Player Discussion Joel Eriksson Ek: The 2nd Act

[TaLoN]

I can't remember the last good shot Dumba got off from that spot. Might be time to put him at the top.

The defenses cheats that way so much, and we still don't have very many great passers to get it across the traffic to him like Granlund was so good at doing, which is how you counter that cheating.

 

[DeagleJenkins]

The defenses cheats that way so much, and we still don't have very many great passers to get it across the traffic to him like Granlund was so good at doing, which is how you counter that cheating.

youd think Fiala opposite Dumba would be a deadly combination, Fiala can find him through traffic and is also a scoring threat.

 

[Wabit]

The defenses cheats that way so much, and we still don't have very many great passers to get it across the traffic to him like Granlund was so good at doing, which is how you counter that cheating.

Or have more than 1 scoring threat on ice at a time. The defense cheats towards Dumba it opens up the ice for the other 4 guys. Dumba doesn't need to be the prolific scorer then, just the threat of him scoring is enough.

 

[57special]

Dumba's shot just isn't that good tis year. He's shooting lots, but it's not as hard, nor as accurate. At this point, the best we can hope for is for it come back next fall after a summer of healing. Hunt has the best shot on PP#2 at this time.

 

[Wabit]

Dumba's shot just isn't that good tis year. He's shooting lots, but it's not as hard, nor as accurate. At this point, the best we can hope for is for it come back next fall after a summer of healing. Hunt has the best shot on PP#2 at this time.

I think this is the only reason Hunt is seeing any game time.

 

[57special]

Yup. All i can say is thank God for Soucy.

 

[TaLoN]

youd think Fiala opposite Dumba would be a deadly combination, Fiala can find him through traffic and is also a scoring threat.

They're on different PP units

 

[DeagleJenkins]

They're on different PP units

i realize this, I mean put them together to create a deadly PP1, we don't need 2 equal pp units we need one deadly ass unit that can score more than 50% of the time.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

i realize this, I mean put them together to create a deadly PP1, we don't need 2 equal pp units we need one deadly ass unit that can score more than 50% of the time.

That would be a record.

 

[Dakota Sioux]

That would be a record.

An insane record at that

 

[DeagleJenkins]

That would be a record.

wasn just putting a number out there didn't actually look at what our PP % is or any record is at. Would really just rather stack a pp unit with multiple threats rather than try to even out both.

 

[TaLoN]

Zach telling the Mr. September story...

 

[a79krgm]

Zach telling the Mr. September story...

Great story … but it leaves me wondering if I need to question a team culture that makes fun of guys working hard and being in great shape …

 

[AKL]

Great story … but it leaves me wondering if I need to question a team culture that makes fun of guys working hard and being in great shape …

Guys on sports teams make fun of each other for everything, it’s more likely than not a sign of how close they are rather than a sign of a culture that frowns on being in great shape or a sign that there’s a divide.

 

[TaLoN]

Great story … but it leaves me wondering if I need to question a team culture that makes fun of guys working hard and being in great shape …

You've never teased any of your friends for anything? This is lockerroom ribbing - a bunch of guys having fun.

Ek got off easy ribbing-wise in that one. Remember what Dumba did to Ek's car?

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

So with Staal gone, and external center options beaten to death, I decided to take a medium-sized dive into Eriksson Ek's numbers to see if there might be anything more there.

2017-18 season
20/21 years old
75 games
6 ES goals (7 per 82)
16 ES points (17 per 82)
12:45 total TOI/game
11:21 5v5 TOI/game
0:05 PP TOI/game
4.24% shooting %
Winnik and Foligno most common linemates

2018-19 season
21/22 years old
58 games
7 ES goals (10 per 82)
14 ES points (20 per 82)
13:30 total TOI/game
11:39 5v5 TOI/game
0:06 PP TOI/game
6.54% shooting %
Greenway, Foligno and Kunin most common linemates

2019-20 season
22/23 years old
62 games
7 goals (9 per 82)
27 points (36 per 82)
15:43 total TOI/game
12:49 5v5 TOI/game
0:10 PP TOI/game
7.61% shooting %
Greenway, Kunin and Foligno most common linemates

Marginal improvement from 2017-18 to 2019 in basically everything. Larger improvement from 2018-19 to 2019-20 with fairly sizeable jumps in every thing (production, ice time, linemates).

What if Eriksson Ek got 15 minutes ES TOI/game + 1 minute PP TOI/game + Fiala/Kaprizov/Zuccarello/Boldy as most common linemates? Where would you honestly think that 9 goals per 82 and 36 points per 82 would go? We're also talking about 24-28 years old vs. 22/23.

 

[AKL]

So with Staal gone, and external center options beaten to death, I decided to take a medium-sized dive into Eriksson Ek's numbers to see if there might be anything more there.

2017-18 season
20/21 years old
75 games
6 ES goals (7 per 82)
16 ES points (17 per 82)
12:45 total TOI/game
11:21 ES TOI/game
0:05 PP TOI/game
4.24% shooting %
Winnik and Foligno most common linemates

2018-19 season
21/22 years old
58 games
7 ES goals (10 per 82)
14 ES points (20 per 82)
13:30 total TOI/game
11:39 ES TOI/game
0:06 PP TOI/game
6.54% shooting %
Greenway, Foligno and Kunin most common linemates

2019-20 season
22/23 years old
62 games
7 goals (9 per 82)
27 points (36 per 82)
15:43 total TOI/game
12:49 ES TOI/game
0:10 PP TOI/game
7.61% shooting %
Greenway, Kunin and Foligno most common linemates

Marginal improvement from 2017-18 to 2019 in basically everything. Larger improvement from 2018-19 to 2019-20 with fairly sizeable jumps in every thing (production, ice time, linemates).

What if Eriksson Ek got 15 minutes ES TOI/game + 1 minute PP TOI/game + Fiala/Kaprizov/Zuccarello/Boldy as most common linemates? Where would you honestly think that 9 goals per 82 and 36 points per 82 would go? We're also talking about 24-28 years old vs. 22/23.

They would go to Danault at age 27 levels.

Danault 15 ES, 1.5 PP, 2.5 PK, Gallagher and Tatar linemates, 12-13 goals, 35-40 assists.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

They would go to Danault at age 27 levels.

I thought you'd like it.

So we're good then.

 

[Bazeek]

They would go to Danault at age 27 levels.

Same thing I was thinking. Eriksson-Ek does have a nice shot when he can get it on net, but we've got multiple guys that are better options there.

 

[AKL]

I thought you'd like it.

So we're good then.

It's what I've been saying for weeks.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

I'm not expecting Eriksson Ek to be a top line player, but would Kaprizov/Eriksson Ek/Zuccarello be a terrible 2nd line? An average 2nd line?

 

[Bazeek]

I'm not expecting Eriksson Ek to be a top line player, but would Kaprizov/Eriksson Ek/Zuccarello be a terrible 2nd line? An average 2nd line?

With last year's Ek I think that's still an underwhelming 2nd line, but he made enough strides last year that I wouldn't say he's done improving either. It's hard to say.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

It's what I've been saying for weeks.

Yeah, but it was hard to tell if you were actually serious about it, or just found it fun to shit on everybody else's ideas.

 

[AKL]

I'm not expecting Eriksson Ek to be a top line player, but would Kaprizov/Eriksson Ek/Zuccarello be a terrible 2nd line? An average 2nd line?

With last year's Ek I think that's still an underwhelming 2nd line, but he made enough strides last year that I wouldn't say he's done improving either. It's hard to say.

With no improvement from Ek, it could be anywhere from moderately worse than Kaprizov-Danault-Zuccarello to effectively the same.

With moderate improvement from Ek it could be anywhere from effectively the same to moderately better.

With significant improvement from Eriksson Ek it could be anywhere from moderately better to much better.

If you don't want to compare it to Danault, it could be anywhere from a slightly below average second line to a very good second line depending on Ek's improvement.

 

[AKL]

Yeah, but it was hard to tell if you were actually serious about it, or just found it fun to shit on everybody else's ideas.

What conclusion have you come to now after that post?