The Gaetan Haas mystery

[Hockeylife1938]

Hi guys,

How do you explain the difficulty Haas is having to establish himself in the national league ?

Especially since he arrived as a confirmed player of 27 years with a status of leader and champion of the swiss league.

I think this show us that the jump to the National League is really huge and a Roman Josi is an exception.
The others have to work even harder to have a chance to succeed.

Just for fun, the 2018/19 highlights of the last swiss season of Haas (finished with the final victory) :
https://youtu.be/44aZJAN-Gw4

Thanks for giving me your opinion on the chances he has to succeed in the Oilers...

Regards,

Click to read more...

 

[OfCorsiDid]

No criticism, but by National League do you mean the NHL or something else?

If you’re referring to the NHL it’s not that surprising. The NHL is the toughest league in the world by a LARGE margin.

Hence why anyone who plays in the NHL often find themselves stars in the European leagues when their NHL career ends.

 

[Hockeylife1938]

Yes, I mean the NHL.

Thanks for your advice

 

[OfCorsiDid]

Yes, I mean the NHL.

Thanks for your advice

Yeah np.

The gap between the NHL and European leagues is a lot more pronounced than initially shown.

If you’re a star in the DEL/SHL you’re likely only a 4th liner/3rd pairing dman in the NHL.

The talent disparity is insane and actually somewhat of a problem. Especially for rebuilding teams.

 

[Took a pill in Sbisa]

Marc Arcobello got 4 points in his last 20 games in the NHL, and was sent down to the AHL.

Marc Arcobello then went to Switzerland and outscored Haas by 15 points in Haas' most recent season in Switzerland.

Players typically play in European leagues if they aren't good enough to play in the NHL, like Arcobello.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Maybe I’m mistaken but isn’t Haas struggling with the team he’s currently with?

 

[Smartguy]

As others have said he just doesn’t have the talent level to produce in the NHL. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, 99.9% of players that put on skates in there life don’t. With that said Haas may end up sticking if he can carve out a role. He will have to try to take on a defensive center, or more minutes on the PK with Shehan gone. The reason a-lot of players who are just on the fringe of the NHL end up in Europe is that they don’t accept the role of a 4th line player and want to grind out a career that way. Not saying it will happen with Haas but that remains to be seen.

Haas had decent underlying numbers last year, Holland wanted to bring more carryover year to year to the roster, so Haas got second contract, but unless he finds a role this season he likely ends up back in the Euro leagues full time by next year.

 

[McJadeddog]

Yeah, I think most people don't really understand the talent gap that exists WITHIN the NHL, let alone between the NHL and the lower leagues. The gap between a top-end player like McDavid and a 4th liner is *vast*. While this is easy to overlook, it bears thinking about that the "fringe NHLers", like Haas, will have to play against top-lines of the other team more often than they would like. Coaches look for these matchups, and those 4th liners are often just in "survival mode" when they have such a matchup. This tends to expose those players, and the talent disparity is on full display.

Then when you start talking about the "league average" skill difference, and it is crazy as well. The average AHL'er playing in what is generally thought of as the 2nd-4th best league in the world (KHL, and SEL being the others in contention) would be a 6th-7th liner in the NHL. Then when you start going down to a league like the Swiss league, that talent gap just keeps growing. The Swiss league is maybe the 6th best in the world? Something like that anyhow. It likely goes: NHL, AHL/KHL/SEL, Finnish, Swiss. You might have some argument to make them 5th or 7th, but that is roughly the range.

It simply can't be over-stated how big of a gap there is between the Swiss league and the NHL. Whatever team is the best in the Swiss league this year would be lucky to win a handfull of games in the NHL. Honestly, I think a *good* record for the best Swiss team would be something like 10-72, and I'm not sure they would win 10 games actually. An average Swiss team might win 2-5 games, and that might be being generous as well.

 

[GOilers88]

I think Haas could be a solid bottom sixer/ energy guy if he got consistent minutes.

Tipp didn't seem to trust him last year which I feel was undeserved. Guy has an excellent motor.

 

[Drivesaitl]

I like the player. I mean you look at effort expended by Haas or P Russell last year and you can't fault that they brought their best. Its just that next to far better depth players like Archibald for example they get caught in a numbers game in an NHL lineup and the curve is steep here. I actually think of the two Haas showed glimpses of skill here but didn't fill enough niche to get the toi he needed to be a regular here. We had a bit of a taxisquad of players looking for a spot.

Add that NHL speed, grit on puck, physicality, its a whole other element here. Again a player like Archibald, pound per pound is probably stronger than a lot of players, is fast, is an energy bunny. How do you compete with players like that. Just using Archie as an example.

This year its going to be even tougher to stick around. I suspect even guys we've had like Khaira, Chiasson, are in tough.

 

[shoop]

This year its going to be even tougher to stick around. I suspect even guys we've had like Khaira, Chiasson, are in tough.

Khaira should be in tough. I prefer Haas' effort last year to Khaira's inconsistency. Not sure what the deal with JJ is, but he just can't bring it night in and night out.

 

[ZenOil]

Haas looks like a player, but I just don't see him getting an opportunity to show what he's got.

 

[McDNicks17]

Maybe I’m mistaken but isn’t Haas struggling with the team he’s currently with?

I'm not really sure, but looks like he might be playing a bit more of a defensive role as he's been playing mostly #3C with two lesser skilled guys judging by the lineup cards on Bern's twitter.

He's playing behind two really good centers at the European level in Dustin Jeffrey and Ted Brithen.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

I'm not really sure, but looks like he might be playing a bit more of a defensive role as he's been playing mostly #3C with two lesser skilled guys judging by the lineup cards on Bern's twitter.

He's playing behind two really good centers at the European level in Dustin Jeffrey and Ted Brithen.

Thx

 

[Stoneman89]

Whether you're 27 or 21 , the NHL is a tough league to crack first time out for most players, and Haas is no exception. Getting his feet wet last year was a very good solid start and hopefully he can build off of that. He is an excellent skater and has very good hockey smarts, which are keys to playing at the ultimate level. If he can get his shot up to speed, he could find permanent employment.

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

I think Haas' key to success is the ability to learn and change. He was a fairly tentative player to begin last season and it was clear his style of play reflected a different style of play without the physicality, speed of play, and smaller ice surface built into the NHL. Down the stretch Haas showed much more assertiveness in his play including going into battle areas of the ice. His attitude including ability and willingness to evolve his style of play impressed me and I think it led to greater confidence from the coaching staff.

Haas is still somewhat of an NHL tweener but his skating, aptitude and position as a veteran centre man could see him stick on the Oilers club. Solid utility guy for fourth line and general bottom six role. That said, the Oilers have become smaller, more finesse team with this off-season cheap shopping so I think there's some need for bigger fourth line options like Khaira.

Not really a mystery but a hard truth of the difficulty to make an NHL team which represents the best talent and competition level in the world. Hockey Darwinism is littered with talented players who missed one or more of the intangible or tangible attributes required to reach this pinnacle.

 

[JayE]

I don't see what the mystery is. Haas wasn't expected to be a surefire NHLer even on a team which lacked forward depth. Expectations weren't high at all, really. As it happened, he was a serviceable 4th line player 5v5. In the greater context of the team, his 5v5 play was a net positive and only the fact that the other bottom 6ers on the team had more PK experience (and were excellent at it) prevented him from having a bigger role on the team. If he can thrive as a PKer (and he very well could be expected to with Sheahan gone), he'll very likely have a real role on this team.

 

[SwedishFire]

I think Haas' key to success is the ability to learn and change. He was a fairly tentative player to begin last season and it was clear his style of play reflected a different style of play without the physicality, speed of play, and smaller ice surface built into the NHL. Down the stretch Haas showed much more assertiveness in his play including going into battle areas of the ice. His attitude including ability and willingness to evolve his style of play impressed me and I think it led to greater confidence from the coaching staff.

Haas is still somewhat of an NHL tweener but his skating, aptitude and position as a veteran centre man could see him stick on the Oilers club. Solid utility guy for fourth line and general bottom six role. That said, the Oilers have become smaller, more finesse team with this off-season cheap shopping so I think there's some need for bigger fourth line options like Khaira.

Not really a mystery but a hard truth of the difficulty to make an NHL team which represents the best talent and competition level in the world. Hockey Darwinism is littered with talented players who missed one or more of the intangible or tangible attributes required to reach this pinnacle.

I hope yout right, I can see some skill and hockeysense in Haas.
But its probably hard to do that euro transistion, from bigger to smaller ice. From reaeing the game in a quicker way. The need to improve the shot, in NA rinks you have a goalscoring chance just having won a face off in the offensive zone. In europe, you dont.

A big, good skating defensive awerness guy is something oilers would need.

Inwoild like a shutdown line of Khaira Haas Archibald.
Yes Neal is not in that line, but let Neal play the 3th line then.

Whatever that places Chiasson on the bench. Sorry Im hard to him, I think Chiassons best role is to be a supersub. Making some jump in games now and then.

 

[bucks_oil]

Khaira should be in tough. I prefer Haas' effort last year to Khaira's inconsistency. Not sure what the deal with JJ is, but he just can't bring it night in and night out.

While I agree on the effort front, Khaira is miles stronger on the puck and far more physical than Haas. If you want your guys on the third and forth line to win battles and wear the opponent down (which I believe is Tipp's attitude), then Haas isn't your first choice.

Haas playing style reminds me most of RNH but with 60% the skill and 40% as effective defensively with his stick. If it was 60% / 60% he'd be an effective NHL player.

 

[FlameChampion]

I personally like Haas. I just rarely see the guy make bad plays. I think Tippett underused him. I wish he would of got more PK time. He also never really got much an opportunity to play with better players. He always got scraps. I think if you were to play him on a line with Nygard and Archibald for example, you would see him put up some more points than he did last year.

Hes smart. He skates well. He doesnt make mistakes. I dont think hes ever going to put up a ton of offense because I think he lacks the hands and the shot to do that but the guy does more good than bad. I feel like the other forwards for example like Sheahan, Khaira, etc whatever good they do, they almost always give it back.

 

[ZJuice]

I am not a professional scout, but, Haas would be a must sign for my team. I’d pay up to 3 mill short term (1-2 year contract) or offer a long term at 1.5 - 2.5 million x 5 years

 

[Asiaoil]

I think Haas between Chaser and Neal would be a very good 4th line. Haas has wheels and is a RHC, but he would need to add effective PK to his game. He started slowly but by the end of the year he was an effective player adding speed and responsible play to the bottom 6. Can he add some offense? TBD.

Tons of competition on the bottom 6, which is as it should be, and guys like Haas will need to add PK to stick around. Would keep Khaira around for the inevitable injuries and heavy teams.

 

[shoop]

I think Haas between Chaser and Neal would be a very good 4th line.

That would be a good fourth line and make for four damned solid lines.

Nuge - Drai - Yamamoto
Kahun - McDavid - Kassian
Ennis - Turris - Puljujarvi
Neal - Haas - Chiasson

 

[ujju2]

That would be a good fourth line and make for four damned solid lines.

Nuge - Drai - Yamamoto
Kahun - McDavid - Kassian
Ennis - Turris - Puljujarvi
Neal - Haas - Chiasson

Eh... by taking Archibald and Khaira both out of the lineup you're taking a big hit on the PK, with Sheahan already gone. Even at evens I'd personally rather have Archibald in a 4th line role than Chiasson.

 

[shoop]

Eh... by taking Archibald and Khaira both out of the lineup you're taking a big hit on the PK, with Sheahan already gone. Even at evens I'd personally rather have Archibald in a 4th line role than Chiasson.

I wouldn't have a problem with Archibald in over Chiasson. I suspect Tippett picks Chiasson over Archibald, but you might be right.