The main take aways from the pre-season
- They responded fairly well after playing an Eakins-esque game versus Vancouver the previous game. Followed it up by playing a much heavier, puck possession game with minimal defensive lapses the following game versus an almost complete Cancuks roster. That's a big positive. If they had bombed that game last night (and would have a year ago) then I would say we're in big, big trouble. We probably still will have a shaky start but at least there's some silver lining.
- Draisaitl and McDavid work better than any other combination we tried with McDavid. Hall and McDavid still not clicking.
- Nilsson was probably the best goalie for what that's worth.
- Yakupov showed enough positives this pre-season
- Slepyshev brings size/some finish and we need both.
- Reinhart was solid.
- Pouliot + RNH picking up right where they left off last year.
The rest is gravy. I don't care about the record (good or bad). We talkin' 'bout pre-season, not the season, but pre-season/Iverson off.
A few things I'd like to add...
Talbot is an NHL goalie. This is huge. There were a handful of saves he made last night where I was thinking in the back of my head....that's a goal on Scrivs
Jultz has looked better then he ever has before.
We played without our 1st line rw, best dman and checking line winger yet still dominated a good stretch of the game.
I agree with you on Yak too. I noticed him getting a little flack for the -2 but from what I have seen he has looked really solid the last couple games. I'm actually pretty stoked. I was definitely a critic in the past but he is showing me something right now. Fingers crossed he keeps it rolling.
The Gryba and Reinhart pairing are definitely lacking in foot speed and puck moving but on the flip side it may be our first pairing in a while that can actually protect our net,break up the cycle fairly effectively and not get bullied all over the ice.
Davidson looks like a solid 7 dman. I was worried about Ference being that guy...
Finally we have competent coaching. I fully expect this club to steadily improve throughout the season. In the past what you saw in pre-season was the final product. I don't expect that to be the case this year.