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YvanF

Member Since
Jan. 9, 2019
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Edmonton Oilers
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Ottawa Senators
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Forum: NHL TradesFeb. 18, 2019 at 10:19 p.m.
Thread: (NYR/CHI) - Holland for Raddysh
2 organizations trading from places of relative strength and adding to weak spots in their organizational depth charts. Holland gives the Blackhawks a versatile forward who can play up the middle or on the wing and who has been having a renaissance year in the AHL (in top 10 in scoring all year).

For the Hawks, I think this presages trades of Anisimov and/or Kruger this week as they have improved their depth up the middle behind them.

Raddysh was on an AHL contract til a year ago, so this isn’t a blue-chip prospect by any means. Certainly the Hawks get the better player tho Raddysh has some room for development; Holland is Likely starting his decline and may not match his totals from this year.

Holland is a Greg McKegg/Curtis Hamilton type of asset. Can play top-line mins in the AHL but is also adaptable to a 4th pairing role in the NHL (tho able to move up the lineup).
Forum: NHL TradesFeb. 1, 2019 at 1:02 p.m.
Thread: (PIT/FLA) - Brassard, Sheahan, and multiple picks for Bjugstad, McCann
Very interesting trade. FLR is rebuilding. They'll flip Brass and Sheahan for whatever they can get. More picks for them is a good thing. PIT wins in the sense that they're admitting the Brass trade was terrible and they're shedding him. PIT also wins if Bjugstad can both stay healthy and perform better than Brass did as the #3C. With that said...PIT now has 2 of the 3 most injured players in the NHL...Hanzal, Letang and Bjustad. That's somewhat of a joke, but kinda not. It's a big risk for PIT because they got another $4M cap hit with term and he really does get injured a lot. Overall considering where each team is...playoffs vs rebuild...I think it's a win for both team which is my vote. I give the slit nod to FLR because they'll get more picks with the flips and will get cap space next year for moves. Gives them more flexibility.
Forum: Armchair-GMJan. 17, 2019 at 5:59 p.m.
Thread: Where Oh where do you even start
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>LoganOllivier</b></div><div>Mark Hunter is a deadly GM candidate who I think would turn the Oilers around by putting a major focus on proper drafting and enhanced player development, which the Oilers are terrible at.</div></div>

While I agree with the Oilers needing to re-haul the entirety of their front office, I don't think Mark Hunter should be the guy that's so sought after. I feel a lot of the hype regarding him is manufactured, and his track record isn't nearly as good as people say it is. The 2014 draft is really the only draft that Hunter was solely responsible for: Dubas was brought in a month after the draft to run stats, and by the following April was predominantly in charge of prospective player procurement and development. Looking back at that draft, I struggle to see why Hunter alone would solve the Oilers' drafting woes:

- Nylander was the consensus #8 pick; taking him at 7 isn't a huge reach, but is still a very shrewd pick.
- While Rinat Valiev did play a dozen games as a 3rd Round selection, names like Brayden Point, Victor Arvidsson, Danton Heinen, Gustav Forsling, Kevin Labanc, and Ondrej Kase were still selected later. It hints at Hunter and his staff sharing similar blind spots with every other scouting department.
- Pierre Engvall might yet pan out as a steal of a depth player in the 7th round, but the high-water mark for Toronto's other picks in that draft is a middling ECHL forward.

While I know Dubas wasn't solely in charge of the 2015 and 2016 drafts, I fail to give all the credit to Mark Hunter individually. I think he gets mislabeled as a scouting visionary (a la Bim Jenning) due to prospects Toronto already had in the system and the caliber of talent that came after the scouting / procurement roles had been split. Keep in mind the Toronto system already had Gauthier, Johnsson, Brown, and Sparks in it. Also, keep in mind that Marner and Matthews were consensus picks at #4 and #1 respectively. Names like Timashov, Bracco, and Nielsen are slowly starting to look like they're going to be flushed out of the Toronto system in favour of fresh blood. That leaves Travis Dermott as the only "real" success under the Hunter regime thus far.

I'm definitely in favour of purging the current regime, and possibly even Katz himself, but I'm not excited with Hunter being the guy they'd think to replace him with. Peter Chiarelli was also a GM far removed from the Oiler sphere of influence, and it didn't pan out. While I understand the Leafs going with Dubas' seemingly-visionary approach to the trade, I have concerns that Hunter chose not to procure NHL work in Los Angeles, Minnesota, or in Carolina, and instead went back to managing London.
Forum: Armchair-GMJan. 17, 2019 at 4:08 p.m.
Thread: Where Oh where do you even start
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>YvanF</b></div><div>Agreed, but the above scenario clearly delineated that this is a "where do we start" perspective. Ie: trade right now that makes sense, and sets us up with a bit of capspace for this off season where THATS when the real decision making happens.
ABSOLUTELY do we need depth at the wings, and not just one.
But what RIGHT now are you going to trade for it. You've got no assets, and no cap space.
So yes, you start with starting to widdle away the deadwood eating your cap.
Like I said in teh description, you start with Lucic, then you figure out what do do with sekera and all teh expensive Depth D.
etc etc</div></div>

The way I see things is that Edmonton is 3-5 years away from having enough homegrown talent to make a difference. So trade what you can but if you have to move a 1st rounder or a top end prospect to move Lucic, (which I think you'll have to do) why not just keep him until you can either buy out the last year of his contract or maybe an opportunity to unload him to a team that needs to reach the cap floor comes around. Who knows maybe he even plays well enough that someone wants him.

One thing you can count on right now though is that he doesn't help you win, which isn't a bad thing, I think Edmonton getting a couple top 5 picks would be huge in rebooting this franchise. They have 2 pieces that are for sure championship calibre players in McDavid and Draisaitl. Hire someone who understands that skill is the #1 asset to draft for (Mark Hunter) and then lose until you have the pieces to surround McDavid with NHL quality players.