2023-24 San Diego Gulls/Tulsa Oilers

[Mr Rogers]

I find Gaucher's performance less concerning than that of Tracey and Perreault who both now have multiple years of AHL experience and have never been close to getting a call up (and deservedly so).

Gaucher is the furthest thing from an offensive dynamo so if his offense isn't emerging immediately at the AHL level it isn't too surprising honestly. Next year will be more telling. I do think there's potential for a 20-40 point player, although he still would not have been my pick at that stage.

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

I find Gaucher's performance less concerning than that of Tracey and Perreault who both now have multiple years of AHL experience and have never been close to getting a call up (and deservedly so).

Gaucher is the furthest thing from an offensive dynamo so if his offense isn't emerging immediately at the AHL level it isn't too surprising honestly. Next year will be more telling. I do think there's potential for a 20-40 point player, although he still would not have been my pick at that stage.

Tracey and Perreault have each earned call ups, briefly. That said, at this rate it's fair to doubt their viability as NHLers. Tracey is aggressively bland, he plays his scoring line AHL minutes like an NHL 4th liner. He's not good at getting open, he's a supposed sniper who barely shoots, he can't seem to clean up the garbage, he's a reasonably willing hitter but not a great skater so he's rarely doing anything physical that actually matters. Perreault is a one trick pony with a pretty good trick but it's not something that would help him stand out on an NHL team.

Gaucher hasn't been good but I'm not worried about him yet. He's 10 games into his pro career or whatever.

 

[tomd]

It's early in the season for the rookie in a pro league. I've often compared him to Groulx. Groulx's path to the NHL has taken some time and remains unknown. Gaucher may need as long.

Gaucher should not have stayed at the Q. He needs to know the threshold jump from Q (CHL) to the AHL. There's going to be another jump from the AHL to the NHL. There is no growth potential for Gaucher in the Q as his offensive production has plateaued. He's going to be a bottom-6, physical, defensive forward at the NHL level and we need him to understand the physical as well as speed jump to the pros.

I agree with the Gaucher/Groulx comparison and have used it many times. Groulx is a fringe NHL player 5 years after the 2018 draft. Not a great outcome but forgivable for a 54OA pick in a not so deep draft. If Gaucher follows the same career path (and I have no expectations to the contrary), the pick can only be described in one word: BUST.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

I don’t think we’ve made many high floor 1st rd. forward picks in recent memory.

Lundestrom comes to mind, and he established himself as an NHL 3rd liner.

Other than Gaucher, weren’t the rest boom or bust types that weren’t drafted for the 3rd/4th lines?

Jones - power forward
Steel - undersized high end scorer at jr level
Perreault - one dimensional sniper
Tracey - playmaker

With Jones, I think the org was hoping that Jones' goal scoring was gonna pan out over time. He's similar to Snuggerud.

Jones
D-1, USNTDP U17: 38 games, 18g + 10a
D+0, OHL: 63 games, 28g + 24a

Snuggerud
D-1, USNTDP U17: 45 games, 15g + 17a
D+0, USNTDP U18: 59 games, 24g + 39a

Snuggerud stuck with the USNTDP and went the college route. Jones went the CHL route.

Jones
D+1, OHL: 33 games, 17g + 19a
D+2, OHL London: 25 games, 18g + 3a
.......... OHL Kingston: 6 games, 1g + 2a
D+3, AHL: 43 games, 14g + 15a
.......... NHL: 30 games, 2g + 3a
D+4, AHL: 8 games, 2g + 0a
.......... NHL: 59 games, 8g + 4a

Jones looked good in the OHL and AHL. The NHL jump was too huge for Jones. Same with Steel. Terry broke through, but was trending on the same path with Jones and Steel.

 

[190Octane]

No easy solutions for Gaucher. Going back to junior as an overager or spending time in the E is almost always the kiss of death for 1st rounders. Such a terrible pick.

10 games into his pro career? Definitely time to cut him loose, what a bust!

I mean, just look at all the drafts back to 2017 and all those major impact players taken in the 2nd half of the 1st round and how they’re all crushing it and yet Gaucher hasn’t done shit.

 

[Anaheim4ever]

I'm now at the point where if the Ducks use a late 1st or 2nd rounder on a forward I expect nothing. If its used on a Dman however i'm excited.

 

[JAHV]

Good point. We take a safe pick in Gaucher, people get mad. We go boom or bust with Perreault, people get mad.

Are people mad about Perreault? I haven't seen anyone upset about that pick. Tracey and Gaucher were both panned because there were clear better options available for a team that needed forwards with the potential to score.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Are people mad about Perreault? I haven't seen anyone upset about that pick. Tracey and Gaucher were both panned because there were clear better options available for a team that needed forwards with the potential to score.

Tracey and Perreault looked good two seasons ago to earn an NHL call-up. Last year, both here injury riddled and had not-so-great production. The caution on both forwards were deserved. This year, Perreault has brought his scoring up again.

 

[McDonald19]

Are people mad about Perreault? I haven't seen anyone upset about that pick. Tracey and Gaucher were both panned because there were clear better options available for a team that needed forwards with the potential to score.

Maybe mad is the wrong word, but he is a sniper who doesn’t exactly light up the AHL.

 

[tomd]

Are people mad about Perreault? I haven't seen anyone upset about that pick. Tracey and Gaucher were both panned because there were clear better options available for a team that needed forwards with the potential to score.

Tracey and Perreault looked good two seasons ago to earn an NHL call-up. Last year, both here injury riddled and had not-so-great production. The caution on both forwards were deserved. This year, Perreault has brought his scoring up again.

I think a lot of us were hopeful about Perreault when he was drafted but he did have some big red flags about work ethic, commitment, and his 200 foot game. Some of those concerns seem to have some validity.

My main concern about Perreault now is that the goals I've seen him score are AHL level goals that will not work at the next level. I do worry that his game will never translate but I hope I'm wrong. His shot is comparable to Kaliyev but he doesn't seem to find the space to get his shot off that Kaliyev does. This year is pivotal for him...he either becomes a real prospect or he starts to become a suspect.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

I think a lot of us were hopeful about Perreault when he was drafted but he did have some big red flags about work ethic, commitment, and his 200 foot game. Some of those concerns seem to have some validity.

My main concern about Perreault now is that the goals I've seen him score are AHL level goals that will not work at the next level. I do worry that his game will never translate but I hope I'm wrong. His shot is comparable to Kaliyev but he doesn't seem to find the space to get his shot off that Kaliyev does. This year is pivotal for him...he either becomes a real prospect or he starts to become a suspect.

Perreault is a high-end complementary player like Kaliyev. Unfortunately, we don't have that strong center in the AHL to show off Perreault's talent like it was two seasons ago. Tracey is in a similar situation.

 

[Mr Rogers]

Maybe mad is the wrong word, but he is a sniper who doesn’t exactly light up the AHL.

agreed. in order to believe he'd have a legit shot at becoming a top 6 F, you'd like for him to be around a ppg (or higher even) player in the AHL. It's early on still, but it looks like he might once again struggle to maintain that pace which is usually a good measure for predicting NHL production.

Many of the young guys who spend time in the A and start producing significantly at the NHL level are basically dominating the AHL, and we just aren't seeing any of that from Perreault.

 

[tomd]

Perreault is a high-end complementary player like Kaliyev. Unfortunately, we don't have that strong center in the AHL to show off Perreault's talent like it was two seasons ago. Tracey is in a similar situation.

Who was Kaliyev's "strong center" back in 20-21 when he played his only 40 games in the AHL?

Both Perreault and Kaliyev are one-trick ponies but Kaliyev will carve an NHL career out with his...Perreault TBD.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Who was Kaliyev's "strong center" back in 20-21 when he played his only 40 games in the AHL?

Both Perreault and Kaliyev are one-trick ponies but Kaliyev will carve an NHL career out with his...Perreault TBD.

Not too familiar with the Kings' roster, but they had Byfield and Turcotte on the team, 5th and 4th best scorers on the team respectively. Maybe Akil Thomas and Kupari played center as well.

Last year, the Gulls' best center was Groulx, a defensive center. This year, our best center is Gawdin, but Gawdin was our 2C last year behind Groulx. I don't think you understand how devoid the team is in talent down the middle, considering Zegras (17 games), Mac (3 games), and Carlsson (0 games) barely sniffed the AHL.

Perreault's D+2 season was with the Gulls, 2021-22: 55 games, 14g + 23a. Haven't had a great roster since. Finished beyond dead last in the AHL last year. Currently last in the Pacific and 3rd worst in the AHL. Makes one want to know what has transpired between 2021-22 to today. Welp, Verbeek did take over in the middle of the 2021-22 season. Verbeek did create a shit show of an NHL roster last year. This year, there's six rookies up with the NHL club, which includes C Carlsson.

 

[All Mighty]

 

[All Mighty]

 

[MMC]

Jesus, this team is going out sad man. Gotta be some changes down there as no way PV wants to set his guy up to fail

 

[Mr Rogers]

Christ, 4-0 Calgary after 1

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Jesus, this team is going out sad man. Gotta be some changes down there as no way PV wants to set his guy up to fail

It's Calgary 4, Gulls 0 after the 1st period.

What changes can be done? A lot of rookies are up with the Ducks. Having Carlsson and Minchy with the Ducks means they're not in San Diego.

McIlvane has the same assistant coaches from last year, Sparre and Clarke. But it's kinda similar to Cronin at the NHL level, retaining Brown (PP) and keeping Stothers (PK and defense) in a special assistant capacity. Yet, Cronin might have more talent available to him than McIlvane.

It's really disappointing. I'm getting flashbacks of head coach Bouchard in 2021-22. New coach with lots of hype for success only to bomb miserably. Should have kept Dineen as head coach.

 

[190Octane]

Gaucher scored, still a bust after only 10 pro games… sad.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Gaucher with a goal. Pasta and Zell with assists in a 6-1 game right now.

 

[MMC]

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Perreault with a goal and Zell another apple.

 

[MMC]

 

[AngelDuck]

Zellweger is a dynamic player.

It’s time for changes down there. That team is horrible. Come on Verbeek