Around the League - 2022-23 season thread part I

[goonybird]

Our franchise would have been relocated if we picked Patrick/Kakko instead of Hischier/Hughes.

I admit I was team Patrick, but I was always team Hughes.

If Team ''Plays against men'' had their way (most of them weren't Devils fans, anyway) we'd be such a joke.

Just imagine if the Rags picked Hughes. That might have been enough to at least push them through the ECF last year.

who gives a shit how you fare against men who play hockey as one of their 3 jobs

 

[Emperoreddy]

I don't get what Seattle is doing with Wright

 

[Devs3cups]

I don't get what Seattle is doing with Wright

Kind of what we’re doing with Holtz? (Kidding kidding)

 

[goonybird]

Wright should be in the OHL getting the year of development he squandered by sitting on his ass during the shutdown. Too bad!

 

[Brodeur]

I don't get what Seattle is doing with Wright

In a weird way, I'm not super surprised. Before the season started, I ran into an acquaintance from Seattle. He doesn't know anything about hockey, but he asked about Wright. I explained the 9 game ELC thing and how it wouldn't be surprising if Seattle milked it and send him to the WJC in December. He seemed a little surprised since he kept reading like they had a Day 1 star fall into their laps.

After Seattle landed Oliver Bjorkstrand, they had like twelve forwards on one way deals plus Beniers/Wright. It just seemed like an uphill battle for Wright to stay with the big club.

It was his D+1 year, but LA did something similar with Brayden Schenn who wasn't quite NHL ready at 19. Started the year in LA, played 8 games but was usually a scratch. Got sent down for a 7 game AHL conditioning assignment, then was sent back for WJC then returned to WHL after that (and was traded to a WHL contender). Rumor seems to be that Kingston will be trading Shane Wright or possibly already has a trade in place when he is returned.

On the bright side for Wright, he'll get two months of NHL paychecks and gets a daily reminder of things he needs to work on practicing against NHLers. Wright didn't play in the makeup summer 2022 WJC, so he'll get to share the spotlight with Connor Bedard potentially. It's too bad, I'll be out of town when Wright possibly plays in San Diego next weekend.

 

[MasterofGrond]

I honestly can’t remember, we’re there actually team kakko guys on this board? because that one was a no brainer imo, even at the time

 

[PWiz30]

I honestly can’t remember, were there actually team kakko guys on this board? because that one was a no brainer imo, even at the time

There were a few IIRC but they were a small minority.

 

[Jack Be Quick]

So maybe everyone else already knew this and I’m just late to the party, but The Athletic is barely publishing any hockey content at all anymore.

In my boredom I went browsing through the pages of each of the teams we played recently looking for a recap I could read, and… nothing. Not even the Canadiens had one up.

Not only that, I noticed the same stories were showing up on each of the teams’ pages. A couple of DGB articles, the Tkachuk/Huberdeau trade story, the revised predictions, and a few more.

How many hockey articles are they even publishing? It doesn’t feel like it can be much more than 4-5 per day across all 32 teams.

I guess it was inevitable since it was another money losing VC startup, and the financiers weren’t going to keep pouring money into it forever, but it’s a sad sight compared to the powerhouse from 3-4 years ago that would publish tons of great stories every day.

The Times bought them for an absurd amount. $550 million to be precise.

Probably not getting hockey coverage or decent coverage for any sport again.

A good friend of mine was involved and told me it was strictly for data mining.

 

[Xirik]

There were a few IIRC but they were a small minority.

yeah I think most of us were thinking "We could get another high tier center?! Great center depth is how recent Cup champions have won!"

 

[Blackjack]

I honestly can’t remember, we’re there actually team kakko guys on this board? because that one was a no brainer imo, even at the time

There were not many people openly hoping for Kakko, but I think there was some fear that Kakko would step into the NHL and dominate immediately and Jack would take years to fill out his frame, and that Kakko would win the head to head matchups because of his size and strength.

But most people agreed that Jack’s scoring numbers were just too bonkers to pass up, even if they were NTDP. And despite his diminutive size, it was easy to see where the success was coming from in terms of skating, vision, handles, etc.

The anxiety intensified when Kakko scored some highlight reel goals in the World Championship and led Finland to a gold medal over team Canada. We laugh now about the “against men!” stuff, but to be fair, what he did in his draft year in the Liiga, and against Canadian NHLers, was f***ing incredible. His lack of success four years into his NHL career is honestly shocking. And I actually still think it’s coming.

I really wanted NJ to sign him to a Kotkoniemi style offer sheet, I was sure he was going to break out this year.

 

[Better Call Sal]

I honestly can’t remember, we’re there actually team kakko guys on this board? because that one was a no brainer imo, even at the time

There was one in particular who was more just adamant that it shouldn't be as open and shut of a case as it appeared to be. They were more kind of irritated that no one wanted to even discuss or consider Kakko at all.

 

[PWiz30]

Looking back, I thought for sure they were going to blow it and pick Patrick over Nico. I had surgery the morning of the draft that year and thought I was seeing things when I saw they actually picked Nico. That's how little confidence I had in the team's scouting staff at the time.

 

[TrufleShufle]

There was one in particular who was more just adamant that it shouldn't be as open and shut of a case as it appeared to be. They were more kind of irritated that no one wanted to even discuss or consider Kakko at all.

I def was on the side of let the talks happen. I deferred to others on who would be best and was obviously more than happy with Hughes. But at the same time hated with every fiber the notion that no one other than Hughes could be talked about. Thread opened about Hughes and to only talk about Hughes because that's who we were picking, so not allowed to talk about anyone else.

I wouldn't care if I grew up with Hughes and knew from elementary school he would be the next Gretzky, disallowing discussion will always make me irrationally upset.

 

[JrFischer54]

You know, I ripped on M. Tkachuk a lot during the playoffs because of some NJ fans' obsession with him, but gotta give him credit, he's still putting up great numbers and leading that FLA team. Still ultimately think he ages like Corey Perry but it's clear he's genuinely great.

its to be expected but your paying for the next 5 years of his great numbers not worrying about the last two

 

[NJDevs26]

There was one in particular who was more just adamant that it shouldn't be as open and shut of a case as it appeared to be. They were more kind of irritated that no one wanted to even discuss or consider Kakko at all.

Plus there were lazy comparisons to Nico and Nolan pre-draft with Jack being Nolan (the feted one) and Kakko being Nico (the late riser) as if the same script was going to play out

 

[Nubmer6]

Looking back, I thought for sure they were going to blow it and pick Patrick over Nico. I had surgery the morning of the draft that year and thought I was seeing things when I saw they actually picked Nico. That's how little confidence I had in the team's scouting staff at the time.

You scheduled surgery for the same day as the draft???? What kind of fan ARE you?

 

[PWiz30]

You scheduled surgery for the same day as the draft???? What kind of fan ARE you?

Haha, part of my fingertip literally fell off because I played almost a whole game in net with a shattered finger and picked up a drug-resistant infection. The bone was literally showing so it was pretty urgent, but I still made it home in time for the draft.

 

[Brodeur]

Looking back, I thought for sure they were going to blow it and pick Patrick over Nico. I had surgery the morning of the draft that year and thought I was seeing things when I saw they actually picked Nico. That's how little confidence I had in the team's scouting staff at the time.

I fully admit that I was on Team Patrick. There's an excerpt in Moneyball about some human nature fallacies with scouting, something along the lines of "scouts drive endless miles, eat countless meals at Denny's, so it's easy to convince yourself that you and you alone were meant to see a certain prospect."

In May 2016, I invited myself up to visit friends in Seattle and they happened to be hosting Brandon (with Nolan Patrick) in the WHL Finals. Went with my buddy to the game and Brandon won the title. Fast forward 11 months and we won the draft lottery. I had it set in my mind that me seeing Brandon the previous year couldn't have been a coincidence.

 

[PWiz30]

I fully admit that I was on Team Patrick. There's an excerpt in Moneyball about some human nature fallacies with scouting, something along the lines of "scouts drive endless miles, eat countless meals at Denny's, so it's easy to convince yourself that you and you alone were meant to see a certain prospect."

In May 2016, I invited myself up to visit friends in Seattle and they happened to be hosting Brandon (with Nolan Patrick) in the WHL Finals. Went with my buddy to the game and Brandon won the title. Fast forward 11 months and we won the draft lottery. I had it set in my mind that me seeing Brandon the previous year couldn't have been a coincidence.

The reason I felt as strongly as I did about Nico over Patrick wasn't much better. I thought he was the best player at the WJC that year and everyone knows a player who dominates the WJC in their draft year could never bust (Laf).

 

[Brodeur]

The reason I felt as strongly as I did about Nico over Patrick wasn't much better. I thought he was the best player at the WJC that year and everyone knows a player who dominates the WJC in their draft year could never bust (Laf).

I hate to admit it, but if Nico was the same exact player but was instead like Magnus Forsberg from Stockholm, I think I would have been more on board in the moment.

 

[The Wumpus]

Haha, part of my fingertip literally fell off because I played almost a whole game in net with a shattered finger and picked up a drug-resistant infection. The bone was literally showing so it was pretty urgent, but I still made it home in time for the draft.

The list of excuses to miss the draft is short, but "bone was showing" is on it lol

 

[Brodeur]

Shane Wright officially sent down yesterday on a conditioning assignment. 14 days or 5 games played whichever comes first. Jeff Marek laid out a possible timeline during HNIC:

11/22: at Calgary
11/24: at Calgary
11/26: at San Diego
12/02: at Henderson
12/03: at Henderson
-- gets recalled to Seattle --
12/06: vs. Montreal
-- gets sent back to juniors --
12/09: WJC camp starts

Wright gets his "revenge" game against Montreal to placate his ego. Then spends the rest of the year playing against his age group.

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

The Wright moves only make sense if there's significant bad blood between Kingston and Wright.

 

[forceten]

Even Slafkovsky isn't lighting it up in Montreal. These are kids. It's more rare than people assume for someone to jump right into the NHL and produce at a high level. It's part of why I hated when the NHL/NHLPA moved the UFA to age 26. It's too soon. You spend 3-4 years developing a player and get 3 years of them nearing prime. 31 was too late, probably, but 28 would be nice.

Now get off my lawn.

 

[PWiz30]

The list of excuses to miss the draft is short, but "bone was showing" is on it lol

I had no feeling at all in my hand for most of the day and we drafted Nico, so all things considered it was a pretty good day.