ATD 2020 Draft Thread IV

[tabness]

Radz take Fredrik Olausson

Olausson is an enigma, and I don't even like that label as it's overused. Talentwise he's incredibly gifted, skating, passing, shot, and he's pretty big too. Great hockey sense as well, my closest comparable when watching him was Lidstrom, but slightly more physical at times (though only at times). When he was new in the league his talent level was marveled at, but he never seemed to meet expectations. Part of that is certainly the context of where he played and who he played with, he certainly didn't have to mentoring and system support that Lidstrom did, nor did he probably get the attention he deserved.

Anyway, the Radz need another puck moving smooth skating defenseman on top of Murphy and (Kevin) Hatcher. He played both right and left defense during his career too which is a plus. Olausson was knocked for being soft and defensively unengaged (though I can point to games where he's anything but) so I'll pair him with Samuelsson who's a big and ultraconservative defensively.

If Olausson is at his best, wow!

 

[ImporterExporter]

OK,

So @kruezer (5 hour clock now down to 4) was skipped at 7:15 AM EST.

@BenchBrawl (4 hour clock) has until 11:15 AM EST to pick.

Thanks.

 

[kruezer]

North Bay will take, from Bratislava on the banks of the ancient Danube at the border of Austria and Hungary, G Vladimir Dzurilla

 

[MadArcand]

There goes the guy I wanted as backup for Hurricanes after Kipper was gone. :|

 

[Habsfan18]

If Olausson is at his best, wow!

Not to nitpick, but keep in mind this is the ATD. The chances of Olausson being “at his best” in an ATD setting is significantly lower than if this were his normal real-life playing days.

We’re probably all guilty of overhyping players, but let’s not pretend that Freddy Olausson is going to be some kind of an ATD difference maker, even at his best lol

 

[Johnny Engine]

Not to nitpick, but keep in mind this is the ATD. The chances of Olausson being “at his best” in an ATD setting is significantly lower than if this were his normal real-life playing days.

We’re probably all guilty of overhyping players, but let’s not pretend that Freddy Olausson is going to be some kind of an ATD difference maker, even at his best lol

I interpreted that as being relative to Olausson's own abilities - if he is indeed at the top of his game, he should contribute about as much as Tomas Kaberle, who was picked 175 spots ahead of him. Now, Kaberle has an 11-year prime as a point producer vs. 5 for Olausson, so we have to assume he's not at the top of his game as much. But if Tabness thinks Olausson is better set up for success on his team than Kaberle on his own, then he'll might get as much or more from that spot on his lineup.

...which in the end is marginal, but in a snake draft, margins win.

 

[Habsfan18]

I interpreted that as being relative to Olausson's own abilities - if he is indeed at the top of his game, he should contribute about as much as Tomas Kaberle, who was picked 175 spots ahead of him. Now, Kaberle has an 11-year prime as a point producer vs. 5 for Olausson, so we have to assume he's not at the top of his game as much. But if Tabness thinks Olausson is better set up for success on his team than Kaberle on his own, then he'll might get as much or more from that spot on his lineup.

...which in the end is marginal, but in a snake draft, margins win.

You could be right - there’s a good chance I just simply misunderstood the post. It was just the thought of Freddy Olausson (even at his best) garnering a “wow” reaction by anyone in an ATD setting..it gave me a good chuckle.

 

[Sprague Cleghorn]

Andre Dupont. According to Overpass' numbers, his R-ON/R-OFF numbers are 1.42/1.33 which is impressive considering the strength of his teams. SH number of 0.84 which I'm assuming is 16% better than average.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Olausson was one of the best PP guys left.

Just limit his minutes as much as possible at even strength.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Andre Dupont. According to Overpass' numbers, his R-ON/R-OFF numbers are 1.42/1.33 which is impressive considering the strength of his teams. SH number of 0.84 which I'm assuming is 16% better than average.

The 0.84 means his TEAMS were 16% better than average shorthanded. Which is of course very good. But for the number to be meaningful, you also need to know how much Dupont himself killed penalties. Dupont himself was on the ice for 39% of his team's PPGA, which is pretty middle of the road.

 

[VanIslander]

The 0.84 means his TEAMS were 16% better than average shorthanded. Which is of course very good. But for the number to be meaningful, you also need to know how much Dupont himself killed penalties. Dupont himself was on the ice for 39% of his team's PPGA, which is pretty middle of the road.

A team's number 1 penalty killer is the goalie and Dupont played most of his career in Philly with Bernie Parent, AND Bobby Clarke on the pk!

 

[Sprague Cleghorn]

What was the hierarchy for the Flyers' SC teams D-man?

I'm guessing Jimmy Watson was the #1. Where do Dupont and the other Watson fit?

 

[tabness]

I interpreted that as being relative to Olausson's own abilities...

That’s it. Just an example, when Hawerchuk was traded and Housley came in to Winnipeg, Olausson was now considered the most talented player on the Jets by quite a few, even above the well established Housley. I think he gets remembered as a the guy moved around later in his career where he wasn’t as spectacular.

Looking at the Radz blueline, Olausson might have the most natural talent there, maybe Kevin Hatcher who also didn’t meet his potential, but only maybe. I say this fully well aware how talented Murphy was (people forget how good of a skater he was when he was younger and only remember old and slow Murphy).

Of course, for reasons of injuries or motivation or lack of guidance or whatever, Olausson didn’t develop that raw talent into consistent superstardom throughout his career. I drafted him as a sixth defenseman paired with perhaps the most defensive of my defensemen, to play the powerplay as I needed one more guy on the backend (Hawerchuk was excellent at the point so he’s there with Murphy and Kevin Hatcher).

Still, as there isn’t much on YouTube, maybe it’s time for a (early Jets era) Freddy Olausson highlight video lol

 

[Habsfan18]

What was the hierarchy for the Flyers' SC teams D-man?

I'm guessing Jimmy Watson was the #1. Where do Dupont and the other Watson fit?

According to one of Fischler’s Hockey Encyclopedia’s that I own, Philly’s D pairings looked like:

Andre Dupont - Jim Watson
Joe Watson - Tom Bladon
Larry Goodenough - Jack McIlhargey

Not sure if it’s 100% accurate obviously.

edit: Sorry, this is 75-76. I’ll look to see for 73-74 and 74-75.

73-74 is listed as:

Bladon - Watson
Watson - Van Impe
Dupont

For some teams and years they list entire line combos and pairings, some are incomplete..

 

[VanIslander]

Philly was notorious for having a below average blueline. When Crosby's Pens won the cup it was said that Pittsburgh had the worst blueline for a champ since Philly (i balked, thinking Carolina).

Philly won by having a superstar center, great goaltending, role players and a lot of gooning it up, drawing penalties to get a pp advantage, and outright attacking and brawling to throw the opposition off their game. Coach Shero admired Tarasov the most, which may seem strange, but it was Tarasov's dedication to adapt the play to the tools on hand, to play to a team's strengths and ride or die with it that proved to help the expansion Flyers become so competitive so quickly.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

What was the hierarchy for the Flyers' SC teams D-man?

I'm guessing Jimmy Watson was the #1. Where do Dupont and the other Watson fit?

Jimmy Watson: 41% usage on PKs 23% better than league average over 616 career games
Andre Dupont: 39% usage on Pks 16% better than league average over 810 career games
XXX: 44% usage on PKs 13% better than league average over 837 career games

I'm assuming the reason their team PK numbers don't match up is because their careers didn't perfectly overlap. I'm using @overpass 's spreadsheet which only lists career numbers.

 

[Sprague Cleghorn]

Jimmy Watson: 41% usage on PKs 23% better than league average over 616 career games
Andre Dupont: 39% usage on Pks 16% better than league average over 810 career games
XXX: 44% usage on PKs 13% better than league average over 837 career games

I'm assuming the reason their team PK numbers don't match up is because their careers didn't perfectly overlap. I'm using @overpass 's spreadsheet which only lists career numbers.

oh i was wondering overall, not just SH

 

[nabby12]

The Portland Penguins select Ed Sandford, LW

Just interviewed Sandford today. Doing well for 91 years old.

 

[VanIslander]

Just interviewed Sandford today. Doing well for 91 years old.

No. You can't do that.

Spill the beans. What did he say?

 

[Johnny Engine]

No. You can't do that.

Spill the beans. What did he say?

Dish the dirt, as it were.

 

[ImporterExporter]

Really good pick. When I had him before I wondered what made him worse than Clark Gillies, though I didn't have the cojones to actually publicly make that comparison.

Besides the fact that Gillies was a 1st team AS twice with 3 other other top 6 finishes. Was a key secondary member of an all time great dynasty (though the 4th run he didn't contribute much). Great checker, solid defensively. Big time fighter i you need that.

Gillies was long overrated in the ATD but has settled into more reasonable position in recent years.

Sandford is a really nice bottom 6 player but his career isn't exactly filled with big bullet points. He's got some nice things written about him but again, we're talking another 06 player who, IMO, gets to much traction based on a handful of newspaper clippings and general overviews from sites like LOH or something similar. Where is the meat?

No Cups. 1 2nd team AS nod with no other great finishes that i can see unless one tries to sneak AS games in which is misleading. He led the playoffs in goals/points once but that is a bit misleading as most of his damage came before the Cup finals vs Montreal where Boston was dominated, not surprisingly.

His bio's (mainly Globe and Mail snippets) read somewhat like Gillies to be honest, although Sandford seemed more versatile in where you could line him up. Did Sandford even kill penalties? I see a few tidbits about him being a strong defensive player but really nothing about him on the PK.

While one can just claim Gillies lurched off Trottier, Bossy, Potvin etc, his resume is still superior, even accounting for these factors.

I don't know if Gillies should go a couple hundred spots ahead of Sandford. That seems excessive but putting their careers side by side, there is no way to get to Sandford = Gillies IMO. Unless there are things written about ES that I'm not aware of.

 

[Dreakmur]

no other great finishes that i can see unless one tries to sneak AS games in which is misleading.

What's misleading about those all-star game selections?

 

[VanIslander]

All star game appearances are soooo MLD.

I can't believe anyone takes a mere appearance in an all star game as significant. A half-decent player on a bad team gets an invite. Olli Jokinen went to the all-star game but he was by no means great.

 

[ImporterExporter]

What's misleading about those all-star game selections?

In season AS games are next to worthless IMO. I thought that was a universal concept?

Postseason AS nods/finishes are far more telling no?

 

[ImporterExporter]

@ResilientBeast (-2) is skipped. Voight is auto skipped.

@rmartin65 is up.

PM going out.