Around the NHL 2020-2021 | Offseason Edition

[lomekian]

Also I do think Tom Wilson probably gets suspended for that, but you can never be quite sure in this league. People are going to be angry though, I know that.

That's a bad and totally unnecessary hit. Hope they throw the book at him.

 

[MBH]

 

[FabricDetails]

...Oof...

 

[FabricDetails]

That's a bad and totally unnecessary hit. Hope they throw the book at him.

7 games the book?

 

[lomekian]

7 games the book?

By NHL standards, yes. Glad he got a proper suspension.

 

[raymond23]

At least we’re not Buffalo

 

[Filppula]

At least we’re not Buffalo

There’s a lot of talent on that team. Why do they stink so much?

 

[MBH]

AA is playing some of the best hockey of his career these days

 

[jaster]

Wow was that awful defense by Shattenkirk.

 

[Run the Jewels]

AA is playing some of the best hockey of his career these days

Well he does have more talent around him and much better coaching. I am happy to see him do well.

 

[Christien]

 

[MBH]

Good.
The draft is a bit of a crapshoot anyway.
Making it more mysterious might just make it more likely to find a few steals.

 

[MBH]

Athanasiou scored again.

 

[lhsgolf19]

Athanasiou scored again.

Sorry but who cares lol

he’s still average

 

[MBH]

Sorry but who cares lol

he’s still average

No need to apologize. Who cares what you think?

Right now he's scoring at a better pace every Red Wing except Bertuzzi and Svechnikov.

 

[lomekian]

No need to apologize. Who cares what you think?

Right now he's scoring at a better pace every Red Wing except Bertuzzi and Svechnikov.

Apart from bits of last year, his offensive potential was never in doubt. I always thought on a better balanced roster with experienced linemates he could be a 0.6-0.7 ppg player at his peak. The problems were the other way. Defensively one of the worst players in a Wings Jersey I've seen in a very long time - despite oustanding physical gifts.
I'm happy enough to see him doing well - we got a decent return and its clear he wasn't seen as a long term option by management. I also quite like seeing the Kings doing well.

 

[Winger98]

Apart from bits of last year, his offensive potential was never in doubt. I always thought on a better balanced roster with experienced linemates he could be a 0.6-0.7 ppg player at his peak. The problems were the other way. Defensively one of the worst players in a Wings Jersey I've seen in a very long time - despite oustanding physical gifts.
I'm happy enough to see him doing well - we got a decent return and its clear he wasn't seen as a long term option by management. I also quite like seeing the Kings doing well.

bouncing around a bit might have been the best thing to happen to him. He wouldn't be the first guy with a ton of talent who needed a bit of a wake-up.

 

[ArGarBarGar]

Good for him. Let's see if it lasts.

 

[Ghost of Ethan Hunt]

Good for him. Let's see if it lasts.

Yep & yep. Contract year too.

 

[MBH]

Apart from bits of last year, his offensive potential was never in doubt. I always thought on a better balanced roster with experienced linemates he could be a 0.6-0.7 ppg player at his peak. The problems were the other way. Defensively one of the worst players in a Wings Jersey I've seen in a very long time - despite oustanding physical gifts.
I'm happy enough to see him doing well - we got a decent return and its clear he wasn't seen as a long term option by management. I also quite like seeing the Kings doing well.

His defensive problems were always overblown by people looking to defend Blashill.
Every once in awhile you see AA lose his man if he gets caught puck watching on a long shift in the zone - and that happens to almost every winger.
He doesn't give the puck away much in his own zone.
His backchecking is above average to even very good in transition.

There were two legit AA issues, defensively, and one other issue.

1) He sometimes blew the zone looking for a lob pass or lead pass when the safe play was waiting on the boards and contesting the chip up the boards.
I'm not really sure what's the better option. But AA's option wasn't the safe option.

2) AA doesn't physically engage much. He'll lift a stick and slash a stick. But who won't often dig in with his body, and power through a guy to make the play. This hurts him on battles in all 3 zones. It allows other teams to escape the Ozone. It allows more 50-50 neutral zone battles to come into the dzone. It creates longer Dzone shifts.

3) The other issue is AA's sulking. Without a doubt, last year's woes were caused by the back injury to some degree. But I'm also pretty sure AA just has a low "give a f***" threshold when coached by clueless twats like Blashill.

As for AA's ability to keep this up.
The stats tell the story.
AA's G/60 and P/60 at ES.
15-16 1.53 2.48
16-17 1.36 2.00
17-18 0.96 1.92
18-19 1.35 2.21
19-20 0.64 1.57
20-21 1.67 2.78

Taking out last year, it's pretty clear you can count on at least 1.0 G/60 and 2 P/60
Those are solid production numbers.

 

[MBH]

bouncing around a bit might have been the best thing to happen to him. He wouldn't be the first guy with a ton of talent who needed a bit of a wake-up.

Maybe.
Or maybe when a coach jerks a young kid around as he's trying to navigate the early days of the NHL, you risk f***ing up that development.
Talk to Peter Mrazek about getting the f*** away from Blashill.

 

[Winger98]

Maybe.
Or maybe when a coach jerks a young kid around as he's trying to navigate the early days of the NHL, you risk f***ing up that development.
Talk to Peter Mrazek about getting the f*** away from Blashill.

The Wings fired their goalie coach and promoted Mrazek's guy up from GR when they tried to get him to make the jump. Maybe Mrazek (and athanasiou) saw his biggest problem every day when he looked in the mirror.

 

[MBH]

The Wings fired their goalie coach and promoted Mrazek's guy up from GR when they tried to get him to make the jump. Maybe Mrazek (and athanasiou) saw his biggest problem every day when he looked in the mirror.

That's the hometown narrative.
Mrazek.
Jurco.
Athanasiou.
Ouellet.
Marchenko.
Sheahan.
Tatar.
Pulkkinen.
Nyquist.
Mantha.
Cholowski.
Svechnikov.
Maybe even Larkin at this point.

Maybe all guys not as good as we wanted.
But all guys who looked good at times in Detroit and then got Glendeninged/Millered and Blashilled to a lower level of hockey.

Some guys survived in the NHL. Some didn't.

But that's OK.
We still got years of watching Abby and Helm in he top six and Trevor Daley and Jonathan Ericsson playing over young defensemen---
All important steps as Captains Holland and Blashill drove these team to the depths of the NHL's basement.

 

[Winger98]

That's the hometown narrative.
Mrazek.
Jurco.
Athanasiou.
Ouellet.
Marchenko.
Sheahan.
Tatar.
Pulkkinen.
Nyquist.
Mantha.
Cholowski.
Svechnikov.
Maybe even Larkin at this point.

Maybe all guys not as good as we wanted.
But all guys who looked good at times in Detroit and then got Glendeninged/Millered and Blashilled to a lower level of hockey.

Some guys survived in the NHL. Some didn't.

But that's OK.
We still got years of watching Abby and Helm in he top six and Trevor Daley and Jonathan Ericsson playing over young defensemen---
All important steps as Captains Holland and Blashill drove these team to the depths of the NHL's basement.

I don't see why Tatar, nyquist, Mantha, or Larkin are on that list. If guys leave this team and aren't good enough to hold down a job anywhere in the NHL, that probably says more about them than the Wings.

 

[ArGarBarGar]

That is such an odd list, because it conflates players who had "better" seasons elsewhere with other players who ended up fizzling out. And putting Cholowski on there when nothing about coaching seems to be his problem because he comes across as too brain-dead to actually understand coaching systems in the first place.