GDT: 2023 Running Preseason Thread

[NotWendell]

The defense played better in the 3rd. This is a decent team. Goaltending is the only thing I'm worried about.

 

[VT]

Defense will be much better this season, I’m optimistic it will be a fun season .. Here’s my hot take .. Werenski is the 3rd best defenseman on this team , and it shouldn’t be penciled in that he’s on that top pair . Tracking these charts , he’s been near the bottom most games so far …View attachment 749084

You have to take into account that Werenski hasn't played nearly a full season and a few preseason games won't shape him back that quickly.

I am surprised stats of the Texier -- Jenner -- Benetton line. It looks very good.

 

[ViD]

Defense will be much better this season, I’m optimistic it will be a fun season .. Here’s my hot take .. Werenski is the 3rd best defenseman on this team , and it shouldn’t be penciled in that he’s on that top pair . Tracking these charts , he’s been near the bottom most games so far …View attachment 749084

He’s coming off a big time injury though

 

[CBJWerenski8]

Defense will be much better this season, I’m optimistic it will be a fun season .. Here’s my hot take .. Werenski is the 3rd best defenseman on this team , and it shouldn’t be penciled in that he’s on that top pair . Tracking these charts , he’s been near the bottom most games so far …View attachment 749084

We haven’t even gotten to regular season games. Can we chill out on hot takes until November at least?

 

[Viqsi]

We haven’t even gotten to regular season games. Can we chill out on hot takes until November at least?

Hot takes are a year-round phenomenon.

 

[koteka]

Philadelphia fans to CBJ fans a couple months ago: “Provorov will be a very good 2nd pair left D for you. He can’t handle 1LD but he can be a really good 2LD.”

Provorov looks good as a 2LD.

CBJ fans: ”Provorov is so good as a 2LD. He is our best defender. Let’s switch him and Werenski.”

 

[VT]

Philadelphia fans to CBJ fans a couple months ago: “Provorov will be a very good 2nd pair left D for you. He can’t handle 1LD but he can be a really good 2LD.”

Provorov looks good as a 2LD.

CBJ fans: ”Provorov is so good as a 2LD. He is our best defender. Let’s switch him and Werenski.”

I can beat with you Ivan will show it.

 

[tunnelvision]

Approximately 2 or 3 people think Provorov looks better than Werenski.

One CBJ fan: "CBJ fans think Provorov is our best defender"

Some CBJ fans say Sillinger could be 2C long-term.

One CBJ fan: "All CBJ fans project Sillinger to be 2C for the next 10 years"

.........

I think for the most part Bean looked fine considering how long he's been away from the ice. This game didn't really change my perception of him though. At times he's too shy physically, leaves too much gap from the attackers and tends to just rely on stick checking defensively. I recall seeing a couple crappy breakout passes from him under pressure but nothing catastrophic. Weak lateral skating ability on the blueline and lack of creativity and confidence still seem to hold him back offensively. If he doesn't improve from this game he won't be much of an upgrade over Blanks, Peeke or Boqvist as potential 3LD.

 

[VT]

Approximately 2 or 3 people think Provorov looks better than Werenski.

One CBJ fan: "CBJ fans think Provorov is our best defender"

Some CBJ fans say Sillinger could be 2C long-term.

One CBJ fan: "All CBJ fans project Sillinger to be 2C for the next 10 years"

.........

I think for the most part Bean looked fine considering how long he's been away from the ice. This game didn't really change my perception of him though. At times he's too shy physically, leaves too much gap from the attackers and tends to just rely on stick checking defensively. I recall seeing a couple crappy breakout passes from him under pressure but nothing catastrophic. Weak lateral skating ability on the blueline and lack of creativity and confidence still seem to hold him back offensively. If he doesn't improve from this game he won't be much of an upgrade over Blanks, Peeke or Boqvist as potential 3LD.

I know your mean me. But compare Werenski and Provorov. Ivan has better first pass, hockey vision. Of course Zack is an excellent d-man and I wrote he can't be in ideal shape yet. But injury doesn't have influence on these things.

To Sillinger, if Laine is an excellent center I am not sure. Doubt Fantilli will play in the third line, Also Johnson is here. To the third line - Jenner, Texier, Voronkov.

Simply we will see.

 

[KJ Dangler]

Zach is rusty sure .. side by side , he’s not remotely as skilled as Provorov . Provorov skates better , faster , stronger , better first pass , better shot . He’s more physical , moves the puck better on the powerplay . It’s funny how the past 2 years have warped Provorovs reputation . He was on a brutally bad flyers team , and guess what , he stays healthy , so his stats , and reputation suffer , and I would contend his confidence and motivation were no doubt affected as well . It’s hilarious to read , tone down the hot takes , it’s not November yet , but we have post after post on Elvis , who’s had what 3 weeks under his new coach ?

Go back and look at Provorov numbers , and look how badly his last 2 seasons affected his stats . How would Zach be viewed thru out the league , if he hadn’t missed all Last season on a team that bled goals ?

 

[Bookker]

Texier looks like our best player.

Almost everyone do agree with Tex being one of the best player (overall) including yesterday night
It's "funny" to see he is not on the scoresheet though, and I think this will happen quite often for him
It seems (to me) he is that player who is not rewarded at his true value (in term of points)

View attachment 749084

Texier worst player on this statcard is such a good example of how those metrics can be so wrong sometimes
It doesn't detect all the little things a player can do at each shift, and at the end of a game, the gap can be huge between the result here vs the truth on the ice


About Provorov and Severson, they will bring the D on the next level for sure this season !

 

[Monstershockey]

Zach is rusty sure .. side by side , he’s not remotely as skilled as Provorov . Provorov skates better , faster , stronger , better first pass , better shot . He’s more physical , moves the puck better on the powerplay . It’s funny how the past 2 years have warped Provorovs reputation . He was on a brutally bad flyers team , and guess what , he stays healthy , so his stats , and reputation suffer , and I would contend his confidence and motivation were no doubt affected as well . It’s hilarious to read , tone down the hot takes , it’s not November yet , but we have post after post on Elvis , who’s had what 3 weeks under his new coach ?

Go back and look at Provorov numbers , and look how badly his last 2 seasons affected his stats . How would Zach be viewed thru out the league , if he hadn’t missed all Last season on a team that bled goals ?

I don't know. Doing a comparison on hockey reference, Werenskis numbers are better than Provorov's in almost every catagory, and Zach has played 116 less games.

Also, for not moving the puck on the PP, he out assists Provorov 62-37. 80-47 on PP points.

Had Werenski played most of last year, we may have been a little better defensively.

 

[squashmaple]

Almost everyone do agree with Tex being one of the best player (overall) including yesterday night
It's "funny" to see he is not on the scoresheet though, and I think this will happen quite often for him
It seems (to me) he is that player who is not rewarded at his true value (in term of points)

Both my neutral fan friends specifically brought him up last night to me as the first Jacket they wish they had on their teams (Detroit and New Jersey respectively). Not elite at anything but good at everything and not specifically bad at anything.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

Two games ago there were people here worried that we would have to get rid of Provorov because he was playing so badly. Let's not rush to big ideas after a couple games, one way or the other.



Laine looks as good at center as you could possibly hope. Though he hasn't faced the tightest checking yet.

I have no idea what counts as the second or third line in reality. I didn't like the first four periods of KJ with Fantilli, but they started to put together some nice shifts in this game.



I think when you sober up you might consider that Jake Bean was okay for this being his first game in 2023.

I thought Jake Bean was ok irrespective. If he ends up with more to give, all the better.

 

[GoJackets1]

Zach is rusty sure .. side by side , he’s not remotely as skilled as Provorov . Provorov skates better , faster , stronger , better first pass , better shot . He’s more physical , moves the puck better on the powerplay . It’s funny how the past 2 years have warped Provorovs reputation . He was on a brutally bad flyers team , and guess what , he stays healthy , so his stats , and reputation suffer , and I would contend his confidence and motivation were no doubt affected as well . It’s hilarious to read , tone down the hot takes , it’s not November yet , but we have post after post on Elvis , who’s had what 3 weeks under his new coach ?

Go back and look at Provorov numbers , and look how badly his last 2 seasons affected his stats . How would Zach be viewed thru out the league , if he hadn’t missed all Last season on a team that bled goals ?

I’ve always been a big fan of Provorov as a player, he was who I wanted to draft in 2015. Z definitely has a better shot, but I do think ultimately they’re very similar level players. Provorov has had a couple of down years, and I think he’ll get back to a level close to Z here. Ideally they’d be interchangeable and both play 22-24 minutes a night. That way Gudbranson’s pair only needs to play 12-16 minutes.

 

[tunnelvision]

But compare Werenski and Provorov. Ivan has better first pass, hockey vision. Of course Zack is an excellent d-man and I wrote he can't be in ideal shape yet. But injury doesn't have influence on these things.

I'm not convinced about that. It's silly for me to judge and compare their offensive games based on a handful of preseason games but so far I haven't noticed significant talent gaps in those aspects. Provorov might be a more accurate and versatile passer but his pass reception doesn't seem as consistent. That's probably a big reason why his zone exit stats last year ended up looking not that flattering. I also think Provorov's pass and wrist shot release seem a bit slower.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

 

[CBJWerenski8]

Zach is rusty sure .. side by side , he’s not remotely as skilled as Provorov . Provorov skates better , faster , stronger , better first pass , better shot . He’s more physical , moves the puck better on the powerplay . It’s funny how the past 2 years have warped Provorovs reputation . He was on a brutally bad flyers team , and guess what , he stays healthy , so his stats , and reputation suffer , and I would contend his confidence and motivation were no doubt affected as well . It’s hilarious to read , tone down the hot takes , it’s not November yet , but we have post after post on Elvis , who’s had what 3 weeks under his new coach ?

Go back and look at Provorov numbers , and look how badly his last 2 seasons affected his stats . How would Zach be viewed thru out the league , if he hadn’t missed all Last season on a team that bled goals ?

Considering Zach’s numbers in the games he did play (both analytically and statistically) were very good, I think he would have been fine.

Werenski is a better defender and had a way better shot. Although I will agree Provorov is a better skater and more skilled, Provorov is more mistake prone. I’m glad we have both of them. But I think it’s pretty clear that Werenski is the better player. And I’m not saying that just because Provorov struggled the last two years. I also don’t see the upside in putting both of these players against each other considering they’re both here and going to play major roles.

I can’t believe Werenski has become underrated by some in our own fanbase on here. But here we are

 

[tunnelvision]

Svozil still out, I wonder why. Has only played in one preseason game.

 

[Monstershockey]

Looks like a Monsters pre-season game. Maybe Washington will ice Hershey.

 

[DoingItCoolKiwi]

Dont really understand why you have guys like Sweezey and Pearson still at camp and playing, while good prospects are sitting. I doubt they are planning on playing those 4 guys on the last game

 

[ViD]

I wonder if this indicates Voronkov is destined to AHL or if they want to have a look at him with more ice time

Considering Zach’s numbers in the games he did play (both analytically and statistically) were very good, I think he would have been fine.

Werenski is a better defender and had a way better shot. Although I will agree Provorov is a better skater and more skilled, Provorov is more mistake prone. I’m glad we have both of them. But I think it’s pretty clear that Werenski is the better player. And I’m not saying that just because Provorov struggled the last two years. I also don’t see the upside in putting both of these players against each other considering they’re both here and going to play major roles.

I can’t believe Werenski has become underrated by some in our own fanbase on here. But here we are

I think the biggest complaint about Provorov last two years was that his offensive production as a PP QB was minuscule. So I would definitely have Werenski over him on PP

 

[CBJWerenski8]

Dont really understand why you have guys like Sweezey and Pearson still at camp and playing, while good prospects are sitting. I doubt they are planning on playing those 4 guys on the last game

Don’t really see why Svozil and Jiricek wouldn’t be in the lineup unless injury?

 

[koteka]

Don’t really see why Svozil and Jiricek wouldn’t be in the lineup unless injury?

From 32 Thoughts this week:

15. Thing I liked hearing in the pre-season: one team sent a prospect back to his junior team after a really strong game. It seemed counter-intuitive so I asked why. “Let him leave on a high,” was the answer. He wasn’t ready for the NHL, but instead of having the player walking away sadly after a poor performance, he leaves feeling good about himself. I like that.

32 Thoughts: Bettman talks salary cap, expansion at Board of Governors

The biggest thing that came out of Wednesday’s Board of Governors meeting in New York City is that the NHL is looking at an $87-million-$88-million cap figure in 2024-25. Elliotte Friedman covers that and more in a new 32 Thoughts blog.

www.sportsnet.ca

Maybe they didn’t want to send Jiricek and Svozil out with that line up and experience a potentially bad loss.

 

[Jaxs]

Add in Kuraly and Roslovic and what is it??

Muy daneiro. The hometown tax!