2024-25 San Diego Gulls/Tulsa Oilers

Kalv

Slava Ukraini
Mar 29, 2009
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Latvia
I'm confused on why Gaucher gets so much grief? Shouldn't Helleson show people that some players take time. He's no where near bust territory yet.
Personally it's not that much about Gauthier but our choices. There were so clearly better players, that were known to everybody, at the time - Snuggerud, Kulich, among others, that we passed on.

Sure have to take some gambles and follow your philosophy at times, but the following Myatovic pick just combines into a lot of frustration seeing that our fairly high picks are spent on players with so little talent, when many better options were clearly available.

Also, makes me wanting to trade our UFAs less.
 

TheDarkWingThatDucks

Registered User
Oct 30, 2024
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Personally it's not that much about Gauthier but our choices. There were so clearly better players, that were known to everybody, at the time - Snuggerud, Kulich, among others, that we passed on.

Sure have to take some gambles and follow your philosophy at times, but the following Myatovic pick just combines into a lot of frustration seeing that our fairly high picks are spent on players with so little talent, when many better options were clearly available.

Also, makes me wanting to trade our UFAs less.
I guess in a vacuum, and this is coming from someone who was jumping up for joy when Brad Lambert fell to us., those players make sense.

But in hindsight and the next couple drafts. In 3 years our top 6 should look like this (all things being equal)

Cutter - Leo - Sennecke
Zegras - McT - Terry

Gaucher was a bottom 6 pivot and a safe bet, PK monster, and net front presence on the PP…. His ceiling was 2nd line pivot, and his comp play style was Rob Neidermayer.



Myatovic is according to madden, “We’ve loved Nico from last year,” Madden said. “Really, really good hockey sense and applies it in different ways. He’s a support player for good players. He did it on a elite Seattle team this year. He does all the little things right and he has the skill to be able to produce in front of the net. So he makes plays, but mostly he’s an elite support player, somebody who can get pucks for first and second line players. “He’s somebody who’s the first on the backcheck and somebody who’s always in the goalie’s face. He’s a culture guy, an unbelievable kid who is mature beyond his years with lots of room to grow and get stronger and faster.”

Seems like the hope is he is a Killorn light, another PK staple and just someone who is probably bottom 6, but can move up if need be and be a support player for your high end skill players.

I assume in a perfect world 4-5 years from now (not counting FA additions or trades and such)

Cutter - Leo - Sennecke
Zegras - McT - Terry
Sidorov - Gaucher - Colangelo
Myatovic - Petersson - Masse

With Terrance / procyszyn/ blais / burnevik / Pitre / pasta / regenda / Nesty All with a shot to crack that lineup.

Obviously we will never ice this lineup, just because trades will be made and free agents signed. I see Sidorov as our Vats replacement / Myatovic as a Killorn light or McGinn / gaucher as just a shutdown 3rd / 4th line center / Colangelo or Masse as a mid 6 RW (i guess strome
Replacement ) pettersson (who has some wild bill comps) as our Isaac replacement.

I guess the point is in a vacuum you take swings at those top 6 guys, but sometimes a sure bet high floor lower ceiling guy like gaucher is a big pc. And you take that guy knowing in the next 2 drafts (one where you are tanking for Bedard, you take the top end skill wingers, rather than swinging on a Brad lambert or something). If Verbeek truly thought we’d be turning the corner and drafting in the 12-18 range, and had our shutdown center already in the system he probably swings on a top 6 talent there.

Myatovic / gaucher were always 3-4 years away from making an NHL roster, it’s just we get to infuse those young cheap guys hopefully as our top 5 picks start to shoulder the offensive load.

Doesn’t mean it will work, but I understand the thought process.
 

FiveTacos

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Oct 2, 2017
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I'm confused on why Gaucher gets so much grief? Shouldn't Helleson show people that some players take time. He's no where near bust territory yet.

Not just take time ... players who perhaps just project as good checkers or steady eddie dmen aren't likely to stand out in the AHL no matter how long they spend down there. Helleson isn't even our first of that ilk, Beauchemin was similarly overlooked in the minors back in the day, which is why we easily got him as a throw in.

I've always said, I'd rather have a checker who came up as a good checker, as opposed to a checker who's only a checker because his offense wasn't good enough to translate to the NHL.
 

tomd

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Apr 23, 2003
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If you feel that taking a zero-offense 4C with the 22OA pick is good value then Gaucher is your guy. But don't move the goalposts...that's not what he was drafted to be. The Ducks Director of Player Development said as much this summer...we were going to see a "whole different" Gaucher now that he is healthy. I don't think he meant a 1 goal scorer three months into the season.

And Myatovic is another whole level of bad...I don't know where to even begin evaluating a scouting staff that saw him as an NHL player.

Everyone (myself included) gets excited when the team acquires an additional 1st round pick...but to turn those picks into Tracey, Perreault, and Gaucher is beyond frustrating. For a team that absolutely relies on building through the draft that is unacceptable. I know a lot of people like Madden but to me he has become very overrated.
 

ZegrassyKnoll

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Dec 2, 2016
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If you feel that taking a zero-offense 4C with the 22OA pick is good value then Gaucher is your guy. But don't move the goalposts...that's not what he was drafted to be. The Ducks Director of Player Development said as much this summer...we were going to see a "whole different" Gaucher now that he is healthy. I don't think he meant a 1 goal scorer three months into the season.

And Myatovic is another whole level of bad...I don't know where to even begin evaluating a scouting staff that saw him as an NHL player.

Everyone (myself included) gets excited when the team acquires an additional 1st round pick...but to turn those picks into Tracey, Perreault, and Gaucher is beyond frustrating. For a team that absolutely relies on building through the draft that is unacceptable. I know a lot of people like Madden but to me he has become very overrated.
This is why it drives me insane when people complain about draft picks.

How are you going to criticize the team for taking a player like Gaucher and also criticize them for taking Perreault - the complete opposite of Gaucher - in the same post?

If you don’t want them to take grinding forwards in the late first round, and also don’t want them taking skilled snipers in the late first round, what kind of forward are you hoping they pick?

Fans expect GMs to have a 100% success rate with draft picks when the statistics show it’s more like a 40% chance a player in this range gets over 100 points in their career.
 

AngelDuck

Rak 'em up
Jun 16, 2012
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I didn’t have a problem with the Perreault pick but I did have a serious problem with the Gaucher pick. There was upside to Perreault but it just hasn’t worked for him.

The ducks picked Gaucher to be a 3rd line center who can chip in some offense, kill penalties, etc. okay fine.

The issue is that that was his UPSIDE, no where near his most likely outcome. There’s not much margin for error there. If he disappoints he’s a 4th line grinder or a journeyman AHL player

In my opinion, it’s better to draft a player in the 1st round with top 6 upside so there’s more margin for error to become a useful depth player if they disappoint

I don’t know why we’re not allowed to be disappointed on here about 1 goal in his 2nd full AHL season. There has to be higher expectations for this organization than that
 
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DuckRogers10

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Feb 3, 2016
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If you feel that taking a zero-offense 4C with the 22OA pick is good value then Gaucher is your guy. But don't move the goalposts...that's not what he was drafted to be. The Ducks Director of Player Development said as much this summer...we were going to see a "whole different" Gaucher now that he is healthy. I don't think he meant a 1 goal scorer three months into the season.

And Myatovic is another whole level of bad...I don't know where to even begin evaluating a scouting staff that saw him as an NHL player.

Everyone (myself included) gets excited when the team acquires an additional 1st round pick...but to turn those picks into Tracey, Perreault, and Gaucher is beyond frustrating. For a team that absolutely relies on building through the draft that is unacceptable. I know a lot of people like Madden but to me he has become very overrated.
I'm with you on this. I've always thought the "In Madden we trust" saying was so stupid. Overrated for sure.
 

SmokeyDuck

Registered User
Jul 27, 2010
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Anaheim, CA
Late firsts don't have a great hit rate. Every team has a list of busted late first rounders. It is frustrating to miss out on Tracey and Perrault. That really set us back. Hopefully Gaucher turns it around. I thought he looked good in the preseason.
 

Mr Rogers

Registered User
Jul 11, 2010
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Calgary
If you feel that taking a zero-offense 4C with the 22OA pick is good value then Gaucher is your guy. But don't move the goalposts...that's not what he was drafted to be. The Ducks Director of Player Development said as much this summer...we were going to see a "whole different" Gaucher now that he is healthy. I don't think he meant a 1 goal scorer three months into the season.

And Myatovic is another whole level of bad...I don't know where to even begin evaluating a scouting staff that saw him as an NHL player.

Everyone (myself included) gets excited when the team acquires an additional 1st round pick...but to turn those picks into Tracey, Perreault, and Gaucher is beyond frustrating. For a team that absolutely relies on building through the draft that is unacceptable. I know a lot of people like Madden but to me he has become very overrated.
I'm with you on this. I've always thought the "In Madden we trust" saying was so stupid. Overrated for sure.
I agree. I think I’m one of a few around here who’s been grumbling about Madden for a bit. We just haven’t found any depth forwards whereas other teams have. And I’m not expecting a plethora of them, just 1 or 2 would’ve gone a long way.

Madden has only made 2 impressive forward picks in his entire tenure IMO: Rakell and Terry.

Of course player development goes into this as well, but our drafting of forwards hasn’t been good.
 

McDonald19

Registered User
Sep 9, 2003
23,199
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California
I didn’t have a problem with the Perreault pick but I did have a serious problem with the Gaucher pick. There was upside to Perreault but it just hasn’t worked for him.

In my opinion, it’s better to draft a player in the 1st round with top 6 upside so there’s more margin for error to become a useful depth player if they disappoint
Not sure we have the same definition of upside picks. Sounds more like you want to roll the dice on boom or bust picks.

Perreault was a boom or bust pick. Either he’d make it as a 2nd line sniper, or he’d bust and eventually have a career in Europe.

Gaucher was actually more of an upside pick. He was a safer bet to be an impactful 3rd/4th liner because of his size and tenacity, and he had a little 2nd line upside.
 

AngelDuck

Rak 'em up
Jun 16, 2012
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Not sure we have the same definition of upside picks. Sounds more like you want to roll the dice on boom or bust picks.

Perreault was a boom or bust pick. Either he’d make it as a 2nd line sniper, or he’d bust and eventually have a career in Europe.

Gaucher was actually more of an upside pick. He was a safer bet to be an impactful 3rd/4th liner because of his size and tenacity, and he had a little 2nd line upside.
I don’t want boom or bust, I want someone with top 6 potential.

Agree to disagree that Gaucher ever had 2nd line potential.
 

McDonald19

Registered User
Sep 9, 2003
23,199
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California
I don’t want boom or bust, I want someone with top 6 potential.

Agree to disagree that Gaucher ever had 2nd line potential.
The Perreault types don’t tend to make for good 3rd/4th liners if they don’t hit the top 6 potential, that’s the problem with late first rounders. Sam Steel seems to be an exception, despite being undersized.
 

FiveTacos

Registered User
Oct 2, 2017
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The Twilight Zone
I don’t want boom or bust, I want someone with top 6 potential.

Unless it's a deep draft, late 1st guys with more than lingshot top 6 potential often are boom or bust. The guys in that range with high level skill are usually ones with at least one major flaw ... undersized, soft, bad skater, enigmatic, no hockey sense, etc..

I'm not saying don't ever take swings at those guys, but your odds of getting a legit tip 6 forward at that point in the draft are slim.

I just did a quick glance at 10 drafts, from '06-15. From picks 20-32 here were perhaps 11 top 6 forwards in TOTAL picked ... and we picked TWO of them in Rakell and Palmieri (if you count him at all. And if you go back further, we're one of the few teams to have found an MVP level forward in the late 1st.

This idea that we somehow suck at drafting forwards outside of the top of the draft ... the truth is EVERYONE sucks at it, because most of the best forward talent is scouted pretty accurately and is gone early.
 
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