The curious and sad case of Jason Krog

[Artorius Horus T]

Without a doubt Krog was one helluva player, crazy talented hockey player, awesome playmaking center
with high hockey IQ,who could score goals too, skating wasn't an issue for him, complete opposite.

Was a super star in the BCHL,NCAA and in the AHL but never was given a true chance in the NHL.

NHL career in a nutshell:

99-00 | 17 games, 10:03 TOI/GP (2g+4a=6pts) NYI
00-01 | 9 games, 10:32 TOI/GP (0g+3a=3pts)
01-02 | 2 games, 6:40 TOI/GP (0g+0a=0pts)
02-03 | 67 games, 13:47 TOI/GP (10g15a=25pts) ANA
21 play-offs games, 11:10 TOI/GP (4g+1a=5pts)
03-04 | 80 games, 10:58 TOI/GP (6g+12a=18pts)
06-07 | 23 games, 12:00 TOI/GP (3g+3a=6pts) ATL/NYR
08-09 | 4 games, 9:54 TOI/GP (2g+0a=2pts) VAN

Basically a 4th line center (with few exceptions)
with on/off pp time, his entire career.

Through 2006-2011 in the AHL he was the most dominant pro
player not playing in the NHL, playing in total of 425 games
scoring 160 goals,360 assists and 520 points (1.22 ppg),
but obviously the Hershey duo Aucoin&Giroux got most
of the attention (almost), even thou Krog was the superior of the 3
and scored the most points and had the highest ppg.

His 2007-2008 season was just out of control
in total of 104 games, Jason Krog scored 51 goals and 99 assists, 150 points.
Most combined points by any player in a single season in the history
of the AHL. (i checked)

He could of had amazing NHL career if was given a true chance.
- and if he was lucky to be in a right team with a right coach
in the right time.

Agree or disagree this is my opinion of Jason Krog.

Click to read more...

 

[Pominville Knows]

He was given enough chances that it was apparent that he would never be a star scorer in the NHL. Some players just are that way that some apparent skills does not translate to the NHL level.
He should have left for Europe much earlier, but hey, he at least got a trip to the Stanley Cup final through it all.

 

[Howie Hodge]

My nephew could have been a great High School player if the coach hadn't kept him on JV for 4 years......

 

[Michael Farkas]

Huh, this again...?

Krog got a million chances, legit chances...he just wasn't good enough. He was like 80 by the time he was done at UNH, the Isles won the sweepstakes for him and gifted him a roster spot. He couldn't make it work there and then he played two full seasons for the Ducks, including all the exposure of playing into the 2003 Final. On the other side of that, enough had been seen and no one needed him. Not big, not a plus skater, not quick in tight spots and didn't have that killer instinct that a lot of smaller players need...that edge. Krog was a pretty passive, relaxed player. Not lazy by any means, and he was a good playmaker...but the NHL didn't miss out on anything...

Hopefully there isn't going to a thread for his buddy Darren Haydar too...

 

[Artorius Horus T]

Huh, this again...?

Krog got a million chances, legit chances...he just wasn't good enough. Not big, not a plus skater, not quick in tight spots and didn't have that killer instinct that a lot of smaller players need...that edge. Krog was a pretty passive, relaxed player. Not lazy by any means, and he was a good playmaker...but the NHL didn't miss out on anything...

How is a player who plays a star player 1st line role, goal,point scorer in the AHL
do anything, or show what he can be as a 4th line, defensive role center in the NHL????

Krog got million chances???? The hell he did, he didn't play a single shift in the 1st line nor in the 2nd line
in his NHL career, best what he got was 3rd line + pp/pk minutes, game here,game there.

A million chances ( a fair chance) would of been 20 games of solid 16-18 minutes of ice time
per game, PP included, playing with teams best players. Every time he got called up, the story remained the
same, same 4th or sometimes 3rd line center role, big woof.

Even in his 2 year stint as a regular in Anaheim, nothing but 4th&3rd line minutes,
with on/off PP/PK minutes, which put his minutes slightly higher every now and then.
Playing with either enforcers, or wood handed big boy defensive forwards, with limited
hockey IQ. - The number of games played does not = a fair chance

Not a plus skater???? the F that even means....he was a fast&strong skater,
didn't have that killer instinct? i guess you can show your instincts from the bench huh?.

 

[Michael Farkas]

Did you only want responses that agreed with you haha?

 

[streitz]

So a 20 point player didn't get a shot in the nhl? He had 2 full seasons, more then most minor league fodder gets and had back to back 20 point seasons.

 

[Michael Farkas]

I guess for people that are impartial, I should expand a little bit...I'll respond stream of consciousness to the last post that the OP made...

- How can he show anything? The same way other players show things. By being better and working their way up. Or by showing enough that other teams take a look at you...Harry Sinden was telling me one time about how Vancouver was using Cam Neely - a player that he liked when he saw him personally at the Memorial Cup a couple years prior...a guy they weren't using a lot, he saw him, he liked him, he made a deal for him. The opportunity is available. All the games are on tape...everybody knows everybody...there's a word of mouth aspect to it as well.

But even with his opportunities in the NHL (and they were vast) he didn't show enough to be coveted...

- Yes, Krog got a million chances. Way more than most Quadruple-A players get. He didn't play a single shift in the top six in his career? How can you possibly make that claim? Not one shift? Did you think that average ice time means that he played that exact amount in every single game he played?

You asked for 20 games of a "solid" (lol) 16-18 minutes of ice time...well, he got 19 games of 16 or more minutes in 2002-03 alone.

In the games of his career where he played over 18 minutes...he has two points and a minus-5 rating...maybe those were somehow also 4th line minutes, but my guess is that they weren't and he just couldn't really hack it at this level meaningfully...

"Plus skater" means that he has net-positive skating characteristics...Krog is on the smaller side, but has a poor first step and no real pop to his stride...so he lacks the small area footwork that would compliment his skill set, so therefore he can never really beat players one on one, he can't make a man miss...that's why he is more of a perimeter, pass-first type...and then two, he doesn't really have a breakaway speed or any sort of gear change function to him...so he's easy to gap up against...

He was not fast, nor was he a strong skater...

- Re: killer instinct. I mean, in addition to the hundreds of professional games that he played where coaches, scouts, other players, etc. could have seen it...the players also have training camps and practices and things like that, that most fans don't see but players get a chance to make impressions...I don't know if you think the league was just chock full of anti-Krogites for some odd reason or what...but I think most people who actually remember Krog remember him for exactly what he was...

 

[Nocashstyle]

202 NHL games seems like a "true chance" to me.

 

[streitz]

How is a player who plays a star player 1st line role, goal,point scorer in the AHL
do anything, or show what he can be as a 4th line, defensive role center in the NHL????

Krog got million chances???? The hell he did, he didn't play a single shift in the 1st line nor in the 2nd line
in his NHL career, best what he got was 3rd line + pp/pk minutes, game here,game there.

A million chances ( a fair chance) would of been 20 games of solid 16-18 minutes of ice time
per game, PP included, playing with teams best players. Every time he got called up, the story remained the
same, same 4th or sometimes 3rd line center role, big woof.

Even in his 2 year stint as a regular in Anaheim, nothing but 4th&3rd line minutes,
with on/off PP/PK minutes, which put his minutes slightly higher every now and then.
Playing with either enforcers, or wood handed big boy defensive forwards, with limited
hockey IQ. - The number of games played does not = a fair chance

Not a plus skater???? the F that even means....he was a fast&strong skater,
didn't have that killer instinct? i guess you can show your instincts from the bench huh?.

Jason....? Is that you?

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

How is a player who plays a star player 1st line role, goal,point scorer in the AHL
do anything, or show what he can be as a 4th line, defensive role center in the NHL????

Krog got million chances???? The hell he did, he didn't play a single shift in the 1st line nor in the 2nd line
in his NHL career, best what he got was 3rd line + pp/pk minutes, game here,game there.

A million chances ( a fair chance) would of been 20 games of solid 16-18 minutes of ice time
per game, PP included, playing with teams best players. Every time he got called up, the story remained the
same, same 4th or sometimes 3rd line center role, big woof.

Even in his 2 year stint as a regular in Anaheim, nothing but 4th&3rd line minutes,
with on/off PP/PK minutes, which put his minutes slightly higher every now and then.
Playing with either enforcers, or wood handed big boy defensive forwards, with limited
hockey IQ. - The number of games played does not = a fair chance

Not a plus skater???? the F that even means....he was a fast&strong skater,
didn't have that killer instinct? i guess you can show your instincts from the bench huh?.

pretty simple actually...putting a young player in a 3rd/4th line role lets you see his compete level.

Does he go out and do the right things, hustle, make plays? Or does he float and sulk.

Look at Marchand.

year 1, in 20 games he got only 11 mpg and posted a 0-1-1 line

year 2, he starts on the 4th line and earns his way up to the 2nd line ending up at 13 mpg and a 21-20-41 line

then in the playoffs gets bumped to 16 mpg and explodes for 11-8-19 in 25 winning the Cup.

2 things you refuse to understand:

1. Young players earning ice time and top line time is as old as time

2. The list of guys who have led the AHL in points and/or goals is full of mediocre NHL'ers

 

[AmericanDream]

did Krog get instant top 6 chances coming into the league? no, and that is usually the case with players like this that aren't known first round picks..Krog was kind of in a bad spot as he was more skilled for a bottom 6 role, but needed to show he could play the bottom 6 to earn more ice time. a player like Brandon Pirri could be suggested for this as well who had the skill, just couldn't show enough to get ice time over other players more "highly" thought of. Pirri wasn't as good a skater as Krog though..

if the OP says Krog didn't get top 6 minutes and calls that a fair chance, then yes I agree, he did not. but he did get 200 plus NHL games, and over 500 AHL games to make a case for more playing time, but he never really did adjust enough to show GMs versatility.. there are a ton of players like him that were skilled but came into the game when it was a boring clutch and snore fest. players like this would have a much better shot today than in the past 20 plus years.

 

[Michael Farkas]

Jonathan Audy-Marchessault...not very notable Q player, played overage season, signed an AHL-only deal...got picked up on a two-way contract by CBJ...didn't really get a look...dumped to Tampa in a minor league swap...gets half a season in Tampa...

Here we are, it's the offseason going into the 2016-17 season...JAM has exactly one NHL game where he's played more than 18 minutes.

Gets a two year deal from Florida and works himself into a 30-goal season. Does it again (basically) with Vegas the next year.

Made his own way. With much less opportunity. Because he's good and Krog, with all due respect, wasn't...at least at the level we're talking about...

 

[ShelbyZ]

You asked for 20 games of a "solid" (lol) 16-18 minutes of ice time...well, he got 19 games of 16 or more minutes in 2002-03 alone.

On top of that he seemed to start that season getting decent ice time averaging around 13:50 for the first 16 games (including more than 15 minutes in 5 of those), where he produced a whopping 2G and 2A and was -3.

And more to you're point, there was a two month long 33 game stretch from January to March that season where Krog averaged around 15:45 and rarely went below around 13:30 and 12:30 at the lowest. He had 6G and 8A and averaged a hair under a 1.25 shots per game. Included in that was a 10 game stretch where he only went below 16 minutes once (including 7 games at 17+). In that 10 games stretch, he had 2G 3A and was even +/-. Hey that's a 41pt season pace! Until you notice that his 3 assists and 1 of his goals came in the first game of that stretch, which leaves him with 1G 0A and a -4 for the other 8 averaging 17.5+ minutes a game on the 2nd line. He had no shots on goal in 3 of those 8 games and only had 1 in 3 others.

It would be one thing if Krog was some 23/24YO guy still adjusting, but at this point, Krog was 27 and it was likely that what you saw was what you were going to get. Another guy on the long list of AAAA types that can tear it up in the AHL, but don't provide enough to be a mainstay in the NHL.

 

[Terry Yake]

damn, there's a name i haven't heard in years

he was a decent bottom 6 option for the 03 ducks in their finals run. never showed any signs of being the scorer he was in college and the AHL

 

[McGarnagle]

I grew up in New Hampshire when he was at UNH, and he was definitely a local superstar at the time. I always rooted for him to make it in the NHL, but it didn't work out. He's the classic Four-A player. Too good for Triple-A, not good enough for the majors. He got a lot of chances in Anaheim and he was what he was. If he was on Kariya's line he would've produced more points, but did he ever earn a shot on that line? Doubtful.

 

[ShelbyZ]

If he was on Kariya's line he would've produced more points, but did he ever earn a shot on that line? Doubtful.

If you look at his goal logs, Krog and Kariya shared points on 2 even strength goals in 02-03. However, in both games Kariya has two to three times more ice time than Krog, so it's possible they were on the ice together mid shift change or as a result of a mid game Babcockian line blender.

Those type of if/then's with failed prospects are tired. Is it possible that parking Krog on a line with Kariya might have resulted in more points? Sure, but what good would that have done for his career? Kariya was gone the next season and the rest of the league would've recognized that Krog needed someone to carry him in order produce. Couldn't it have gone the other way too? Like putting Krog on a line with Kariya at the expense of someone like Sykora/Rucchin/Oates/Niedermayer might have meant that Kariya himself produced less.

It's the same argument some salty Red Wings fans give when their favorite new toy prospect that they just knew would be elite doesn't pan out after quite a few games/seasons on the main roster. "If [Babcock/Blashill] had only played [AA/Pulkkinen/Jurco/Smith/hell even Jan Mursak...] on [a line with [Datsyuk/Zetterberg]/the PP] they would've produced more points!"

 

[Zegras Zebra]

Krog's best shot was with the Mighty Ducks in the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons.

In order to get a top six role in 2002-03 he would have to beat out Adam Oates and Steve Rucchin.

Was Krog better than Adam Oates? No
Was Krog better than Steve Rucchin? No
Was Krog better than Andy MacDonald? No
Was Krog better than Samuel Pahlsson (In a defensive role)? No

He was lucky to get fourth line minutes.

In 2003-04 basically swap out Adam Oates for Sergei Federov, and the rest are basically the same.

Was Krog better than Sergei Federov? No

At the end of the day someone has to be the best player not good enough to play regularly in the NHL, and unfortunately for Jason Krog it possibly was him. Maybe he was unlucky not to get a shot on a team with lighter centre depth, but then again he didn't exactly light it up with Atlanta, the New York Rangers, or Vancouver either. They knew who he was at that point in his career. Maybe its possible he would have gotten a better shot if there wasn't a lockout, as he put up 60 points in 48 games in Austria, and a point a game in Switzerland in 2005-06, but I doubt it.