The Coming Big Dump

[Jonesey]

He's done it under Trotz before.

Gotta say though, I am seeing some odd similarities on the development paths of Blum and Smith. They came in their rookie year and looked like the second coming, then have been worthless ever since. At this point, Smith might be playing himself toward not getting qualified at 2mil...

Have to wonder how two players that played so well, and had such promise, completely fell apart. Still, Smith has shown what he can do and just has to find his way back to that level.

Can't say for Blum, but for smith..

 

[Top 6 Spaling]

Can't say for Blum, but for smith..

I understand that play may have hurt his confidence and whatnot, but I have a very hard time believing a 23 year old who has spent well over a decade playing hockey let one play destroy his play to the point of going from a top 6 forward to an AHL level guy. There is no way I can see that play still having an effect on his game.

 

[Jonesey]

I understand that play may have hurt his confidence and whatnot, but I have a very hard time believing a 23 year old who has spent well over a decade playing hockey let one play destroy his play to the point of going from a top 6 forward to an AHL level guy. There is no way I can see that play still having an effect on his game.

I understand but hockey is a very mental game and when you do something like that it puts a mental block in your head. You start thinking more instead of doing what would come natural to others who would have finished in that situation. It can happen that players simply think themselves out of the league.

 

[NSH615]

He's done it under Trotz before.

Gotta say though, I am seeing some odd similarities on the development paths of Blum and Smith. They came in their rookie year and looked like the second coming, then have been worthless ever since. At this point, Smith might be playing himself toward not getting qualified at 2mil...

Have to wonder how two players that played so well, and had such promise, completely fell apart. Still, Smith has shown what he can do and just has to find his way back to that level.

Trotz needs to not kill his confidence, this is IMO his biggest issue. Smith needs a coach who believes in him and I honestly feel like Trotz has less than 1% confidence/belief in him.

 

[Top 6 Spaling]

Trotz needs to not kill his confidence, this is IMO his biggest issue. Smith needs a coach who believes in him and I honestly feel like Trotz has less than 1% confidence/belief in him.

Whether he does or not, it's not like he didn't give Smith chances to succeed last year. Once the injuries happened, and even some before that, he got plenty of minutes and PP time.

“We expected production from Sergei and Craig Smith and we got none,†Trotz said. “Both those guys, we were looking at them to be top-six, top-seven forwards and we got no production. Craig Smith and Sergei were on power plays all year. I did it to try to get them going. I tried different things to get those guys going. I knew that we needed them because we score by committee and we had some committee members that didn’t get ‘er done.â€

Whatever happened to Honey Badger, I hope he figures it out. We need him, and I think he still has great potential.

 

[adsfan]

He's done it under Trotz before.

Gotta say though, I am seeing some odd similarities on the development paths of Blum and Smith. They came in their rookie year and looked like the second coming, then have been worthless ever since. At this point, Smith might be playing himself toward not getting qualified at 2mil...

Have to wonder how two players that played so well, and had such promise, completely fell apart. Still, Smith has shown what he can do and just has to find his way back to that level.

I thought that Blum became lazy! Maybe he was just bummed out about being sent back to Milwaukee after playing 91 NHL games. He is from Long Beach. I think that Milwaukee was too cold for him. Some people can't take the weather here.

Look at some Milwaukee stats. His scoring went down but PIMS went up from 10-11 to 11-12. That isn't player development. The PIMS and +/- came from not throwing checks and not skating hard out there. The fans here noticed those defensive lapses. The Admirals made the playoffs all 4 seasons, even if they were in 8th place the last 2 years. Multiply season two by 1.48, three by 1.67 and four by 2.35 to get 80 game stats.

In 2009-10 80 games 11G 30 A 41 pts 32 PIMS +17
In 2010-11 54 games 7 G 27 A 37 pts 20 PIMS +7
In 2011-12 48 games 4 G 22 A 26 pts 36 PIMS -11
In 2012-13 34 games 1 G 11 A 12 pts 16 PIMS -3

 

[AdmiralsFan24]

Blum probably got into the wrong sport if he doesn't like cold weather.

 

[thecloser]

Hear me out....

We're pretty good trading partners with Florida so.....

NSH
Fleischmann

FLA
Smith
+ a piece

Don't know what that piece would be but that would give us a top 6 forward, he and stalberg could be pretty nasty on a line together IMO. Only thing is that I didn't thoroughly do my research and I can't remember if this will be the last year on Fleisch's contract or if he has 2 more. I've been a silent advocate for this move and I would much rather have him than Hemsky (who always seems to be on our radar). Don't know if te space is there but maybe add spaling or Goose to it and wed have the room for sure. Plus I think he'd come here. He's never had an issue with Florida being smaller market; after all he did go there after being in D.C. Therefore I feel we could resign him too.

Just tossing things around; I know Fleisch's name has been tossed around by Florida before.

 

[Top 6 Spaling]

Oh man, that would be great. Flash would do well here IMO. Not sure Florida would be interested.

 

[INDhockeyfan]

Hear me out....

We're pretty good trading partners with Florida so.....

NSH
Fleischmann

FLA
Smith
+ a piece

Don't know what that piece would be but that would give us a top 6 forward, he and stalberg could be pretty nasty on a line together IMO. Only thing is that I didn't thoroughly do my research and I can't remember if this will be the last year on Fleisch's contract or if he has 2 more. I've been a silent advocate for this move and I would much rather have him than Hemsky (who always seems to be on our radar). Don't know if te space is there but maybe add spaling or Goose to it and wed have the room for sure. Plus I think he'd come here. He's never had an issue with Florida being smaller market; after all he did go there after being in D.C. Therefore I feel we could resign him too.

Just tossing things around; I know Fleisch's name has been tossed around by Florida before.

He still has 2 yrs left on his contract at 4.5M and has a NTC. I don't see why Florida would trade him though. It isn't like they've got a lot of top 6 forwards. They need defense so I'd go with Smith and Ellis. If Smith's value was higher it might fly but it isn't. They'd probably want Wilson.

 

[Bringer of Jollity]

He still has 2 yrs left on his contract at 4.5M and has a NTC. I don't see why Florida would trade him though. It isn't like they've got a lot of top 6 forwards. They need defense so I'd go with Smith and Ellis. If Smith's value was higher it might fly but it isn't. They'd probably want Wilson.

Yeah, I don't see why Florida trades the guy that has led their team in scoring the past 2 seasons for Craig Smith. That would be a pretty significant + going with him.

 

[triggrman]

For the record, Erat's path was the same. In fact he was sent back down to the AHL in his 2nd season and then came back in his 3rd year fairly strong scoring 49 points.

 

[Top 6 Spaling]

Is Simon Moser (Josi's buddy from the Swiss WC team) still coming to camp? If so, there's another name to throw into the mix. I would guess he has no interest in the AHL, so that's a make-the-roster-or-bust type. Still, looked good at the WC and will be in contention for a roster spot. Meaning we have even more competition, though if he looks bad we just don't sign him.

 

[thecloser]

We could also look at Gaustad + Ellis or Watson + Ellis

Watson might be a good grab for Florida and peak their interest cuz it would be another young forward to come in and play with Barkov. Florida is a rebuilding project and Tallon like Poile loves defenseman so Ellis would interest them I think.

 

[Bringer of Jollity]

We could also look at Gaustad + Ellis or Watson + Ellis

Watson might be a good grab for Florida and peak their interest cuz it would be another young forward to come in and play with Barkov. Florida is a rebuilding project and Tallon like Poile loves defenseman so Ellis would interest them I think.

I still think it's moving in the wrong direction, even if Florida was willing. Watson is one of the few legit centers we have under the age of 30 (Fleischman will be turning so next year), and moving Ellis at this point still seems fairly short-sighted. If we could make a deal out of our veteran depth, I'd be more amenable to it, but I see Florida wanting only pieces we shouldn't be giving up.

 

[Detelethisaccount]

What about moving Goose back to Buffalo?

To Buffalo:
Paul Gaustad
Josh Shalla
5th Round Pick

To Nashville:
Mike Weber or Alexander Sulzer
Matthew Hackett or Jhonas Enroth

That would clear up our needs for a LH depth dman and a bakup goalie, plus Buffalo needs a 3rd/4th line center with some grit.

 

[Top 6 Spaling]

What about moving Goose back to Buffalo?

To Buffalo:
Paul Gaustad
Josh Shalla
5th Round Pick

To Nashville:
Mike Weber or Alexander Sulzer
Matthew Hackett or Jhonas Enroth

That would clear up our needs for a LH depth dman and a bakup goalie, plus Buffalo needs a 3rd/4th line center with some grit.

I could care less about Weber/Sulzer, but Enroth is someone I'm a huge fan of and we lose Goose while taking minimal money back. I like it, personally, but I am not as big of a Gaustad fan as many. Don't see why a rebuilding Sabres squad trades young players for an older guy though.

 

[Detelethisaccount]

Don't see why a rebuilding Sabres squad trades young players for an older guy though.

Yeah I thought about that as well, and figured none of the guys we want are really going to play a significant role in their rebuilding except maybe Enroth. Weber and Sulzer will be bouncing between being scratched and playing on the 3rd pair. I think they resigned Hackett just in case they were able to move Miller which now looks very unlikely.

 

[Persona5]

I understand but hockey is a very mental game and when you do something like that it puts a mental block in your head. You start thinking more instead of doing what would come natural to others who would have finished in that situation. It can happen that players simply think themselves out of the league.

I agree completely with this. I know it's not the same sport but it is the same thing. Look at Chuck Knoblauch who played baseball for the Twins. He suddenly couldn't throw the ball from second to first and it killed his career. This sort of thing does happen and it is al mental. I hope Smith overcomes it but all his lack luster play can be traced back to that play sadly. His performance in the world tournament is a glimmer of hope though.

 

[adsfan]

Blum probably got into the wrong sport if he doesn't like cold weather.

It is one thing to spend 3 hours on the ice with pads and a uniform on skating at a high pace; and another to be outside when it is below zero shoveling snow to get to your job. Since you live around Milwaukee, I am sure that you get the full meaning of living in the second coldest major US city.

For those of you not from here, Milwaukee averages 4 feet of snow per winter.

http://www.620wtmj.com/news/local/83789307.html

 

[adsfan]

For the record, Erat's path was the same. In fact he was sent back down to the AHL in his 2nd season and then came back in his 3rd year fairly strong scoring 49 points.

Milwaukee 2002-03 stats for F Erat:

45 games 10 G 22 A 32 pts 41 PIMs -3


Compared to D man Jon Blum:

In 2010-11 54 games 7 G 27 A 37 pts 20 PIMS +7
In 2011-12 48 games 4 G 22 A 26 pts 36 PIMS -11

 

[jwhouk]

It is one thing to spend 3 hours on the ice with pads and a uniform on skating at a high pace; and another to be outside when it is below zero shoveling snow to get to your job. Since you live around Milwaukee, I am sure that you get the full meaning of living in the second coldest major US city.

For those of you not from here, Milwaukee averages 4 feet of snow per winter.

http://www.620wtmj.com/news/local/83789307.html

That's because Mitchell Field is like about a mile from the lake. Get away from Lake Michigan and snow isn't that bad.

Now, up here in the Great North Woods, temps drop like rocks from the top of Mount Everest.

 

[101st_fan]

Smith looked good for about five weeks. That's it. Seven goals from 10/7/2011 - 11/9/2011 .... one more goal that calendar year. We can guess if it was the missed empty net goal ... or changes in matchups ..or whatever but outside of those first few weeks his performance is mediocre at best. It is noteworthy that in Jan 2012, Smith saw his ice time cut but his performance increase with 3 goals that month while never breaking 20 shifts a game. His ice time crept up again in Feb, with a drop in goals.

He got his chances again in 2013. His 3 goal month of Feb had him scoring in games where he saw under 16 minutes of ice time ... under 15 mins in two of three games he scored in. I'm really starting to wonder if he can only score when matchups are favorable ... him against a 2nd or 3rd defensive pairings and defensively weaker forward lines. It seems that every time his ice time increases, his ES performance especially disappears. All of his ES goals are in games where he had less than 16 minutes of ice time.

 

[AdmiralsFan24]

It is one thing to spend 3 hours on the ice with pads and a uniform on skating at a high pace; and another to be outside when it is below zero shoveling snow to get to your job. Since you live around Milwaukee, I am sure that you get the full meaning of living in the second coldest major US city.

For those of you not from here, Milwaukee averages 4 feet of snow per winter.

http://www.620wtmj.com/news/local/83789307.html

Yes but where are a lot of NHL teams? He could've been drafted by Edmonton, Calgary, Buffalo, Boston, New York, Philly, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Chicago, Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Minnesota etc. If he was that concerned about weather he could've gone to Florida and begged to sign with them because even if he didn't make the team he would get sent to San Antonio. Instead he opted to sign with Minnesota and if he doesn't make the team, Des Moines. Doesn't seem like he's that concerned about the weather based on where he signed.

 

[thecloser]

Any interest in Drew Stafford from Buffalo?

Spaling + Ellis + 2nd
for
Stafford (maybe a pick added)

???? IDK just spit balling for s***s and giggs