Is Alex Tuch the best forward on Las Vegas?

[Honour Over Glory]

Definitely, looking back now the whole sequence went bad. Had they just let Vegas pick Scandella, they could've kept both Haula and Tuch, since everybody knew that Wild was going to be short on Centermen. Fletcher could've found other ways to trade for his man crush Foligno and perhaps used a buyout on Pominville, or sweeten the deal a bit for Buffalo.

Obviously things are not always that simple when you have to make the decisions and Haula hadn't exactly shown that he had that kind of a gear in him, which he displayed in his first season as a Golden Knight. So I don't hold that trade against Fletcher that badly. But what I didn't exactly love then and now is how they pretty much wasted Scandella. I mean we got rid off one albatross in Pominville but still had to take another in Ennis. Makes one wonder whether the return for Scandella could've been better.

Well, Fletcher did get fired in April of this year, too bad it was too late.

He's now Philly's problem.

 

[Jugitsu]

Well, Fletcher did get fired in April of this year, too bad it was too late.

He's now Philly's problem.

Indeed. I have no ill will towards Fletcher though, so I genuinely hope he has learned his lesson.

 

[hangman005]

Wow, Vegas fans really think Tuch is better than Marchessault and William Karlsson after a hot start this season? He didn’t even have half as many points as either of them last year.

Yes... I wouldn't say he's miles better them, I wouldn't even say he's heaps better, but overall I would say he is onpar if not slightly better. He is a young player who has made leaps and bounds from last season. He had been far and away our most consistent player, he's gotten quick, he's finishing better... He's not even close to the same Tuch as he was last year. It's almost like players playing in their 2nd year in the NHL can get better than they were in they did in their first. Unless he falls off a cliff, I like where things are going with him.

 

[brakeyawself]

He's still doing a good job and seems to be progressing nicely. I like the Blake Wheeler 2.0 comparison. I think he might have a similar trajectory. Power Forwards almost always take longer to mature. 22 years old is about the right age, if not still young for a PF to break out. I think Vegas fans should be very happy and Minny fans, not so much. But Tuch has a much better offensive game than I think most thought. His size and physicality has always been his top attributes. He's going to be a pretty scary NHL player adding offense to the rest of his game like he has. Not sure if he will actually be a PPG player year to year. But I would say between 70 - 85 points seems realistic once he hits his peak. That is still a great gift the Wild gave them. They should have tried to pawn off Ek instead. He look like such a bust.

 

[traparatus]

I clearly remember Vegas been heavily criticized for picking Tuch and Haula from Vegas. They were also roasted over the long term contract they gave to Tuch. That was what... 6 months ago?

Now everyone is ripping Wild for screwing up the draft The incredible power of hindsight is on display.

 

[Fazkovsky]

He equalled his last year point totals in 47 less games

 

[Ainec]

could he be captain next season?

 

[LetsGoBLUES91]

I clearly remember Vegas been heavily criticized for picking Tuch and Haula from Vegas. They were also roasted over the long term contract they gave to Tuch. That was what... 6 months ago?

Now everyone is ripping Wild for screwing up the draft The incredible power of hindsight is on display.

Who? Who were they supposed to draft instead? The Wild were one of the most screwed teams from that draft. I thought many people knew that.

 

[traparatus]

Who? Who were they supposed to draft instead? The Wild were one of the most screwed teams from that draft. I thought many people knew that.

I think the notion is that Vegas was supposed to tell Wild to suck it and take one of their 'prized' defensemen. Scandella, if memory serves right? Whatever it was, decision to pick Tuch and Haula was not met with universal accolades, far from it.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

I clearly remember Vegas been heavily criticized for picking Tuch and Haula from Vegas. They were also roasted over the long term contract they gave to Tuch. That was what... 6 months ago?

Now everyone is ripping Wild for screwing up the draft The incredible power of hindsight is on display.

Who? Who were they supposed to draft instead? The Wild were one of the most screwed teams from that draft. I thought many people knew that.

I think the notion is that Vegas was supposed to tell Wild to suck it and take one of their 'prized' defensemen. Scandella, if memory serves right? Whatever it was, decision to pick Tuch and Haula was not met with universal accolades, far from it.

Yup. See the trade thread. Vegas fans were pissed and neutral fans were saying Vegas got fleeced.

Confirmed Trade: - [MIN/VGK] Alex Tuch to Vegas for a Cond. 3rd and selecting Erik Haula

Tuch is great. I see a lot of Blake Wheeler in his game, maybe not gifted with his vision and playmaking but the size and speed, goal scorer and all around player, I see it.

 

[HanSolo]

Yes. And annoyingly he can be much better. He's experimenting with too many cute/finesse plays these days instead of sticking to the style of play that makes him successful.

 

[57special]

That's not what I am disputing, I know that, that isn't what I was asking.

Out of all the things the Wild could have given up, why did they single out Tuch as THE guy to move so they took Haula? I feel like a kid with Tuch's skillset of size and talent is something you try to hang on to and move something else if you can, unless that is what Vegas wanted and they asked for Tuch and only Tuch.

Rumour was that it was a choice between Kirill Kaprizov and Tuch, with LVK picking the latter. Haula was a bottom six C at the time, Tuch an unproven prospect. It was either lose them, Coyle, Nino (24 yo and coming off seasons of 57 and 56 pts.), or Dumba. At the time, the decision from MN's standpoint made perfect sense. The Wild simply got screwed by the ED. Too many good players to protect, or players with NMC's.

I was a fan of Haula and always thought he was underrated by MN. Tuch...there simply were no hints that he was going to be anything of note. MN would've kept him, or course, if they could've, but who really knows how good most 20yo prospects are going to be?

A few years from now we might have a thread teasing LVK for not taking Kaprizov over Tuch when they had the chance.

 

[Goose312]

I think the notion is that Vegas was supposed to tell Wild to suck it and take one of their 'prized' defensemen. Scandella, if memory serves right? Whatever it was, decision to pick Tuch and Haula was not met with universal accolades, far from it.

Dumba was the one protected by the trade, also technically Staal but Dumba would have almost certainly have been the pick. And the rumor was Fletcher had trades in place to ship guys out if they weren't going to be able to protect everyone. Also Vegas was offered their pick of Tuch, Greenway or Kaprizov to select Haula.

 

[HanSolo]

Wow, Vegas fans really think Tuch is better than Marchessault and William Karlsson after a hot start this season? He didn’t even have half as many points as either of them last year.

In his rookie year? Wild.

EDIT: Playing almost entirely on the third line up until the month before the playoffs started.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

That's not what I am disputing, I know that, that isn't what I was asking.

Out of all the things the Wild could have given up, why did they single out Tuch as THE guy to move so they took Haula? I feel like a kid with Tuch's skillset of size and talent is something you try to hang on to and move something else if you can, unless that is what Vegas wanted and they asked for Tuch and only Tuch.

Easy answer....Las Vegas had all the leverage and held all the cards. They wanted Tuch as their guy or they would have just said screw you Minny and taken Dumba from them. Not hard to understand at all.

At the time, it would have been hard for Minnesota to concede Dumba on a prospect (albeit a promising like you mentioned.)

 

[PatrikBerglund]

That's a tuch question to answer.

 

[TLEH]

I am kinda shocked that he is so good. He always had all the talent, but in college when I saw him, he always seemed to lack engagement and would float in and out of the game.

 

[HanSolo]

could he be captain next season?

Probably not. My first instinct would be Marchesseault but he seems a bit immature for the job.

Don't think there's a clear contender for the job yet. But Tuch needs to start stepping up and imposing his will more often if he wants his name to be in the discussion. He has enough talent to rack up points playing an experimental style of hockey but Vegas really does need him to step up and try to take control of hockey games. He has the tools to do so, he just only does it in spurts so far.

 

[BattleBorn]

I don't think there's a captain until Fleury, Engelland, and perhaps Bellemare are gone. They do pretty well with the group of leaders/floating alternate thing so far.

 

[HanSolo]

Wonder if they would test him with Marchessault and Karlsson at practice. The only fault to that is that the first line is very comfortable together. The moment he came off an injury he just forced Vegas up in the rankings. But think putting him with Karlsson and Marchessault would make that team a ton more dominant. Tuch is pretty much Blake Wheeler 2.0.

Marchessault-Karlsson-Tuch

They tried this for a couple games but the pair of Marchessault and Karlsson are due for a mojo refill. Both are playing incredibly sloppy right now.

 

[HansonBro]

My friend likes to call him "toosh"

 

[LABound]

somebody called this exact occurence pre season and got scoffed at? strange how often that happens. =)

 

[HanSolo]

somebody called this exact occurence pre season and got scoffed at? strange how often that happens. =)

Well I said this while everyone was complaining that the price was too high.

Tuch has all the tools to be a star player. What he hasn't put together is the execution. He reminds me of a great deal of Rakell in that sense. It was immediately apparent with Rakell that he was talented enough to be a 50-60 point player but he lacked execution.

With Tuch, I thought in the preseason he had added elements of great playmaking to his game. Unfortunately he's been injured of late so it's tough to gage how much he has progressed over the summer.

In any event, I do think he can put together the execution and this seems like good value.

Granted I was also bitching about getting Haula and Tuch when I thought we were gonna get Dumba.

 

[LABound]

Well I said this while everyone was complaining that the price was too high.



Granted I was also *****ing about getting Haula and Tuch when I thought we were gonna get Dumba.

My batting average is higher than that cricket guy.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

I got roasted the other day in another thread for saying I'd Tuch over any Minnesota Wild player....was I wrong? Him and Granlund are pretty close, what about Tuch vs their top4d?