Since this series is pretty much my chance to talk up my team and my players, I thought I'd touch on my spares. None of them, aside from Smaill, got much love in the all-star voting, which was disappointing because of their skills and versatility which I feel was well-demonstrated. I have a reputation at this point as a guy who will almost always take a F/D over a F or D when choosing a spare, but I assure you, I won't adhere to that strategy to a fault! The thing is, these guys aren't on my team as MLD spares just because they can play multiple positions, it's because they excelled at multiple positions. Let's recap:
Walter Smaill:
As a forward:
- put up a six-year vsx score of 245, basically Pud Glass numbers
- Iain Fyffe's records indicate that score is dragged downwards by some time at defense
- was a 2nd all-star team RW in the PCHA in 1914
as a defenseman:
- put up a four-year vsx score of 266 among defensemen, basically Bob Murray numbers
- was also sent to the PCHA/NHA competitive all-star game three times, not sure if it was as a forward or defenseman
- skills as a speedster, worker bee/utility man, and especially clutch player are well documented, check his bio
Bob Turner:
As a forward:
- it is documented in multiple places that Turner was a penalty killing forward for the Habs, a very successful and very deep team that assumedly had a very successful penalty kill (I think he may be the winger version of Lorne Henning as a penalty killer, much less numerical support for that, though)
As a defenseman:
- Lasted for 7 seasons worth of games in the ultra-competitive NHL, for teams far, far above average (see chart comparing him to other 1927-1967 MLD/AAA defensemen). Won 5 cups as the #5. Fended off training camp challenges year after year by players who were likely among the best non-NHL defensemen.
Charlie Tobin:
As a forward:
- was already 27 when he joined the PCHA but finished top-10 in points 4 times (3rd, 8th, 8th, 9th) and was a 1st team 1918 all-star
- earned vsx scores of 83, 48, 42, 41, 37, 31 (but was playing defense about 22% of the time, according to Iain Fyffe) - these are, like Walter Smaill, Pud Glass-like numbers, and his case as an all-round forward isn't as strong, but his ability to drop back and play defense makes up for that
As a defenseman:
- I don't actually know if he did anything special as a defenseman. In this case it's more that he could do it, not that he was a star at it. But it's important to note because it hurts his upside as a forward unless you keep it in mind.
Bert McCaffrey:
As a forward:
- put up 94 points in 77 games in the OHA and earned two first team all-star spots (Harry Watson had 131 in 72)
- won two Allan Cups
- scored buckets of points at the 1924 olympics with his linemates Smith and Watson, winning gold
- placed 19th and 13th in the NHL in points (percentage scores 38 & 58) despite already being 31 when he joined the NHL, already the 12th oldest full time player in the league
- was 13th in hart voting in 1926 (13 voting points), the only Leaf to get Hart votes despite being 3rd on the team in scoring
As a defenseman:
- was an OHA 2nd team all-star in 1921
- played 5 NHL seasons from age 33-37 for teams slightly below average (weighted SRS -.08)
- earned defense percentage scores of 65 and 53% in his best two seasons
- in the 1928 and 1930 seasons, he was traded to and from Pittsburgh. they had a record of 31-49-15 (.405) with him, and 2-31-4 (.108) before acquiring him and after losing him.
- contributed to 2 Montreal stanley cups (1930, 1931)
- was the oldest full time player in the NHL when he retired
Where can they fill in?
I don't think anyone gets spares thinking they can fill in on the top line or top pairing - that's what your 2nd liners and 2nd pairing guys are for. But it's safe to say Smaill is at least a good short term 2nd line utility man, 3rd/4th liner and 5th/6th defenseman, Turner has #4/5/6 defenseman skills and 4th line wing (and PK) ability, Tobin is a 3rd/4th liner with possible 2nd line glue duty, but a last resort for defense. McCaffrey's hart votes are intriguing; he appears to have been an elite glue guy for a couple of years; it's not that much of a stretch to see him doing 2nd line spot duty to preserve the integrity of the lower lines; remember he was 31+ in the NHL and showed his real offensive worth in his 20s in senior hockey. But without a doubt he can play on a 3rd/4th line and a 3rd pairing on defense.
you could say that Smaill could be like drafting Lucien DeBlois AND Doug Lidster; Bob Turner is like taking Reg Hamilton AND Dave Reid; Charlie Tobin is like taking Tony McKegney AND.... I dunno, Al Dewsbury?; and Bert McCaffrey is like drafting Greg Adams AND Marcus Ragnarsson.
Not that the values of these players are literally the sums of the types of positional players they are comparable to (I'd take most/all of DeBlois, Lidster, Hamilton, Reid, McKegney, Dewsbury, Adams and Ragnarsson as starters first, mostly due to more established records in their positions and roles) but especially as spares, I think their values do go a few notches in that direction.
Pittsburgh, for their part, has done a good job. Gagnon is almost like having another Real Cloutier. Boll is like having a poor man's MacMillan (who can step onto a 2nd line if you need him for sure), Roberts is like having a poor man's Fraser/Jarrett who can step into a variety of roles, but not 1st pair, and Kiessling is... I'm not sure. He's good, at least.
Pittsburgh went the BPA route and I went the versatility route and Pittsburgh definitely reaped the all-star votes for their efforts this time, but I think we came out about even in terms of what our spares are each capable of.
