Gecklund
Registered User
I liked Laroque. Injuries ruined him.Contrast Grier's sober assessment of our prospects with DWJr. talking up Nick Cicek and Gannon Laroque as the future of the Sharks defense.
I liked Laroque. Injuries ruined him.Contrast Grier's sober assessment of our prospects with DWJr. talking up Nick Cicek and Gannon Laroque as the future of the Sharks defense.
Hot take and perhaps too hot... Also perhaps for prospect thread, but I'm not sure I see Halttunen in the long term PP1 plans. Smith likely sits on that left spot top of circle, both for distribution and his right shot one timer. Celebrini on the opposite wing and someone at the QB (one of those two, floating up, or a D man with a shot, currently Walman, future Cagnoni or Dickinson or other). Only if he develops into a truly legit top 6 scorer are you designing your PP around him and moving Smith off that spot.Atleast Haltunnen has proved his shot is great. If he can improve on one other aspect of the game like you say he could be a bottom-6 PP guy who you give one-timers to. Even if he's not scoring them atleast the other team needs to respect him as a legit option and gives more room for the other 4 guys on the PP
I watched Igor Larionov play, no intensity in him but simple brilliance.
Clarke looks good on a good team Eklund looks good on a terrible team I don’t think it’s an apples to apples comparison. Swap positions Clarke is back in the minors Eklund moves up to the upper tier of young forwards in the league.I have never been one to praise Eklund but I absolutely love his play this year. Much better 5v5 game now and is not just a transition scorer, and he's so willing to hit this season (I think Zetterlund has rubbed off on him).
I have watched Clarke twice this year and he reminds me of a bigger Cagnoni. Everything he does is quick, shifty, lots of dangerous pucks to the net. I'm definitely intrigued by him. I haven't watched enough to make the judgment over Eklund.
Weird thought: Why arent there any PP specialists, specifically their shot? Hear me out:
Imagine a guy has subpar skill in everything but their shot, which they practice over and over 10,000 times a day to the point where they can hit a puck size hole virtually every time. Then, they play exclusively on the PP and exclusively for their shot. They can be decent enough to pass a little, but that's it. No EV or SH time. just PP.
Imagine such a player might improve a PP effectiveness by 5% just by virtue of the accuracy of their shot.
Say a team draws 4 PP per game. a 5% improvement is 1 more goal every 20 PPs, or roughly 1 more goal every 5 games, or .2 GPG or approx 16 goals per year. Seeing as how this player plays only PP, its almost like a free 16 goals a year, which is likely good for about 5 more wins, or 10 more points. Thats a massive difference from just one player.
Wonder why no one has figured out this strategy? Kinda like having an Ovie Shot, except better wince that would be literally the only purpose of this player.
Basically you dress 11 forwards (plus this PP shot specialist).
Vegas kept Glass over Suzuki when the Max trade happened because Cody was supposed to be a PP specialist.Weird thought: Why arent there any PP specialists, specifically their shot? Hear me out:
Imagine a guy has subpar skill in everything but their shot, which they practice over and over 10,000 times a day to the point where they can hit a puck size hole virtually every time. Then, they play exclusively on the PP and exclusively for their shot. They can be decent enough to pass a little, but that's it. No EV or SH time. just PP.
Imagine such a player might improve a PP effectiveness by 5% just by virtue of the accuracy of their shot.
Say a team draws 4 PP per game. a 5% improvement is 1 more goal every 20 PPs, or roughly 1 more goal every 5 games, or .2 GPG or approx 16 goals per year. Seeing as how this player plays only PP, its almost like a free 16 goals a year, which is likely good for about 5 more wins, or 10 more points. Thats a massive difference from just one player.
Wonder why no one has figured out this strategy? Kinda like having an Ovie Shot, except better wince that would be literally the only purpose of this player.
Basically you dress 11 forwards (plus this PP shot specialist).
It also helps that everything Cagnoni does is quick. He thinks quick, he shoots quick, he handles the puck quick, he breaks out quick. Whether or not he successfully executes any given play is a fair criticism at this point, but in every single play you can see what he was thinking and he at least did something before a defender closed in on him, which was Merkley's problem.It helps that Cagnoni can actually shoot, unlike Merkley. IMO Cagnoni also looks a bit better defensively than last year in Junior.
It also helps that everything Cagnoni does is quick. He thinks quick, he shoots quick, he handles the puck quick, he breaks out quick. Whether or not he successfully executes any given play is a fair criticism at this point, but in every single play you can see what he was thinking and he at least did something before a defender closed in on him, which was Merkley's problem.
I think Halttunen should stay in the AHL at this point. He almost certainly is a top-6 scoring guy at even strength, so building up his B game against pros is probably the most helpful developmental pathway for him. He's been forechecking and throwing the body well in his games so far, which is nice to see.
Agreed. Halttunen obviously isn't too good for juniors so it wouldn't be the worst thing for him to go back, but he can obviously hang in the AHL. I feel like White's line has been the least effective 5v5--how much of that can be attributed to Halttunen, I'm not sure. But I would like to see him with Bystedt, who has been the most effective 5v5 player outside of like, uh, Anthony Vincent.Yep, I have liked his physicality. I haven't felt like he's been that much of a scoring threat in 5 on 5 play, but I've got no reason to believe he wouldn't improve in that role as the season goes on.
From what Grier said in the interview though, it seems like they want to make decision in short order here. So if they're just going to judge him on this small sample size, yeah I'm not sure which way they go. I'd get it if they sent him back, but I think he's got more to learn with the Cuda.
I'd like to see him in the top 6 this week, actually, and then make your decision off that. Coe's been in one of those spots and I haven't felt like that's any better anyway. Put Halttunen next to Bystedt or Poturalski and see how that goes. Colin White's done well, but he's not exactly an amazing playmaker.
It also helps that everything Cagnoni does is quick. He thinks quick, he shoots quick, he handles the puck quick, he breaks out quick. Whether or not he successfully executes any given play is a fair criticism at this point, but in every single play you can see what he was thinking and he at least did something before a defender closed in on him, which was Merkley's problem.
I think Halttunen should stay in the AHL at this point. He almost certainly isn't a top-6 scoring guy at even strength, so building up his B game against pros is probably the most helpful developmental pathway for him. He's been forechecking and throwing the body well in his games so far, which is nice to see.