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HockeyScotty

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Forum: NHLTue. at 11:38 a.m.
Forum: NHLTue. at 10:56 a.m.
Thread: 2023-2024 NHL Discussion Thread #5: The Final Stretch
Buffalo firing Don Granato and it looks like they want to find an experienced coach as the replacement.

Since I always get annoyed when people cry about 'rehashed coaches' here's a list of current coaches who were never head coaches before their current tenure:

Greg Cronin (ANA)
André Tourigny (ARZ)
Ryan Huska (CGY)
Rod Brind'Amour (CAR)
Luke Richardson (CHI)
Jared Bednar (COL)
Pascal Vincent (CBJ)
Derek Lalonde (DET)
Kris Knoblauch (EDM)
Martin St. Louis (MTL)
Andrew Brunette (NSH) - previously interim in FLA
Jon Cooper (TBL)
Sheldon Keefe (TOR)
Spencer Carbery (WSH)

Plus Interims
Jim Hiller (LAK)
Drew Bannister (STL)

That's roughly half the league who have only coached one team and a large chunk of the other half is only on their second team.
Forum: NHLMar. 26 at 4:02 p.m.
Thread: 2023-2024 NHL Discussion Thread #5: The Final Stretch
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>HockeyScotty</b></div><div>The NHLPA would/should want it so they can actually get all the teams to max their cap

There is plenty of cap space that doesn't get used every year already despite the cap dumps; about $50 million this year.</div></div>

That's what the escrow system is for. The players get 50% of the HRR regardless of what cap space is used or not used. The salaries are tied to revenue, not cap or even the specific dollar amounts in their contract. If the NHL had an unexpected amazing season (financially) and had not adjusted the cap accordingly, then players would conceivably make more money than their contracts. As it happens, the NHLPA consistently votes to keep raising the cap regardless of the revenue situation, so they are constantly ****ing about the escrow taking "their" money.

But if every dime of cap was spent every year by every team, the players collectively still make the same amount of money that season.
Forum: NHLMar. 24 at 6:06 p.m.
Thread: 2023-2024 NHL Discussion Thread #5: The Final Stretch
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>aadoyle</b></div><div>He was 2nd pair at times yes but realistically it was on teams with a lack of depth

LA rotated him with Roy until they figured who was better. PHI used him there mainly because Ristolinen's injury and a lack of RD. But when Drysdale went it was pretty clear the plan.

But I have seen Walker also make some noticeable mistakes when he was in LA. Rn hes playing for a new deal and that often brings out the best in guys

What were seeing out of him now may very well just be contract fever. As before this season he and Liligren were pretty similar and played almost the same. And Liligren dont always make bad Gaffs. Here and there yes but hes been nice in the third pair.

Will be curious to see once Walker gets his big payday how he will perform as if he goes back to early LA walker again whoever gives him 4-5m is not gonna be very happy.

Basically he and Carrier are two guys that seem like to much of a gamble in comparison to Demelo, Roy, and Pesce</div></div>


Kinda leaving out the injury part of the story. He was 2nd pairing until then, and had nothing to do with depth - Roy was the 3rd pairing guy behind him and then emerged during Walker's extended absence. The back and forth with 2RD happened after he got back, but he was not 100% fit yet. Whenever Walker has been fit, he has been a solid 2RD.

And yes, everyone makes mistakes, but Walker ain't never had articles written about how many costly mistakes he's making once, let alone multiple times. Walker is quite safe with the puck actually.
Forum: NHLMar. 24 at 5:17 p.m.
Thread: 2023-2024 NHL Discussion Thread #5: The Final Stretch
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>aadoyle</b></div><div>He really isnt 2x the player. Walker is playing for a contract hes got the fever thats about it. Look at him before this season its pretty much Liligren.

The only time you would see him 2nd pair on majority of teams is if they lacked depth. But thats highly doubtful 30 teams would use him in the top 4 lul. He is undersized and in the playoffs VGK showed that is not the way to go

For instance Avs using him 3rd pair, BOS wouldnt use him 2nd pair, FLA wouldnt use him 2nd pair when healthy, Carolina wouldnt use him 2nd pair, etc.


Look at the Dcore VGK used to win the cup. Basically a football team back there

Hague 6'6 230 pounds
McNabb 6'4 201 pounds
Pietrangelo 6'3 215 pounds
Hutton 6'3 201 pounds (7th Dman)
Whitecloud 6'2 207 pounds
Theodore 6'2 197 pounds
Martinez 6'1 210 pounds


Meanwhile

Walker 5'11 191 pounds

Big good Dcore's are the future. Walker works in a third pair role on these real contenders. If your using him 2nd pair its due to a lack of depth</div></div>


Walker's been 2nd pairing on a contender before, he's a good player who gets the short straw in numbers games a lot, and I've never really been sure why. Maybe it's his size, I dunno.

The main difference between Walker and Lily is Walker does not make bad gaffes all the time. At least until Lily grows out of it, it's a considerable difference.
Forum: NHLMar. 20 at 3:54 p.m.
Thread: 2023-2024 NHL Discussion Thread #5: The Final Stretch
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>NorthernLeafsFan05</b></div><div>Its really not though. The worst teams in the league are the ones that get eliminated from playoff contention first. Those first few teams have a tremendous headstart on other teams. I detest the idea of having to watch ~20 games of a team that has literally zero reason to be playing</div></div>

This also spreads out the excitement of the draft lottery (30 minutes even when it's dragged out as reality TV) across the entire stretch run at the end of March/early April.

Teams at the top of the standings take a much earned rest, or play for seeding, but fans of bad teams are scoreboard watching, invested in other games, just as they would if they were fighting for a playoff spot.

Anyways, take the worst team to complete a season (sorry 2019-20 Wings) in the post-lockout NHL: The 2016-17 Avalanche
Even in a very strange year, standings-wise, where the West had a large gap between the 8 playoff teams and the 6(!) non-playoff teams, so all Western teams were being eliminated unusually early, that Colorado team still picks 4th, exactly where they picked under the lottery system, even though they had a dreadful 0.219 points percentage after their elimination, <strong>the truly awful teams get eliminated early enough to accumulate enough points to pick high in the draft anyways, and there is never an incentive for the GM to tank.</strong>
Winnipeg's 6 game winning streak to end the season after they had been eliminated, instead of actively hurting them by lowering their draft pick from 8 to 13 (after lotteries and Vegas), would have given them the first overall pick. Conversely, Vancouver's 1-8-0 performance after elimination should not have helped them move up the draft board.

2017 Draft Order, Gold System, not including Vegas or lotteries in comparisons
Winnipeg, up from 11th (12 points in 6 games)
Arizona, steady at 2nd (9 points in 10 games)
Los Angeles, up from 9th (9 points in 7 games)
Colorado, down from 1st (7 points in 16(!) games)
Dallas, up from 7th (6 points in 7 games)
Detroit, steady at 6th (5 points in 6 games)
New Jersey, down from 4th (4 points in 8 games)
Florida, steady at 8th (4 points in 5 games)
Philadelphia, up from 12th (4 points in 3 games)
Carolina, steady at 10th (3 points in 4 games)
Vancouver, down from 2nd (2 points in 9 games)
Buffalo, down from 5th (2 points in 5 games)
Tampa Bay, steady at 13th (2 points in 1 game)
Islanders, steady at 14th (2 points in 1 game)
Forum: NHLMar. 12 at 6:55 p.m.
Thread: 2023-2024 NHL Discussion Thread #5: The Final Stretch
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>zk97</b></div><div>Vegas is going to be nasty come playoff time. I think they're gonna be repeat winners and then maybe get a three-peat.
Like who's beating this:

Hertl-Eichel-Stone
Barbashev-Stephenson-Marchessault
Mantha-Karlsson-Roy
Dorofeyev-Howden-Amadio
(Carrier, Kolesar, Cotter)

Hanifin-Pietrangelo
McNabb-Theodore
Hague-Martinez
(Whitecloud, Hutton)

Hill
Thompson</div></div>

I think its

Barbashev-Eichel-Marchessault
Stephenson-Hertl-Stone
Amadio-Karlsson-Mantha
Howden-Roy-Kolesar

D is tricky but I dont think besides Theodore VGK HC gonna play guys on their offside

Like its either

McNabb-Theo
Hanifin-Pietrangelo
Martinez-Whitecloud

or

McNabb-Theo
Hanifin-Pietrangelo
Hague-Whitecloud


Basically almost a repeat of last years lines but Hertl = 2c and Howden on 4th line with Manthan instead of Smith

But yea when healthy they the team to beat out west
Forum: NHLMar. 8 at 1:19 p.m.
Thread: 2023-2024 NHL Discussion Thread #4: Deadline is Approaching
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>CantStopWontStop</b></div><div>I couldn’t possibly disagree more.

Buchnevich is as mid as guentzel. I never said he wasn’t.

Neither of these players are elite. They’re adequate. They don’t take over the game. They do their job. They’re given 100% of the good icetime. They have the best linemate, matchups, special teams, and d pairings possible. In guentzels case he literally has one of the best all time nhlers as his center. They’re good enough to do the job and that’s about it.</div></div>

"Mid" is a weird description for either of them. Michael Bunting is the one who is literally "mid". Now onto Jake, the worst thing about this "Crosby made Jake" take you and many others go on is that you can't answer a rather simple follow up question, if Crosby can make a guy a top line LW who is a ppg playoff performer and near that for is career... Why aren't all the other wingers who played with Sid on that level? Why is Conor Sheary who came into the team at the exact same time as Jake a bottom liner on near league minimum now? Shouldn't he be a top line player too? It's almost like you have to have skills to play with one of the greats of all time. Jake is objectively the best winger to ever play with Sid. The numbers back that up. Clearly then this very lazy take of "Sid made him and he is overrated" falls apart.
Forum: NHLMar. 7 at 9:37 p.m.
Thread: 2023-2024 NHL Discussion Thread #4: Deadline is Approaching
I think Grier has done a fantastic job with the Duclair trade.

1) basically two thirds (equal to Tarasenko) - a good RD prospect for SJ which needs RD; and he’s 21 so he’ll have a lot of time to grow in SJ and the best pick they could get from Tampa realistically.

2) Duke has consistently voiced interest in SJ and while their being no deal on the table (obviously) he said in the last 24hrs he would return to SJS in the offseason is they would have him and if there was no deal out there for him.

3) ..I actually don’t think Duclair will stay in Tampa so it would come down to a new front runner to give Duclair a UFA deal.

4) And Grier has voiced recently not waning long term expensive UFA’s which means: IF DUKE was to resign in SJ

- Duke will return to a deal that’s probably 2-4 years
- At an AAV of probably 4.5-3.75m

So if the stars align for a Duclair in Teal - we could see Thompson, a 3rd for Duclair to return at a 4 years - 4mAAV deal.

Which would make an already great deal by Grier - even more incredible.
Forum: NHL TradesMar. 7 at 9:39 a.m.
Thread: (COL/BUF) - Byram for Mittelstadt
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>worldwidesensei</b></div><div>Yea, exactly. People are putting way too much emphasis on whether players are left or right-handed. Dahlin plays all over the ice. Power can too. The way more important thing is how defensive partners play together.
</div></div>

It's a thing and that is why people value it. Saying people put too much value in scoring goals is the same energy. It matters. A LOT.

<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>LuckyMoneyPuck</b></div><div>I played NCAA level.
Being on your off hand is a huge deal. You can just stop right there.
Not only is the curve of your stick on the inside which messes up your passing but it offers no advantage.

Playing your off side is not better for 1 timers, your natural hold on your natural stick is facing the wall.
You have to turn to open the blade up which puts you out of position as a defenseman., Instead of your back being toward your own net it's now toward the wall.
This is hockey 101 and why very few players play their off side and those who do are not better at it than they are on their natural side.</div></div>

This should be common sense here but sadly many have never touched a puck or dont understand what they are watching
Forum: NHLMar. 6 at 9:24 p.m.
Thread: 2023-2024 NHL Discussion Thread #4: Deadline is Approaching
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>Pompadour_de_Armstrong</b></div><div>My old person hot-take will continue to be that the issue is a relatively new fascination and is overrated. Mostly a comfort level from guys who never played off hand side. It does make a difference on how you will approach a play (and especially on the PP), but no-one capable of playing top-four minutes should be unable to shift to the other side. It just takes some adjustment to get comfortable and retrain the brain a bit. Wouldn't be too keen on asking a young guy still getting confidence at this level to make changes to his game at the same time or ask a fringe defenseman to change his game around, but most guys should be able to get comfortable with a bit of time.
Doesn't mean guys won't have preferences, or that some guys won't play better on one side or the other, or that you shouldn't try to line up with those preferences in mind. Just think it's a relatively new coaching obsession to grab a dedicated number of L/R defensemen as opposed to grabbing the best four defensemen you can ice and try to find the right mix and partners for them regardless of handedness.</div></div>

Most strategies rely on having the correct hand at the correct place at the correct time. Funneling pucks out of your zone or wrapping around the boards, is faster and more accurate on the forehand.
A defenseman playing the wrong hand doesn't only affect his own play either. Everyone has to make sure he has the time to avoid getting crossed up and adjust how they move the puck to that player.
On their own, there are a lot of little details which it affects. Combined it can cause significant issues.