Ansar Khan: Teemu Pulkkinen waived (claimed by Wild)

[kliq]

15-16, under Blash. He looked good.
For 23 games. Playing in a top 9 role.
11 points in 23 games. Playing 12:52 a night.

Remember the line of Pulkkinen-Larkin-Tatar? They owned for a few games.

And then he got hurt and couldn't get in the lineup, let alone the top 9.

Because we had to play Brad Richards (no future).
We had to play Abdelkader and Helm in the top 6 instead of the bottom 6.

Blashill continued the Babcock insanity.

Ok, lets say every point you are making is correct. If he played great for the first 23 games in 15-16, do you really think that the way Blashill treated him for the next 13 games ruined him?

 

[MBH]

Ok, lets say every point you are making is correct. If he played great for the first 23 games in 15-16, do you really think that the way Blashill treated him for the next 13 games ruined him?

Well, you didn't answer the true false question man.

And I don't narrow it down to 13 games.
It's 13 games between Jan. 17 and April 7. That's 13 games in more than half the season.

Blashill killed his Detroit career after that injury.
This was it for him in Detroit.
The team that drafts you and signs you and develops you and plays you in the AHL - they're invested. They're the ones who, generally, are going to give you the most rope.

Once you hit the waiver wire, it's... well, hey, we'll take a chance on you, doesn't cost us anything except maybe a roster spot. And if something else tickles our fancy, see ya.


Look to put it context.
Pulkkinen before Blashill trashed him.
23 games. 6-5-11 42 shots. in less than 13 minutes a night.

Zadina this year.
28 games 8-7-15 60 shots. 15+ minutes a night.

Now, OBVIOUSLY Zadina is a lot younger and a top 10 draft pick.

But Pulkkinen wasn't exactly chopped liver.
In 14-15 he scored 34 goals in 46 games and then scored 14 goals in 16 playoff games for Grand Rapids. That's 48 in 62 games.
And yeah, Pulkkinen was a 4th round pick in 2010
But this was also a franchise that drafted Mrazek at 141 that year and Jarnkrok at 51 that year. And that drafted Tatar at 60 in 09 and Nyquist at 121 in 08. And Franzen at 97 in 04. And Hudler and Filppula and Zetterberg and Datsyuk.

It just seemed so shortsighted to kill Pulkkinen's career after what he showed...
Considering the age of our team. Considering we were playing useless grinders like Abdelkader and Helm ahead of him.

Really poor asset management and development.
It was this era, in my estimation, this era of stupidity, the era of Modanos and Bertuzzis and Richards and Quinceys and Ericssons and Abdelkaders and Helms - that made today's pain inevitable.

 

[kliq]

Well, you didn't answer the true false question man.

And I don't narrow it down to 13 games.
It's 13 games between Jan. 17 and April 7. That's more 13 games in more than half the season.

Blashill killed his Detroit career after that injury.
This was it for him in Detroit.
The team that drafts you and signs you and develops you and plays you in the AHL - they're invested. They're the ones who, generally, are going to give you the most rope.

Once you hit the waiver wire, it's... well, hey, we'll take a chance on you, doesn't cost us anything except maybe a roster spot. And if something else tickles our fancy, see ya.

My bad, you're right I didnt answer the true/false question. To be honest, I dont feel comfortable saying either. Back in 15-16 I had season tickets and I can remember paying very close attention to Pulk because he was a player I was very high on based on how he played in the AHL. His shot looked scary good, so from that perspective I would say true. However, when he wasn't shooting the puck he kind of just floated and didnt really contribute much. So I would say in the middle, not true or false.

I cited 13 games because you said he played well for his first 23 games with Tatar/Larkin, he only played 36 total games that year.

I just don't buy that Blashill ruined him. If you have true talent, playing for a bad coach for one season shouldn't have an effect on you to that extent.

 

[MBH]

My bad, you're right I didnt answer the true/false question. To be honest, I dont feel comfortable saying either. Back in 15-16 I had season tickets and I can remember paying very close attention to Pulk because he was a player I was very high on based on how he played in the AHL. His shot looked scary good, so from that perspective I would say true. However, when he wasn't shooting the puck he kind of just floated and didnt really contribute much. So I would say in the middle, not true or false.

I cited 13 games because you said he played well for his first 23 games with Tatar/Larkin, he only played 36 total games that year.

I just don't buy that Blashill ruined him. If you have true talent, playing for a bad coach for one season shouldn't have an effect on you to that extent.

I'm not saying he ever would have been a beast. But what the f***?
Who were we saving these spots for?
Helm.
Abdelkader.
So we could overpay them. And over extend them.
And I think Pulkkinen was pretty useless in several elements of the game. But to be honest, his offensive IQ is WAY underrated. And even his skating was underrated.
He was just small and weak on the boards and not much use defensively.




I really don't understand any reason why we couldn't use this guy on L3 and one of the powerplays.
Maybe he had some unreported attitude issue and floated in practice or whatever.

But I'm watching Erne and Perlini and all blah blah blah blah blah...
And I don't get it.

 

[kliq]

I'm not saying he ever would have been a beast. But what the ****?
Who were we saving these spots for?
Helm.
Abdelkader.
So we could overpay them. And over extend them.
And I think Pulkkinen was pretty useless in several elements of the game. But to be honest, his offensive IQ is WAY underrated. And even his skating was underrated.
He was just small and weak on the boards and not much use defensively.




I really don't understand any reason why we couldn't use this guy on L3 and one of the powerplays.

For the record, I dont disagree, I wish he got more playing time on scoring lines as well. My point is simply that Blashill didn't "ruin" him.

 

[MBH]

For the record, I dont disagree, I wish he got more playing time on scoring lines as well. My point is simply that Blashill didn't "ruin" him.

Well.. that second half of the season did him in. I don't believe he was given much opportunity after returning from injury.
And given what he'd showed in the AHL in 14-15 and in the NHL in the first 1/4 of the season in 15-16 - I believe he earned better.

Whatever, Teemu being a 3-time 20-30 goal man or whatever doesn't change what we are.

But man, I loved watching the puck go to him on the powerplay.

 

[kliq]

Well.. that second half of the season did him in. I don't believe he was given much opportunity after returning from injury.
And given what he'd showed in the AHL in 14-15 and in the NHL in the first 1/4 of the season in 15-16 - I believe he earned better.

Whatever, Teemu being a 3-time 20-30 goal man or whatever doesn't change what we are.

But man, I loved watching the puck go to him on the powerplay.

I was there in person when he scored his first goal against Minnesota, I was actually sitting right behind the goalie and watched him just wire it in. I wont lie, in that moment I thought he was something special.

 

[lomekian]

Feel similarly as I do about Frk, though Frk was a worse skater but better on the boards and in close. I would never go as far as to say anyone 'ruined' them, but both come into the category of assets wasted through poor deployment, as have so many other borderline players in recent years. Got no problem with young guys not sticking it and being let go, but successive wings coaches have been far too concerned with tedious anti-possession systems and the promotion of no skill grinders over less solid players with more offensive upside.

The fact is we have worse players in several positions now than any number of guys we've given away for nothing or peanuts or let go, and have either exchanged assets or long term cap space for.

I have no expectation that those players would ever be long term regulars in Detroit, but they could have done more short term and then become assets with some value had we not always stapled them to awful 4th lines as soon as they had a bad game.

 

[Retire91]

Gosh darnit I had moved on from Pulkkinen but you guys are right, now I am mad again lol. I don't feel like he was a big loss but the points you guys brought up really sting. He is better than like half our roster and he was basically kicked out of the organization for peanuts. This was the kind of stuff that drove me nuts.

 

[The Wizard of Oz]

I wish a guy like Frk would get more of a chance. LA is almost as bad we are and he scores 3 goals in 4 NHL games but doesn’t seem to be in the plans.

 

[MBH]

I wish a guy like Frk would get more of a chance. LA is almost as bad we are and he scores 3 goals in 4 NHL games but doesn’t seem to be in the plans.

Frk in LA is an example of how hard it is for a guy to make a team.
He's been great in the AHL. He's produced a lot on a short stint in LA. LA really doesn't have many guys in front of him.

It's hard to get an NHL organization to take a fresh look at you. They see Frk as a minor leaguer. They've got all these guys in the NHL who really aren't any better.
But the old guys? They have contracts to consider. You keep playing them and maybe they play well and you can trade them for something.
All the 22-25 year olds? They were drafted. There are people in front office in their corner who bet some of their reputation on an Austin Wagner or a Niokolay Prodhorkin.

So there's nobody fighting for Frk but Frk.

 

[Frk It]

Frk in LA is an example of how hard it is for a guy to make a team.
He's been great in the AHL. He's produced a lot on a short stint in LA. LA really doesn't have many guys in front of him.

It's hard to get an NHL organization to take a fresh look at you. They see Frk as a minor leaguer. They've got all these guys in the NHL who really aren't any better.
But the old guys? They have contracts to consider. You keep playing them and maybe they play well and you can trade them for something.
All the 22-25 year olds? They were drafted. There are people in front office in their corner who bet some of their reputation on an Austin Wagner or a Niokolay Prodhorkin.

So there's nobody fighting for Frk but Frk.

I will fight for him.

 

[MBH]

I will fight for him.

There was a guy/girl on Reddit who lived and died with Frk. I never understood it.

 

[Shaman464]

Pookie was badly misused by Babs/Blash. I remember him getting put net front on power plays instead of on the point. It made no sense.

 

[The Wizard of Oz]

There was a guy/girl on Reddit who lived and died with Frk. I never understood it.

We were without a RH sniper for quite a while there. A lot of us were holding out hope one of the GR guys would be a diamond in the rough. Mantha can kind of do it now.

 

[Mount Suribachi]

Pulk wasn't a case of being mis-coached, or badly handled. He was quite simply a one dimensional player who wasn't quite good enough for the NHL.

Many of us watched the highlights of him ripping them home in the AHL and repeatedly commented that defencemen wouldn't give him that much time and space to get his shot off, and that's before we get to the goaltending. Hell, I remember one goal he scored for the Griffs where the goalie ducked out of the way. No chance in hell you get that at NHL level, and so it proved. Couple of other teams gave him a chance and he didn't stick there either.

You can add Pulkkinen to that long list of Wings draft picks that were almost-but-not-quite the last dozen years.

 

[Henkka]

I think that that he never was mis-coached or mis-developed.

He was just too short and more of, had unbelieveable short reach. That kind of player can't steal the puck and can't protect the puck. Also, he has that good one-timer but you have to have the pass coming in on his stick perfectly to have him able to shoot, because his puck control area is so small. When he is alone with the puck, he has the freedom to shoot good shots, easier on bigger European rink with more space or in AHL with less speed, more time to act.

So it was just pipe dream to get him going in NHL. Just wrong type of short player. Almost negative intagibles. Could have worked on 80's or 90's, not on modern days multi-skill players.