2022 Training Camp Thread

[Anton Dubinchuk]

I disagree with your argument, particularly once Rask injured his hand. Our opening night line-up had 5 rookies at forward: Svech (who we knew would make it), Foegele (who impressed both in his 2 games and in camp), Wallmark (Rask injury), Necas, and Zykov.

Just looked him up. He's played the last 2 years for SKA St. Petersburg. Right now he's 4th on the team in scoring with 6 points in 8 games. Alexander Nikishin is 2nd with 7 points.

 

[Svechhammer]

My hot take is people should get over being so negative about Martinook all the time. If that's the worst thing we typically have going on this team, that's why we're so damn good.

I have no problems with 4th line Martinook.

I don't think its possible to be negative enough about 1st line Martinook.

 

[Big Daddy Cane]

Martinook isn't a Rod thing. It's a management thing. While not by stature necessarily, Aho and Teravainen are small as a duo. Every coach in the league would want some size and/or jam to balance things out. The bench hasn't been deep in that regard. The Middle 6 gets thin when Svechnikov fills that role; the team has needed him to be a line driver.

They've tried to address this at various points. Ferland was brought in a year away from UFA for a reason. They were close on Marchment. They tried for Tkachuk. Unless Jarvis or Necas takes a step to free Svech from that responsibility, I expect them to continue to hunt for that presence.

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

Martinook isn't a Rod thing. It's a management thing. While not by stature necessarily, Aho and Teravainen are small as a duo. Every coach in the league would want some size and/or jam to balance things out. The bench hasn't been deep in that regard. The Middle 6 gets thin when Svechnikov fills that role; the team has needed him to be a line driver.

They've tried to address this at various points. Ferland was brought in a year away from UFA for a reason. They were close on Marchment. They tried for Tkachuk. Unless Jarvis or Necas takes a step to free Svech from that responsibility, I expect them to continue to hunt for that presence.

I mean, Jarvis has a real shot at being an actual superstar in the next few seasons, so if anyone can take down the workload for Svechnikov in some way, it's going to be him. In the short-term, it'll be Pacioretty when he comes back from LTIR.

 

[AhosDatsyukian]

YUP. Man that would be one high energy line that has a surprising amount of offensive pop



*sigh*..... yeah, that's true


As an aside, I love the possibility of

Jarvis-Aho-Turbo
Svech-KK-Necas

I really liked what I saw out of KK's game last year and I really honestly think putting him on a line with some scoring talent is really going to see him break out. I think he's going to fit what we want to do very well and we're going to look back at the worries about him much in the same way we look back on everyone doubting Aho being able to play 1C for us.

If Necas regains his form, and I understand that can be a big if, that's a seriously deep top 6. And that's even before you consider someone is going to have to move down when Patches comes back in Feb. If things go to plan, this is the deepest roster we've ever had, and one that is prepared to win a Cup this year. We even have our deadline reinforcement already in the fold (Patches)

If things are working with those lines and KK and Necas are both playing quality minutes in the top 6, I think Patches coming off a torn achilles would slot in next to Staal bumping Stastny down, and on the PP. Excited about adding Patches once he's healthy but going to temper expectations a bit. Achilles ain't as bad for a hockey player as an NBA or NFL player but it's still a major injury for a guy on the wrong side of 30.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

TT-Aho-Jarvis is a great 1st half of the regular season line. As things start to tighten up and get more physical, I worry about that line taking a beating.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

Martinook isn't a Rod thing. It's a management thing. While not by stature necessarily, Aho and Teravainen are small as a duo. Every coach in the league would want some size and/or jam to balance things out. The bench hasn't been deep in that regard. The Middle 6 gets thin when Svechnikov fills that role; the team has needed him to be a line driver.

They've tried to address this at various points. Ferland was brought in a year away from UFA for a reason. They were close on Marchment. They tried for Tkachuk. Unless Jarvis or Necas takes a step to free Svech from that responsibility, I expect them to continue to hunt for that presence.

At first I read this as “Jarvis or Necas taking a step to free Svech from being the physical presence” and I was like “that’s an interesting take…”

 

[Canes]

My hot take is people should get over being so negative about Martinook all the time. If that's the worst thing we typically have going on this team, that's why we're so damn good.

The guy gives it all. There may be more skilled players but Rod puts him in the lineup and he has a letter on his jersey for a reason.

 

[NotOpie]

That leaves maybe 1 spot (2 with Patches on IR) for guys to grab and the team said earlier in the year that Drury and Noesen were going to get a shot.

Yup....and didn't Waddell, earlier in the Summer mention that those two along with Chatfield were strong candidates for the big club?

Any combo of Drury + Kase + Stepan/Martinook/Noesen is also one of the best 4th lines in the league. Deep lineup.

I wouldn't be surprised if we saw Stastny and Kase flip-flopping depending on the competition. Bigger, more physical teams might see more of Stastny on the 3rd line. Faster, more finesse teams could see more Kase on that line.

TT-Aho-Jarvis is a great 1st half of the regular season line. As things start to tighten up and get more physical, I worry about that line taking a beating.

I'd like to see Svech on that line and TT with Kotkaniemi and Necas. Yes, that puts 3 passers on the same line, but Svech adds jam to Aho's line and KK has been know to throw the body as well. I've always been a fan of lines comprised of a sniper, a distributor, and a space maker, but you can't always get what you want.

 

[AhosDatsyukian]

TT-Aho-Jarvis is a great 1st half of the regular season line. As things start to tighten up and get more physical, I worry about that line taking a beating.

No need to worry, Aho bulked up this offseason and is on the RBA gym routine now

 

[bleedgreen]

No need to worry, Aho bulked up this offseason and is on the RBA gym routine now

 

[Big Daddy Cane]

Waddell has already conditioned us to see Pacioretty as the deadline add, but I'm still hopeful that they do more. Niederreiter - Staal - Fast was special. I don't feel great about the potential of recreating that with someone else. Staal can be the 3rd wheel with talented wingers just fine.

Deadline Add (i.e. Bertuzzi/Meier) - Aho - Teravainen
Pacioretty - Kotkaniemi - Necas
Svechnikov - Staal - Jarvis
Martinook - Drury/Stastny - Fast

Something like that would stack up against any other team in the league, even in spite of lacking a superstar.

 

[Nikishin Go Boom]

Meier is a possibility but it will take a Necas or Jarvis as the center piece. If Necas rebounds but still wants to play center, he could be the centerpiece.

 

[Canes]

Meier is a possibility but it will take a Necas or Jarvis as the center piece. If Necas rebounds but still wants to play center, he could be the centerpiece.

Meier is not that worth that especially with his salary. So we don’t have to worry about that thankfully

 

[Nikishin Go Boom]

Meier is not that worth that especially with his salary. So we don’t have to worry about that thankfully

Wuuuuuttttt?

Big, powerful forward who can score 35+ Yea totally not worth it /s

 

[Canes]

Wuuuuuttttt?

Easily worth it. Big, powerful forward who can score 40. Yea totally not worth it /s

I meant his qualifying offer. My bad. I’d maybe give up Necas but that’s still a hard bargain and potentially disruptive to the team. If Nino was still here go for it sure. He ain’t.

 

[bleedgreen]

Necas for rentals make zero sense.

I’m finding it hard to believe anyone isnt a rental with us. Especially if it isn’t a distressed asset.

 

[Nikishin Go Boom]

I meant his qualifying offer. My bad. I’d maybe give up Necas but that’s still a hard bargain and potentially disruptive to the team. If Nino was still here go for it sure. He ain’t.

The QO at 10 million isn’t great but its still a security blanket if we struggle to sign him. Which we shouldn’t.

Meier isn’t a rental so…..

 

[bleedgreen]

The QO at 10 million isn’t great but its still a security blanket if we struggle to sign him. Which we shouldn’t.

Meier isn’t a rental so…..

How can you say with us he isn’t a rental? We’re gonna trade for an rfa with QO of ten million who has been scoring….then we’re going to sign him to the mega contract? That seems like us?

 

[Nikishin Go Boom]

How can you say with us he isn’t a rental? We’re gonna trade for an rfa with QO of ten million who has been scoring….then we’re going to sign him to the mega contract? That seems like us?

Age is a factor. We were serious players in the MT saga. We would have signed him to a big deal.

So yes is the answer here

 

[Discipline Daddy]

Age is a factor. We were serious players in the MT saga. We would have signed him to a big deal.

So yes is the answer here

It'd be crazy to add another star forward, but it's something that we actually could pull off, and much more feasibly next year. Staal will get paid less and Pacioretty will probably walk. It might cost us when we re-up with Teuvo, but depending on the player and age it could be worth it.

That said I agree with Bleed that I don't see us getting Meier. The acquisition cost would be really high at only one year of a low-ish cap hit. It's like the DeBrincat deal, although DeBrincat is IMO a better player. I see us more in the neighborhood of distressed asset risk/reward type adds. At the very least it's nice that after this year we really do have flexibility to go in different directions.

Kinda bummed Scott Morrow won't be at camp. Not for the memes, just legitimately to see how he plays.

 

[Vagrant]

this team has no comfort level with establishing the market for any player. they just refuse to engage in that game. they have done a brilliant job of doing what looked to be impossible by replacing guys we thought to be indispensable from the outside and finding an already signed contract to fill those voids. they basically shop at UFA prices from 2 years ago to buy a year or two of control from a contract with a good player that perhaps a team is willing to view as a negative asset since the most sexy thing to any GM is cap space, we play that game in reverse. it's a brilliant market reversal and certainly a car dealer at auction situation where you hope that once the wrecker drops it off there's nothing so wrong it can't be saved. age is the primary factor with the acquisitions this past offseason via trade.

I think you guys are knocking kase a little by assuming he might have a transient role on this team. I really feel like he's going to surprise us with a big year. he's been in a lot of weird situations and injury trouble, but you know how players have a tendency to get right here because of the culture and the less intense media. plus, it's a fact that our fans are the most welcoming I have seen in any major sport. we're very grateful to players that come to play here and I think that evens out some of the more difficult personalities.

another thing about rod is that he doesn't like utility players. he wants a full lineup of made decisions and by the time he has to make another decision, somebody has lost a lineup spot. he doesn't like those pinch hitter situations. he wants to know full time what his healthy lineup looks like because instilling self-belief starts with job security.

 

[tarheelhockey]

TT-Aho-Jarvis is a great 1st half of the regular season line. As things start to tighten up and get more physical, I worry about that line taking a beating.

I have the same concerns, which is why I strongly advocate for that line to be replaced with Martinook - Staal - Burns at midseason.

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

this team has no comfort level with establishing the market for any player. they just refuse to engage in that game. they have done a brilliant job of doing what looked to be impossible by replacing guys we thought to be indispensable from the outside and finding an already signed contract to fill those voids. they basically shop at UFA prices from 2 years ago to buy a year or two of control from a contract with a good player that perhaps a team is willing to view as a negative asset since the most sexy thing to any GM is cap space, we play that game in reverse. it's a brilliant market reversal and certainly a car dealer at auction situation where you hope that once the wrecker drops it off there's nothing so wrong it can't be saved. age is the primary factor with the acquisitions this past offseason via trade.

I think you guys are knocking kase a little by assuming he might have a transient role on this team. I really feel like he's going to surprise us with a big year. he's been in a lot of weird situations and injury trouble, but you know how players have a tendency to get right here because of the culture and the less intense media. plus, it's a fact that our fans are the most welcoming I have seen in any major sport. we're very grateful to players that come to play here and I think that evens out some of the more difficult personalities.

another thing about rod is that he doesn't like utility players. he wants a full lineup of made decisions and by the time he has to make another decision, somebody has lost a lineup spot. he doesn't like those pinch hitter situations. he wants to know full time what his healthy lineup looks like because instilling self-belief starts with job security.

The Canes interestingly targeted older-but-still-excellent players via trade and UFA, probably because of how it factored into the lower-than-usual trade and contract value. We'll see if it pays off, especially because none of these veterans have won a cup yet and are likely to be very hungry for that reason.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

No need to worry, Aho bulked up this offseason and is on the RBA gym routine now

You’re right. He’s yooooge now.