Prospect Info: Rangers Prospects Thread (Stats in Post #1; Updated 12.14.18) *Part III*

[GAGLine]

3 in binary is 11 so I wasn't that far off

There are 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary and those who don't.

 

[Harbour Dog]

There are 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary and those who don't.

I will be stealing this.

 

[Tawnos]

There are 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary and those who don't.

Excellent.

This is tangential, but an exchange from one of my favorite shows:

"Just how pregnant is your ex-wife?"
"As I understand it, pregnancy is a binary state; either you are or aren't."

 

[GlasgowNewYorkRanger]

As one of the last Halverson holdouts around, I have to respond to this because it's really shortsighted.

Halverson was drafted not as a star, but as a goalie on a stacked team that showed flashes of tremendous ability along with good size and athleticism for the position. His D+1 year, he was pretty good, but his Soo team crapped out in the semis despite being favorites to win. His D+2 year, he was not particularly good at all on a less-talented Soo team. Still, he had his moments; I remember watching them.

Then he gets to Hartford and has to compete with Hellberg and Skakpski, both of whom had been decent AHL goalies prior to that point and had a few NHL starts. Everyone that year was horrible. Halverson saw 9 ECHL games but also 26 AHL games, which is not unreasonable for someone making his pro debut who was still very much a work in progress. He wasn't good, anywhere.

His next year (last season) he again had to compete for a job. Mazanec, a guy with limited but actual NHL experience, was obviously going to get starts as you want someone in the AHL who can step into NHL action when needed, ideally. Georgiev they liked a lot, enough to sign him to an ELC right out of Liiga when otherwise the roster was generally set. When Mazanec went down it could have presented an opportunity for any of the other guys (Nell got it but was horrible) and Georgiev stepped up. His play down the stretch was the best we had in Hartford in years, and then he was good in the NHL to boot. Meanwhile Halverson was down being mediocre in Greenville, where nothing separated him from some guy named Ty Rimmer and a half-dozen other pieces of garbage.

Yeah, he posted a .906 SV% in Hartford. It was five games. Mazanec was at .905 through 20 games. Georgiev was at .909 through 37 games. Arguing the merits of a player at any position because of five games is just ridiculous on so many fronts.

Jump forward to this year. He's going to compete with three guys that have actual NHL experience, including the one guy who the team clearly views as a piece of the future in Georgiev. Where does Halverson fit in? At no point had he done anything to lead anyone to believe he was capable of being a productive AHL starter for more than five games (which weren't even all good, by the way). So he goes to Maine to get minutes. There is nothing unreasonable about sending a young goalie to the ECHL when he has not shown he is capable of playing in the AHL. The fact that he is a former second round pick is irrelevant at this point; you don't assign players to levels based on their draft position four years after the fact. You put them where they belong. He belonged in the ECHL.

And now, maybe--maybe!--he is starting to figure it out in Maine, as I've noted a few times. His play has been the best it has ever been! It has actually been good. Which is nice, because for the first time as a pro, he's the undisputed starter for his team--which obviously was not going to happen before, and in a part time capacity he just wasn't cutting it.

Maybe he has put himself in line for a call-up later in the year. He has to keep up his play. The fact of it is, he's a third-year pro doing well in the ECHL. That doesn't win you any points. The team owes us nothing. Scratch that--they owe that they'll place the kids where they belong, like Gropp and Ronning in the ECHL. He doesn't automatically get to come up and displace guys that are way more established than him. The reason he started in Hartford was so he could continue to get starts while better players (to this point) played in Hartford. He's where he is due to nothing but his own mediocrity to this point in his career. No one to blame but himself. But, he appears to maybe be developing, turning a corner. Hopefully he keeps it up. If he does he'll get a chance--he's had chances before and just never really seized them.

Anyway, I never thought I'd dedicate this many words to Halverson. Even in defending him I usually keep it brief.

I had about two cups of tea whilst reading this

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

There are 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary and those who don't.

Why do programmers mix up Halloween and Christmas? Because Oct 31 = Dec 25

 

[kovazub94]

 

[nyr2k2]

One other thing I thought of regarding Halverson on my way in. I think there's a good chance that as the season unfolds--and we either fall apart or fall apart due to dismantling the roster--it will have an effect on the goaltending situation. I can easily see three things:

1) Lundqvist and Georgiev enter more of a 50/50 split
2) Lundqvist and Georgiev enter a split more like 65/35, with Georgiev picking up starts in Hartford
3) Lundqvist takes the majority of starts, Tokarski or Mazanec come up, and Georgiev gets all the Hartford starts

There are certainly other scenarios that could play out; I just listed three that are based on things we've seen in the past. But, my point is, items two and three would have a major impact on playing time in Hartford. This could be a further impediment to finding time for Halverson. This is also why I think it may be best to find a goalie-hungry organization where we could loan Halverson to their AHL team.

This is also predicated on Halverson continuing to play well. If his inconsistency rears its ugly head, this is all moot as he'll just sit in Maine until his rights expire and he moves on.

 

[cwede]

[QUOTE="Amazing Kreiderman, post: 153573125, member: 119397"
]Why do programmers mix up Halloween and Christmas?
Because Oct 31 = Dec 25 [/QUOTE]

thanks for this, always good to have another geek joke

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

thanks for this, always good to have another geek joke

There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand hexadecimal, and F the rest

 

[True Blue]

There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand hexadecimal, and F the rest

See, and I think that there are only two. There are people that I trust and there are those that don't eat lamb.

 

[ManUtdTobbe]

Tarmo Reunanen had an assist today, he's having an amazing season for Lukko emerging as their 2nd (or even best?) D-man. Playing all situations (though not a lot on the PP), shooting a lot (Over 3 shot attempts per game, 95 in 28 games), driving play (CF% 53, +1.8 Rel) and scoring at a good pace. Looked a bit grim when he was jerked around by TPS but i think there is an NHL D-man in there.

 

[FoxysExpensiveNYDigs]

Tarmo Reunanen had an assist today, he's having an amazing season for Lukko emerging as their 2nd (or even best?) D-man. Playing all situations (though not a lot on the PP), shooting a lot (Over 3 shot attempts per game, 95 in 28 games), driving play (CF% 53, +1.8 Rel) and scoring at a good pace. Looked a bit grim when he was jerked around by TPS but i think there is an NHL D-man in there.

It would be huge if he could become an nhl regular. Rangers would be able to trade some D for assets eventually.

 

[nyr2k2]

It went unmentioned but Pajuniemi came back from injury. He has since received more minutes than he was previously. After coming back, he played: 9:39, 13:46, 14:23, and 12:49. Now his season average is 11:51 so that doesn't seem like much of a bump, but he missed all of November; in October he averaged 10:11 which included a game where (IIRC) due to an injury on the team he played over 15 minutes. So, he's playing 12:39 now vs. 10:11 before the injury. Hopefully it lasts.

In his four games back, he's +2 with 2 assists and 7 SOG.

 

[bl02]

Can't wait for the WJC on the 26th but also sucks we don't get those exciting updates on Miller and Kravtsov. Especially, since this Rangers season is either mediocrity or tank worthy.

 

[BroadwayStorm]

People are sleeping on Riley Hughes. You will say he is in the BCHL etc etc. You have to see him play. He is very skilled.

 

[Harbour Dog]

People are sleeping on Riley Hughes. You will say he is in the BCHL etc etc. You have to see him play. He is very skilled.

We'll see.

For reference, an 18-year old Fogarty put up 1.5PPG in the BCHL playing with mostly unknowns and a couple middle rounders. Hughes is hanging around PPG while playing with a guy who could be a top 10 pick in June.

I haven't seen him play yet, but his numbers seem to be a solid base to say that he hasn't hurt nor helped his stock to this point.

 

[nyr2k2]

People are sleeping on Riley Hughes. You will say he is in the BCHL etc etc. You have to see him play. He is very skilled.

This is about the fifth time you've come into the thread to make this exact statement. Which I don't really understand because since the season started he hasn't done anything to either bolster or weaken the claim. He's hovered at a couple points below or above a point per game average all year, playing Newhook's wing.

On draft day he was a very popular selection. No one is sleeping on him. The only thing being said is that the BCHL is a middling league and we won't really know what he is until he gets to college. I don't know why you find that assessment so troublesome.

Anyway, on another Hughes note, he has 2 points (1+1) in 4 games playing in the World Junior A Challenge, for Canada West.

 

[tradenashnow]

Hughes plays with a guy projected to be a top pick this year so I wouldn't put much into his numbers.

 

[Irishguy42]

FWIW, I'm not sure Newhook is actually doing much to help Hughes' scoring.

Whose Point is it Anyway? Using Network Analysis to Estimate Teammate Influence in Hockey Scoring


He's not doing poorly in the BCHL, so no need to say "he sucks" or "he's only benefiting from playing with a top pick!"

I think we should save our real hot takes for next year when he's in the NCAA.

 

[bobbop]

People in hockey say that the BCHL has improved quite a bit the last few years leading to overall lower scoring stats. Year to year comps may not be valid.

 

[eco's bones]

People in hockey say that the BCHL has improved quite a bit the last few years leading to overall lower scoring stats. Year to year comps may not be valid.

There have been some very good players come out of the BCHL. I kind of agree with most though--we'll know more when he starts playing at Northeastern.

 

[Sarge13]

BCHL it's a developmental League that for many years was a skill oriented League that's why you saw a lot of skilled centerman going there, lots of room to learn how to play with the puck.

Some of my favorite prospects over the last 10 years have been from the bchl, I won't hold it against an underage player that chooses that route before they go on to division 1 or Canadian juniors.

 

[nyr2k2]

The BCHL does churn out good players. However, almost all of those good players are guys that start in the BCHL and then go the NCAA route or Major Junior. And that's fine. The problem is that the BCHL is also loaded with guys that are in the BCHL because they can't play Major Junior due to their lack of talent. Which is why people say you can't read too much into the numbers guys post down there.

I have no doubt it's gotten better. Junior hockey in general has gotten better. It's still Junior A, though. It's not the CHL. Numbers from that league will always be looked at with skepticism and rightfully so.

In the end, none of it matters. Once it came out that Hughes was going the BCHL route instead of the USHL route, it basically became a matter of "Let's hope he learns something playing with Newhook and then we'll start evaluating him for real when he gets to college." I still think that's the right way to go.

 

[eco's bones]

I know Fogarty played with the Reilly brothers--one of whom is now an NHL defenseman. I'm kind of thinking he's the only one from that team to really make it. Okay--Troy Stecher too.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

I know Fogarty played with the Reilly brothers--one of whom is now an NHL defenseman. I'm kind of thinking he's the only one from that team to really make it.

Stecher made the NHL as well