Player Discussion: Sami Niku

[Ducky10]

There isn't much practice time during an NHL season so I doubt he is learning that much. You learn and grow far more through playing then practicing.

Also if you take the coach at his word then Niku would brings the type of game to the backend that he wants. Maurice wants quick retrieval and fast accurate puck movement. He also values the defense jumping up into the play and turning the puck back up the ice in the 2nd quickly. Niku does all of those.

This, this , this and more of this.

It makes me wonder if some people watch the Jets play at all. It's more like they only believe in a one way, connect the dots type of playing hockey. The valuation of certain attributes over others is so banal it makes my brain numb.

 

[surixon]

This, this , this and more of this.

It makes me wonder if some people watch the Jets play at all. It's more like they only believe in a one way, connect the dots type of playing hockey. The valuation of certain attributes over others is so banal it makes my brain numb.

It's why I am continually not taking the intelligent sounding things that Maurice says seriously anymore as it just seems like a bunch of BS half the time as he doesn't actually act on what he says.

Says he doesn't want anyone to sit for a long time (Leaves Petan in the PB 20 straight games)

Wants a quick retrieval/puck movement game yet plays dmen who can't retrieve and move the puck....

 

[pucka lucka]

If you think Niku should be playing but Lemieux shouldn’t be than you’re a hypocrite because everything negative you could say about Lemieux is also true about Niku but even worse.

100% BS.

 

[Saintb]

There isn't much practice time during an NHL season so I doubt he is learning that much. You learn and grow far more through playing then practicing.

Also if you take the coach at his word then Niku would brings the type of game to the backend that he wants. Maurice wants quick retrieval and fast accurate puck movement. He also values the defense jumping up into the play and turning the puck back up the ice in the nz quickly. Niku does all of those.

if this were true the Oilers would have the greatest team in history. they play their young guys a lot. and right away.

 

[pucka lucka]

It's why I am continually not taking the intelligent sounding things that Maurice says seriously anymore as it just seems like a bunch of BS half the time as he doesn't actually act on what he says.

Says he doesn't want anyone to sit for a long time (Leaves Petan in the PB 20 straight games)

Wants a quick retrieval/puck movement game yet plays dmen who can't retrieve and move the puck....

I stopped listening to PoMo season 1. He is completely FoS. It is very odd about what he lies about though. He uses the correct way to lie.

 

[surixon]

if this were true the Oilers would have the greatest team in history. they play their young guys a lot. and right away.

Well the cavit is that the players are developed/ready enough to play. The Oilers fail at that part.

 

[Weezeric]

100% BS.

Give me one statistical example

 

[voyageur]

It's why I am continually not taking the intelligent sounding things that Maurice says seriously anymore as it just seems like a bunch of BS half the time as he doesn't actually act on what he says.

Says he doesn't want anyone to sit for a long time (Leaves Petan in the PB 20 straight games)

Wants a quick retrieval/puck movement game yet plays dmen who can't retrieve and move the puck....

There's different elements to a game. There's the heavy game and the speed game. Finding balance is the key. Morrissey is not a big guy but uses body position, anticipation to his advantage. Niku isn't there yet.

Chiarot is one of the better players at killing the cycle game. If you can't stop that puck movement on the wall, you can end up with prolonged shifts on the defensive. Enstrom was good because he fed off Buff. Buff stops plays in their tracks. I do agree that puck movement is necessary. But turnovers are the worst enemy, and Chiarot keeps it simple, rarely coughs up the puck in his own zone. His biggest problem in my estimation is that he gives up too much space in open ice, as his lateral skating gets exposed. I don't think Niku processes the game quick enough yet. Maybe he should be in the minors, but there's something up there. I think the Moose are pushing Stanley's development this year.

 

[surixon]

There's different elements to a game. There's the heavy game and the speed game. Finding balance is the key. Morrissey is not a big guy but uses body position, anticipation to his advantage. Niku isn't there yet.

Chiarot is one of the better players at killing the cycle game. If you can't stop that puck movement on the wall, you can end up with prolonged shifts on the defensive. Enstrom was good because he fed off Buff. Buff stops plays in their tracks. I do agree that puck movement is necessary. But turnovers are the worst enemy, and Chiarot keeps it simple, rarely coughs up the puck in his own zone. His biggest problem in my estimation is that he gives up too much space in open ice, as his lateral skating gets exposed. I don't think Niku processes the game quick enough yet. Maybe he should be in the minors, but there's something up there. I think the Moose are pushing Stanley's development this year.

Of course there are but Chariot is incredibly limited in what he brings to the table and ideally is no more then a number 5/6. Morrow isn't even and NHL caliber dmen this year. Also the ability to process at NHL speed is usually something that is learned by playing in the NHL. For instance Lemieux couldn't process the game worth crap at the beginning of this season. Its something that took games for him to get. The Jets don't have enough puck movers in the lineup imo and get hemmed in their end because of it. They have JoMo, Trouba and Buff as the only real elite puck movers on the backend. Myers can rush the puck but his passing is mediocre as is Kuli. Morrow and Chariot are bad at it.

 

[pucka lucka]

Give me one statistical example

Of what?

 

[voyageur]

Of course there are but Chariot is incredibly limited in what he brings to the table and ideally is no more then a number 5/6. Morrow isn't even and NHL caliber dmen this year. Also the ability to process at NHL speed is usually something that is learned by playing in the NHL. For instance Lemieux couldn't process the game worth crap at the beginning of this season. Its something that took games for him to get. The Jets don't have enough puck movers in the lineup imo and get hemmed in their end because of it. They have JoMo, Trouba and Buff as the only real elite puck movers on the backend. Myers can rush the puck but his passing is mediocre as is Kuli. Morrow and Chariot are bad at it.

If you are talking about stretch passes perhaps. Our zone exits are much more simplified under Maurice, usually funnelled through our centres. Where Niku is noticeably better than Chiarot is in joining the rush as we tend to have the weak side defenseman join the rush for support. This is also a strength of Myers which helped create offensive zone time. We have a different opinion on styles, so it's a circular argument. I am less critical of Morrow than most because a defenseman who can shoot is an asset. However a defenseman who doesn't become a regular usually has consistency issues more than talent. That line is rather thin between AHL and NHL. Niku to me is still on that line too.

Right now I'd like to see us get healthy enough to run the consistent rotation of

Morrissey-Trouba
Benny-Buff
Kulikov-Myers

For a stretch of 10 games. If we can go, say 8-2 with our horses, we can create enough separation I think to rest some players and start to look at others, keep everyone fresh.

I don't like comparing Lemieux to Niku because defense isn't like playing forward. Maurice has always liked Lemieux's game and I think has pushed him to be better. Apples has been a real nice surprise. I think Vincent deserves some credit for helping them grow.

I always though of Niku as a 2 year development, he's getting a taste which is good, he's around the team. You hope he does well when he gets his number drawn.

 

[bennylundholm]

Chevy has purposely kept Niku out of the lineup recently because he will look too good to opposing teams and will be demanded in a trade deadline deal.
The Jets defence next season will be Morrisey and Trouba, Buff and Niku, Kulikov and Poolman. Stanley in the wings.
I think Niku will step in semi-regular within the next 2 weeks.

 

[Jet]

Wow we got some new blues - con... grats?

Musta run the last bunch outta town in record time

 

[10Ducky10]

Chevy has purposely kept Niku out of the lineup recently because he will look too good to opposing teams and will be demanded in a trade deadline deal.
The Jets defence next season will be Morrisey and Trouba, Buff and Niku, Kulikov and Poolman. Stanley in the wings.
I think Niku will step in semi-regular within the next 2 weeks.

So, you think Trouba is re-signing?

 

[Larabee]

Chevy has purposely kept Niku out of the lineup recently because he will look too good to opposing teams and will be demanded in a trade deadline deal.

Chevy is pretty good at saying “no”

 

[Ducky10]

Chiarot doesn't process the NHL game quickly enough, it's one of his biggest issues. His passing reads are slow, his support reads are slow, his coverage reads are routinely off, he takes poor angles and routinely loses body position, his stick is not particularly active, he lacks agility and both his rush and defensive gaps are below average.

He's a decent straight ahead skater, has a hard shot and is very strong.

Morrow is the same, except he's not strong.

Niku is fast, agile, has an accurate shot, makes quick reads and effective outlet passes, can outskate a forcheck, has a good active stick, gets into good support positions, keeps a good gap on the rush and is a strong enough skater to maintain a good defensive gap.

He's small, doesn't always keep a good defensive gap ( although was improving by my eye test), gets caught a little to high in the D zone at times and lacks experience against faster, stronger opponents ( very solvable).

That's it in a nutshell.

 

[Duke749]

If you are talking about stretch passes perhaps. Our zone exits are much more simplified under Maurice, usually funnelled through our centres. Where Niku is noticeably better than Chiarot is in joining the rush as we tend to have the weak side defenseman join the rush for support. This is also a strength of Myers which helped create offensive zone time. We have a different opinion on styles, so it's a circular argument. I am less critical of Morrow than most because a defenseman who can shoot is an asset. However a defenseman who doesn't become a regular usually has consistency issues more than talent. That line is rather thin between AHL and NHL. Niku to me is still on that line too.

Right now I'd like to see us get healthy enough to run the consistent rotation of

Morrissey-Trouba
Benny-Buff
Kulikov-Myers

For a stretch of 10 games. If we can go, say 8-2 with our horses, we can create enough separation I think to rest some players and start to look at others, keep everyone fresh.

I don't like comparing Lemieux to Niku because defense isn't like playing forward. Maurice has always liked Lemieux's game and I think has pushed him to be better. Apples has been a real nice surprise. I think Vincent deserves some credit for helping them grow.

I always though of Niku as a 2 year development, he's getting a taste which is good, he's around the team. You hope he does well when he gets his number drawn.

What good is Morrow’s shot if he only had one goal with us last year, one in the playoffs, and none this year? Morrow does absolutely nothing effective that Niku can’t do himself and we already know what Morrow is. Niku can actually progress and improve and we will need his ability to move the puck and think the game faster in the playoffs where Morrow and Chiarot will struggle.

 

[ps241]

Chiarot doesn't process the NHL game quickly enough, it's one of his biggest issues. His passing reads are slow, his support reads are slow, his coverage reads are routinely off, he takes poor angles and routinely loses body position, his stick is not particularly active, he lacks agility and both his rush and defensive gaps are below average.

He's a decent straight ahead skater, has a hard shot and is very strong.

Morrow is the same, except he's not strong.

Niku is fast, agile, has an accurate shot, makes quick reads and effective outlet passes, can outskate a forcheck, has a good active stick, gets into good support positions, keeps a good gap on the rush and is a strong enough skater to maintain a good defensive gap.

He's small, doesn't always keep a good defensive gap ( although was improving by my eye test), gets caught a little to high in the D zone at times and lacks experience against faster, stronger opponents ( very solvable).

That's it in a nutshell.

The biggest gap between me and every Professional NHL coach (so I must be missing something) is the value placed on veteran experience for players that lack skill and pretty much struggle in all measurable areas and fail my eye test as well.

 

[larmex99]

Chevy has purposely kept Niku out of the lineup recently because he will look too good to opposing teams and will be demanded in a trade deadline deal.
The Jets defence next season will be Morrisey and Trouba, Buff and Niku, Kulikov and Poolman. Stanley in the wings.
I think Niku will step in semi-regular within the next 2 weeks.

Do you really think Chevy gives a hoot about who teams ask for? That is just silly.

 

[KingBogo]

The biggest gap between me and every Professional NHL coach (so I must be missing something) is the value placed on veteran experience for players that lack skill and pretty much struggle in all measurable areas and fail my eye test as well.

While I would like to see Niku in as well, as I like the promise of talented young prospects as much as anyone. But if you go take a look at some underlying metrics Niku is pretty much at the bottom of the pack across the board, which is not unexpected for such a raw rookie. And not unexpectedly Morrow isn't much better. For me the bigger question is if Maurice trusts Morrow in over Niku, why isn't Niku down with the Moose? Is there enough learning being with and practicing with the NHL team to offset the playing time in the AHL? This would be a question for Chevy as much as Maurice.

 

[Ducky10]

While I would like to see Niku in as well, as I like the promise of talented young prospects as much as anyone. But if you go take a look at some underlying metrics Niku is pretty much at the bottom of the pack across the board, which is not unexpected for such a raw rookie. And not unexpectedly Morrow isn't much better. For me the bigger question is if Maurice trusts Morrow in over Niku, why isn't Niku down with the Moose? Is there enough learning being with and practicing with the NHL team to offset the playing time in the AHL? This would be a question for Chevy as much as Maurice.

If every young prospect given a chance to play, were judged by 11 game samples of underlying metrics, barely any of them would get off the ground.

I agree that if Maurice doesn't trust him to play, then he should be returned to the Moose. Given the Jets position and their obvious need though, he should be given more playing time. The risk is low and the potential reward high.

 

[JetsWillFly4Ever]

Judging shot metrics off of an 11 game sample size, where a significant portion of the minutes was with AHL journeyman Cam Schilling, is a bad idea.

There is no logical explanation for Morrow being in over Niku other than 'muh experience muh'.

 

[pucka lucka]

The biggest gap between me and every Professional NHL coach (so I must be missing something) is the value placed on veteran experience for players that lack skill and pretty much struggle in all measurable areas and fail my eye test as well.

I think there is too much of this in the NHL. It's the same mentality that keeps the same coaches & gm's cycling around the NHL for decades like balls in a bingo hopper..

 

[pucka lucka]

While I would like to see Niku in as well, as I like the promise of talented young prospects as much as anyone. But if you go take a look at some underlying metrics Niku is pretty much at the bottom of the pack across the board, which is not unexpected for such a raw rookie. And not unexpectedly Morrow isn't much better. For me the bigger question is if Maurice trusts Morrow in over Niku, why isn't Niku down with the Moose? Is there enough learning being with and practicing with the NHL team to offset the playing time in the AHL? This would be a question for Chevy as much as Maurice.

Surprised you agree with the team. Morrow only has an nhl spot because of his draft position. He is a very bad NHL defenseman.

 

[nobody imp0rtant]

I think Maurice's handling of Niku is perfectly in keeping with the team's overall draft and devalue approach.