In Defense of Hextall ... Mistakes He Has Avoided

[SuchySays]

Sanheim, Meyers, and Morin could all end up being solid top 4 dmen...but that doesnt make the defense as a whole elite.

If all three of them are solid Top 4 defenseman, that's a win because Provorov is elite as ****.

 

[BackWithaVengeance]

If all three of them are solid Top 4 defenseman, that's a win because Provorov is elite as ****.

Throw in Gudas and Morin can be the modern days Chris Therien.

 

[JojoTheWhale]

right here in Kelowna bc.

Why in the world are you not out for a hike or on a lake or something?

 

[hatcher]

Why in the world are you not out for a hike or on a lake or something?

All the time dude. Always boating in the summer and Skiing in the winter and in the gym everyday twice.

 

[Tripod]

Since Hextall is being discussed, might as well post this so people can see Hextall's moves along with some of my opinions:

Since Hextall took over:
Year 1&2
Traded Hartnell for Umberger+4th(Wagner flipped for Vorobyov+Salintri)
Traded McGinn for a 3rd(Sandstrom)...traded a 4th line tweener who got waived by SJ months later
Signed MDZ for free=had a very good year
Signed Schultz for free=had a very good year
Signed White for free=had a good year
Signed Bellemare for free=had a good year
Signed VDV for free=had a good year
Traded Coburn for 1st, 3rd(Tomek) + Gudas=Got Konecky by moving up+ Gudas has been great.
Traded Timonen for 2 2nd rounders=fantastic value, used 1 pick to move up for Konecny, the other for Allison
Signed Danick Martel for free=QMJHL 2nd leading scorer...worth a shot
Traded Rinaldo for 3rd 2017 = another great value trade
Traded Grossmann + Pronger for Gagner + 4th(traded to NYI for 4th in 2017)
Signed Medvedev=a good KHL player for free…didn't work out
Signed Neuvirth for free=shored up the backup G situation for the next 2 years
Fired Berube…Flyers fans rejoice
Hired a College coach who is used to coaching 18-24 year olds in Hakstol
Signed Marti for free…didn't work out
Signed Bardreau for free
Signed undrafted 6'5 RHD Philip Myers for free…QMJHL All Star 2016, WJC as well
Traded Vinny and LSchenn for Weal + 3rd(Twarynski)
Got us into the playoffs 2016
Signed top College FA G Lyon for free
Added Goalie Coach Brady Robinson
Added AHL coach Scott Gordon

Oversaw 2 drafts and had these 7 guys at the WJC this year(2015/16):
Provorov: named CHL Dman of the year…now in NHL
Sanheim: highest PPG in the WHL in 20 years for a Dman
Konecny: great draft+1 season…now in NHL
Lindblom: highest scoring U20 in SHL…not top 3
Fazleev: over PPG in WHL
Sandstrom: youngest starter in SHL….made WJC multiple times
Kase: Over PPG in MHL…made WJC multiple times

Plus drafted:
Aube Kubel: over PPG in QMJHL
Friedman: WCHA All Star Dman
Tomek: injured all season, made WJC
Dove McFalls: dealt with injuries...better now
Vorobyov: Was #1C at WJC for Russia
Marody: great rookie season in college
Fedotov: long term G prospect
Pettersson: played in AHL

Year 3
Drafted in 2016:
Rubstov: made WJC….now in CHL
Laberge: CHL All Star Game MVP…injuries have hurt his season
Hart: CHL goalie of the Year….WJC goalie
Allison: USHL Playoff MVP
Twarynski:
Bunnaman:
Hogberg:
Laczynski: Made WJC
Salinitri:
Bernhardt: Made WJC

Signed Weise for free…has played below expectations
Signed Gordon for free…has played below expectations…waived
Added Huffman to handle the D in AHL
Signed talented AHL players in Brennan, O'Neill, and Miele
Signed Lyubimov for free

 

[Tripod]

Oh...I should add....some of the comments are old. Signing VDV was fine...re-signing him was not for example.

 

[deadhead]

Resigning VDV to basically a minimum contract wasn't a problem, not having anyone good enough to beat him out is the problem.
Like Gordon, he could have been waived if there was a suitable replacement.

The real problem is Laughton not developing as fast as expected, Leier needing more AHL time, etc.

 

[Striiker]

Resigning VDV to basically a minimum contract wasn't a problem, not having anyone good enough to beat him out is the problem.
Like Gordon, he could have been waived if there was a suitable replacement.

The real problem is Laughton not developing as fast as expected, Leier needing more AHL time, etc.

Well they do have players who are better, but the coach can't see that.

Weise, Read, Cousins, and Lyubimov are all better than Vandevelde but all have been scratched at one time or another despite Vandevelde staying in every single game.

The problem isn't lack of options, the problem is a coach who can't judge talent properly.

 

[Ghosts Beer]

I don't have any interest in bringing back any of PEB, VV, or Lyubimov.

 

[Tripod]

I don't have any interest in bringing back any of PEB, VV, or Lyubimov.

Me neither.

 

[BrindamoursNose]

Right...those teams had nothing when they started "the process". Same as the Sixers. They were bad enough to get that top talent. We arent. Its hard to follow the same process when we are in a different situation.

Drafting and developing is important
...but I dont think its going to be enough if we arent getting that top talent. I just hope he has some other plan to.

If those teams had the option, I'm sure they wouldn't have been forced to pick multiple top 10 picks due to sucking.

Fortunately we have some serious top-end talent that's relatively young. Hextall is doing a great job keep them AND stocking the cupboards. The model is the same, but the factors are a little different.

We are getting top end talent. Not all top-end talent comes from the Top 3. One of those guys you listed wasn't even a 1st rounder (Keith). Give it time.

 

[deadhead]

If there was a redraft, I suspect both Myers and Lindblom would have been 1st round picks.

One reason Hextall collects so many picks is the draft is a crapshoot, outside of a few stellar talents (and even top 5 picks flop), you're projecting an 18 year kid 4-5 years down the road.

Though we seem to have a heckuva Swedish inside source these days.

 

[flyershockey]

Resigning VDV to basically a minimum contract wasn't a problem, not having anyone good enough to beat him out is the problem.
Like Gordon, he could have been waived if there was a suitable replacement.

The real problem is Laughton not developing as fast as expected, Leier needing more AHL time, etc.

Leier was on his way to beating VDV and probably Lubyimov out for a spot during his ten game stint. Hextall sent him back down, and the coach didn't seem to put up much of a fight to keep him on the roster.

 

[Rebels57]

Resigning VDV to basically a minimum contract wasn't a problem, not having anyone good enough to beat him out is the problem.
Like Gordon, he could have been waived if there was a suitable replacement.

The real problem is Laughton not developing as fast as expected, Leier needing more AHL time, etc.

Theres about 9 forwards on the Phantoms better than VdV.

 

[FLYguy3911]

Leier's contract has a lot to do with him being in LHV. He and Lubyimov are the only two who are waiver exempt and there is most likely a handshake agreement with Lub that he'd stay in the NHL all year. Leier will be in the NHL next year when he is no longer exempt from waivers. Laughton too.

 

[Curufinwe]

And now Leier has missed a month with a concussion.

 

[Flyerfan13]

And now Leier has missed a month with a concussion.

Unfortunate injury for leier he was playing well he even won the ahl all star game mvp. Losing weal and leier the phantoms have lost 2 of their top scorers and are struggling Laughton banged up doesn't help either.

 

[Tripod]

Man it's been a bad year for injuries for our kids.

 

[BillDineen]

The best thing about Hextall is his long term philosophy. No more of the gambler's mentality of just getting into the playoffs and hoping for a run that never ever happens, outside of failing in the finals.

 

[baudib1]

Hextall is responsible for Hakstol, he not only handpicked him, he's his boss.

The fact that Jordan Weal can play on the first line with Konecny out but can't play over VandeVelde otherwise shows a serious disconnect and problem with the organizational philosophy.

The whole point of building a great farm system and making great depth picks is that you have cheap, young available talent that can improve and very often exceed expectations, therefore sparing you the need to sign people like Dale Weise and Boyd Gordon.

 

[deadhead]

Weal can't play over VdV because he'd be useless on the 4th line.

VdV plays all of 8 minutes a night on ES, replacing him won't make enough of a difference than anyone would notice.

And who is going to replace him on the PK, Weal can't. Read has gone down hill as a PK guy, Weise has never done it, Giroux was awful and you don't want to waste his minutes, Luby is an unknown, etc. They've already have 2 of their top 6 forwards as one PK pair.

As Appleyard pointed out a few weeks ago, Hakstol has had the opportunity to add a few other ND players and he hasn't lobbied for any of them, so if VdV is playing, it's because the other options are worse in terms of filling that role, not because he's a former ND player.

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

VdV is playing because Hakstok can't see how terrible he is. Whether that has anything to do with ND or not, no one knows, but our coach is blinded to VdV's ineffectiveness. He's the worst forward in the league.

 

[BrindamoursNose]

Hextall is responsible for Hakstol, he not only handpicked him, he's his boss.

The fact that Jordan Weal can play on the first line with Konecny out but can't play over VandeVelde otherwise shows a serious disconnect and problem with the organizational philosophy.

The whole point of building a great farm system and making great depth picks is that you have cheap, young available talent that can improve and very often exceed expectations, therefore sparing you the need to sign people like Dale Weise and Boyd Gordon.

It really doesn't.

VDV and Weal have entirely different roles on a team. If Weal is going to be truly effective, he has to be on a scoring line. Problem is he isn't super effective at the NHL level as a scorer.

VDV however is garbage all around in scoring department, but he can skate and is defensive minded. Weal can't fill his shoes (as hard as that seems) on the team effectively.

 

[Delete99991]

Jury's out on Hextall and will continue to be until this team gets more competitive.

He inherited a mess and did very well with a few things (moving Vinny, the Coburn fleecing, grabbing MDZ but not overpaying to keep him, Timonen) and has not effed up when obvious decisions fell in his lap (most notably Provorov at 7OA). He's done a nice job restocking the Phantoms too.

All that said, he's only made one highly visible, risky decision that I can see and that was Hakstol. Right now, I'm not feeling great about that.

 

[ChiefWiggum]

The only mistake he has made is the Weise contract. I wish Doc Brown could lend us his time machine so we can talk Hexy out of that one.