GDT: Training Camp 2021

[VibinCanuck]

Either Graovac or Michaelis will be on the taxi squad. Gotta have some centre depth.

I believe Hawryluk and MacEwen can play centre.

 

[4Twenty]

Why would they keep Baertschi with the team?

They could’ve last season and didn’t. Is there actually buzz this will happen?

 

[Blue and Green]

I believe Hawyrluk and MacEwen can play centre.

They're wingers. MacEwen has barely played any centre in the AHL.

 

[Nazzlind]

Why would they keep Baertschi with the team?

They could’ve last season and didn’t. Is there actually buzz this will happen?

there wasn't a taxi squad last season

 

[sting101]

well i'd dig deeper to analyse the deployment better and then try to compare apples to apples. i did this exercise a couple of years back for beagle after season 1 looking at his shift duration and numbers compared to faceoffs and other stats. shockingly he had a short average shift duration and a high number of faceoffs per minute played to go along with his insane ratio of dzone starts.

it does not require rocket surgery skills to infer these guys take a lot of shifts where their job is to get the puck out and then get to the bench. it takes only some practical dentistry skills to realize that even when they are on a regular shift on the fly an opportune time for them to get off is when they get the puck deep, whereas that's when the shift starts for other lines.

all of which is to say these players have roles.

those roles are further influenced by the state of this team. we have been bad and we have been playing young inexperienced top six players who cannot always handle their matchups, and the deployment of beagle and sutter is further impacted by this. they were asked to fail not as badly as we might otherwise fail, not to win.

there is accordingly a finite amount of players in the league to who you might fairly compare them. i honestly think its easier to use the eye test to do so and focus on skill sets.

Well said Krutov

It's interesting that people cannot understand how deployment effects possession stats and corsi

Beagles post season he had 119 d zone starts to 9 offensive starts, had a couple points, never sniffed a PP or any offensive opportunity and killed penalties with impunity

GF 4 GA 4 at even strength.........you take that and run. His starts alone suggest he should have been a -2. The Leafs and others wish they had players willing to do what Jay does. Takes a beating and never yields. His penalty killing was 2nd best to Blake Coleman in high danger chances yielded p/60. His ability and Sutter's to keep teams taking low percentage shots was integral in keeping them in games and giving the core the opportunity to win.

 

[Shareefruck]

Not many 4th liners have 3 seasons above 20 points - one at 30 - and two of those with 10 or more goals. You can't claim he wasn't an excellent player in his role.

Wasn't Beagle widely considered to be one of the strongest 4th liners in the league for a while? Seems like you're both right.

 

[David71]

They wanted insurance for Sutter who was too off injured. But Beagle was an excessive insurance.

The bottom 6 who kills penalties?
Motte, sutter, Beagle, Eriksson?
I would expect Pearson and Roussel, but he really isn’t one. If that’s all they have then they will have to pull Bo and Miller to do it as well if needed.

jake, Gaudette, Rousell, MacEwen, Sven. Anyone else who could pk?

well from scrimmages, reports saying jake and gaudette will be practising pk roles.

 

[VNCVR]

I want to go on record stating that I think Macewen will be the biggest surprise and most improved player by a fair margin. This kid has so much potential. His offensive game is definitely underrated

 

[HockeyWooot]

well from scrimmages, reports saying jake and gaudette will be practising pk roles.

Thats great to hear!

 

[Sergei Shirokov]

I'm quite optimistic about our team.

In the analysis of our team, and focus on all the departures, it hasn't been fully appreciated how much Nate Schmidt is going to improve our defensive core - and by extension our team.

Think back to the start of last season, you had Edler - Tanev - Myers in that order as the top 3 defenseman coming into the season. (Some thought Hughes but he was unproven, didn't start out as the top guy).

Now we have Hughes - Schmidt - Edler. Edler, while getting older, still showed he could play big minutes last season and now he's 3rd on our depth chart. That's pretty good. Then you have capable veterans like Myers & Hamonic behind that who have size, but each bring different elements.

If Hoglander can be the real deal & fill the top 6 spot, that's the biggest hole filled. Considering Eriksson was in that spot most of time, even an improvement maybe. Then u consider a potentially improved Roussel+Gaudette combo on the third line.

We should have as good a shot as anyone in this division.

 

[bandwagonesque]

The improved defence is what will take the team farther this year. If the d stays relatively healthy this can be a significantly better team than last year's.

 

[cc]

Wasn't there no limits on goalies? Or was that for camp. Hmmm, assuming you're right...

In that case, Graovac goes down and Dipietro is there (still think getting Howard is possible for the taxi squad allowing Dipietro to get playing time)

I have a feeling that Jake Kielly will end up on the taxi squad and DiPietro will end up in Utica

 

[dbaz]

I have a feeling that Jake Kielly will end up on the taxi squad and DiPietro will end up in Utica

Yep.
DiPietro will work with Ian Clark until he needs to go down. He will get the load of games on what should be a strong team this year.
ECHL isn't running? So Kielly won't get games as the blues have a good goaltender who will be backing up DiPietro.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

I have a feeling that Jake Kielly will end up on the taxi squad and DiPietro will end up in Utica

I wonder if we could see DiPietro loaned to a Canadian AHL team as that would mean he only has to do one week of isolation instead of two weeks if he’s needed in an emergency. Seems like he’d be third in line if Holtby and Demko go down. He’d probably get recalled as soon as one of them was hurt.
I’m not sure but I also think Utica might have a full slate of goalies now that we’re sharing them with St. Louis.

 

[iceburg]

If JV can ever get consistent and Gaudette can elevate his defensive play (I know, two big ifs) they could be a seriously good 3rd line pair. Add Podkolzin to that line when he arrives and I really like the makeup of the top three lines with another assumption - Hoglander's strong camp translates into consistentaly good play at 2RW.

Miller-Pettersson-Boeser
Person-Horvat-Hoglander
Podkolzin-Gaudette-Virtanen

Not this year but next or the year after I could see this nine being contender level competitive.

Question (I asked this before but didn't get an answer): How comfortable is Podkolzin playing LW?

 

[WetcoastOrca]

I’m reading reports that Boeser has looked like one of the best forwards in camp. That would be huge if he can return to top form.

 

[cc]

I wonder if we could see DiPietro loaned to a Canadian AHL team as that would mean he only has to do one week of isolation instead of two weeks if he’s needed in an emergency. Seems like he’d be third in line if Holtby and Demko go down. He’d probably get recalled as soon as one of them was hurt.
I’m not sure but I also think Utica might have a full slate of goalies now that we’re sharing them with St. Louis.

I think they'll want DiPietro to play games in Utica under the supervision Curtis Sanford who has worked pretty well with him thus far, and Trent Cull who is probably more comfortable playing him over an unknown goalie.
I'm not sure what the Blues goalie situation is but they lost jake allen so they'll probably bring up their AHL starter from last season as their backup

 

[bandwagonesque]

Why would they keep Baertschi with the team?

They could’ve last season and didn’t. Is there actually buzz this will happen?

I'll field this one: training camps incorporate more players than will eventually be on the team. The team's coaching staff observes the players, decides which ones are playing the best and seem to be the best fit with each other and offer the team the greatest chance of success, and cut the remainder.

 

[Hodgy]

The improved defence is what will take the team farther this year. If the d stays relatively healthy this can be a significantly better team than last year's.

I think people are being a bit too quick to conclude the defense is necessarily improved. On paper, I don’t really disagree that it very well may end up being improved, but I have some concerns:

1. Edler. He’s in his mid thirties and injury prone. While it’s very difficult to predict the timing of age related decline, we all know it exists, and like it it not, within the next year, two or three it’s likely Edler drops off a cliff and is no longer a top four defensemen. If that happens this year, then this defense has a major hole;
2. Hamonic / Hamonic and Hughes. I think Hamonic is a big question mark given his recent decline and extended absence. Also, it remains to be seen whether a Hamonic and Hughes pairing is anywhere near as efffictive as the Tanev and Hughes pairing. It’s quite possible that Hughes’ play suffers as a result
3. Juolevi. I’m happy to hear he has looked good and desperately want him to be an NHL defensemen, but less than two weeks of play doesn’t undo years of very suspect development.

Lastly, while not strictly defense related, the obvious goalie downgrade is likely to fecpose our defense / system more this year than last.

 

[bandwagonesque]

I think people are being a bit too quick to conclude the defense is necessarily improved. On paper, I don’t really disagree that it very well may end up being improved, but I have some concerns:

1. Edler. He’s in his mid thirties and injury prone. While it’s very difficult to predict the timing of age related decline, we all know it exists, and like it it not, within the next year, two or three it’s likely Edler drops off a cliff and is no longer a top four defensemen. If that happens this year, then this defense has a major hole;
2. Hamonic / Hamonic and Hughes. I think Hamonic is a big question mark given his recent decline and extended absence. Also, it remains to be seen whether a Hamonic and Hughes pairing is anywhere near as efffictive as the Tanev and Hughes pairing. It’s quite possible that Hughes’ play suffers as a result
3. Juolevi. I’m happy to hear he has looked good and desperately want him to be an NHL defensemen, but less than two weeks of play doesn’t undo years of very suspect development.

Lastly, while not strictly defense related, the obvious goalie downgrade is likely to fecpose our defense / system more this year than last.

Sure, all this is reasonable. You could also make a variety of arguments suggesting improvements elsewhere. I think on balance it adds up to a significantly improved defence.

 

[Fatass]

Sure, all this is reasonable. You could also make a variety of arguments suggesting improvements elsewhere. I think on balance it adds up to a significantly improved defence.

Would the goalie be considered part of the offence or the defensive structure of a team?

 

[bandwagonesque]

Would the goalie be considered part of the offence or the defensive structure of a team?

I don't have a strong opinion about the goaltending. It might be fine. I don't think it has much influence on how the defence plays unless the goaltender is totally ineffective or has positional weaknesses. I'm just saying this is a better defence.

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

Tonights scrimmage is being streamed on Canucks.com for those interested.

 

[sting101]

I want to go on record stating that I think Macewen will be the biggest surprise and most improved player by a fair margin. This kid has so much potential. His offensive game is definitely underrated

I would have fully agreed had Hoglander not burst onto the scene. I get the feeling that if Hogs falters though that Zack may have a chance to prove this.

Little doubt in my mind that he asserts himself as an important piece going forward this year. Even if it's just as a btm 6 guy with some toughness and willingness to drop the gloves and chip in some goals. He has some really good skills for a big man. I get the feeling they weren't too worried about Leivo due to Zack MacEwen's potential.

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

I would have fully agreed had Hoglander not burst onto the scene. I get the feeling that if Hogs falters though that Zack may have a chance to prove this.

Little doubt in my mind that he asserts himself as an important piece going forward this year. Even if it's just as a btm 6 guy with some toughness and willingness to drop the gloves and chip in some goals. He has some really good skills for a big man. I get the feeling they weren't too worried about Leivo due to Zack MacEwen's potential.

I think you’re right in that MacEwen gave the team confidence to let go of Leivo. I just hope they give MacEwen that chance this year.

Very excited to see what Hoglander can do.