Post-Game Talk: Bear (Preseason edition)

[Alluckks]

Who cares if Kakko was useless? He is who we thought he was going ending last year anyway.

Chytil looks great again. Keep your damn head up kid.

Othmann could play just like Cuylle but with a better shot/slapper. In fact, I'm positive the 3rd line would be better if he just replaced Kakko outright. Put Kakko on the 4th line with Edstrom and Rempe because they aren't gonna generate any sustained offense anyway, then just give him and Edstrom the PK minutes from Kreider and Zib.

 

[Rempe73]

I’m obsessed with Mancini and I think he will be a #2/3 D in his prime.

 

[Chytilmania]

Sam did

Sam is going to go out with a perfect season. No excuse me's or no relation's.

 

[Rempe73]

I think you guys are a little hard on Kakko. He had some good to great moments. Did this game give me hope that he’ll be a star? No. The competition was poor. But I do think he’ll be better this year. It is what it is. He’s a middle 6 forward with top 6 upside.

 

[Crease]

The most positive thing I can say about Kakko is that Laf looked terrible last preseason.

 

[will1066]

Sam is going to go out with a perfect season. No excuse me's or no relation's.

O for 2 there unfortunately already lol

 

[SnowblindNYR]

I missed the game because I can't justify watching a preseason game over a regular season football game. What does Mancini do that gets everyone excited (other than the points)?

 

[bernmeister]

The KK hate needs to stop if it is not gonna be objective
On top of that, some foolishly want to ditch him for a 3rd
when I've said REPEATEDLY
need to have him here when bread goes before his deal is up

KK was not spectacular
BUT he WAS sufficiently SOLID

Look carefully
On Rs goal scored, he was near front of the net, forcing Bs to address his presence

I have roster building comments in the other thread

 

[bernmeister]

I missed the game because I can't justify watching a preseason game over a regular season football game. What does Mancini do that gets everyone excited (other than the points)?

solid skater, sufficiently fast
moved the puck
hit hard
= legit 3RD for us NOW

we should put Trouba at 4RW [until we can move him] w/Eds at LW and Rempe at C

once we can-> do move JT, then Othmann to 4LW [until bread is gone] w/Eds at C and Rempe at 4RW

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Chytil looked really good.

I’m excited about that 3rd line, let them play another 3 pre-season games to get Cuylle more comfortable there.

Victor is going to he an NHL player for sure in a year or so.

The KK hate needs to stop if it is not gonna be objective
On top of that, some foolishly want to ditch him for a 3rd
when I've said REPEATEDLY
need to have him here when bread goes before his deal is up

KK was not spectacular
BUT he WAS sufficiently SOLID

Look carefully
On Rs goal scored, he was near front of the net, forcing Bs to address his presence

I have roster building comments in the other thread

I agree. It’s ridiculous and exhausting to read at this point. Kakko was fine, he certainly wasn’t hurting that line. And for crying out loud it was one preseason game…

 

[romba]

GUYZZZ. it’s preseason.

 

[Clark Kellogg]

 

[TheDirtyH]

I liked Chemlar, reminded me of Engvall on NYI. Clearly not NHL ready, but I can see it with him. Sykora continues not to impress me, but he might just be a guy who needs 4-5 years to cook, he was a young draftee IIRC. Mancini was impressive with the puck but he's got some strength to put on I think. Othmann looks quicker and stronger, that's what you want.

 

[Guyute]

Up front, Chytil was awesome. Kakko and Cuylle looked similar to last year. Othmann doesn’t seem ready.

Mancini was solid. He could be Trouba’s replacement next year.

Goalies looked good too. Take the two points and run.

 

[Rempe73]

I missed the game because I can't justify watching a preseason game over a regular season football game. What does Mancini do that gets everyone excited (other than the points)?

Don’t mind if I do. He just screams NHL player. Poise, confidence, head always up, good decision-making, big body, good shot, underrated hands, good skating ability, good defense. This was only my first time watching him but he seems to do everything very well. Maybe his passing doesn’t blow me away? But it’s good enough to be a PPQB.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Don’t mind if I do. He just screams NHL player. Poise, confidence, head always up, good decision-making, big body, good shot, underrated hands, good skating ability, good defense. This was only my first time watching him but he seems to do everything very well. Maybe his passing doesn’t blow me away? But it’s good enough to be a PPQB.

I saw he was an overager in 2022, interesting.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Don’t mind if I do. He just screams NHL player. Poise, confidence, head always up, good decision-making, big body, good shot, underrated hands, good skating ability, good defense. This was only my first time watching him but he seems to do everything very well. Maybe his passing doesn’t blow me away? But it’s good enough to be a PPQB.

He’s not going to be PPQB. That’s not his game. He barley had any points in the NCAA. I guess things can always change but he will be a good defensive dman who we can rely on to move the puck up the ice (Unlike Lindgren). He’ll get PP time in HFD though so we can see if he can develop more offense to his game, though to be fair he looked good with the puck in the offensive zone tonight with a small sample size.

 

[Rempe73]

I saw he was an overager in 2022, interesting.

Yea I thought he would be just the typical 5/6 defensive D at his best. But I truly think he has top pair upside in his prime. Only thing is that he was playing against weak competition and he’s already 22.

 

[Shesterkybomb]

I kinda liked Mackey today too. I could see him being a 6th or 7th dman for us this year.

 

[eco's bones]

He’s not going to be PPQB. That’s not his game. He barley had any points in the NCAA. I guess things can always change but he will be a good defensive dman who we can rely on to move the puck up the ice (Unlike Lindgren). He’ll get PP time in HFD though so we can see if he can develop more offense to his game, though to be fair he looked good with the puck in the offensive zone tonight with a small sample size.

FWIW Brendan Smith was a monster of an offensive defenseman for Wisconsin U. in his final/junior year. In 42 games 15 goals 37 assists. Brady Skjei was just a really good stay at home D. His last year also as a junior he played 33 games for Minnesota U. and had 1 goal and 9 assists.

Weird things can happen. But also Skjei had a defensive game together by the time he left college that Brendan Smith didn't quite. And for Brady I think that was a foundation he could build from when he turned pro and he's become a pretty good offensive contributor. To some degree I think Mancini's path in college was quite similar to Skjei's and I think he also has similar size and skating ability. Watching him today on the power play.....it wasn't a fantastic team he was playing against but he moved the puck around better than I've seen Miller or Trouba when they play power play. Now we might wait and see how he does when he plays against more NHL level competition later on in training camp but he looked alright at it tonight.

 

[Oscar Lindberg]

Glad people aren’t overreacting to one game against bums and saying Mancini has top pairing upside

 

[McRanger92]

Can paisano Mancini play the left side? He can move and handle the puck for a big boy.

Cuylle-Chytil-Kakko line against other teams 3rd pairs is going to be very effective if they stay healthy.

That’s all I got. Feels good to be back.

 

[eco's bones]

TSN's boxscore has the ice time---Mancini played 23:06, Mackey 23:03, Fitzgerald 20:49, Schneider 20:32, Scanlin 19:44 and Robertson 8:13.

I think Robertson got hurt some time in the first several minutes of the second period. After that the pairings shuffled and all the other D's ice time went up.

 

[2014nyr]

people are really doing the thing where they're ready to conclude kakko is going to be horrible this season and needs to be replaced now? in the first preseason game of the season??

laf looked pretty rough the entire preseason last year and i'm guessing the same people were saying the same things. panarin looked awful in the preseason too...both had pretty good years i'd say. quick looked pretty bad in the preseason...worked out ok.

you can't use 1 game to draw conclusions about people. you absolutely cannot use a damn preseason game. the same applies to chytil or mancini in a positive sense. they were fantastic, and certainly you'd rather see players look great. it means nothing in terms of how they'll play this season though. the mindset and motivation of players during preseason has massive difference...you have a bunch of guys trying to earn spots going all out and trying to make an impression. there's a lot of non-nhl players than can get exposed by talent. there's vets the game is meaningless for and they're just out there to get a sweat in and get some situation reps at game pace. there's vets who have specific things they worked on they're primarily focused on executing in a game environment etc.

 

[LionsHeart]

I’m not getting crazy over a preseason game, so I won’t nail Kakko to the cross.

That being said, I like this Mancini kid.