Around the League 39: Will Kessel Sign in Winnipeg? The World Waits with Dogged Breath!

[Boom Boom Apathy]

I still think it couldn’t hurt to see what kessel would want. All he does is score everywhere he goes

His last 2 seasons, he’s scored only 3 more goals than Martinook, and Martinook missed 22 games in that stretch.

 

[Nikishin Go Boom]

His last 2 seasons, he’s scored only 3 more goals than Martinook, and Martinook missed 22 games in that stretch.

And was sat for most of the playoffs while having some of the worst rated defense of any player in the league

 

[AD Skinner]

That’s all true, but he also hasn’t scored less than 30 points in a season since his rookie year when he scored 29. If he’s not asking for insane money I’d love to see what he could do on a line with, say, Kotkaniemi and teravainen. Let kk do the dirty work and kessel and turbo take turns setting each other up

 

[Bub]

That’s all true, but he also hasn’t scored less than 30 points in a season since his rookie year when he scored 29. If he’s not asking for insane money I’d love to see what he could do on a line with, say, Kotkaniemi and teravainen. Let kk do the dirty work and kessel and turbo take turns setting each other up

Sign Kessel >>> Win Cup >>> Eat Hot Dogs. We all profit.

 

[tarheelhockey]

His last 2 seasons, he’s scored only 3 more goals than Martinook, and Martinook missed 22 games in that stretch.

Not really fair to hold him up against Martinook, though. Not everyone can be a star.

 

[LostInaLostWorld]

Not really fair to hold him up against Martinook, though. Not everyone can be a star.

 

[cptjeff]

I still think it couldn’t hurt to see what kessel would want. All he does is score everywhere he goes

He? Amanda Kessel is a she. She's worth talking to, though.

 

[hblueridgegal]

How will a 50 foot player/sniper workaround this or flourish in the system?

 

[tarheelhockey]

How will a 50 foot player/sniper workaround this or flourish in the system?

The Canes fighting fire with fire would end badly. They’re playing a system that maximizes their chances against teams that have truly elite scoring talent. We’re gonna have Aho/Svech run with McDavid/Draisaitl and Matthews/Marner? Good luck.

But if we want to feel better about ourselves in this convo — do defensemen.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

That’s all true, but he also hasn’t scored less than 30 points in a season since his rookie year when he scored 29. If he’s not asking for insane money I’d love to see what he could do on a line with, say, Kotkaniemi and teravainen. Let kk do the dirty work and kessel and turbo take turns setting each other up

We need goal scorers. Those two would be and endless do loop of passing.

 

[hblueridgegal]

The Canes fighting fire with fire would end badly. They’re playing a system that maximizes their chances against teams that have truly elite scoring talent. We’re gonna have Aho/Svech run with McDavid/Draisaitl and Matthews/Marner? Good luck.

But if we want to feel better about ourselves in this convo — do defensemen.

Not that I disagree but perhaps the strategy has a ceiling or time for a few adjustments?

 

[tarheelhockey]

Not that I disagree but perhaps the strategy has a ceiling or time for a few adjustments?

But we would need the scoring talent to justify that kind of change. What does this team look like if we try to make it a track meet? Probably not as good as they are now.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

But we would need the scoring talent to justify that kind of change. What does this team look like if we try to make it a track meet? Probably not as good as they are now.

We would need the scoring talent to justify “a few adjustments”? I don’t think anyone is suggesting becoming a track meet team to go toe-to-toe against the Leafs or whoever. But I have to imagine (or, at least, would hope) there are ways to get closer to a best of both worlds type of situation.

 

[Big Daddy Cane]

They’re +20 5v5 in the playoffs since 18-19. That’s not bad. Among teams with >= 60 GP, Dallas (-16) and Boston (-13) are underwater. Vegas is a juggernaut (+61). Tampa (+37) and Colorado (+33) sit on the next level.

Now, with the exception of Vegas at 19%, every team mentioned above is over 20% on the PP in that sample. The Canes are an abysmal 14.2%.

Some blame coaching. I think it’s the mix of players. Either way, those particular missing goals are unrelated to any EV system.

 

[tarheelhockey]

We would need the scoring talent to justify “a few adjustments”? I don’t think anyone is suggesting becoming a track meet team to go toe-to-toe against the Leafs or whoever. But I have to imagine (or, at least, would hope) there are ways to get closer to a best of both worlds type of situation.

The Canes play such a structured system I’m not sure what “adjustments” would be anything other than a tradeoff involving more offensive strength and more defensive weakness.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

The Canes play such a structured system I’m not sure what “adjustments” would be anything other than a tradeoff involving more offensive strength and more defensive weakness.

I would assume when you have possession in the offensive zone you can insert some creativity instead of pure cycle without tangibly affecting the defensive side of the puck. Rod has always publicly said things like “structure/system until we have ozone possession then guys can be a little more creative” but it’s never really been the case.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

I’m confident that TT and Necas could be 70 point players outside of Rod’s system.

 

[tarheelhockey]

I would assume when you have possession in the offensive zone you can insert some creativity instead of pure cycle without tangibly affecting the defensive side of the puck. Rod has always publicly said things like “structure/system until we have ozone possession then guys can be a little more creative” but it’s never really been the case.

I’m not saying they can’t be creative, but creativity means you’re no longer skating over the top of your defensive matchup. That means odd man breaks the other way. That’s just how it is. The more you dial up the offense, the more you expose the defense.

It’s really a question of, do we have the horses to make that tradeoff worthwhile? I see guys like Aho and Svech being pretty close to the average among top-line players at their positions… they are not 100-point type players who will blow up if you take away the reins. After that we have a couple of guys (Necas, maybe Jarvis, maybe Turbo) who could do some damage, but they aren’t special offensive players. Basically we’d end up with a few PPG type players while losing the defensive discipline that makes our goalies look like studs. I don’t see the upside there.

 

[AhosDatsyukian]

I’m confident that TT and Necas could be 70 point players outside of Rod’s system.

Well yeah, they have been 70 point players in Rod's system, literally.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Well yeah, they have been 70 point players in Rod's system, literally.

Well yeah, that literally was the point of my post. It was sarcasm. Surprised you didn’t recognize that.

 

[chaz4hockey]

How will a 50 foot player/sniper workaround this or flourish in the system?

That “guy” has lots of bad Twitter takes (hopefully no one on here).

 

[SvechneJerk]

I’m not saying they can’t be creative, but creativity means you’re no longer skating over the top of your defensive matchup. That means odd man breaks the other way. That’s just how it is. The more you dial up the offense, the more you expose the defense.

It’s really a question of, do we have the horses to make that tradeoff worthwhile? I see guys like Aho and Svech being pretty close to the average among top-line players at their positions… they are not 100-point type players who will blow up if you take away the reins. After that we have a couple of guys (Necas, maybe Jarvis, maybe Turbo) who could do some damage, but they aren’t special offensive players. Basically we’d end up with a few PPG type players while losing the defensive discipline that makes our goalies look like studs. I don’t see the upside there.

I have a kinda serious (maybe rhetorical) question - what's the point of stacking the blueline like we currently have (subject to change with any trades) & then not allow our forwards a little leeway to be creative? I'm not suggesting we leave our D-men hanging out to dry or anything, just allow the forwards to blossom a little when it comes to their skills. I mean, isn't that why we drafted them - because of their offensive skill?

 

[WreckingCrew]

That “guy” has lots of bad Twitter takes (hopefully no one on here).

It's not exactly a wrong take though...we had an amazing year overall last year but were bottom 5 in shooting %...and for a good chunk of the year it WAS the worst in the league. That shows just how much we relied on goaltending and "team defense.". Unless Arizona has truly elite scoring talent compared to us, at least PART of that can be put on the system/structure/coaching

 

[tarheelhockey]

I have a kinda serious (maybe rhetorical) question - what's the point of stacking the blueline like we currently have (subject to change with any trades) & then not allow our forwards a little leeway to be creative? I'm not suggesting we leave our D-men hanging out to dry or anything, just allow the forwards to blossom a little when it comes to their skills. I mean, isn't that why we drafted them - because of their offensive skill?

Offensive skill is why we picked up Skjei, then Burns, then DeAngelo. All three of them looked defensively porous with their prior teams. If we lose Pesce, presumably we’ll Chatfield in the regular lineup and he’s also just-ok in the 200 foot game.

Why do we not worry about this? Because our forwards play the league’s most effective backchecking game.

Why are we not concerned that we have Kotkaniemi and Staal in our middle 6? Because they play the backchecking game.

Why are we OK with bringing back Andersen/Raanta pairing in net? Because we give them the defensive structure to succeed.

If we loosen up that structure, can we really count on enough offensive production to outpace the worst side of Burns/Skjei/TDA, the lack of outstanding contribution at either end by Kotkaniemi/Staal, the goalies suddenly looking like their best years are behind them? Is an Aho or Svech or Necas or TT really going to blow up to that level? That’s one hell of a risk to take.

I think back to the late 90s/early 00s Devils. Could Patrik Elias have finished higher on the scoring list, probably. Could he have been regarded as a top-10 center instead of a top-15 center, probably. Would the Devils have had a better outcome in that scenario, probably not.

 

[Svechhammer]

I mean the guys on the blue line that we have and the guys we picked up are all exceptionally good at getting the puck out of the defensive zone quickly. If anything, I think you should expect to see us have even more breakaway chances this year unless teams cheat defensively against us, and if they do that, it neutralizes their offense.

A team like NJ who is all offense and sucks defensively will get massively exposed against the team we have built. We really just need 1 or 2 guys who can pick a corner to beat the teams who can play a methodical game like we do and are able to pack it in defensively. We get that, and we can have success against anyone we play. I really don't think there is anything wrong with the way we play, we are just missing the sniper. You get that and I think we win the Presidents Trophy and have a team absolutely nobody wants to play in the playoffs