Elvenes. His game has progressed some but I still think he lacks enough hockey IQ for the NHL.

 

[HanSolo]

I can see both sides of the argument. I'm a here and now kind of guy generally speaking so I'd be lying to pretend I'd be "happy" for Glass to be sent down. Then again I don't think anyone here at HFVGK is happy to see it. I do not understand Turks insistence at playing Eakin over Glass at 3C, but I'm not going to pretend I'm some kind of coaching genius, or any kind of genius for that matter . To my mind though in terms of development I don't understand at least why Eakin and Glass don't alternate, maybe weeks, every couple of games as to who plays as the C.

I mean I wouldn't be happy to see Glass go down, but I'm also not happy with how he's been handled either. That even when Turk throws the lines in the blender they can't come out with Glass in the center position.

The insistence at the very least comes from the mentality of "I've got no problem playing Glass on the wing" which was a quote of his from the first week of Glass' second to third line demotion. We don't have any quotes from him on why Eakin is staple gunned to the center position but the fact that Eakin hasn't even spent a full minute of his VGK career on the wing says he either

1. Thinks Eakin has paid his dues and deserves to keep his position for as long as he's contracted with this team; or
2. Thinks Eakin is so stellar as a bottom 6 C that it would hurt the team to move him in the wing and have Glass to take his place.

And I get it if it's 2. The guy had a career year last season and from a strategy perspective it makes sense to wait and hope that he finds that offensive spark that's presently in the toilet.

My problem is if you're going to keep your top prospect up with the team for the purposes of grooming him into a potential key figure on the team, then could you not make concessions for that potential key figure at the expense of the preferences of a guy that doesn't figure into the team's long term plans? Or maybe McCrimmon and Gallant are toying with the idea of having Eakin re-signed for 3C duties with Glass moving up to the first or second line. That still means Cody has to wait a year for Stastny's contract to expire. So what's the solution in that case? Two years on the wing and once Pauly Walnuts' stint is up we hope that Glass in his junior year can adapt to finally being awarded the center role?

It just really feels to me like Gallant is looking at his roster like an EANHL lineup. Like the player ratings look like this

Marchy 85-Bill 84-Smith 84
Patches 84-Stastny 83-Stone 91
Nosek 73-Eakin 80-Glass 79
Carrier 74-Roy 75-Reaves 72

Pirri 73, Tuch 82 IR

So in his head, the team gets weaker if Glass isn't in the lineup, but it's also not a proper deployment of the offensive talent to bump Stastny or Eakin for Glass' sake. And in the interim he's just stuck. I don't think he's a bad coach or a stupid man. But I do think he's very "shrug the shoulders" and leaving it up to Cody to make the best of his NHL time and leaving it on him to develop into an NHL star or superstar quality player. I don't see him taking any constructive steps to foster Cody's development. What I see is: "Glass is too good to not be on our third line cause he's better than most of our bottom 6 and he's got a hell of a look from the half wall on the powerplay. These are the ways Cody helps the team so this is how I will use him" it's not "what can we do to not disrupt this team too much but also help Glass max his potential?"

But in the meantime, the third line has contributed nothing all year long. Eakin doesn't have a single point. Pirri had an incidental assist that had nothing to do with Eakin or Glass. All four of Nosek's points came from playing with Carrier and Reaves and pretty much all of Glass' 6 points came from playing with some combination of Stastny, Pacioretty, and/or Stone. The third line since Eakin's return has been nothing but a checking line. And this is why I keep dumping these walls of text because it frustrates me to see one of the smartest young hockey players I've ever seen and probably the most promising prospect this team is going to have for a very long time spend his early NHL development as a checking line winger when he should be fostered as a center. It's just incredibly frustrating. I don't want him to be in the AHL, but I don't like seeing his potential be an afterthought or gambling on the transition after a change in circumstances working out.

 

[hangman005]

I mean I wouldn't be happy to see Glass go down, but I'm also not happy with how he's been handled either. That even when Turk throws the lines in the blender they can't come out with Glass in the center position.

The insistence at the very least comes from the mentality of "I've got no problem playing Glass on the wing" which was a quote of his from the first week of Glass' second to third line demotion. We don't have any quotes from him on why Eakin is staple gunned to the center position but the fact that Eakin hasn't even spent a full minute of his VGK career on the wing says he either

1. Thinks Eakin has paid his dues and deserves to keep his position for as long as he's contracted with this team; or
2. Thinks Eakin is so stellar as a bottom 6 C that it would hurt the team to move him in the wing and have Glass to take his place.

And I get it if it's 2. The guy had a career year last season and from a strategy perspective it makes sense to wait and hope that he finds that offensive spark that's presently in the toilet.

My problem is if you're going to keep your top prospect up with the team for the purposes of grooming him into a potential key figure on the team, then could you not make concessions for that potential key figure at the expense of the preferences of a guy that doesn't figure into the team's long term plans? Or maybe McCrimmon and Gallant are toying with the idea of having Eakin re-signed for 3C duties with Glass moving up to the first or second line. That still means Cody has to wait a year for Stastny's contract to expire. So what's the solution in that case? Two years on the wing and once Pauly Walnuts' stint is up we hope that Glass in his junior year can adapt to finally being awarded the center role?

It just really feels to me like Gallant is looking at his roster like an EANHL lineup. Like the player ratings look like this

Marchy 85-Bill 84-Smith 84
Patches 84-Stastny 83-Stone 91
Nosek 73-Eakin 80-Glass 79
Carrier 74-Roy 75-Reaves 72

Pirri 73, Tuch 82 IR

So in his head, the team gets weaker if Glass isn't in the lineup, but it's also not a proper deployment of the offensive talent to bump Stastny or Eakin for Glass' sake. And in the interim he's just stuck. I don't think he's a bad coach or a stupid man. But I do think he's very shrug the shoulders and leaving it up to Cody to make the best of his NHL time and leaving on him to develop into an NHL star or superstar quality player. I don't see him taking any constructive steps to foster Cody's development. What I see is: "Glass is too good to not be on our third line cause he's better than most of our bottom 6 and he's got a hell of a look from the half wall on the powerplay. These are the ways Cody helps the team so this is how I will use him"

But in the meantime, the third line has contributed nothing all year long. Eakin doesn't have a single point. Pirri had an incidental assist that had nothing to do with Eakin or Glass. All four of Nosek's points came from playing with Carrier and Reaves and pretty much all of Glass' 6 points came from playing with some combination of Stastny, Pacioretty, and/or Stone. The third line since Eakin's return has been nothing but a checking line. And this is why I keep dumping these walls of text because it frustrates me to see one of the smartest young hockey players I've ever seen and probably the most promising prospect this team is going to have for a very long time spend his early NHL development as a checking line winger when he should be fostered as a center. It's just incredibly frustrating. I don't want him to be in the AHL, but I don't like seeing his potential be an afterthought or gambling on the transition after a change in circumstances working out.

Yeah happy was for lack of a better word. I think to my eye, and I've said this about about other aspects but I think he's too much of a players coach and I think the vets gets more breaks as you put it because they paid their dues. Like you I don't think he's a bad coach, I think like every coach he is human, like every coach he has his favorites, I don't know a single fan base that isn't completely baffled by why their coach keeps playing one guy (that guy seemed to be Tanner Glass where ever he was lol) It's like how Hunt always seemed to be the odd D out last year.

I can't speak to well about the development in the AHL, or even Juniors. I am far too busy lazy, to pay much attention to those in the system but especially at this early stage in the season, I would say he deserve to be C more than Eakin, and it would be far better to play him at C. I don't want a Sam Bennett type situation... I don't even know what happened there.

 

[HanSolo]

Yeah happy was for lack of a better word. I think to my eye, and I've said this about about other aspects but I think he's too much of a players coach and I think the vets gets more breaks as you put it because they paid their dues. Like you I don't think he's a bad coach, I think like every coach he is human, like every coach he has his favorites, I don't know a single fan base that isn't completely baffled by why their coach keeps playing one guy (that guy seemed to be Tanner Glass where ever he was lol) It's like how Hunt always seemed to be the odd D out last year.

I can't speak to well about the development in the AHL, or even Juniors. I am far too busy lazy, to pay much attention to those in the system but especially at this early stage in the season, I would say he deserve to be C more than Eakin, and it would be far better to play him at C. I don't want a Sam Bennett type situation... I don't even know what happened there.

Randy Carlyle with Kevin Bieksa and Korbinian Holzer. puke

I don't think Glass is gonna regress (or fail to develop) as hard as Bennett. His hockey IQ and passing are too high level. I just don't think it's crazy that stapling Glass to a checking line wing role (cause at least until Tuch comes back and maybe not even then if he comes back snakebitten like last year, it's not a scoring line) could be the difference between good or very good to great. Star/solid or superstar. Worst case scenario Glass ends up a decent two way second line winger, like a Mark Stone lite. And there's worse outcomes for a 6th overall pick. But Glass has the potential to be much more than that. The team should be maximizing his potential not fitting round pegs into square holes and hoping the pegs will grow to take the square shape in the future at the expense of a guy who's place on the team is uncertain.

And I don't even think Eakin is bad. Like he should definitely be in the lineup. But the dude knows how to play center already. Taking him off isn't gonna make him forget. He's not suddenly going to become a defensive liability playing on the wing.

 

[Vegas07]

This team has played much better against the division so far (except the Arizona game). But we haven’t played anyone in the division that has looked good either.

5-1 record against the division now. 3-4 against everyone else.

 

[HanSolo]

Low key thought Tuch was Shea Weber for a second.

 

[hangman005]

Low key thought Tuch was Shea Weber for a second.

Help on the back end lol

 

[Vegan Knight]

It's not that I think the sky is falling. I've said many times that everything can still go right for Cody. It's not a black and white boom or bust situation. Glass is a top prospect. But he's not a McDavid or Crosby who's talented enough to figure it out regardless of how the team develops him. How the team handles him still matters. Even if there's a 5-10% chance that spending too much of his early development time on the wing limits his ceiling as a future center and even if that limitation is the difference between and 80-90 point player and a 65-70 point player I don't think that risk is a good thing. I don't think it's a risk a team with a relatively shallow prospect pool and no true #1C (let's be real. Karlsson is a great #2c) should be taking.

And sure. Centering Tuch and Eakin wouldn't be bad. But that requires Gallant to get over whatever hangups he has with trying Eakin on the wing. I can't say he never tried him on the wing anymore cause he did for like 30 seconds against Colorado. But the risk I mentioned above exists. No matter how seriously people want to take it, and no matter how minuscule a chance it may be, it's there. And Turk won't try to minimize that risk for Eakin's sake. A guy who probably isn't going to be on the team next year. It's more important that we give him whatever nebulous due Turk feels he's owed than it is to maximize the potential of a guy who could be the best player on the team for years to come? It's absurd.

Also I'm still not sold on Elvenes. His game has progressed some but I still think he lacks enough hockey IQ for the NHL.

I don't see why at least Stastny could be the center for Tuch and Eakin. He's a veteran who should have more savvy bringing the best from that line. More than a rookie.

I think he could be giving Eakin some games at C as a show of loyalty before moving him to wing (giving him the respect to be beaten for the C from play in games instead of just giving it to Glass.)

Sends a message to the veterans that he appreciates what they've done and it has earned them some leeway but if a better player helps the team win and proves it he will go with that.

 

[IceNeophyte]

I have to say, after so many bad experiences with Ducks fans in T-Mobile, I had a couple guys next to me last night that were great, and actually know the game. It was refreshing.

AFA Stastny, mho is that Glass looked very good centering the second line, but the second line looks better and is more productive with Stastny. Glass is getting some good reps in at NHL speed, and I don't subscribe to the notion that playing him Wing negates his future suitability for Center.

Developing a young core is important. At the same time, you need to put the team in its best position to succeed. I'd argue for flipping Eakin and Glass, but not for bringing Stastny down just to maximize Glass's assists, which is what the move would really be....

 

[HanSolo]

I have to say, after so many bad experiences with Ducks fans in T-Mobile, I had a couple guys next to me last night that were great, and actually know the game. It was refreshing.

AFA Stastny, mho is that Glass looked very good centering the second line, but the second line looks better and is more productive with Stastny. Glass is getting some good reps in at NHL speed, and I don't subscribe to the notion that playing him Wing negates his future suitability for Center.

Developing a young core is important. At the same time, you need to put the team in its best position to succeed. I'd argue for flipping Eakin and Glass, but not for bringing Stastny down just to maximize Glass's assists, which is what the move would really be....

Negates is too strong a word for what I'm saying. I'm aware Glass is too talented to bust and talented enough to make the jump back to his intended position. My concern now is more in maximizing versus potentially limiting his potential. The DNA of Glass' NHL tendencies and understanding is being written right now. And right now that means he's learning this game within the scope and context of a checking line winger role (and yes, since Glass was moved down, because he cannot build chemistry with Eakin and Pirri they have more defensive zone time than offensive zone time so that means Glass is spending most of his time honing his defense which is great but he's doing little to hone his offensive tendencies in the NHL and nothing for his faceoff ability.)

Could that be irrelevant and Glass still goes forward as an 80-90 point center? Sure. But there's more a risk that that potential gets impeded/impaired and he becomes a little less than what he could be in a situation like this. And for any other prospect I'd say fine. Interest of the team first, run the risk if it makes the team better. Not when it's one of the best prospects in hockey. An asset like this is a premium one and you maximize that kind of potential as best you can for the long term interest of your team. You don't let him try to figure it out on his own in a checking line situation on his off position just because he happens to be better than the rest of the top 6 wingers the team has.

 

[HanSolo]

And honestly I'd even be in favor of what @hangman005 said and have Eakin and Glass alternate as a compromise. If that's the improvement we have to settle for, then fine. But we can't even say he's a pseudo center as some argued a few games ago. He spends a majority of his offensive zone time in the right wing zone. Where a right winger is supposed to be. The closest he comes to center positioning on that third line is when he chases the puck behind the net and tries to distribute it from behind the goal line.

 

[CupInSIX]

I'd send Glass to the AHL now that Tuch is healthy.

Or

sit Reaves

 

[IceNeophyte]

I'd send Glass to the AHL now that Tuch is healthy.

Or

sit Reaves

Reaves had a great game yesterday, not even including the goal. When that line is on the forecheck, he's a big part of driving it.

 

[Vegan Knight]

I have to say, after so many bad experiences with Ducks fans in T-Mobile, I had a couple guys next to me last night that were great, and actually know the game. It was refreshing.

AFA Stastny, mho is that Glass looked very good centering the second line, but the second line looks better and is more productive with Stastny. Glass is getting some good reps in at NHL speed, and I don't subscribe to the notion that playing him Wing negates his future suitability for Center.

Developing a young core is important. At the same time, you need to put the team in its best position to succeed. I'd argue for flipping Eakin and Glass, but not for bringing Stastny down just to maximize Glass's assists, which is what the move would really be....

I've had good experiences with most Ducks fans, weird. The obvious Kings and Sharks fans I've seen acting foolish. I think the best fans I've been around were Flames fans.

I question if they've been more productive than they were with Glass. 5v5 I think they're still on 2 goals generated over nine games (I guess 3 if you count Fowler literally shooting it into his own net.)

Most of their effectiveness has been on the power play but that's tough to judge because they are up a man and Glass is also a part of that. Stastny has been better on the power play though. But that wouldn't change if they went to different lines.

I also think it's hard to judge because Glass got four games (the first four of his NHL career) and Stastny has gotten nine, a bigger chunk to get in sync and the second line with Stastny, even when not scoring, has looked very good some games and very pedestrian others.

 

[HanSolo]

I'd send Glass to the AHL now that Tuch is healthy.

Or

sit Reaves

I think it's pretty obvious than when Tuch gets back they'll keep trying to fit a square peg into a round hole and move Glass to the left wing. He already favors the left side half wall on the powerplay anyway. Cause it's okay to do that with our pegs if they haven't paid their dues yet.

 

[Vegan Knight]

Blues lost Tarasenko, Stastny-Pietrangelo deal time, baby! Move Schenn to wing. Lol.

 

[CupInSIX]

Blues lost Tarasenko, Stastny-Pietrangelo deal time, baby! Move Schenn to wing. Lol.

If you had Pietrangelo, would you let him walk or trade him?

You might as well daydream about Byfuglien. There's at least smoke there that he's not happy and might request a trade before coming back this/next season.

 

[CupInSIX]

Although Petry would probably be the ideal candidate. Habs are stuck in limbo with Buffalo, NYI and Pittsburgh(despite the injuries) off to great starts. His contract would allow for a transition to one of the kids emerging (or he can simply be re-signed) and he can handle 22 mins a game.

 

[Vegan Knight]

If you had Pietrangelo, would you let him walk or trade him?

You might as well daydream about Byfuglien. There's at least smoke there that he's not happy and might request a trade before coming back this/next season.

It was mostly a joke. But if they can't or don't want to afford him until he's 36 (with Parayko and Faulk on the right side and Bouwmeester, Gunnarson and Dunn on the left side) then we have cap next season.

 

[HanSolo]

In other news

 

[CupInSIX]

In other news