Player Discussion Adam Gaudette (C/RW)Claimed off Waivers from Chicago

God Says No

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Mar 16, 2012
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Better or worse than Rudy 'biggest asset management failure in Senators history' Balcers?

Too early to tell. Gaudette had a couple of good games. Balcers has been solid but has been injured this year. One thing for certain, Gaudette wouldn't be here if we still had Balcers.
 

OD99

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Oct 13, 2012
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Shout out to Gaudette. IMO he has been good. Nice addition to the team. I'd like to see him resigned. He'll be cheap and can add scoring depth.
He has certainly turned it around after being benched and almost run out of town after his 1st game!

He is creative and shifty with a bit of jam...I like him so far.
 

coladin

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Sep 18, 2009
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He has certainly turned it around after being benched and almost run out of town after his 1st game!

He is creative and shifty with a bit of jam...I like him so far.

Too bad his pace is holding him back. But he is doing pretty decently
 

Tuna99

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Sep 26, 2009
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Gaudette is like Max Domi. And has basically the same production
 

swiftwin

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Jul 26, 2005
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Too early to tell. Gaudette had a couple of good games. Balcers has been solid but has been injured this year. One thing for certain, Gaudette wouldn't be here if we still had Balcers.

That's because they're both dime a dozen players.

Never understood the grief over losing Balcers.
 
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TheDebater

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Mar 10, 2016
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That's because they're both dime a dozen players.

Never understood the grief over losing Balcers.

It happens to every team, but it is always bad asset management to lose a player for nothing. We lost two players for nothing last season in Balcers and Duclair. Both would have helped us right now, all things considered.
 

Xspyrit

DJ Dorion
Jun 29, 2008
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Too early to tell. Gaudette had a couple of good games. Balcers has been solid but has been injured this year. One thing for certain, Gaudette wouldn't be here if we still had Balcers.

Difference is that Balcers is pretty competent defensively, he doesn't hurt you when not scoring. Gaudette deployment has to be managed carefully, as it was very easy to see when he was used at Center

Balcers with SJ : 71 GP, 14 G, 32 Pts (16 goals 37 pts for 82 games pace). That's excellent 3rd line numbers

7th highest PPG among Sharks forwards since 2020-21 (E. Kane is now gone). Dahlen is 6th

Solid possession metrics relative to deployment, and very solid advanced stats in general. Highest xGF% on the team

Player Season Totals - Natural Stat Trick

I'd say he's trending to be a Colin White caliber player (but winger). As long as he's not paid 4.75 per season, he should be appreciated!

Regarding Gaudette, I wouldn't mind having him back if cheap ala Ennis. As we can see with injuries this season, you can't have too much depth. I was complaining about the lack of depth before the season but didn't expect that many key injuries... so now as we can see watching the games, the forward depth is hurting

That's because they're both dime a dozen players.

Never understood the grief over losing Balcers.

Had this conversation 6 days ago :

GDT: - Hurricanes @ Senators | Beware the Ennis | Thu Jan 27th 2022, 7PM | RDS2, TSN5

Post #41 and #412

Looks like it was with you!

It was never about that.

It was about losing a better player to keep and play inferior players that aren't even NHL quality.

Please, your rocket science theories are hurting my brain :sarcasm:
 
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Ice-Tray

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Like it or not it’s just a fact that every team lets marginal players go for free instead of looking to trade them all.

Gaudette is a recent example of a player picked up off waivers for free. It happens when a team is happy to give a player a chance to catch somewhere in the league, instead of spending time trying to nickle and dime late picks and future considerations for every player.

Asset management warriors aside, it’s just not a big deal. You lose some marginal players for free, and then pick some up for free.

Balance achieved.
 

Xspyrit

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Like it or not it’s just a fact that every team lets marginal players go for free instead of looking to trade them all.

Gaudette is a recent example of a player picked up off waivers for free. It happens when a team is happy to give a player a chance to catch somewhere in the league, instead of spending time trying to nickle and dime late picks and future considerations for every player.

Asset management warriors aside, it’s just not a big deal. You lose some marginal players for free, and then pick some up for free.

Balance achieved.

The problem you might have here is thinking that Rudolfs Balcers is a "marginal" player. A quality top-9 forward is not marginal, we have been lacking those for YEARS.

We have also signed that kind of player to a 6 years 4.75 AAV contract... So what is it? The GM looks bad for signing player A to that contract or for letting player B go for nothing? Or both? lol

Balcers has been more productive than White and his advanced stats are as good if not better. Eye test also reveals the same thing (edit : as in "as good if not better")

Several posters have been talking in a similar way about Anthony Duclair, who has been proving he is actually a quality top-6 forward who was worth not letting walk for nothing.. Loser teams mentality. Great teams/organizations manage things like Yzerman, Sakic, Brisebois, Zito, etc.

The only time they let players go for nothing is when they have an embarrassment of riches. Has it been our case? LOL
 
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bert

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The problem you might have here is thinking that Rudolfs Balcers is a "marginal" player. A quality top-9 forward is not marginal, we have been lacking those for YEARS.

We have also signed that kind of player to a 6 years 4.75 AAV contract... So what is it? The GM looks bad for signing player A to that contract or for letting player B go for nothing? Or both? lol

Balcers has been more productive than White and his advanced stats are as good if not better. Eye test also reveals the same thing.

Several posters have been talking in a similar way about Anthony Duclair, who has proving he is actually a quality top-6 forward who was worth not letting walk for nothing.. Loser teams mentality. Great teams/organizations manage things like Yzerman, Sakic, Brisebois, Zito, etc.

The only time they let go players for nothing is when they have an embarrassment of riches. Has it been our case? LOL
I found Balcers to be really soft on pucks. Dont agree that his eye test was ever as good as Whites. White blocks shots, competes, goes to the net way harder and has a better shot.

Didnt really bother me they lost Balcers its just how it happened for worse players that irked me.
 

Xspyrit

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I found Balcers to be really soft on pucks. Dont agree that his eye test was ever as good as Whites. White blocks shots, competes, goes to the net way harder and has a better shot.

Didnt really bother me they lost Balcers its just how it happened for worse players that irked me.

Agreed that he is not the strongest physically and in the end, it's probably the reason why he wasn't part of the plans. Note that I'm not saying he is the same type of player as White but the same "caliber", a 2-way 3rd liner with good possession/advanced stats. Balcers is more finesse/skilled, White is more industrious. Both players are quality you can add to a bottom-6 but are totally replaceable, particularly for teams that are able to attract UFAs.

But you nailed it, it's how it happened and why. Something some still don't understand a year later.
 
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Ice-Tray

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The problem you might have here is thinking that Rudolfs Balcers is a "marginal" player. A quality top-9 forward is not marginal, we have been lacking those for YEARS.

We have also signed that kind of player to a 6 years 4.75 AAV contract... So what is it? The GM looks bad for signing player A to that contract or for letting player B go for nothing? Or both? lol

Balcers has been more productive than White and his advanced stats are as good if not better. Eye test also reveals the same thing (edit : as in "as good if not better")

Several posters have been talking in a similar way about Anthony Duclair, who has been proving he is actually a quality top-6 forward who was worth not letting walk for nothing.. Loser teams mentality. Great teams/organizations manage things like Yzerman, Sakic, Brisebois, Zito, etc.

The only time they let players go for nothing is when they have an embarrassment of riches. Has it been our case? LOL

Balcers is a marginal NHL talent, his loss, for nothing, is not an issue. He is not a quality top 9 player, we is not good enough to displace any of our regular top 9 players, nor would I want him over any regular on the 4th line. He is simply there, which is good for a crap SJ team that has started its slow circle around the toilet drain.

He is Gaudette, he has been replaced by another marginal talent, but one who can play the game the way our team plays.

Make sure you’re ready to add Dorion’s name to your list once we start competing for the cup ;) Though I suppose you’ll still complain about how good we could have been had we only kept Balcers lol!
 

aragorn

Do The Right Thing
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Don't miss Balcers & Gaudette is not that much different, maybe they re-sign him for depth like they did Ennis, but they don't really need to. Either way hopefully we can do better with some of our own internal prospects & not have to consider these kinds of marginal players at all.
 
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Tuna99

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Sep 26, 2009
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We have Clark Bishop, Logan Shaw playing. Balcers I better then both those guys - why anyone would say he’s not important when he’d clearly be an upgrade is stupid.
 

Johnny Hanson

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Jul 6, 2008
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We have Clark Bishop, Logan Shaw playing. Balcers I better then both those guys - why anyone would say he’s not important when he’d clearly be an upgrade is stupid.
I hate to do it but your the one that comes off as stupid. Balcers is a one dimensional winger. The two players you used as an example are centres. One position is obviously more valuable than the other, especially when you have the amount of injuries down the middle the sens do. Obviously their skill level isn’t as high as Rudy but that’s just one aspect of a hockey player. Skill level does not equal importance to a team in every scenario.
 

Tuna99

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I hate to do it but your the one that comes off as stupid. Balcers is a one dimensional winger. The two players you used as an example are centres. One position is obviously more valuable than the other, especially when you have the amount of injuries down the middle the sens do. Obviously their skill level isn’t as high as Rudy but that’s just one aspect of a hockey player. Skill level does not equal importance to a team in every scenario.

are you saying Clark Bishop or Logan Shaw are better then Balcers? How can you say that when it’s not true?
 

dumbdick

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May 31, 2008
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Yeah losing Balcers hurts. I put him in the same group as Duke and Hoff as guys who were mismanaged assets we let go.
 

Big Muddy

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The problem you might have here is thinking that Rudolfs Balcers is a "marginal" player. A quality top-9 forward is not marginal, we have been lacking those for YEARS.

As an aside, Balcers is scoring at a reasonable rate over the last several games (since Jan.15). He has 4 goals and 5 points in that timeframe.

Its sad to see that nuance has no place on this board or society anymore. It seems some believe that if you make a criticism of a trade/move or something, you obviously must not be a fan, and you are a hater. Ostensibly, its not possible to make a small number of specific criticisms and still be a fan and positive about most other things. Sad.:(
 
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Ice-Tray

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As an aside, Balcers is scoring at a reasonable rate over the last several games (since Jan.15). He has 4 goals and 5 points in that timeframe.

Its sad to see that nuance has no place on this board or society anymore. It seems some believe that if you make a criticism of a trade/move or something, you obviously must not be a fan, and you are a hater. Ostensibly, its not possible to make a small number of specific criticisms and still be a fan and positive about most other things. Sad.:(

I think that there is a difference between a ‘small number of specific criticism’, and endlessly criticizing the same minor move months later, sometimes years later. Some people in here critique a lot, but as always there is constructive criticism, and then there is criticism for the sake of it. Big difference.

There is also the idea that criticism should match the situation in scope. Putting Balcers on waivers to start the season because he didn’t make the team, with the plan of sending him to the AHL (which every team does that time of year) to continue to develop, was not a huge deal. He was also not a notable loss from the organization.

It’s sad that every small loss has to be trumped up to be an unmitigated disaster that is a clear sign of a person’s vast incompetence.

You’re right, we see a lack of nuance these days, but also humility, self respect, respect for others, common sense, common decency, and common courtesy. The need to be negative and cynical trumps positivity and hope, all in the context of being a sports fan.

Sad indeed.
 

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