Speculation: Roster Building Thread LXXXI - All along the Watch Tower

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Fitzy

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Jan 29, 2009
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Agreed with the previous thread's point that Lafreniere has looked like an NHL player while Kakko looked like a division 3 hockey player that somehow found his way onto an NHL roster last season. He was actually worse than his stats suggest. It was depressing and I'm so happy he has found his game at last.

That said, Laf's offensive output has been disappointing. He's not getting any free assists either since most of the team is struggling to score goals.
 

TheDirtyH

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Kakko looked identically bleh over his first 15 games. His numbers tanked through the last 3/4 of the season. They were similarly mediocre at the very beginning -- except, obviously, much better counting stats, which do matter.
 

archanfelnsx

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Feb 25, 2018
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Lafreniere hasn’t looked out of place but also hasn’t looked spectacular either. I hope he doesn’t end up being another Patrik Stefan or Alexandre Daigle.
 

Edge

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We can basically just sum up 90 percent of the chatter with one overly-used meme.

4yjb7i.jpg
 

Ola

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upload_2021-2-18_17-56-19.png

@NYRangers16

Fair questions for sure, just as long as management recognizes the impact of their decisions and weighs the pros against the cons.

A classic Tortorella was shooting down any and all critique of the team playing horrible hockey icing 1-3 shot periods with how he had zero talent. At the same time he couldn't work with talented players and iced Stu Bickel as a forward while scratching Zuccarello. That is not accountability.
 

CasusBelli

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Lafreniere hasn’t looked out of place but also hasn’t looked spectacular either. I hope he doesn’t end up being another Patrik Stefan or Alexandre Daigle.
Daigle had an attitude problem; Stefan had injury problems and probably wouldn't have gone 1OA in most drafts ('99 was awful outside of the Sedins and Havlat). While I expected Laf to have a rookie year like that of Stamkos of MacKinnon, I do worry that perhaps he will be a 20G/60P player, which would be pretty lousy considering the hype and competition around him last year. My concern is all the greater after a poster here indicated that he was almost old enough to be a 2019 prospect. Tim in Ottawa looks like he will be a 30-40G/70-80P guy and, in my mind, probably the best player in the draft. Laf has a lot of work to do.
 
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DutchShamrock

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We can basically just sum up 90 percent of the chatter with one overly-used meme.

4yjb7i.jpg
The ruining label is way too strong. However, I think giving him credit is unwarranted. Kakko got older. It's hard to give him credit when Kakko looks like the guy at the world championships. The #2 pick returned to form. Maybe that's Quinn, but I'm skeptical given the status of Lafreniere. Even so, 18 months later he is back to base level.

Lafreniere isn't as bad as Kakko was. That's a ringing endorsement? Two top 2 picks and they barely performed at replacement levels. No one else has that problem consistently. Not asking for Petterson level seasons.
 

Ola

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Last season more or less after every game DQ was sitting there disgusted with overpassing and all that. Everything was always his players fault. Now he got a PP that isn't overpassing and his forwards play a N-S game. It has helped the defensive game while costing us our offensive game.

If management is fine with that and its the best for our future, fine by me, but then they must be prepared with the ruined offensive confidence of our players and the tremendous pressure top picks will face if they play their first couple of years plus in the NHL without scoring anything. Is this the case?
 
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Edge

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The ruining label is way too strong. However, I think giving him credit is unwarranted. Kakko got older. It's hard to give him credit when Kakko looks like the guy at the world championships. The #2 pick returned to form. Maybe that's Quinn, but I'm skeptical given the status of Lafreniere. Even so, 18 months later he is back to base level.

Lafreniere isn't as bad as Kakko was. That's a ringing endorsement? Two top 2 picks and they barely performed at replacement levels. No one else has that problem consistently. Not asking for Petterson level seasons.

See that's kind of what I'm laughing at (broadly speaking, not specific to your post).

When Kakko sucks, its because of Quinn.

When he develops, well it's because that's just him returning to form, or getting older, or returning to Finland.

When Miller is in Wisconsin, it's a tire fire and we need to get him out of there.

When he thrives in the NHL thus far, it's because he was developed in Wisconsin. Or because he's a freak athlete who can overcome (wouldn't that also have applied to the tire fire he was supposedly in as well?).y

When Fox signs he is pegged as top four defenseman, ideally more of a second pair type. When he becomes a first pair defenseman, with a trajectory toward elite territory, it's because of the gifts God gave him.

That's without even going into Chytil's progress, or ADA finding his game before blowing it for himself, or how Lindgren went from marginal prospect in the eyes of many to a steady top-four defenseman.

At some point, we don't have agree with everything Quinn does to give him some credit as well. It doesn't have to be one of the other. It can be a mix.

It's not just because kids got older. Because lord knows if they got older, and didn't progress, there would be posters chomping at the bit to point to it as a Quinn failure.

At some point, we spend so much time hopping around on the the things that supposedly suck, that some of the criticisms really do border on parody.
 
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pld459666

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Last season more or less after every game DQ was sitting there disgusted with overpassing and all that. Everything was always his players fault. Now he got a PP that isn't overpassing and his forwards play a N-S game. It has helped the defensive game while costing us our offensive game.

If management is fine with that and its the best for our future, fine by me, but then they must be prepared with the ruined offensive confidence of our players and the tremendous pressure top picks will face if they play their first couple of years plus in the NHL without scoring anything. Is this the case?

They are still overpassing. That hasn't stopped on the PP.

Its a joke that we do not have one forward with a snipers mentality.

40 goals and all, Mika's first instinct is to pass and as a center, I understand that to a certain degree.

But our wingers? Seems like most if not all would prefer the pretty pass over taking a shot and that's just plain dumb in alot of cases.
 

Ola

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See that's kind of what I'm laughing at (broadly speaking, not specific to your post).

When Kakko sucks, its because of Quinn.

When he develops, well it's because that's just him returning to form, or getting older, or returning to Finland.

When Miller is in Wisconsin, it's a tire fire and we need to get him out of there.

When he thrives in the NHL thus far, it's because he was developed in Wisconsin. Or because he's a freak athlete who can overcome (wouldn't that also have applied to the tire fire he was supposedly in as well?).y

When Fox signs he is pegged as top four defenseman, ideally more of a second pair type. When he becomes a first pair defenseman, with a trajectory toward elite territory, it's because of the gifts God gave him.

That's without even going into Chytil's progress, or ADA finding his game before blowing it for himself, or how Lindgren went from marginal prospect in the eyes of many to a steady top-four defenseman.

At some point, we don't have agree with everything Quinn does to give him some credit as well. It doesn't have to be one of the other. It can be a mix.

It's not just because kids got older. Because lord knows if they got older, and didn't progress, there would be posters chomping at the bit to point to it as a Quinn failure.

At some point, we spend so much time hopping around on the the things that supposedly suck, that some of the criticisms really do border on parody.

Seriously, you want to attribute the play of Fox or Miller to Quinn? Isn’t that exactly like blaming him for, for example, Lias not looking like a top line center?
 

Edge

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They are still overpassing. That hasn't stopped on the PP.

Its a joke that we do not have one forward with a snipers mentality.

40 goals and all, Mika's first instinct is to pass and as a center, I understand that to a certain degree.

But our wingers? Seems like most if not all would prefer the pretty pass over taking a shot and that's just plain dumb in alot of cases.

I think Georgiev's observations were correct. I think opposing teams expect us to force the pass, or make one pass too many. They anticipate it. And, as we've seen, they pounce on it.

I think there are player types that we are still missing. I think we could use a slot shooter, someone who gets into the high priced real estate. I think we need more North-South types on the roster, to balance out the East-West types. I do think we need someone doesn't necessarily have to carry the puck through the zone, but is focused on getting his shot off. I think we need more of the swarming, pesky personality that we were starting to develop a few years back. I think we've shown a bit more of that of late.
 

pld459666

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Feb 27, 2002
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See that's kind of what I'm laughing at (broadly speaking, not specific to your post).

When Kakko sucks, its because of Quinn.

When he develops, well it's because that's just him returning to form, or getting older, or returning to Finland.

When Miller is in Wisconsin, it's a tire fire and we need to get him out of there.

When he thrives in the NHL thus far, it's because he was developed in Wisconsin. Or because he's a freak athlete who can overcome (wouldn't that also have applied to the tire fire he was supposedly in as well?).y

When Fox signs he is pegged as top four defenseman, ideally more of a second pair type. When he becomes a first pair defenseman, with a trajectory toward elite territory, it's because of the gifts God gave him.

That's without even going into Chytil's progress, or ADA finding his game before blowing it for himself, or how Lindgren went from marginal prospect in the eyes of many to a steady top-four defenseman.

At some point, we don't have agree with everything Quinn does to give him some credit as well. It doesn't have to be one of the other. It can be a mix.

It's not just because kids got older. Because lord knows if they got older, and didn't progress, there would be posters chomping at the bit to point to it as a Quinn failure.

At some point, we spend so much time hopping around on the the things that supposedly suck, that some of the criticisms really do border on parody.

Agreed with the above.

My issues with DQ are preparation and game management.

Starts to games, I'm looking at both DQ and the teams leadership. Effort throughout? Teams elder statesmen are to be focused on here.

There is alot to like about what DQ has done with the youth of the team by and large, but the leeway he has given to a CK that was not given to a Buch or an ADA is not something I'm a fan of
 
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