Player Discussion Nate Schmidt

[4Twenty]

Where does that zone exit/entry data come from. I'd like to look into it further. It seems like knowing the frequency of exit/entry attempts as would be required to have a meaningful discussion about what they mean.

Do the entries have to lead to a shot attempt? What constitutes a successful exit?

 

[F A N]

Thanks.

Side note: how the hell is Oleksiak so good at entries and so bad at exits?

He's bad at passing but likes to jump in and lead the rush. That's how a lot of the Star's defensemen play. The weakside-D will lead the rush when there's room, often leading to an easy zone entry (hence Oleksiak's numbers). He's not a talented passer though, so when he doesn't have the option to skate the puck out, he's pretty bad at exiting the zone.

Derrick Pouliot was like that to a lesser extent. One big knock on him was that he could be pressured to cough up the puck. With time and puck on his stick he does have the skating and puck handling abilities to gain the offensive zone with control.

 

[Johnny Canucker]

Derrick Pouliot was like that to a lesser extent. One big knock on him was that he could be pressured to cough up the puck. With time and puck on his stick he does have the skating and puck handling abilities to gain the offensive zone with control.

I forgot we had him.

 

[HockeyWooot]

Thoughts on Schmidttys play so far?

 

[Fatass]

Thoughts on Schmidttys play so far?

He’s clearly a top four D. He’s looking better on his naturals side to me though. Not liking him on the right side. Thought he played that in Vegas, and was good? Maybe a partner issue? Maybe a system’s issue?

 

[Gaunce4gm]

Thoughts on Schmidttys play so far?

I think he looks better every game. He’s kinda like a QH43 lite. He’s not as dynamic offensively, but being able to breakout the kick as effectively as he can does make the other team respect him on the ice that much more. Between him and Hughes we should have 40 minutes a night with at least one of them out there

 

[HockeyWooot]

Thought he had a good game vs the Jets Si far I’ve noticed he does a good job of getting shots of, and getting them on net.

 

[Bougieman]

Thoughts on Schmidttys play so far?

To be honest I was expecting a bit more after watching him with Vegas, but that's on me. I should have tempered my expectations knowing that he'd need time to gel with new line mates, and there was no preseason or anything, and he'd have to start at a sprint with no build up.

Overall I'm quite happy with him, assuming he irons out the wrinkles, which judging by his play getting a little better each game, seems to be how he is trending. Ask us again after the current road trip.

 

[David71]

Thought he had a good game vs the Jets Si far I’ve noticed he does a good job of getting shots of, and getting them on net.

he shoots hard and hits on net. thats why i think he should be on pp1 at some point..

 

[HedonisticAltruism]

Reminds me a bit of Bieksa with fewer gaffs so far. I'd give a transition/skating to NS while KB3 gets an edge on his shot and 'nastiness'. Ehrhoff might be a decent comparison too?

 

[vanuck]

I remember noticing him back in the day while following Taylor Matson's career at U of M and thinking he'd be a prospect worth taking a shot on. Funny how things end up playing out but he's been a positive addition so far.

 

[Hit the post]

Reminds me a bit of Bieksa with fewer gaffs so far. I'd give a transition/skating to NS while KB3 gets an edge on his shot and 'nastiness'. Ehrhoff might be a decent comparison too?

Whatever Schmidt may be weaker offensively compared to Ehrhoff, he *FAR* exceeds that in play without the puck. A significantly better all around player (Schmidt) than Ehrhoff imho. Easier for a coach to determine D pairings with Schmidt than Ehrhoff as a result.

 

[nucksflailtogether]

Prime Hamhuis. Maybe a bit quicker.

 

[Regress2TheMeme]

He's not been given a lot of opportunities to shine and he's still been excellent. It's kind of a shame he doesn't to do more on the PP as he seems totally capable of running a PP from the blue line. He's also been playing with a mix of D partners that need a babysitter. I'd say he's a lite version of the all situations #1 defender. A versatile #2 which is very valuable.

 

[HedonisticAltruism]

Whatever Schmidt may be weaker offensively compared to Ehrhoff, he *FAR* exceeds that in play without the puck. A significantly better all around player (Schmidt) than Ehrhoff imho. Easier for a coach to determine D pairings with Schmidt than Ehrhoff as a result.

Agree - I do see a couple of flubs in Schmidt's game but it's nothing I wouldn't expect on average for any D-man, especially in context of getting up to speed with a team with no preseason and minimal time for practices. Ehrhoff did have consistently more errors - I seem to remember a nickname there.

It's mostly just I don't think NS fits the mould of Salo/Ohlund/Edler as he's not that 'large blueline presence' while getting offense in. I don't think he's as dynamic as Jovo but can see him getting to Ehrhoff (which... while they did have similar highs, Jovo still did pretty well outside the WCE, Ehrhoff cannot say the same once removed from the Sedins (and I suppose Thornton?) ).

He's also certainly more offensively talented/dynamic than Mitchell or Tanev. I think more capable than Hamhuis but I'd be more comfortable with Hamhuis in our end.

Of course, this is all under constraints of trying to compare him to some important D-men of ours in the past couple of decades, which just gives us some 'common language' we can use to project expectations.

Either way, easy top 3 on the team right now.

 

[bossram]

Nate Schmidt has been solid enough. Nothing entirely noticeable either way, which for this blueline, is a nice change.

I'd really like to see a run of Hughes-Schmidt, just to see what the effectiveness would be like (and to see whether Hughes can handle the challenges of playing tougher comp if given a legitimate partner).

You can run back Edler-Myers and then whatever grab bag 3rd pair is in Green's favour that day.

 

[F A N]

Whatever Schmidt may be weaker offensively compared to Ehrhoff, he *FAR* exceeds that in play without the puck. A significantly better all around player (Schmidt) than Ehrhoff imho. Easier for a coach to determine D pairings with Schmidt than Ehrhoff as a result.

Well... Ehrhoff at his best was a major play driver who was a weapon both with his slap shot and ability to jump up into the play. He was a 2nd tier (below the Karlsson type) offensive Dman in his time here. We have Hughes now but before Ehrhoff our best offensive Dmen by far was Jovo and before that we're looking at Edler, Bieksa, Lumme, Jeff Brown, and Reinhart (the latter two were here for a very short time) etc.

 

[Hit the post]

I think Schmidt will be like Gillis' Hamhuis signing in terms of defensemen. His impact alone might be enough to save Benning his job imho (I think that highly of the player).

 

[canuckking1]

He's been fine. Could be a bit better as he gets into his groove. Leads the top 4 D in most fancy stats still.

 

[Fire Benning]

He’s been really solid. By far Benning’s best move ever, an absolute steal for a f***ing 3rd.

 

[RussianRacket]

Another absolute steal for Benning.

 

[Shareefruck]

Despite probably still having more to give, he'd still be my pick for our best defenseman right now.

 

[Hit the post]

He's been fine. Could be a bit better as he gets into his groove. Leads the top 4 D in most fancy stats still.

I think of how Guy Lapointe was the underrated member of the Habs "Big Three" during their heyday. Guys like Larry Robinson got all the accolades (right so) but Lapointe was the guy Scotty Bowman used to pairing up with any particular D that might have been struggling at the time. Schmidt can be that all purpose utility knife.

OT trivia: Guy Lapointe was a huge troller/prankster. Back when the current PM (Justin's dad) paid a visit to the Habs locker room...Pierre started shaking hands with all the Habs greats. Lapointe secretly put a bunch of vaseline all over his hands before the PM got to him. When Pierre shook his hands, he had the really shocked look on his face (Lapointe managed to keep a straight face thru it all) and walked away.

 

[F A N]

I think Schmidt will be like Gillis' Hamhuis signing in terms of defensemen. His impact alone might be enough to save Benning his job imho (I think that highly of the player).

Wow. That is high praise. Hamhuis was an absolute stud in his first year here and was very good afterwards.

 

[Hit the post]

Wow. That is high praise. Hamhuis was an absolute stud in his first year here and was very good afterwards.

Vegas will rue the day they couldn't fit him in their lineup imho. Their loss is our huge gain.