Positives from the 2023-24 Season Thread

[Mgd31]

I really can’t take any positives. I’m glad Luke and Simon are talented. Other than that it was an absolute disaster and embarrassment.

 

[My3Sons]

I don't see a whole lot of positives from this season. Luke and Nemec showing they have the raw talent we hoped for in drafting them...yes great long-term...but within this season...off-set by the fact that they were thrown into the fire and Luke in particular was being forced out there when it was clear he should have taken a seat for at least a few games. I'm not so sure that's a good thing for their development.

The outdoor game was a lot of fun and clearly the high point of the season. That was short-lived and quickly overshadowed by an implosion of piss poor performances which I would categorize as amongst the most pathetic and disgraceful I've witnessed in more than two decades of following this team.

This was another year where almost every skater - including the core minus Nico - doesn't execute the fundamentals, doesn't seem to care for the little details, and still plays immature sloppy hockey. I've pinned most of the blame on this on a poor coaching staff and lack of accountability - now we are relying on a GM who architected that staff and oversaw this lack of accountability to ace the next coaching decision and change the culture. There's also the possibility that the core themselves are part of the problem.

Only time will tell if this was merely a blip on the radar aggravated by circumstances out of their control, or part of a continued pattern reflecting poor organizational leadership and roster construction.

the positive for Luke and Nemec will depend upon what they make of this season's experience. It will be good for their development if they can learn from it and improve the areas they found lacking. I will say that Luke's revival at the end of the season is a good sign. You cannot just get by on physical gifts in the NHL. You have to combine them with your brain. Nemec seems a bit further along in that regard. Small things come to my attention with him. For example, he is low in the offensive zone a lot for a rookie. The rest of the team doesn't seem to see it. He's ahead of many of the other guys in this respect. The things I notice is that he was rarely caught down low. I didn't notice a bunch of two on ones against when he picked his spots. In contrast to someone like Bahl who just cannot identify when to pinch for example. Nemec has other things to work on, but he seems to be a really smart player so the potential is there if he is given the right guidance.

 

[NJDevs26]

Top eight-ten in the lottery, again lol

 

[Better Call Sal]

The easy thing to do is chalk it up to nothing being positive. I've mentioned before, but I think when we look back on this at some point, we're going to better appreciate the amount of trouble this team had to go through all season long. Some of it self-inflicted, some of it not.

Either way, I do believe that Fitz has a good understanding of what needs to be done. I do believe that we have a core that can take us all the way. It is now about nailing the coaching hire, and putting the surrounding pieces in place to put this team in a better position to accomplish that goal.

I don't think we're as far off as some may think. I'm hopeful that this is simply a blip on the radar, and this only motivates this group further.

 

[PizzaAndPucks]

Despite getting shutout by the Flyers on Saturday the Stadium Series win was a catalyst in them pretty much not making the playoffs this year. That's always a plus haha.

 

[Patrik26]

Top eight-ten in the lottery, again lol

Consistency.

 

[My3Sons]

The easy thing to do is chalk it up to nothing being positive. I've mentioned before, but I think when we look back on this at some point, we're going to better appreciate the amount of trouble this team had to go through all season long. Some of it self-inflicted, some of it not.

Either way, I do believe that Fitz has a good understanding of what needs to be done. I do believe that we have a core that can take us all the way. It is now about nailing the coaching hire, and putting the surrounding pieces in place to put this team in a better position to accomplish that goal.

I don't think we're as far off as some may think. I'm hopeful that this is simply a blip on the radar, and this only motivates this group further.

Fitz has two blind spots in my view. One is based on my view of players they've picked in the draft and added to the team this season. I'll suggest that he sees skating as a sort of pass fail skill. In my view, that's not true. What Jack and Jesper Bratt can do with their skating makes them fantastic NHL players despite being small by NHL standards. Luke of course, and some other players show that skating is critical in today's NHL. It's why you don't draft Holtz and you don't add Toffoli. In my view, Fitz also fails to see that toughness only matters if it is delivered in game by players who can play. Some thug sitting in the press box because you can only wheel him out to fight Rempe four times a season isn't that helpful. Similarly, how much is it going to change the team if only one line of players that plays 10 minutes per night against the other team's worst players is tough? Again, just my thoughts.

 

[minibrodeur]

The Dalai Lama once said "Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck". We certainly didn't get what we wanted this year, and while the positives may be few and far between, that doesn't mean there won't be more positives that reveal themselves down the road. A few that come to mind are:

We get to keep the conditional first rounder we traded to SJ. Who knows how big of an impact this pick/player will have on our team going forward.

Mercer's regression could really work in our favor in regards to getting him signed to a favorable contract.

A lot of recent winning teams have shown that sometimes you need to take a step back to take a step forward. Maybe this season will be the key wake up call/motivation this team needs to mature and become perennial contenders going forward.

Does GM Fitz learn from this and make successful player and coach adjustments this offseason?

Does Jacks surgery force him to build his strength all offseason and he magically never misses another game due to injury? (One can dream)

There were definitely some positives this year as mentioned by others but I think there's more positives looming that just haven't revealed themselves yet.

 

[Unknown Caller]

The Dalai Lama once said "Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck". We certainly didn't get what we wanted this year, and while the positives may be few and far between, that doesn't mean there won't be more positives that reveal themselves down the road. A few that come to mind are:

We get to keep the conditional first rounder we traded to SJ. Who knows how big of an impact this pick/player will have on our team going forward.

Mercer's regression could really work in our favor in regards to getting him signed to a favorable contract.

A lot of recent winning teams have shown that sometimes you need to take a step back to take a step forward. Maybe this season will be the key wake up call/motivation this team needs to mature and become perennial contenders going forward.

Does GM Fitz learn from this and make successful player and coach adjustments this offseason?

Does Jacks surgery force him to build his strength all offseason and he magically never misses another game due to injury? (One can dream)

There were definitely some positives this year as mentioned by others but I think there's more positives looming that just haven't revealed themselves yet.

Underrated positive in my mind to not getting the last wild card spot is we don't have to suffer through the pain of getting eliminated by the Rangers in the first round as payback for last year with their fans taking over our building.

 

[My3Sons]

The Dalai Lama once said "Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck". We certainly didn't get what we wanted this year, and while the positives may be few and far between, that doesn't mean there won't be more positives that reveal themselves down the road. A few that come to mind are:

We get to keep the conditional first rounder we traded to SJ. Who knows how big of an impact this pick/player will have on our team going forward.

Mercer's regression could really work in our favor in regards to getting him signed to a favorable contract.

A lot of recent winning teams have shown that sometimes you need to take a step back to take a step forward. Maybe this season will be the key wake up call/motivation this team needs to mature and become perennial contenders going forward.

Does GM Fitz learn from this and make successful player and coach adjustments this offseason?

Does Jacks surgery force him to build his strength all offseason and he magically never misses another game due to injury? (One can dream)

There were definitely some positives this year as mentioned by others but I think there's more positives looming that just haven't revealed themselves yet.

And here I thought he said "gunga galunga"

 

[TheUnseenHand]

Bratt. He had a very impressive season in a lot of ways. More than lived up to the contract extension in year 1. It's a shame it will be overshadowed by this horrendous season.

 

[Guttersniped]

Fitz has two blind spots in my view. One is based on my view of players they've picked in the draft and added to the team this season. I'll suggest that he sees skating as a sort of pass fail skill. In my view, that's not true. What Jack and Jesper Bratt can do with their skating makes them fantastic NHL players despite being small by NHL standards. Luke of course, and some other players show that skating is critical in today's NHL. It's why you don't draft Holtz and you don't add Toffoli. In my view, Fitz also fails to see that toughness only matters if it is delivered in game by players who can play. Some thug sitting in the press box because you can only wheel him out to fight Rempe four times a season isn't that helpful. Similarly, how much is it going to change the team if only one line of players that plays 10 minutes per night against the other team's worst players is tough? Again, just my thoughts.

If a team just goes by skating then Dallas doesn’t draft Robertson.

Holtz wasn’t the right pick because of how he plays and creates offense, not just his skating per se.

I don’t see Toffoli as making us bad either, Jack was hindered by an injury, that was a bigger problem. Timo sucked for a while, that was a bigger problem. So on.

I agree that the “will not skill” can be a trap but MacDermid is going to be a spare player so whatever.

 

[Blackjack]

The outdoor game was a lot of fun and clearly the high point of the season. That was short-lived and quickly overshadowed by an implosion of piss poor performances which I would categorize as amongst the most pathetic and disgraceful I've witnessed in more than two decades of following this team.

Yeah, the outdoor game was a pretty remarkable moment. It was a fantastic win, and even though there had been a few false starts before, that was the one moment I really thought ‘okay, maybe this is it, maybe they’ve actually turned a corner.’ They should have reeled off 6-7 in a row after that game. To immediately face-plant was just so dismaying and really captured the essence of the club.

 

[Blackjack]

I agree that the “will not skill” can be a trap but MacDermid is going to be a spare player so whatever.

I’m very discouraged that we’re signing MacDermid. We’ve heard this stuff before about guys being spare parts and then all the sudden they’re playing 60 games.

I feel like based on some of your previous posts you might not agree, but I do think this team has an issue getting bullied and failing to stand up for itself. I was watching the Canadian feed of the Devils Leafs game and the announcers would not shut up about Domi going after Nemec and how that element had been missing from the Leafs (they did point out that Domi needed to pick his spots better so he doesn’t put his team on the PK.)

MacDermid will not help this area. Aggressive, irritable players that are worth their roster spots help.

 

[My3Sons]

If a team just goes by skating then Dallas doesn’t draft Robertson.

Holtz wasn’t the right pick because of how he plays and creates offense, not just his skating per se.

I don’t see Toffoli as making us bad either, Jack was hindered by an injury, that was a bigger problem. Timo sucked for a while, that was a bigger problem. So on.

I agree that the “will not skill” can be a trap but MacDermid is going to be a spare player so whatever.

I never said "just" go by skating. It's a skill that I say has levels beyond pass fail. Beyond that, Robertson was a second round pick and at some point one of the Dallas bigwigs even said that Robertson's skating improved tremendously from when he was drafted. I see it as a Fitz blindspot. It doesn't define him. But that kid who just transferred to Denver was an awkward skater when drafted and while Holtz has improved his skating it was a big project to take on with such a high draft choice. I guess on some level I'd see Robertson as the exception that proves the rule but beyond that, there's also the team identity thing. NJ didn't really adjust its playing style this season despite the roster being slower. Maybe it's a make up your mind thing. If they want to develop a more patient gameplay and style that is probably fine but asking average to below average skaters to play what NJ did is not a great idea in my view. I don't think you are a football fan but the analogies work well for me. If you have light defensive tackles you don't play a 3-4 and if your defensive tackles are all 350 pounds and slow you play a 3-4.

 

[My3Sons]

I’m very discouraged that we’re signing MacDermid. We’ve heard this stuff before about guys being spare parts and then all the sudden they’re playing 60 games.

I feel like based on some of your previous posts you might not agree, but I do think this team has an issue getting bullied and failing to stand up for itself. I was watching the Canadian feed of the Devils Leafs game and the announcers would not shut up about Domi going after Nemec and how that element had been missing from the Leafs (they did point out that Domi needed to pick his spots better so he doesn’t put his team on the PK.)

MacDermid will not help this area. Aggressive, irritable players that are worth their roster spots help.

See, I think that's celebrating a fraud. Going after a mid sized 20 year old rookie for basically no reason is tough? Give me a break. It's like the Tkachuks who are tough until they know the opponent will give it right back to them with an advantage. Last night for example, in the Rangers Sens game in the dying seconds there was a play where the Rangers were sending the puck along the wall and around behind the net to kill a few seconds at the end. Tkachuk could have hit Trouba but he avoids him and instead blasts the next guy who gets the puck. Hit Trouba at the end of a game and answer the bell and it's impressive. Hit some average sized guy who isn't all that tough and it's whatever to me. I bet if it was Rempe he wouldn't have hit him either if he thought he'd have to fight him. Now, I agree with you competely that you need guys who will actually play with skill and offer some physical play but even better would be someone that tries to absolutely murder opponents like Tom Wilson. Until the league cracks down on attempted murder there is no reason not to engage in it.

 

[Guttersniped]

I’m very discouraged that we’re signing MacDermid. We’ve heard this stuff before about guys being spare parts and then all the sudden they’re playing 60 games.

I feel like based on some of your previous posts you might not agree, but I do think this team has an issue getting bullied and failing to stand up for itself. I was watching the Canadian feed of the Devils Leafs game and the announcers would not shut up about Domi going after Nemec and how that element had been missing from the Leafs (they did point out that Domi needed to pick his spots better so he doesn’t put his team on the PK.)

MacDermid will not help this area. Aggressive, irritable players that are worth their roster spots help.

Colorado gave McDermid 58 games in 21-22 and had 119 points, he doesn’t matter that much.

This is a stop gap, but if he make ~1m he can be buried in the AHL or eventually pawned off to another team that needs “toughness”.

On the flip side , the Leafs tried to fill the need with Reaves and it didn’t work. Obviously good players who are to play against players are what you want, they’re just tougher to get and more expensive.

Not sure Toronto doesn’t get sick of Domi’s antics just like everyone else does though, he jumps guys for random reasons all the time.

 

[SJinNewJersey]

The Dalai Lama once said "Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck". We certainly didn't get what we wanted this year, and while the positives may be few and far between, that doesn't mean there won't be more positives that reveal themselves down the road. A few that come to mind are:

We get to keep the conditional first rounder we traded to SJ. Who knows how big of an impact this pick/player will have on our team going forward.

Mercer's regression could really work in our favor in regards to getting him signed to a favorable contract.

A lot of recent winning teams have shown that sometimes you need to take a step back to take a step forward. Maybe this season will be the key wake up call/motivation this team needs to mature and become perennial contenders going forward.

Does GM Fitz learn from this and make successful player and coach adjustments this offseason?

Does Jacks surgery force him to build his strength all offseason and he magically never misses another game due to injury? (One can dream)

There were definitely some positives this year as mentioned by others but I think there's more positives looming that just haven't revealed themselves yet.

 

[Guttersniped]

I never said "just" go by skating. It's a skill that I say has levels beyond pass fail. Beyond that, Robertson was a second round pick and at some point one of the Dallas bigwigs even said that Robertson's skating improved tremendously from when he was drafted. I see it as a Fitz blindspot. It doesn't define him. But that kid who just transferred to Denver was an awkward skater when drafted and while Holtz has improved his skating it was a big project to take on with such a high draft choice. I guess on some level I'd see Robertson as the exception that proves the rule but beyond that, there's also the team identity thing. NJ didn't really adjust its playing style this season despite the roster being slower. Maybe it's a make up your mind thing. If they want to develop a more patient gameplay and style that is probably fine but asking average to below average skaters to play what NJ did is not a great idea in my view. I don't think you are a football fan but the analogies work well for me. If you have light defensive tackles you don't play a 3-4 and if your defensive tackles are all 350 pounds and slow you play a 3-4.

I actually don’t disagree with you about your point with skating.

We weirdly ignored it in recent drafting and signings even though it was an obvious team strength in 23-24.

Chicago has made it a priority, we’ll see how that works out for them. (I like the guys they got after Bedard, should be a fast fun team at some point.)

But Robertson’s skating didn’t improve that much, he’s adapted to the NHL despite not having very good skating. High end skating is not an absolute requirement.

The problem with Holtz is they saw a goal scorer and didn’t really think about how he was supposed to score in the NHL, or how his playstyle would translate in general.

Guy who transferred to Denver/Salminen’s skating isn’t great but it’s the slow pace of his game that’s the killer. Hameenaho’s skating is problematic but he plays at a much better pace.

 

[My3Sons]

I actually don’t disagree with you about your point with skating.

We weirdly ignored it in recent drafting and signings even though it was an obvious team strength in 23-24.

Chicago has made it a priority, we’ll see how that works out for them. (I like the guys they got after Bedard, should be a fast fun team at some point.)

But Robertson’s skating didn’t improve that much, he’s adapted to the NHL despite not having very good skating. High end skating is not an absolute requirement.

The problem with Holtz is they saw a goal scorer and didn’t really think about how he was supposed to score in the NHL, or how his playstyle would translate in general.

Guy who transferred to Denver/Salminen’s skating isn’t great but it’s the slow pace of his game that’s the killer. Hameenaho’s skating is problematic but he plays at a much better pace.

Excellent point about the pace thing. You did say that when you watched Hameenaho at prospect camp and it makes sense. Thanks for adding that . I’ll adapt my position to include that point.

 

[PizzaAndPucks]

I actually don’t disagree with you about your point with skating.

We weirdly ignored it in recent drafting and signings even though it was an obvious team strength in 23-24.

Chicago has made it a priority, we’ll see how that works out for them. (I like the guys they got after Bedard, should be a fast fun team at some point.)

But Robertson’s skating didn’t improve that much, he’s adapted to the NHL despite not having very good skating. High end skating is not an absolute requirement.

The problem with Holtz is they saw a goal scorer and didn’t really think about how he was supposed to score in the NHL, or how his playstyle would translate in general.

Guy who transferred to Denver/Salminen’s skating isn’t great but it’s the slow pace of his game that’s the killer. Hameenaho’s skating is problematic but he plays at a much better pace.

My issue with Holtz is that he doesn't score enough goals onnthe rush from what I remember this season. He's actually pretty good around the net and the cycling aspect of his game is good. He scored mostly on rebounds and finishing plays down below the hahmarks. He needs to improve at shooting the puck on tbe rush, especially when he has a defensman as a screen. Holtz was missing the net alot of the time.

Sharangovich was money at scoring on the rush with using a Dman as a screen. Can't see why Holtz can't get there too. It's really trade him this summer or give him 1 more season to stick and produce more. They botched his development a bit so I'm not ready to give up on him quite yet.

 

[Guttersniped]

My issue with Holtz is that he doesn't score enough goals onnthe rush from what I remember this season. He's actually pretty good around the net and the cycling aspect of his game is good. He scored mostly on rebounds and finishing plays down below the hahmarks. He needs to improve at shooting the puck on tbe rush, especially when he has a defensman as a screen. Holtz was missing the net alot of the time.

Sharangovich was money at scoring on the rush with using a Dman as a screen. Can't see why Holtz can't get there too. It's really trade him this summer or give him 1 more season to stick and produce more. They botched his development a bit so I'm not ready to give up on him quite yet.

It’s not always easy to change, Sharangovich was always a guy who scores off the rush while Holtz slows down and looks for open ice.

The excerpt below discusses how as a prospect Holtz scored at slower speeds or stationary. If the team wanted a guy who could score off the rush they could have traded down and drafted Seth Jarvis *shrug*

From 2020 Black Book on Alex Holtz

<cut>
Alexander Holtz is a cerebral – sniping winger – who made improvements to his game over the course of the season. What might be surprising, is that he’s not actually the most technically sound shooter in terms of his catch and release or his footwork. Don’t get us wrong, he did score a couple of catch and release goals, but they were generated when Alexander was going at half-speed, not his full speed.

When looking to catch and release from a mechanical perspective, you’re looking for a motion that requires the blade to never go against the grain of the puck itself, or in other words you shouldn’t hear the puck hit the actual blade. It requires a set of soft hands and the ability to rapidly pull the puck back, which Holtz features primarily when stationary or half speed. At top speeds, Holtz failed to soft-catch the puck in motion effectively. You don’t need our mechanical breakdown to take our word for it though. He scored zero of his 19 goals this season (including international play), from a one-motion soft-catch at his top gear. One of the primary reasons Holtz had more difficulty with this specific aspect, was due to his foot placement as he caught the puck. He would inadvertently catch the puck on his backfoot instead of his front-foot at times, and this put him off balance and inadvertently changed the available shooting angle. Despite the issues described, there’s still a lot to like about his release.

He’s one of only a handful of shooters featured in this draft, that legitimately threatens, and can score NHL calibre goal from the offensive blueline when using his wrist-shot. The further a shooter can threaten from distance, the higher the quality or grade of the shot we give them.


Very few players in any draft can be as dangerous as Holtz when extending to the top of the circles. Ironically, one of the more memorable goals he scored was also off of a puck that he caught and released successfully in one motion, again not at top speed though.

The play started off an offensive draw which was won and sent back to the upper half-wall. Holtz swung from just outside the blueline, and curled back towards his teammate who delivered the puck to Holtz just as he entered over the line. In one motion, Holtz curled back the puck while rotating towards the net, then released a perfectly placed, seeing-eye wrist-shot that went through multiple layers of traffic on the short side. The goalie never saw the puck until it was in the back of the net as the result of Holtz’s placement and velocity.

Not every shooter needs to rely on catching and releasing in transitional play at full speeds, but it is interesting that a prospect we still consider an elite shooter does have less versatility when shooting in motion. So, why the elite shooter grade? Let’s breakdown the goal we discussed earlier as an example.

The reason Holtz was able to generate the torque and velocity on his wrist-shot from the point was due to his body mechanics. Very few players can seamlessly rotate through their release like Holtz does. It starts with his ability to drop his hip, before rapidly rotating his upper frame, while simultaneously kicking back his outside leg. This in turn displaces his body weight, and transfers it through his release. He has an advanced, technical understanding of how to press down on his stick to generate the bend needed to further increase his release speed. If you look at the shot from a hockey- sense perspective, it further shows what makes Holtz one of the best shooters featured. Advanced shooters can identify seams on goalies through heavy traffic, and recognize when their release is masked from goalies. This gives shooters like Holtz an advanced understanding of timing his release.

When he isn’t attempting to mask is release through traffic, he’s able to be deceptive with how he curls the puck in tight to his frame. The more dextrous the shooter, the more likely the shooter can rapidly shift the angle of their release, which is exactly the case with Holtz. One of Holtz’s favourite shooting plays, is too rush down the wing, use the defenseman as a screen, then bring the shot in tight and change the angle before releasing it around the screen itself. It makes his shot difficult to gauge in terms of picking up on short-side or far-side placement, for the netminder.

Holtz isn’t only a wrist-shot though, he also presents a solid snapshot that he likes to drop into a one-knee motion on. This is a very similar motion to what Brisson and Raymond offer in their shots as well. He scored a couple of really impressive snap shots that showed very good placement. The slapshot lags behind his wrist-shot and snapshot, it’s not as effective for the powerplay as Perreault’s, Miettinen’s, or Brisson’s, but it’s not bad either. The best word to describe his slapshot would be up and down. On one attempt it can look very good, on another, you just wish he went with his more prominent shot types. The worst aspect of his shooting is his backhander. Not every prospect needs to be Henrik Zetterberg, and we understand that, but when you are looking at a prospect like Holtz, it wouldn’t be a bad thing to have in his arsenal. The reason, is because if he did have the backhander, he could sell the wrist-shot when coming towards the goal-line, which would give additional space relative to most other players, to then bury the backhander. It’s below- average though, it really is the biggest area he needs to improve on when breaking down his shooting. We think it could help him in-tight especially, if he can continue to develop it.

To summarize his release, he has fantastic shot quality, that occurs through the amount of velocity he generates. This velocity is generated through excellent body mechanics that allow him to rapidly rotate through his shot. His placement and ability to find seams through traffic is very good as well. Where he falls a bit short is in terms of his mechanics when going at top speeds with his catch and release. He also lacks a bit of variation with his shot selection since his slapshot and backhander are more inconsistent. He is more dangerous when going at half-speeds and when shooting from a stationary position. This stationary positioning was emphasized for him this season, since he was used in the middle of a 1-3-1 formation on the powerplay. However, he had some difficulty getting a lot accomplished depending on the shift and the game. This was primarily the result of him failing to time when he should walk into the soft ice he had available, and also due to his teammates inability to consistently find him when he was available. We gave Alexander a pass with the man advantage though. This was his first season against men, and it’s not unexpected to see him struggle a bit with him timing his positioning and release.

 

[Guadana]

It’s not always easy to change, Sharangovich was always a guy who scores off the rush while Holtz slows down and looks for open ice.

The excerpt below discusses how as a prospect Holtz scored at slower speeds or stationary. If the team wanted a guy who could score off the rush they could have traded down and drafted Seth Jarvis *shrug*

From 2020 Black Book on Alex Holtz

Jarvis and Quinn were available. Both were scorers, both were more versatile. Even Mercer was a player with hands and scoring but without a really good shot, but much better 200 foot game. Let's hope Fitz learned something from that day.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

It’s not always easy to change, Sharangovich was always a guy who scores off the rush while Holtz slows down and looks for open ice.

The excerpt below discusses how as a prospect Holtz scored at slower speeds or stationary. If the team wanted a guy who could score off the rush they could have traded down and drafted Seth Jarvis *shrug*

From 2020 Black Book on Alex Holtz

Yeah this is spot on. Also, at the time, we were all foaming at the mouth for a long term winger for Jack who could just score at will with their shot. I remember how specifically mad I was about the Askarov rumors because Blackwood just finished 2020 on that torrid pace in February under Nas (God, my poor liver remembering those times). Holtz checked every box for that. This was also at a time that people forget how bad Jack's shot was. It was virtually one of the worst things about his game and it's come a super long way and probably at the expense of a guy like Holtz because Jack doesn't defer as much as he did in his first 2 years in the league which obviously led to the Holtz pick. In essence, Jack improving his shot immensely is something that people gloss over the fact when it comes to Holtz's development. If Jack became the stud he is now but he was still a very pass first guy like he was in his first 2 years with a mediocre shot, I think Holtz would've been staple gunned to his wing but since Jack can score on his own with will now with the maturation he has had as a player, it makes Holtz effectively useless. Hell, we all thought Timo would be the perfect Jack winger and that experiment didn't work at well either because of the shooting thing I mentioned with Jack now.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Jarvis and Quinn were available. Both were scorers, both were more versatile. Even Mercer was a player with hands and scoring but without a really good shot, but much better 200 foot game. Let's hope Fitz learned something from that day.

Meh, I think with the way Fitz drafts that if it wasn't Holtz that it was going to be Perfetti