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Around the League 2018-2019 Part 2- Everyone is having fun except us

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I wonder how much of the decisions made at the draft table is an organizational mandate from the GM?

For example, Dave Taylor was obsessed with acquiring big centers. He tried to acquire Chris Gratton, Keith Primeau, Eric Lindros, he finally got one in Jason Allison. He drafted Olli Jokinen, David Steckel, and Brian Boyle because of their size. Rumor is they wanted Hugh Jessiman with their first pick in 2003, so they got the next big center who was available with their second pick.

The Joey Ryan pick in 2006 was a Dean Lombardi call as well, as Al Murray has mentioned he was prepared to select Milan Lucic with that pick, but Dean wanted a dman.
 
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kingsfan28 said:
I believe Ken Holland once said, you never draft a project in the 1st round, which exactly what they did. The could've moved up to grab a better guy but Al Murray and the clueless bunch just couldn't pass up that size.It took 6 years to get to LA. Boyle was a bust in LA and almost was out of the league until Torts told him get his **** together or you'll be out . It took a serious wakeup call and a kick in the ass to salvage his career.
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Recall, four of those six years were spent at Boston College as Boyle was drafted out of High School. His last 2 years at BC were very good.

He got close to 40 games with LA before they dealt him to NY. His first full pro year was successful as he had over 60 points in 70 games at Manchester.

Seemed as if he was developing alright but I don’t know the entire story.
 
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Ziggy Stardust said:
I wonder how much of the decisions made at the draft table is an organizational mandate from the GM?

For example, Dave Taylor was obsessed with acquiring big centers. He tried to acquire Chris Gratton, Keith Primeau, Eric Lindros, he finally got one in Jason Allison. He drafted Olli Jokinen, David Steckel, and Brian Boyle because of their size. Rumor is they wanted Hugh Jessiman with their first pick in 2003, so they got the next big center who was available with their second pick.

The Joey Ryan pick in 2006 was a Dean Lombardi call as well, as Al Murray has mentioned he was prepared to select Milan Lucic with that pick, but Dean wanted a dman.
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Never heard about the Jessiman rumor, but thank god it never happened!
 
kovacro said:
Recall, four of those six years were spent at Boston College as Boyle was drafted out of High School. His last 2 years at BC were very good.

He got close to 40 games with LA before they dealt him to NY. His first full pro year was successful as he had over 60 points in 70 games at Manchester.

Seemed as if he was developing alright but I don’t know the entire story.
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Yeah, Boyle refused to turn pro after year 2, said he wanted to do the 4 years to win a championship. Not many do that, and even Parise who the Kings thought was too small for the NHL, stayed only 2 years before turning pro. They would've passed on Richards and Kessler too because they weren't 6-4".
 
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For those who want to read more on that Al Murray story of almost drafting Lucic in 2006...

https://nationalpost.com/sports/hoc...valanche-made-up-their-minds-about-seth-jones
“If you just take the best player, things usually work out for you,” Al Murray, director of scouting for the Tampa Bay Lightning, said. “If you need something, I’ve always said you can trade players for what you need. But if you try to force by position, then you wind up with some players that might not be good enough for you and then they’re not good enough for anybody else to want them either.”

Murray speaks from experience. In 2006, he was scouting with the Los Angeles Kings and all set to select Milan Lucic with the 48th pick in the draft. But because the organization was thin on defence prospects, Murray said GM Dean Lombardi asked him to take the best available defenceman instead.

And so instead of ending up with a player who has appeared in more than 400 games and become the type of power forward that every team in the NHL would love to clone, the Kings chose Joey Ryan, who has yet to make his NHL debut and spent the last four seasons in the ECHL.

“When you limit things and don’t just take the best player, then you tend to narrow your pool and make more mistakes,” Murray said. “So if you’re told, ‘We want to get bigger and we’re going to do that through the draft,’ then you’re taking a lot of players that have some limitations.”
 
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We've been there. From having a lead to losing the game in a matter of seconds. Stupid Ducks. Blues tie it and 12 seconds later take the lead and the win.
 
The main benefit would've been getting a pissed off Blues team tomorrow, but they still have a lot to play for and haven't been playing their best the last handful of games.

Though you could argue that STL not having to play the extra 5 minutes is just as good.
 
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Ziggy Stardust said:
For those who want to read more on that Al Murray story of almost drafting Lucic in 2006...

Don't assume Avalanche made up their minds about Seth Jones
“If you just take the best player, things usually work out for you,” Al Murray, director of scouting for the Tampa Bay Lightning, said. “If you need something, I’ve always said you can trade players for what you need. But if you try to force by position, then you wind up with some players that might not be good enough for you and then they’re not good enough for anybody else to want them either.”

Murray speaks from experience. In 2006, he was scouting with the Los Angeles Kings and all set to select Milan Lucic with the 48th pick in the draft. But because the organization was thin on defence prospects, Murray said GM Dean Lombardi asked him to take the best available defenceman instead.

And so instead of ending up with a player who has appeared in more than 400 games and become the type of power forward that every team in the NHL would love to clone, the Kings chose Joey Ryan, who has yet to make his NHL debut and spent the last four seasons in the ECHL.

“When you limit things and don’t just take the best player, then you tend to narrow your pool and make more mistakes,” Murray said. “So if you’re told, ‘We want to get bigger and we’re going to do that through the draft,’ then you’re taking a lot of players that have some limitations.”
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So Boyle and Lewis were the best player available in those drafts? How about Danny Rousin, Crosby's teammate in juniors, who EVERYONE knew was a product of playing with Sid. Wasted a 2nd on him.
 
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Anaheim not ready to give up the tank. Troy Terry is looking like a player.
 
kingsfan28 said:
How about strapping them on better and making sure there isn't a 6 " gap between the chin and strap? The NHL is the only contact sport where the chin strap isn't attached to the chin. Tom Wilson's helmet comes off on every hit. Look at Simmonds helmet, thats coming off the first contact he makes.

View attachment 196205
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If the new helmet rule is enacted, you’ll see players strapping them on better. Having to head to the bench if you lose your lid, will be like putting the other team on a quick PP.
 
KopitarFAN said:
The main benefit would've been getting a pissed off Blues team tomorrow, but they still have a lot to play for and haven't been playing their best the last handful of games.

Though you could argue that STL not having to play the extra 5 minutes is just as good.
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Does a team really have to be pissed off to beat the Kings these days? Barely breaking a sweat is usually enough.

ScoreZeGoals said:
Muzzin has got to be hurt or something, he looks REALLY slow and plodding
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He's looked like that the last couple years. It's entirely possible he looked like that when the Kings were good, but it could be covered up by interfering at the blueline.
 
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DET is going to have the 2nd worst record most likely. They could lose all of their final games when you look at their schedule. They have one game against another really bad team in NJ. The worst team they play other than that is NYR.

As bad as the Kings are, I can still see them winning 3-5 more games. My prediction is that the Kings will finish behind OTT, DET and NJ.
 
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So Columbus is playing Pittsburgh tonight a huge game...and they're starting Korpisalo!?! His numbers make him their 3rd best option
 
I don't like what Columbus did leading up to and at the deadline for the simple reason it appears several key players and acquisitions will leave at the end of the season. For that reason, I don't think these players are going to be playing for each other, or are fully invested in Columbus making the playoffs.

Add Tortorella to the mix and some of the mercenaries Columbus brought in may be marking time until they can get out of there.
 
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YP44 said:
So Columbus is playing Pittsburgh tonight a huge game...and they're starting Korpisalo!?! His numbers make him their 3rd best option
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It is weird. Pens own Bobrovsky so I can see why they bench him, but Kinkaid owns the Pens (as a Devil no less).

Think it sends the wrong message to the team though if you can't start your #1 vs your biggest rivals.
 
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