Post-Game Talk: Bear (Preseason edition)

[Shesterkybomb]

The other things I noticed:
His skating concerns are overblown, he gets to where he needs to be regularly
He has very good hockey sense. The puck kind of follows him around and he consistently finds himself in soft spots or good spots for his teammates to find him. That's a skill that is hard to teach

Been saying this all along, he skates well enough to get to where he needs to be, some players are buzz saws but don't know where or when to go somewhere. He catches people with hits so it's not like he's plodding along, he's not Hagelin but he's not Maroon either.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

Theres no space for Mancini at the moment and getting top pair+ST minutes in Hartford are going to be 1000000x better for him than getting 8-10 with the Rangers.

Also important to note that he stood out against mostly the level of competition that he's going to be facing this year. It's not a bad thing and its obviously better to look good than to suck but these are things to consider.

But theres something there for sure though and he has the size that the FO covets. Might be someone who ends up sliding into the lineup next year after Trouba is moved.

Wish we had a LD version to push Lindgren but that guy is going to have to come from outside of the organization.

 

[eco's bones]

I made this same comparison for Mancini a week or two ago too. The Skjei one is really interesting. I think there may be more offense available for a good skating d-man who can get pucks to the net effectively at the NHL level over college.

When Mancini started in Hartford I was expecting he'd do fairly well on the things that were his strengths in college because he was a top notch defender with a lot of size and who skated well. For a defenseman just having those specific elements in your game is enough to become an NHL player. I wasn't expecting him really to put up any offense and the 3 assists in 7 regular season games and 3 more assists in 10 playoff games was more that I would have thought.

Sometimes just playing with better players makes a player a significantly better player.

As for his chances to break camp with the Rangers I think it's still too early to tell....not just for him but for Edstrom, Othmann, Berard as well. It's one game---if he continues to stand out when he plays he'll make it hard to send him down. I'd note what Rod Brind'amour said about Seth Jarvis when he first made the Canes. That they were expecting to send him back to the CHL but his play kept him hanging around and eventually he beat out his competition and won a job. The same could happen anywhere....and there are guys I think that most people have pencilled in that could be moved for other assets if someone like a Mancini or a Berard pushes them out.

 

[romba]

Yes... but also.. this scares me:

https://x.com/i/web/status/1837994066975313985

Watch #58 on the Bruins. If this wasn't pre-season, Chytil may have had a rough time there.

Yes #58 held up a bit but Chytil was also aware of his presence and got rid of the puck and turned away from so it likely would not have been too bad for him. Even a weaker hit though might cause Chytil issues- the one last year seemed benign but sent him off for months. It is what it is though he can't be a perimeter player and put up points, and unlike Mika Z, Chytil is still hoping for a big(ger) payday- the key is that he skated with his head up which is what he needs to do whenever he heads towards the middle of the ice to try to minimize a big hit.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

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.

Well one conclusion we can draw is that Kakko is still slower than a monkeys grandma, and I don’t think that’s going to change once the regular season starts.

 

[Machinehead]

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.

I've concluded Kakko is horrible based on the last five regular seasons and a handful of playoffs in there as well.

 

[bhamill]

If Othmann is going to make the NHL this season (doesn't look like it), he will have to be better in his own zone and stop taking dumb penalties.

Only penalty Othmann took last night was a matching major and he drew an additional minor on the fight… but in general you’re right. He has to be drawing dumb penalties, not taking them.

 

[TGWL]

Only penalty Othmann took last night was a matching major and he drew an additional minor on the fight… but in general you’re right. He has to be drawing dumb penalties, not taking them.

And he got away with 1 or 2. That won't always be the case, they will get called eventually and he will be benched. He would have a longer leash if his play away from the puck was better. Right now it's going to be very short.

 

[bhamill]

And he got away with 1 or 2. That won't always be the case, they will get called eventually and he will be benched.

Just about every player gets away with a couple a game, especially physical players, though I saw nothing blatant that should have been called. He’s an aggressive player. Management wants him that way and penalties come with that. It would be a huge mistake to neuter his game. The important thing is drawing more than you take and not taking any at inopportune times.

 

[bl02]

Yes... but also.. this scares me:

https://x.com/i/web/status/1837994066975313985

Watch #58 on the Bruins. If this wasn't pre-season, Chytil may have had a rough time there.

Yep I hear you. I was pretty nervous several times that game regarding Chytil and taking some spills.
He even went down hard into the boards.
Considering how he got hurt last time (Practice and against Fast I believe) it doesn't necessarily have to be a hard hit that hurts him.
I know nothing new but he has to play like he did last night to be effective and help the team.

 

[NYR Viper]

Count me in the group that would prefer more guys push the line a bit with their physical play

 

[kovazub94]

Exactly, I compare the two only stylistically, in no way am I saying he'll turn out like Miller, but again, Miller wasn't supposed to turn into Miller either.

The only similarity between Miller and Othman is that both were selected by the Rangers in the middle of the first round. There's almost nothing stylistically similar between them.
First, JTM even in his early days showed plenty of glimpses of offensive creativity and playmaking - Othmann has very little of this. Second, or adjacent Miller showed pretty good puck-handling and soft hands - again this is not Othmann I've seen. Lastly, Miller hasn't really been an agitating type which is a pretty noticeable trait from Othmann.

P.S. it's not even a style but when JT Miller joined the organization he was already fully physically ready for the grind of the NHL.