Confirmed with Link: TB claims LW Danick Martel from PHI

[DFC]

I thought it was “The Model” Danick Martel.

Old school WWF anyone?

(Da)Nick "The Model" Martel

 

[LightningStrikes]

A second Gourde? I'm in.

 

[God King Fudge]

A possible Gourde replacement (best case scenario of course) for free. This is one of the biggest reasons TB has had such consistent success. They're getting free assets and turning them into something.

 

[DFC]

We might be getting ahead of ourselves on this guy turning into something though. At least a Gourde-level something. I'm not sure that his AHL numbers quite warrant that type of excitement, whereas Gourde started breaking out (at the AHL level) at around age 22, and progressed from there. For every Yanni Gourde there are a few Cory Conachers.

 

[CupsOverCash]

We might be getting ahead of ourselves on this guy turning into something though. At least a Gourde-level something. I'm not sure that his AHL numbers quite warrant that type of excitement, whereas Gourde started breaking out (at the AHL level) at around age 22, and progressed from there. For every Yanni Gourde there are a few Cory Conachers.

Agree. Shouldnt surprise anybody if he isnt here too long.

 

[JoVel]

We might be getting ahead of ourselves on this guy turning into something though. At least a Gourde-level something. I'm not sure that his AHL numbers quite warrant that type of excitement, whereas Gourde started breaking out (at the AHL level) at around age 22, and progressed from there. For every Yanni Gourde there are a few Cory Conachers.

Because of the success we've had with them this fanbase gets excited about every undrafted player or late round draft pick.

 

[CupsOverCash]

Because of the success we've had with them this fanbase gets excited about every undrafted player or late round draft pick.

Thats true. I actually got a little excited when we were the team to land Barre-Boulet. Usually thats just a camp body everywhere else but TB he could be a hidden gem.

 

[DFC]

Thats true. I actually got a little excited when we were the team to land Barre-Boulet. Usually thats just a camp body everywhere else but TB he could be a hidden gem.

Agreed. Although I almost think we're getting ahead of ourselves even with Yanni Gourde. His playoff performance was really not good. I mean, sure, we had a lot of stars not show up either, but those guys have a resume to fall back on.

So I guess I'm still a little cautious on Gourde, because his size really did seem to be a factor in April and May.

 

[HoseEmDown]

If you think Martel is gonna be the next Gourde get ready to be disappointed. He's more likely going to be another Conacher, he will have some NHL success but won't be more than a bottom 6 guy AHL call up.

 

[CupsOverCash]

Agreed. Although I almost think we're getting ahead of ourselves even with Yanni Gourde. His playoff performance was really not good. I mean, sure, we had a lot of stars not show up either, but those guys have a resume to fall back on.

So I guess I'm still a little cautious on Gourde, because his size really did seem to be a factor in April and May.

Contract year for Gourde. Hopefully he builds off of what he did last year.

 

[DFC]

Contract year for Gourde. Hopefully he builds off of what he did last year.

We have so much skill in the top-9 he'll have plenty of opportunity. I kind of think he's gonna wind up out of our price range, but that's only really gonna hurt if he also shows up in the playoffs.

 

[Sky04]

We have so much skill in the top-9 he'll have plenty of opportunity. I kind of think he's gonna wind up out of our price range, but that's only really gonna hurt if he also shows up in the playoffs.

Annnd that's another casualty of protecting Killorn at the expansion draft, now we can enjoy Killorn and Callahan on the 4th line instead!

Hopefully we can bridge Gourde then extend him after Callahan's contract expires or move Killorn/Johnson instead, if Gourde replicates his year he's a more valuable asset then Johnson, considering our playoff chances we'll keep him for a playoff run instead of recouping assets before he walks too which puts us in a tough spot.

 

[BeingTheThunder]

Agreed. Although I almost think we're getting ahead of ourselves even with Yanni Gourde. His playoff performance was really not good. I mean, sure, we had a lot of stars not show up either, but those guys have a resume to fall back on.

So I guess I'm still a little cautious on Gourde, because his size really did seem to be a factor in April and May.

I agree with you here. I was impressed with Gourde for most of the season and he seemed to fade a bit as we got closer to playoff time. If he continues to improve and raises his stock for his contract, would we afford him along with Point and Vasy... who we're definitely going to keep around? Maybe but maybe not. He could blossom into an enticing trade piece at worst.

 

[DFC]

I agree with you here. I was impressed with Gourde for most of the season and he seemed to fade a bit as we got closer to playoff time. If he continues to improve and raises his stock for his contract, would we afford him along with Point and Vasy... who we're definitely going to keep around? Maybe but maybe not. He could blossom into an enticing trade piece at worst.

At 27, I'm not sure how many steps forward he can take though. As great as he was last year, I think he over-achieved a bit. His skillset appears to be that of a 50ish point guy, but he had a ton of rightplace/righttime goals. Which some guys make a career out of. All I mean is, not every player gets better in their sophomore season, and Gourde has a lot of signs of a player who won't. That's not a knock on him, because what he brings to the table has huge value for us, even if he's not putting up 65 points. But like, you think about Kucherov's first two years, and you think about Point's rookie year, and it was obvious they were going to be so much more with a little time. Kucherov created like 2-3 unconverted chances per game, and you had to assume, with a little time, more of those would start going in the net. With Gourde it feels like a couple more went in the net than would normally be expected.

But, getting back on subject, Martel didn't do much to impress last night. His wrister looked good, but we knew that. He might need some time to get his legs under him--I'm not sure how he was being used in Philly's camp. But Conacher outperformed him last night, among others, and I'm just going off that impression.

 

[Curufinwe]

Who do you guys see him beating out for a spot on the roster?

 

[The Macho King]

Who do you guys see him beating out for a spot on the roster?

Probably no one, really. We have a lot of guys who would be better served playing minutes than not, so some of those guys (probably one of Volkov or Joseph) will be in the AHL. I expect he will be a 13th/14th.

 

[DFC]

Probably no one, really. We have a lot of guys who would be better served playing minutes than not, so some of those guys (probably one of Volkov or Joseph) will be in the AHL. I expect he will be a 13th/14th.

Yeah, but there's also Conacher, who could fill that role, possibly better.

Assuming Erne has a spot, off the top of my head, we're looking at:

Miller - Stamkos - Kucherov
Palat - Point - Johnson
Killorn - Cirelli - Gourde
Erne - Paquette - X

Conacher
Volkov
Joseph
Stephens
Martel

I guess it depends on whether or not we go with 13 or 14 forwards. (It would also not be a surprise if we're considering Johnson a 3C rather than a 2W. And I'd put the over/under on 10 games before Paquette sustains his first injury of the year.)

To me, Joseph makes us a better team, to the point that we just shouldn't be sending him down. If he stays, and we carry 14, maybe those extra two spots go to Martel and Conacher. Or maybe we want Conacher to provide scoring in Syracuse, since he's much more likely to pass through waivers.