GDT: Preseason game 2: Avs @ Mild 6:00pm ET/4:00 MT

[John Eichel da GOAT]

Dater has no idea what he is talking about. If AJ said it, I would put some stock into it, but Dater is a clown.

 

[Pokecheque]

unsolicited .02 from a Wild fan.

Grubauer wasn't good. but he's a goalie, and that could just be "small sample size".
Kerfoot looked dangerous in spurts.
Looks like i share majority opinion here in Kamenev. He wasn't spectacular but he stood out among all the hopefuls the Avs put out there in that he played like he looked comfortable and knew what he was supposed to do, like a solid NHL regular.

btw it's Fenton, not Bruce, who wanted to see the most of our team together, and it's game four for us, at home. stacking the team is normal in that circumstance, not some weird fixation on humiliating the Avalanche. We made ... 18? cuts the night before. We're down to picking out which fourth liners are going to win jobs and which D want the 6 and 7 spots. You want to see those guys playing the role they're auditioning for.

Thanks.

I really wouldn't care even if the motivation was to stomp the Avs, if the idea was to put on a show for the home crowd then so be it. In any event, it's not like Minnesota has a bunch of roster spots up for grabs.

Glad Kam looked okay. Whatever's going on is entirely fixable.

 

[Pokecheque]

As for Dater, he hated on Paul Stastny practically the entire time he was in Colorado. I like him as a writer but he isn't the best when it comes to talent evaluation.

 

[Pokecheque]

I think the problem is that there are entirely too many preseason games. As TMV said on Twitter, four max, that's it. Otherwise teams will treat a couple of 'em with zero value and just skip 'em, like this one.

 

[S3rkie]

Bednar saying they're not going to make more cuts until after game 4 is disparaging :/ Hopefully they take a smarter approach lineup wise.

 

[Pokecheque]

Bednar saying they're not going to make more cuts until after game 4 is disparaging :/ Hopefully they take a smarter approach lineup wise.

Why? It's a young lineup, if he wants this to go down to the wire I see no issue there.

 

[CobraAcesS]

Why? It's a young lineup, if he wants this to go down to the wire I see no issue there.

I've never really liked it much when the D pairings and lines are juggled constantly through the end of camp though. I really dont think there are that many positions up for grabs.

I like that they've started out with Kaut in that 2RW spot, but its probably time to try some of the guys who are actually going to be on the team.

 

[S3rkie]

Why? It's a young lineup, if he wants this to go down to the wire I see no issue there.

Because games like yesterday are a waste for everyone. If they are just going to fill the lineup with scrubs that don't have a future and a handful of guys trying to prove they belong at various levels within the organization, those actual prospects aren't being given an opportunity to showcase themselves positively.

 

[Foppa2118]

I don't think Kam had a poor game, but I don't think he had a great game either. That's the thing. He needs to have really good games in pre-season. Guys looking to earn spots need to shine, even if they're not in top 6 roles during the regular season.

He started a little slow, not really engaged too much, but then got better. Had some nice shifts in the second period. I'd like to see him create some more dangerous scoring chances, and put some more pucks on net. He finished with two, but one of them came from the red line.

If Bednar was questioning his effort level prior to this game though, I'm not sure he did enough to convince him otherwise. He still has a few plays where he more or less gives up on the play. Bednar is clearly giving him the tough love approach, and that's exactly what he doesn't want to see.

I've been preaching patience with Kam, and I think he still deserves some. I'm interested to see how he plays next game. He spent a fair amount of time against the Parise-Koivu-Nino line. Hopefully he gets some softer competition next time. If he can be a little better and more consistent, I think he's on his way to earning a spot.

 

[Pokecheque]

Because games like yesterday are a waste for everyone. If they are just going to fill the lineup with scrubs that don't have a future and a handful of guys trying to prove they belong at various levels within the organization, those actual prospects aren't being given an opportunity to showcase themselves positively.

I dunno, I don't think he should be influenced by what the other team does in preseason. Was he supposed to put a couple top line guys out there because Boudreau and Fenton decided to ice their full lineup minus Doobnick?

But you're right, it was a waste. One way to do away with that is shorten the preseason. At the very least, even if teams won't treat them with much value we don't have to put up with as many of them.

 

[S3rkie]

I dunno, I don't think he should be influenced by what the other team does in preseason. Was he supposed to put a couple top line guys out there because Boudreau and Fenton decided to ice their full lineup minus Doobnick?

But you're right, it was a waste. One way to do away with that is shorten the preseason. At the very least, even if teams won't treat them with much value we don't have to put up with as many of them.

100% agree with you there. It should be half as many games at least. I don't wan't them to be reactionary to what other teams plans are, but it just doesn't seem like a good approach throwing guys out there to get slaughtered. How do you evaluate that fairly? Why are guys like Bass getting more games over a guy like Saigon, who did everything right, worked his ass off and actually has a chance at a future? It's just seems like wasted opportunities. Just put out a semi competitive line up and rotate in guys for evaluation.

 

[Pokecheque]

100% agree with you there. It should be half as many games at least. I don't wan't them to be reactionary to what other teams plans are, but it just doesn't seem like a good approach throwing guys out there to get slaughtered. How do you evaluate that fairly? Why are guys like Bass getting more games over a guy like Saigon, who did everything right, worked his ass off and actually has a chance at a future? It's just seems like wasted opportunities. Just put out a semi competitive line up and rotate in guys for evaluation.

Well, I think the Saigeon thing was a mistake on their part, and they know it. In their over-earnest push to ice a competitive AHL team they signed way too many guys, and didn't quite leave enough room to sign Saigeon and the contracts they are likely signing near the end of the season (Bowers, Makar). So they booted the overager back to junior so they at least don't have to worry about signing him until the offseason when a few contracts come off the books. I can't imagine that was the plan, but I suppose the good news is that Saigeon looks like a very good pick, at the very least for the AHL ranks.

I've no idea what they're trying to do with Bass. That was just weird to even invite him. Maybe they were hoping he'd be a nice vet to add to the Eagles, I don't know.

But we're seeing some outright ridiculous things going on in preseason. Icing a separate camp full of PTOs because the team is playing in China, or L.A. playing two games on the same night. I'm just over this bullshit.

 

[PAZ]

In terms of evaluation it does make it hard and pretty much useless, but it also serves as a nice wake-up call to all the players playing that game that if they want a spot in the NHL, they better work their ass off because that's what a legitimate NHL looks like. Even for guys like Kerfoot and Jost it shows them how a game would go without playing in the shadow of the top line.

 

[AllAboutAvs]

I know it's only pre-season but we can't forget that MIN had already lost their first three games and playing at home I think they really wanted a win.

 

[The Kingslayer]

Bednar saying they're not going to make more cuts until after game 4 is disparaging :/ Hopefully they take a smarter approach lineup wise.

How much more "evaluating" do you need to know that Mason Gaertsen sucks?

 

[klozge]

100% agree with you there. It should be half as many games at least. I don't wan't them to be reactionary to what other teams plans are, but it just doesn't seem like a good approach throwing guys out there to get slaughtered. How do you evaluate that fairly? Why are guys like Bass getting more games over a guy like Saigon, who did everything right, worked his ass off and actually has a chance at a future? It's just seems like wasted opportunities. Just put out a semi competitive line up and rotate in guys for evaluation.

I've been thinking about this and I guess, it's actually a good decision to send Saigeon back to Juniors. He primarily needs to get bigger (edit: and work on his skating) to be able to play his kind of game in the NHL and that's a thing he can work on in Juniors as well as in the AHL. In Juniors he also gets to play more minutes in an environment which allows him to try more stuff and to become more dominant while the Avs get a bit more flexibility this year because they have one contract less to worry about and in the future because Saigeon's ELC will kick in and end a year later. I don't think they sent him down because they didn't like what they had seen of him.

 

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

I've been thinking about this and I guess, it's actually a good decision to send Saigeon back to Juniors. He primarily needs to get bigger (edit: and work on his skating) to be able to play his kind of game in the NHL and that's a thing he can work on in Juniors as well as in the AHL. In Juniors he also gets to play more minutes in an environment which allows him to try more stuff and to become more dominant while the Avs get a bit more flexibility this year because they have one contract less to worry about and in the future because Saigeon's ELC will kick in and end a year later. I don't think they sent him down because they didn't like what they had seen of him.

I think you're right. I think the Avs saw that he was starting to tap into that potential that got him drafted 4th overall in the OHL draft and would rather he keep that momentum up.

 

[S3rkie]

I think you're right. I think the Avs saw that he was starting to tap into that potential that got him drafted 4th overall in the OHL draft and would rather he keep that momentum up.

Yeah I don't mind the slow play of his contract status as much as when they cut him. I guess they didn't want him to miss any of his junior season, my gripe is I'd rather him get a few more preseason games as a reward for hard work and meeting expectations, as well as not having to watch as much preseason roster slot fodder (which I know is selfish and mostly inconsequential). I guess as long as they are communicating well with the kids its not a big deal either way.

 

[S E P H]

I think a big part of sending Saigeon back to juniors was the amount of contracts Avs have and the amount of depth they want in all the positions. I totally get I might've contradicted myself since Saigeon actually brings depth even on an AHL contract, but Avs probably don't consider him in their depth plans for this season. Of course Anderson and Geertsen should probably be on AHL deals, which furthermore prevented Saigeon from getting a deal, but lets hope Avs learned their lesson here.

 

[Avs_19]

I don't think Kam had a poor game, but I don't think he had a great game either. That's the thing. He needs to have really good games in pre-season. Guys looking to earn spots need to shine, even if they're not in top 6 roles during the regular season.

He started a little slow, not really engaged too much, but then got better. Had some nice shifts in the second period. I'd like to see him create some more dangerous scoring chances, and put some more pucks on net. He finished with two, but one of them came from the red line.

If Bednar was questioning his effort level prior to this game though, I'm not sure he did enough to convince him otherwise. He still has a few plays where he more or less gives up on the play. Bednar is clearly giving him the tough love approach, and that's exactly what he doesn't want to see.

I've been preaching patience with Kam, and I think he still deserves some. I'm interested to see how he plays next game. He spent a fair amount of time against the Parise-Koivu-Nino line. Hopefully he gets some softer competition next time. If he can be a little better and more consistent, I think he's on his way to earning a spot.

Bednar actually brought up Kamenev on his own as a young guy who had a good game. He also said he had a strong practice before the game and again yesterday. He looks more comfortable and quicker now but Bednar still wants to push him out of his comfort zone a bit more.