Minnesota Wild General Discussion X

[Dee Oh Cee]

8. In researching that about Gaudreau, I discovered that Victor Rask has exactly zero high danger chances in 107 minutes this year and is the only forward without one.
At the other end of the spectrum, Brady Tkachuk appears to be the new king of the net front, attempting 8.2 per 60 from in tight – 1.9 more than the next best player. The best rate in a season since 2007-08 is Brendan Gallagher last year with 7.1.

Lol.

 

[Wild11MN]

Lol.

That was it.

 

[nt3005]

Read an article that stated Victor Rask has zero high-danger scoring chances this year and is the only forward in the NHL without one (assuming some sort of games played limit).

Dont know how high danger is determined but his goal was a pretty high danger area in my opinion.

 

[Dee Oh Cee]

Yeah there were also some issues with high danger chance calculations earlier in the year too I think? There were some rinks where it wasn't being done accurately. I'm not sure if that was fixed in the stats he was referencing or not, but the writer IS one of the top stats guys out there.

 

[Bazeek]

Read an article that stated Victor Rask has zero high-danger scoring chances this year and is the only forward in the NHL without one (assuming some sort of games played limit).

It's funny, but also a little unfair to judge a guy that's been (almost?) exclusively on the 4th line by his offense. Defensively his lines have been pretty good:

On-ice xGF%: 11th in the NHL
On-ice SCF%: 30th in the NHL
On-ice HDCF%: 1st in the NHL (Greenway's 2nd)

Part of this is obviously due to linemates, but I'm just sayin'... he helps kill offense in both directions.

 

[Wild11MN]

Yeah there were also some issues with high danger chance calculations earlier in the year too I think? There were some rinks where it wasn't being done accurately. I'm not sure if that was fixed in the stats he was referencing or not, but the writer IS one of the top stats guys out there.

I think they went back and fixed all of that. Thought I read that somewhere, maybe even the same article.

Edit: Yeah it says the league fixed shot locations.

 

[57special]

Rask is acceptable as a #4C, especially if he is flanked by a couple of strong, savvy players like Foligno and Hartman. If someone like Sturm starts to kick it in gear then I want him given a chance. Love his speed and size, and he seems to know how to play defensively already.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

For his goal, he must've been considered to be just outside the high-danger area, because he was one-on-one with the goal, just off to the side a touch.

 

[Wabit]

It's funny, but also a little unfair to judge a guy that's been (almost?) exclusively on the 4th line by his offense. Defensively his lines have been pretty good:

On-ice xGF%: 11th in the NHL
On-ice SCF%: 30th in the NHL
On-ice HDCF%: 1st in the NHL (Greenway's 2nd)

Part of this is obviously due to linemates, but I'm just sayin'... he helps kill offense in both directions.

I don't think the Greenway (4.2%)/JEE (3.0%)/Kunin (8.2%) line all have better shots than their shooting % this year. I'm not too concerned about it, the scoring will come. I'd be more concerned if they weren't getting the chances like they have been, after all that line is good for at least hitting the post once a game.

 

[Wabit]

In 12 games Rask has a total of 10 shot attempts, 6 of those were on net. So it's not a huge sample size they are working with for his stats. He seems to like to float high and let someone else go to the net;. Which would be fine with Foligno/Hartman on his line; but with Donato on his wing it's not a good combo.

 

[AKL]

In 12 games Rask has a total of 10 shot attempts, 6 of those were on net. So it's not a huge sample size they are working with for his stats. He seems to like to float high and let someone else go to the net;. Which would be fine with Foligno/Hartman on his line; but with Donato on his wing it's not a good combo.

I don't think Bruce really cares about getting the most out of his fourth line players.
Think they're just warm bodies to give the other three lines a breather once in a while.

 

[Al Lagoon]

I've actually been pleasantly surprised by Rask's play this season. I expected nothing, but his line seems to hold it's own, spend some time in the offensive zone, and even chip in rare offense. He isn't great in the circle, but he's been far from the disaster he looked last year.

 

[TaLoN]

Rask is acceptable as a #4C, especially if he is flanked by a couple of strong, savvy players like Foligno and Hartman. If someone like Sturm starts to kick it in gear then I want him given a chance. Love his speed and size, and he seems to know how to play defensively already.

Rask played pretty good 4th line hockey tonight.

 

[Northerner]

I'm torn between wanting to tank, and wanting to actually try to put a decent product on the ice. Decency has gotten us not very much, however. So...

 

[16thOverallSaveUs]

I'm torn between wanting to tank, and wanting to actually try to put a decent product on the ice. Decency has gotten us not very much, however. So...

A decent product on the ice results in us picking 13th. I mean whatever, but how many Kunin-level players do you need?

 

[57special]

Yeah, but CHI should've picked 12th last year, and ended up picking 3rd. There is a certain amount of luck with drafting. You might have a high pick, but get a Yakupov.

What I want is for our GM to act decisively once he ascertains where we are as a team, and where we are heading. If it is determined that we need a high end player or two, and that they are not available in trade, then i want them to start getting extra 1st round draft picks, hopefully not past the teens. You never know when the next Barzal, Chabot, or Tarasenko is going to come from, but the more reasonably high picks you can amass, the better.

 

[Northerner]

Yeah, but CHI should've picked 12th last year, and ended up picking 3rd. There is a certain amount of luck with drafting. You might have a high pick, but get a Yakupov.

What I want is for our GM to act decisively once he ascertains where we are as a team, and where we are heading. If it is determined that we need a high end player or two, and that they are not available in trade, then i want them to start getting extra 1st round draft picks, hopefully not past the teens. You never know when the next Barzal, Chabot, or Tarasenko is going to come from, but the more reasonably high picks you can amass, the better.

It's a fair point and some times I lose sight of it. Even "sure things" aren't always sure things.


In theory your odds for hitting a sure thing in the first round are better, but still many first rounders bust all the time.

 

[57special]

Absolutely, but the number of later round picks that have decent NHL careers, let alone elite ones, is very small. It's worth it to get high draft picks(and have a really good scouting staff).

 

[57special]

ES points, so far. I found the JEE, Fiala, Dumba, and Koivu totals surprising.

Staal 13
Zucker 10
Fiala 8
JEE 8
Kunin 8
Spurge 8
Suter 7
Greenway 7
Parise 7
Brodin 6
Zuke 6
Foligno 6
Koivu 5
Dumba 5
Hunt 4
Rask 4

 

[Wild11MN]

Bruce quote on Donato:

“I think he can score if he has confidence like he did in the beginning of his time with us,” Boudreau said. “But what he’s doing now, quite frankly, he’s learning how to play without the puck. And he’s doing a much better job. Defensive zone, he still has his hiccups. But at the end of the year last year, he had a ton of hiccups and I didn’t even care. I was just told to play him (by former GM Paul Fenton).
“So I played him despite the mistakes. But I think he’s gotten so much better of not trying to beat everybody one-on-one, coming back to his own zone and stopping, stuff like that. All those things, he’s gotten better.”

 

[Bazeek]

Bruce quote on Donato:

“I think he can score if he has confidence like he did in the beginning of his time with us,” Boudreau said. “But what he’s doing now, quite frankly, he’s learning how to play without the puck. And he’s doing a much better job. Defensive zone, he still has his hiccups. But at the end of the year last year, he had a ton of hiccups and I didn’t even care. I was just told to play him (by former GM Paul Fenton).
“So I played him despite the mistakes. But I think he’s gotten so much better of not trying to beat everybody one-on-one, coming back to his own zone and stopping, stuff like that. All those things, he’s gotten better.”

Under the circumstances I think it's defensible to have him on the 4th line. He hasn't played better than the forwards above him his linemates aren't totally useless: Hartman's pretty good and Rask's been alright this year. It's not a lot of playing time but they've had some good shifts and at least he doesn't have the threat of being scratched hanging over his head every time he makes a mistake. Hopefully it works out as Boudreau intends.

The question is really what happens when Foligno gets back.

 

[2Pair]

“Split everyone. It was a good play by him,”

Bet you can't guess who said that, and what he was talking about?

 

[Bazeek]

“Split everyone. It was a good play by him,”

Bet you can't guess who said that, and what he was talking about?

There are only two guys on the team that come to mind, and one wasn't playing last night.

 

[Al Lagoon]

Becoming Wild? How about becoming a 4 line team? Rask and company are getting better.

 

[16thOverallSaveUs]

Becoming Wild? How about becoming a 4 line team? Rask and company are getting better.

It’s not like he could get worse