Around the League - 2022 offseason thread

[RangerDoggo]

You remember laughing about it? How about dragging their ass for years for it? In a good natured ribbing sort of way but…



Here’s the original comment in response to you (or close to it) and the 2015 date, with user redacted lol.
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You in 2016

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You in 2017

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You in 2018.

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It seemed to end after 3 years lol.

My favorite part of the original post:

“Sprong's got potential to be one of the best offensive players from this draft, even better than our first round pick this year.”
All that’s ridiculous because our 2016 1st is uh, slightly more useful than Sprong.

That’s some powerful receipt keeping

 

[Bleedred]

Not under that very colorful user name, “Hockey Sports Fan”, no.

It’s easy to search for, I just didn’t want to derail it by posting it with his name. I guessed that if Bleed remembered that take he probably made fun (in a pretty gentle way!) for years.

Hell, Devils Dominion is still a elaborate running comedy bit. Granted his old posts related to the Florida Panthers were a psychological journey for readers. (This board doesn’t appreciate how good they are! Or will be! Well if they’re bad, what does that make us? Let’s bring in main board poll data to the conversation. Etc blah blah Etc)

Not going to lie, when I found these posts I was slightly disappointed they only went to 2018, it would have been funnier if it went on longer.

If the mystery is too much and people are too lazy to search for it, I can spill the beans. (The first post is the OP.)

It turns out that the post you had quoted was from exactly the poster I thought of when mocking the Palmieri over Sprong stuff.

I remembered his name and I knew I seen him recently and he does not have a name change, but he brought up Sprong over the summer in comparison to another player in the draft. But before that, the last time he posted the name Sprong was actually on January 6th of 2018 and here's what he had to say

''Nice. I got so much heat in the Devils board cause back in the draft I said Devils should've drafted him instead of trading for Palmieri. Palmieri has been good for the Devils, but Sprong has potential to be a beast. Still could've had him instead of Blackwood... Pitts got a good one cause teams overthink things like interview when drafting 18y olds the same thing happened in the NBA with Kawhi Leonard.''

Of course I'm chuckling over the Blackwood part. I'm not mocking him for saying that about Blackwood, as that was right in the midst of his brutal 17-18 AHL season.

I didn't screen shot it like you did, I just don't have the time or skills to really cut it all up the way you did.

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

Ok so it wasn’t me, but it got me curious cuz this is not my first username OR my first account on this board

 

[MartyOwns]

wait somebody was wrong about a prospect 4 years ago? huge if true

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

wait somebody was wrong about a prospect 4 years ago? huge if true

i still say we should have taken Evgeny Svechnikov over Zacha.

 

[Forge]

 

[Bleedred]

Ok so it wasn’t me, but it got me curious cuz this is not my first username OR my first account on this board

I know you were Eggers with the Hartford Whalers avatar quite some years back.

I'm pretty sure it's the same account you have now, but definitely a name change.

 

[SJinNewJersey]

 

[My3Sons]

so Bratt will want $11 mil per now?

 

[Bone Density]

 

[Mgd31]

Damn it, we're screwed!

 

[Bone Density]

I'm jonesin for hockey content. I'll take anything right now lol.

 

[Richer's Ghost]

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

I know you were Eggers with the Hartford Whalers avatar quite some years back.

I'm pretty sure it's the same account you have now, but definitely a name change.

I think I started a second account then came back to the original. I remember the big board switchover causing some issues I couldn't figure out, so I just made a new one. One day I got an email about my old one and was able to log in again. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Eggtimer]

I hope Slafkovsky doesn’t become some elite unstoppable stud. I will hate the Habs forever lol.
I hope our Barabosha crushes him again.

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

I'd much rather Slafovsky become the clear best player from the draft than Jiricek or Wright end up better players than Nemec. Obviously both things can happen, but at least with Slaf, the Devils never had a chance to take him.

 

[Its Always Sundstrom]

meh, I dislike Montreal already so what’s a little more hate?

 

[Bleedred]

I think I started a second account then came back to the original. I remember the big board switchover causing some issues I couldn't figure out, so I just made a new one. One day I got an email about my old one and was able to log in again. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Ah, that would explain your disappearance (for what felt like at least a few years) and then reemergence!

 

[MasterofGrond]

I hope Slaf is good. He rules, and if he's elite he's prolly gonna be an awesome player to watch.

Plus I have some bleed over like for the Habs from my Expos fandom. And anything that will grind Leaf fans gears is ok w/ me, too.

 

[Guadana]

I'm ok if Slaf, Wright and Jiricek will turn into superstar. I just want Nemec to succeed. Everything he needs is to be very good second pair two way defenseman. If he can be better - great. If Slaf will hit 90 points + mark, when Nemec wil hit 50 points and will play in second pk unit - i can live with it easily.

I like this post talks about draft, like every poster bought bitkoins when they were nothing.

 

[mdj12784]

I'm ok if Slaf, Wright and Jiricek will turn into superstar. I just want Nemec to succeed. Everything he needs is to be very good second pair two way defenseman. If he can be better - great. If Slaf will hit 90 points + mark, when Nemec wil hit 50 points and will play in second pk unit - i can live with it easily.

I like this post talks about draft, like every poster bought bitkoins when they were nothing.

As a 2nd o.a, I'd like him to be a true first pairing...

 

[Guadana]

As a 2nd o.a, I'd like him to be a true first pairing...

We have Luke Hughes. Tampa Bay Lightning pay 8 mil for defenseman who played on the third pair. We have enough forwards to have 1a 1b line. Who cares, if he can produce 50 points with second line?

 

[HBK27]

The Athletic released their list of the top 100 players:

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The Big Debate: Is Jack Hughes a franchise player?

When we started this exercise, the panel agreed that Jack Hughes belonged in Tier 2. The 2019 No. 1 pick had arrived in 2021-22 scoring 56 points in 49 games, looking like a true driver at even strength. An emerging superstar.

The process was already there for Hughes in 2020-21 as one of the league’s best players with the puck, but the results weren’t. It’s why everyone picked him as their breakout candidate for the 2021-22 season — he looked like someone whose production was ready to explode. And he delivered.

The question was whether 49 games of elite play was enough, or if we were getting ahead of ourselves. We initially felt what he showed when he was healthy, combined with his elite skating and playmaking ability, put him among the very best centers in the league.

The NHL disagreed. Almost every source we talked to in the league said Hughes wasn’t there. Yet.

“He has the potential to be that type of player, and may be that good very soon, but I think it’s aggressive putting him there this early,” said one NHL scout.

“He’s going to be a phenomenal hockey player that will be in that higher bucket. Is today the right spot for that? He’s going to be in that group, no question. Just is it too soon?” said one analyst.

After further deliberation and incorporating input from the league, we conceded. Look, we’re all huge fans of Hughes and wouldn’t be shocked if he rocketed up to Tier 1 status by the end of next year. But 49 games isn’t much, and it’s a number that’s out of line with how we’d previously approached young players. Hughes also had a slower start to his NHL career than expected, and the full body of work is certainly not elite even when adjusted for age.

With most of the panel and NHL sources believing Hughes will be in Tier 2 or higher shortly, it was a worthy debate. But we need more — he’s just not there yet.

...

Dougie Hamilton’s first season in New Jersey was a bit of a mess. On one hand, his track record suggests he’ll come closer to living up to his contract ($9 million through 2028). On the other, the Devils don’t have anyone approaching a Jaccob Slavin-caliber partner to roll out next to him.

...

Nico Hischier was a player who just barely squeezed into the top 100 last year and then had a career season for the Devils. Some of that may have been driven by his team shooting over 11 percent when he’s on the ice, but Hischier is an excellent player. He has a ton of skill, he can play with pace and contribute at both ends of the rink. Is he more than a decent first-line center? Probably not. But on a team with Jack Hughes, he doesn’t need to be.

As a follow-up to this article, The Athletic released a tier breakdown by team - essentially giving weighted points for each player on the list based on which tier they fell into.

NHL Player Tiers: Breaking down each team's placement in the top 100

The top 100 players have been evaluated, ranked and separated into tiers. Now, the next question: What does it mean for your favorite team? Good teams are built from the top down – the franchise cornerstones that drive the bus and propel a team forward. They are what push a team to the highest...

theathletic.com

Colorado was the only team to make it into the "Favorite" group with 20+ points, while Tampa Bay, Toronto, Calgary and Florida represent "The Contenders" group with 15-20 points.

Tier 3 is "Playoff Teams", which includes: Boston, Rangers, Edmonton, Pittsburgh, Carolina, St. Louis, Vegas, Dallas, Minnesota, New Jersey

The caveat here is that this exercise is just looking at top players and does not include goaltending, but it's interesting nonetheless.

New Jersey is a shocking inclusion here, just barely making the cut-off. Having four players make the list is a big help and though none were featured in the first two tiers, Jack Hughes (3A) and Dougie Hamilton (3C) help push the Devils into a tier with some solid playoff teams. They may surprise.

 

[NJDevs26]

As a follow-up to this article, The Athletic released a tier breakdown by team - essentially giving weighted points for each player on the list based on which tier they fell into.

NHL Player Tiers: Breaking down each team's placement in the top 100

The top 100 players have been evaluated, ranked and separated into tiers. Now, the next question: What does it mean for your favorite team? Good teams are built from the top down – the franchise cornerstones that drive the bus and propel a team forward. They are what push a team to the highest...

theathletic.com

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Colorado was the only team to make it into the "Favorite" group with 20+ points, while Tampa Bay, Toronto, Calgary and Florida represent "The Contenders" group with 15-20 points.

Tier 3 is "Playoff Teams", which includes: Boston, Rangers, Edmonton, Pittsburgh, Carolina, St. Louis, Vegas, Dallas, Minnesota, New Jersey

The caveat here is that this exercise is just looking at top players and does not include goaltending, but it's interesting nonetheless.

New Jersey is a shocking inclusion here, just barely making the cut-off. Having four players make the list is a big help and though none were featured in the first two tiers, Jack Hughes (3A) and Dougie Hamilton (3C) help push the Devils into a tier with some solid playoff teams. They may surprise.

LOL that figures

 

[Nubmer6]