Rate the Coyotes Off-season - On Ice Only

[airbus220]

Given Tippett's history of goalie usage, what would make you predict a timeshare or arrangement in which Domingue gets a good deal of starts? Did I miss something? Even when DD was clearly outplaying Smith, Smith started 61 games that season. Turco routinely hit 70+ games under Tippett. What changed?

Chayka said both will be used in a tandem.
I checked the schedule, I could imagine a 46/36 split.

 

[_Del_]

I couldn't disagree with you more. We gambled a 5th rounder to have a chance at Goligoski before he hit the open market. If he would have hit the open market he would have received much more imo. Logan Brown is a great prospect but I get the feeling you haven't seen Keller play much. I'd be willing to bet Keller comes much closer to being a player like Patrick Kane then Logan brown becomes the player you are hoping for. How are you surprised with the Vermette cut? Did you watch him play last year? Even if you don't like the DeAngelo trade there is no prospect that went in the 2nd round that has half of his potential. Now add in the fact that he's a RHS right defenseman, sign me up 10 out of 10 times. The only one I sort of agree with is the Letunov trade!

I said I didn't like them. I also acknowledged that my dislike does not make them "bad" moves. Only moves that I don't like. There is a reasonable argument to be made for most of them even if I disagree with them. That's why I gave them a seven, which I thought was pretty generous given the talk of big spending and improvement a few short months ago.

 

[_Del_]

Chayka said both will be used in a tandem.
I checked the schedule, I could imagine a 46/36 split.

If Smith gets less than 60 starts for any reason other than health/injury, I will be shocked. I'd love to see him around 50-55. I just don't see that happening. Never mind under 50!

 

[airbus220]

If Smith gets less than 60 starts for any reason other than health/injury, I will be shocked. I'd love to see him around 50-55. I just don't see that happening. Never mind under 50!

I will be disappointed if Chayka lied. I don't remember the exact wording if this was in agreement with Tippett. If they make decisions in a group now Tippett might have to take some directions too.

 

[cobra427]

If Smith gets less than 60 starts for any reason other than health/injury, I will be shocked. I'd love to see him around 50-55. I just don't see that happening. Never mind under 50!

Given LD's performance for part of last year, I don't see Tip sticking with Smith as much unless Smith is playing lights out. Smith is obviously the starter until proven other wise, but if he plays poorly and LD plays well, I could see LD getting plenty of starts, even taking over. Unlike years past, I think Tip will go more with the hot hand this year. So if Smith plays poorly, and LD plays well, smith could be sitting. I suspect that Smith will have a good year and be healthy for a change. It would be nice if he and Hanzal stayed healthy, ok, I'm dreaming now

 

[Fyreman]

I suspect that Smith will have a good year and be healthy for a change. It would be nice if he and Hanzal stayed healthy, ok, I'm dreaming now

Dreaming?? I'd call that a wild fantasy...

 

[SniperHF]

Which is funny, because esp. based on that poll at the top of this thread, this is probably the happiest I've seen this forum since we beat Nashville in the playoffs 4 years ago.

To be clear, this is why I made the thread. I think it's worth noting that most people are happy with the direction of the on-ice product and that a lot of the previous edginess around here is now unnecessary. At least on this front

This has been a public service announcement, now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

 

[strizzy16]

Which is funny, because esp. based on that poll at the top of this thread, this is probably the happiest I've seen this forum since we beat Nashville in the playoffs 4 years ago.

Lol. Good times! It was all downhill from there. Until now! I went 9. With the addition of Crouse we have more great prospects than any other team in the league. even with all of the positives when it comes to adding players like Goligoski and McGinn, i think that the biggest thing is that we apparently have a genius GM. The way we are using cap space as currency is awesome IMO and is really going to pay off when we have to re sign the Domis and Duclairs of the world in a couple of years. This offseason is setting us up 1. to be in a strong position for the expansion draft 2. to have extreme financial flexibility in a couple of years when Datsyuk and Bolland are off the books and 3. to be pretty damn good in 2018.

 

[Jakey53]

Chayka said both will be used in a tandem.
I checked the schedule, I could imagine a 46/36 split.

I will be disappointed if Chayka lied. I don't remember the exact wording if this was in agreement with Tippett. If they make decisions in a group now Tippett might have to take some directions too.

I think when he said tandem didn't necessarily mean even split in games. It all depends on how Smith plays, and if you remember last year, DT pulled Smith much quicker than is years past, but that may have been because DT knew about his injury. LD played very solid but faded in some games, so he still has much to prove.

Given LD's performance for part of last year, I don't see Tip sticking with Smith as much unless Smith is playing lights out. Smith is obviously the starter until proven other wise, but if he plays poorly and LD plays well, I could see LD getting plenty of starts, even taking over. Unlike years past, I think Tip will go more with the hot hand this year. So if Smith plays poorly, and LD plays well, smith could be sitting. I suspect that Smith will have a good year and be healthy for a change. It would be nice if he and Hanzal stayed healthy, ok, I'm dreaming now

That's how I see it.

 

[Ebb]

I'm hoping it will be around a 49/33 split (roughly 60/40), but as mentioned it will depend on Smith's play. I'm not sure Smith will get to 60 starts since you know he'll probably have some minor injuries throughout the season. I'm guessing a pulled groin will get him early in the season, and general wear and tear will take him out for a bit towards the middle of the season. If the above happens, 49 starts may be about all we get out of him.

Of course if he does spectacularly, but we only have a small chance of making the playoffs, I hope we can move him to a bubble team or contender, even if we have to retain up to 40% of his contract (2.6/2.6/2 would be a pretty good price for him as a 1B if he's playing decently). I could see some interest in him (if he plays solidly) for teams like the Flyers, Capitals, Senators, or Devils in the East along with the Sharks, Blackhawks, Canucks, and Predators in the West.

BTW, of the above, I see the Flyers, Sens, and Predators as possible bubble teams. The Caps, Sharks, and Blackhawks will most likely be contenders. The Devils and Canucks, I'm not so sure on, but I don't think either team will be in the bottom 5 of the league by the end of the season (especially if they acquire Smith from us ).

 

[airbus220]

LD played very solid but faded in some games, so he still has much to prove.

Louis is so young, sure he has much to prove, but he played a starter workload for 3 months and with good results, unbelievable. During these 3 months he played all but 3 games, much more load than any other goalie and when he was more rested he was much better. Use him better and he will top his breakout season.

Louis is so good, so young and so cheap, he's a STAR.

 

[PhoPhan]

Mike Smith has had a few three-month stretches where he looked lights out, too. Doesn't mean a whole lot.

 

[_Del_]

^ bingo!

It's a big step from backup to starter. I'd still prefer LD over Smith factoring contracts, but Smith isn't going anywhere, and LD isn't clearly ready be an everyday goalie. Add that Tipp rides his starters hard. Barring injury Smith has over 60 starts no matter how bad he is (speculatively).

 

[WrinkledPossum]

I think this year (and hope) Smith will have a lot shorter leash. Louis seemed to have won over Tipp quite a bit last year. And I know Chayka doesn't decide the starter, but he did throw the word tandem around a couple times during the offseason.

If Tipp does play the hot hand I think our goaltending could be very good. When Smith is on his game, he's great. And if as soon as he starts to struggle Louis takes over for a bit I think we could do very well.

 

[airbus220]

Mike Smith has had a few three-month stretches where he looked lights out, too. Doesn't mean a whole lot.

Of course if you played 3 months and missed only 3 games like Louis did there will come a time when performance will go down. Every goalie will go down with this workload, otherwise we would see lots of goalies playing 76 games in the regular season. It's like you said, Smith had good stretches too but couldn't keep his performance up because nobody can when overused. Humans are not machines you can turn on and off. We need to get away from these heavy workloads. Louis was better with more rest between games. Needed are 2 Domingue types who can share the load.

Then we should take it a step further. The regular season means nothing, it's all about the playoffs. So we should keep our goalies fresh for the playoffs. How can we do this. Share the load. Chayka is on the right way, using both goalies as a tandem.

 

[cobra427]

I think this year (and hope) Smith will have a lot shorter leash. Louis seemed to have won over Tipp quite a bit last year. And I know Chayka doesn't decide the starter, but he did throw the word tandem around a couple times during the offseason.

If Tipp does play the hot hand I think our goaltending could be very good. When Smith is on his game, he's great. And if as soon as he starts to struggle Louis takes over for a bit I think we could do very well.

Last year when Smith and Linback were injured, LD played well. LD got over worked and Tip tried starting LD's back up and he got shelled, so LD was back in net. Tip had to play an over worked LD or lose for sure with his back up. Hopefully they can find a balance between playing the hot goalie and not over working him at the same time. This will be the first year in the last 5 or 6 where we have the same 2 goalies from the year before going into camp. Hopefully that stability and knowing what you have, will help the coaching staff figure out playing time.

 

[Jakey53]

Louis is so young, sure he has much to prove, but he played a starter workload for 3 months and with good results, unbelievable. During these 3 months he played all but 3 games, much more load than any other goalie and when he was more rested he was much better. Use him better and he will top his breakout season.

Louis is so good, so young and so cheap, he's a STAR.

LD played better than I think all expected,and that includes the coaches. Now he has to show it wasn't a fluke.

Mike Smith has had a few three-month stretches where he looked lights out, too. Doesn't mean a whole lot.

Exactly.

^ bingo!

It's a big step from backup to starter. I'd still prefer LD over Smith factoring contracts, but Smith isn't going anywhere, and LD isn't clearly ready be an everyday goalie. Add that Tipp rides his starters hard. Barring injury Smith has over 60 starts no matter how bad he is (speculatively).

I don't think contracts will be the deciding factor of who plays. It's Smith's job to lose, but the difference this year, we have LD as the back up who the coaches like and trust, so I'm hoping DT has a short leash on Smith.

 

[Mosby]

Play Smith less and he won't get hurt as much. A goalie with a history of groin issues playing high 60s GP is insane. I'd like to see 55ish for Smith and 25ish for Domingue.

 

[_Del_]

Play Smith less and he won't get hurt as much. A goalie with a history of groin issues playing high 60s GP is insane. I'd like to see 55ish for Smith and 25ish for Domingue.

Smith GP:
2012 67 (missed six games with groin, so played 67/76)
2013 34 (of 48 games, short season, also missed 6 games to groin injury, 34/42)
2014 62 (missed last 10 games injured)
2015 62 (relatively healthy)
2016 32 (missed a few early and last 40 to injury)


Turco was routinely ridden into the 70s when healthy under Tippett. It's unlikely to change.

 

[XX]

Mike Smith has had a few three-month stretches where he looked lights out, too. Doesn't mean a whole lot.

Domingue is ten years younger and about as good. I don't think who is more valuable or the one with a future is hard to figure out.

 

[lanky]

It's not safe to assume that either one will have much of a future.

 

[BUX7PHX]

For the record, I gave an 8. The Rieder situation is frustrating, and I thought that Stone would sign for less.

That being said, we went from having nothing in our defensive pipeline to adding 3 or 4 names. We did so while "spending" on LTIR contracts, etc. so technically ownership isn't wrong.

I know that this is an on-ice discussion, but one thing that nearly made the grade a 9 was all of the developmental work. Hiring Dawn Braid. Adding scouting and player development types of roles. While some may not consider this an "on-ice" impact, I take a contrary opinion. These hires will help individuals become better on-ice products or identify players who can carry over their skill through their career stages.

Without these hires and moves, we still have a lot of nice shiny cars in the garage, but we don't take the time and effort to get the cars operating as efficiently as possible. By hiring these individuals, we make a concerted effort to develop these kids the right way as contributors.