OT: Blue Jackets Behind the Draft

[Roof Daddy]

Where's our Quick? Where's our Rinne? We didnt take a goalie at all. Not even with one of the end of the road picks we traded down for.

Our goaltending depth chart reads like this,

Devan Dubnyk
Jason Labarbera
Richard Bachman
Olivier Roy
Tyler Bunz
Frans Tuohimaa

You see a Quick or a Rinne in there?

Using your logic, I guess Grant Fuhr never would have been an Oiler. Good thing the Oiler scouts are on the ball with regards to not drafting goalies higher than the second round. Thank goodness we arent Pittsburgh or Montreal. Those guys are idiots.

Why do you have the success or failure of MacT's first draft directly related to whether or not he took a goalie? It's completely unwarranted. I realize you take pride in leading the charge when it comes to the critical Oiler fan, but seriously, all I've provided is facts as to why drafting goalies in early rounds is no more a sure thing than late rounds, yet you still choose to chastise management for not taking a player who would be as big a question mark as any that they did take. Sure, from an organizational perspective, goalie would be a need. So is a center with size, which they landed in Yakimov. Maybe they feel 2014 is a stronger goalie class?

And yes, using my logic we may not have had Grant Fuhr. Instead, the next player to go was Dman James Patrick, who may have put up better numbers than his 639 points in 1280 games had he played for the Oil, all while watching Andy Moog backstop us to numerous Cup victories. I would have been OK with that.

 

[Conkanen*]

This is nonsense.

One only has to look to the last time the Oilers were in the playoffs to see what difference a good goalie makes.

We were a good team with a bad goalie for most of the year, until we brought in Roloson. That made all the difference in the world. Then when Roloson got hurt...........well, you know the rest of the story.

Goaltending is huge, and more often than not is the difference between winning and losing.

Good thing the Oil drafted and developed him....oh wait.

 

[I am the Liquor]

Why do you have the success or failure of MacT's first draft directly related to whether or not he took a goalie? It's completely unwarranted. I realize you take pride in leading the charge when it comes to the critical Oiler fan, but seriously, all I've provided is facts as to why drafting goalies in early rounds is no more a sure thing than late rounds, yet you still choose to chastise management for not taking a player who would be as big a question mark as any that they did take. Sure, from an organizational perspective, goalie would be a need. So is a center with size, which they landed in Yakimov. Maybe they feel 2014 is a stronger goalie class?

And yes, using my logic we may not have had Grant Fuhr. Instead, the next player to go was Dman James Patrick, who may have put up better numbers than his 639 points in 1280 games had he played for the Oil, all while watching Andy Moog backstop us to numerous Cup victories. I would have been OK with that.

Grant Fuhr is a Hall of Famer. Youre saying you would have been ok with James Patrick and Andy Moog instead? Ruh roh?

Since when have the Oilers been smarter than the other teams? Back when Glen Sather was running things? Sure as **** hasnt been the case under the two clowns that are in charge now. Why wasnt Boston, Ottawa, Montreal or Pittsburgh trading their second rounders for depth picks if that was such a great move?

Because they arent dumb as rocks would be the appropriate answer. Meanwhile everyone is falling all over themselves trying to rationalize what a good move Mact made passing on quality players (not just goalies) to draft guys who are getting paid well to play pro in their homeland. Sounds like a surefire plan to me.

Hey Victor, and Sergei, want to leave your families/girlfriends/wives to come play in the ahl for less money? What's that? No? You want a guaranteed one way deal? Well, what the hell, its only money right?

 

[Oiltankjob Fail]

Grant Fuhr is a Hall of Famer. Youre saying you would have been ok with James Patrick and Andy Moog instead? Ruh roh?
Since when have the Oilers been smarter than the other teams? Back when Glen Sather was running things? Sure as **** hasnt been the case under the two clowns that are in charge now. Why wasnt Boston, Ottawa, Montreal or Pittsburgh trading their second rounders for depth picks if that was such a great move?

Because they arent dumb as rocks would be the appropriate answer. Meanwhile everyone is falling all over themselves trying to rationalize what a good move Mact made passing on quality players (not just goalies) to draft guys who are getting paid well to play pro in their homeland. Sounds like a surefire plan to me.

Hey Victor, and Sergei, want to leave your families/girlfriends/wives to come play in the ahl for less money? What's that? No? You want a guaranteed one way deal? Well, what the hell, its only money right?

Honestly how we would fill the opposition net don't think it would of mattered all that much also Moog was great when Fuhr was hurt in playoffs.

 

[Archangel]

Just to add, what I like about the selections MacTavish made is that he made a number of "Money Puck" moves with the assortment of picks he acquired.

Slepyshev and Yakimov both fell primarily because of the Russian factor.
Platzer played a limited role for London and thus didn't get a chance to put up offensive numbers.
Muir played in the BCHL which is sometimes overlooked by scouts.

It will be interesting to see if any of them develop.

The Russian factor being they told everyone they may never come over and that they are both happy in the motherland

 

[Conkanen*]

Why do you have the success or failure of MacT's first draft directly related to whether or not he took a goalie? It's completely unwarranted. I realize you take pride in leading the charge when it comes to the critical Oiler fan, but seriously, all I've provided is facts as to why drafting goalies in early rounds is no more a sure thing than late rounds, yet you still choose to chastise management for not taking a player who would be as big a question mark as any that they did take. Sure, from an organizational perspective, goalie would be a need. So is a center with size, which they landed in Yakimov. Maybe they feel 2014 is a stronger goalie class?

And yes, using my logic we may not have had Grant Fuhr. Instead, the next player to go was Dman James Patrick, who may have put up better numbers than his 639 points in 1280 games had he played for the Oil, all while watching Andy Moog backstop us to numerous Cup victories. I would have been OK with that.

Roof...forget it...certain individuals wouldn't know facts if it hit em in the backside. Goalies can be and have been plucked from everywhere. Take a look at the last 5 Vezina winners(Miller, Thomas, Lundquist, Bobrovsky)...No where near the 2nd rd. I would have thrown my laptop against the wall had we taken a goalie in the 2nd round. Fact is goalies are lottery tickets no matter where they are drafted. I sure as hell don't wanna buying on in the 2nd rd.

 

[Draiskull]

The Russian factor being they told everyone they may never come over and that they are both happy in the motherland

Yes I am very happy in KHL but I will still come over for draft combine, .. stay over in NA to train, say all the right things, attend development camp and then go back to Russia and play out rest of my life..


With Slepyshev, MacT mentioned having inside scoop on the prospect so hopefully Slepy hinted of him willing to come over to NA down the road..

 

[Cerebral]

The Russian factor being they told everyone they may never come over and that they are both happy in the motherland

That's exactly what I said. That can lead to an increase in value at the draft position as teams will pass on the player based on perceived availability rather than shear ability. We don't know if Yakimov or Slepyshev will come over but MacTavish certainly got good value at those spots if they choose to come to North America.

 

[Halibut]

If that's the case then the Oilers have had an amazing string of bad luck finding players in round 2 and beyond. It may seem like making a mountain out of a molehill but these picks are criticial in building up depth, especially in a cap system. Teams like CHI and LA manage to find these players in the later rounds, and right now I'd say that's the biggest obstacle between where those teams are and where the Oilers hope to be.

It might be bad luck but it's certainly not amazingly so. Even teams that have drafted players in the 2nd round and later they tend to lose many of those guys because they dont develop quickly enough so they let them go and they find their niche elsewhere. Maybe Joensuu is one of those guys for us.

 

[Asher]

It might be bad luck but it's certainly not amazingly so. Even teams that have drafted players in the 2nd round and later they tend to lose many of those guys because they dont develop quickly enough so they let them go and they find their niche elsewhere. Maybe Joensuu is one of those guys for us.

I'll give a prime example of what I'm talking about. After the Hawks won the Cup a few years ago the common thought was the cap was going to kill them. They were going to have to blow it up and start over. Well, they did blow it up, losing huge contributors like Buff in the process. But what did they do after that? They replaced the players they lost with guys like Bickell (41st overall), Hjalmarsson (108th overall), and Saad (43rd overall). I'd be happy if the Oilers had drafted even one of those players, much less all three.

The Oilers still have plenty of depth holes to fill, and not being able to fix any of them through the draft has lengthened the rebuild considerably IMO. And btw, the Hawks managed filled to fill yet another hole by making a great trade for Leddy. Yeah, maybe they were just really lucky to build a roster, be forced to tear big holes in it and then fill those holes again in a only a few years. Or maybe they just know what they're doing. I believe in that saying about you need to be good to be lucky. Random chance does play a role, but it's not all random chance. Some management teams are just better at their jobs than others.

 

[Fourier]

I'll give a prime example of what I'm talking about. After the Hawks won the Cup a few years ago the common thought was the cap was going to kill them. They were going to have to blow it up and start over. Well, they did blow it up, losing huge contributors like Buff in the process. But what did they do after that? They replaced the players they lost with guys like Bickell (41st overall), Hjalmarsson (108th overall), and Saad (43rd overall). I'd be happy if the Oilers had drafted even one of those players, much less all three.

The Oilers still have plenty of depth holes to fill, and not being able to fix any of them through the draft has lengthened the rebuild considerably IMO. And btw, the Hawks managed filled to fill yet another hole by making a great trade for Leddy. Yeah, maybe they were just really lucky to build a roster, be forced to tear big holes in it and then fill those holes again in a only a few years. Or maybe they just know what they're doing. I believe in that saying about you need to be good to be lucky. Random chance does play a role, but it's not all random chance. Some management teams are just better at their jobs than others.

I am not really sure I agree with the premise of what you are saying though.

The Oiler's rebuild started with the draft that got them Hall, or to be more exact at the deadline that year. Basically 4 years ago. The only "core" members who actually predate that are Gagner (drafted in 2007), Eberle (drafted in 2008) and Smid (by trade in .

With the exception of an almost inexpicable run in 2001-2002 the Hawks were a terrible hockey team for a decade from 1997-98 to 2007-2008.

If you look at the Chicago core the key players are Keith (2002), Seabrook (2003)Kane(2007), Toews (2006), Hossa (by FA in 2010), Campbell (by FA in 2008) and Sharp(by trade in 2005). When they won their cup 5 of the 7 key players were at least 7 years from their draft.

The key secondary players were Ladd (drafted by Carolina in 2004), Versteeg (drafted by Boston in 2004), Brouwer (drafted in 2004), Byfuglien (drafted in 2003)

The reason people tend to think Chicago rose so fast was that Kane and Toews came near the end of the process. Even the retool was based on guys like Bickell (drafted in 2004) and Hjalmarsson (drafted in 2005).

Leddy is still fairly wet behind the ears, and he is 22 which would make him older than the majority of the Oiler's core. Saad is the only recent draft choice that has played much of a role since Kane was picked. Other than him, Kruger is the only other pick that has really played at all and the jury is definitely out on his role long term.

Bottom line is it is probably two to three years too early to be comparing the Oiler rebuild to Chicago's. The Oilers have a long way to go but we just don't know how it will turn out.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Good post Fourier, but look at Saad who has been much more recent. We would kill to have a 2nd rounder turn out like that. Maybe Marincin has a chance to be that kind of an impact player? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

 

[Halibut]

Good post Fourier, but look at Saad who has been much more recent. We would kill to have a 2nd rounder turn out like that. Maybe Marincin has a chance to be that kind of an impact player? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

We also have Petry who was a later rounder and is just now coming into his own. We're not without these guys we just havent had as many.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

We also have Petry who was a later rounder and is just now coming into his own. We're not without these guys we just havent had as many.

Yes and Petry was under Prendergast IIRC. Petry, Stoll and Greene IIRC are our lone 2nd round representatives in the last 10-15 years that have done anything significant with their careers. We currently have Lander, Pitlick, Marincin, Hamilton, Moroz and Marco Roy as our 2nd rounders in the system. We need some of these guys to turn into solid contributors.

 

[Asher]

I am not really sure I agree with the premise of what you are saying though.

The Oiler's rebuild started with the draft that got them Hall, or to be more exact at the deadline that year. Basically 4 years ago. The only "core" members who actually predate that are Gagner (drafted in 2007), Eberle (drafted in 2008) and Smid (by trade in .

With the exception of an almost inexpicable run in 2001-2002 the Hawks were a terrible hockey team for a decade from 1997-98 to 2007-2008.

If you look at the Chicago core the key players are Keith (2002), Seabrook (2003)Kane(2007), Toews (2006), Hossa (by FA in 2010), Campbell (by FA in 2008) and Sharp(by trade in 2005). When they won their cup 5 of the 7 key players were at least 7 years from their draft.

The key secondary players were Ladd (drafted by Carolina in 2004), Versteeg (drafted by Boston in 2004), Brouwer (drafted in 2004), Byfuglien (drafted in 2003)

The reason people tend to think Chicago rose so fast was that Kane and Toews came near the end of the process. Even the retool was based on guys like Bickell (drafted in 2004) and Hjalmarsson (drafted in 2005).

Leddy is still fairly wet behind the ears, and he is 22 which would make him older than the majority of the Oiler's core. Saad is the only recent draft choice that has played much of a role since Kane was picked. Other than him, Kruger is the only other pick that has really played at all and the jury is definitely out on his role long term.

Bottom line is it is probably two to three years too early to be comparing the Oiler rebuild to Chicago's. The Oilers have a long way to go but we just don't know how it will turn out.

If I understand you correctly you're bringing up something that I considered myself, that with the exception of Saad the pieces were drafted earlier than the re-tooling the Hawks did after 2010. Fair point, and as I said, I thought about too. Nevertheless, the fact is they had depth pool in place that produced those players, and without it they probably don't win the cup again last year. The Oilers do not have strong prospect pool -- I know that's going to be a point of disagreement between myself and you and others who still think it's too early to say that -- but that's my opinion on the subject.

MacGregor has been the head of amateur scouting since 2007 (and I assume began really making his presence felt in 2008). I give him credit for doing well with the 1st round picks. That's a huge improvement over KP, but if this team is really going to start building a contender through the draft then he needs to start adding NHL players throughout the draft. Right now there's very little in the way of depth prospects to feel good about IMO... Lander, Marancin, maybe Musil. If not for hitting a home run with Eberle and perhaps with Klefbom (who might end up being more of a double than a home-run), MacGregor has done very little to make me think this is a future championship team that's going to get built through the draft. That leaves trades where Tambo did nothing and MacT is well... we'll see, and free agency (which can certainly help but can get a team in cap trouble in a hurry).

 

[Asher]

Yes and Petry was under Prendergast IIRC. Petry, Stoll and Greene IIRC are our lone 2nd round representatives in the last 10-15 years that have done anything significant with their careers. We currently have Lander, Pitlick, Marincin, Hamilton, Moroz and Marco Roy as our 2nd rounders in the system. We need some of these guys to turn into solid contributors.

KP's one saving grace. With very few exceptions he sucked at 1st round picks but did manage to find some gems in the later rounds. As for the Oilers' current prospects, I've always made it clear that I don't follow them as closely as many of you here do, but I read up on them occasionally. And what I do read is rarely good these days. Other than Marancin, I haven't seen many positive stories. When I read about players like Hamilton, Ewanyk, and Pitlick, it's not about how they're getting better, but how about they appear to be regressing and the "b" word is now making it's appearance. I can be patient, but I have to be realistic too. The Oilers don't have a young prospect pool that's coming along great, just waiting to burst with players can will make an impact. It's actually quite the opposite.

 

[The Nuge]

Good post Fourier, but look at Saad who has been much more recent. We would kill to have a 2nd rounder turn out like that. Maybe Marincin has a chance to be that kind of an impact player? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

That one still really bothers me. I'm a huge Musil fan, but I was so let down when we passed on Saad. Especially with how he's played lately

 

[Fourier]

If I understand you correctly you're bringing up something that I considered myself, that with the exception of Saad the pieces were drafted earlier than the re-tooling the Hawks did after 2010. Fair point, and as I said, I thought about too. Nevertheless, the fact is they had depth pool in place that produced those players, and without it they probably don't win the cup again last year. The Oilers do not have strong prospect pool -- I know that's going to be a point of disagreement between myself and you and others who still think it's too early to say that -- but that's my opinion on the subject.

MacGregor has been the head of amateur scouting since 2007 (and I assume began really making his presence felt in 2008). I give him credit for doing well with the 1st round picks. That's a huge improvement over KP, but if this team is really going to start building a contender through the draft then he needs to start adding NHL players throughout the draft. Right now there's very little in the way of depth prospects to feel good about IMO... Lander, Marancin, maybe Musil. If not for hitting a home run with Eberle and perhaps with Klefbom (who might end up being more of a double than a home-run), MacGregor has done very little to make me think this is a future championship team that's going to get built through the draft. That leaves trades where Tambo did nothing and MacT is well... we'll see, and free agency (which can certainly help but can get a team in cap trouble in a hurry).

Right now it is true that they don't have the strong pool one needs to fill in the missing slots. But part of that is that all of their recent 1st are currently in the NHL other than Nurse and Klefbom. If you look at the time frame of the Chicago cup wins those extra pieces were accumulated over ten years and a good number were obtained by trading away guys they could no longer afford.

And while the pick of Eberle and Klefbom, let alone Lander and Marincin are often dismissed how do you explain that the great Chicago draft minds that found all those late gems also managed to pick:

Igor Markov #33 in 2006
The legendary Bill Sweatt #38 in 2007
Kyle Beach #11 2008
Dylan Olsen #24 2009 (Not a bad pick but certainly no better than Marincin right now)
Kevin Hayes #24 2010
Ludvig Rensfeldt #35 2010

When you look at that group how do Eberle, Klefbom, Lander, Marincin and Musil compare? The were picked in roughly the same spots as those guys over a similar period.

When for example did you know that Bickell would be the type of guy who would be a player to contribute in a cup run? Six year after his draft he was still in the AHL and was able to clear waivers. Do we know for sure that there is no late bloomer like Bickell in the Oilers system?

Will Petry be as good as Hjalmarsson? Remember that in 2011-2012 Hjalmarsson was a guy who looked like he may have been on the way out

The Oiler have also just turned Paajarvi into Perron. Maybe they can turn the 2015 #1 into a real player?

There is no sure thing here but I stand by what I said that it is too early to compare the Oilers with Chicago.

 

[Fourier]

Good post Fourier, but look at Saad who has been much more recent. We would kill to have a 2nd rounder turn out like that. Maybe Marincin has a chance to be that kind of an impact player? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

I did mention Saad. I suggested him as a potential trade target after watching him have a fabulous series against Yak and the Sting in the year after he was drafted. I would have taken Saad over Musil in his draft year as well. But it was not some great insight that Chicago had in picking him. He was a definite first round talent who dropped because of a combination of an injury and inconsistency in his draft year. He also had a rep of being a bit lazy after jumping from the US NTDP to the OHL for his draft year. Lots of teams passed on him. He proved them wrong.

 

[Asher]

Right now it is true that they don't have the strong pool one needs to fill in the missing slots. But part of that is that all of their recent 1st are currently in the NHL other than Nurse and Klefbom. If you look at the time frame of the Chicago cup wins those extra pieces were accumulated over ten years and a good number were obtained by trading away guys they could no longer afford.

And while the pick of Eberle and Klefbom, let alone Lander and Marincin are often dismissed how do you explain that the great Chicago draft minds that found all those late gems also managed to pick:

Igor Markov #33 in 2006
The legendary Bill Sweatt #38 in 2007
Kyle Beach #11 2008
Dylan Olsen #24 2009 (Not a bad pick but certainly no better than Marincin right now)
Kevin Hayes #24 2010
Ludvig Rensfeldt #35 2010

When you look at that group how do Eberle, Klefbom, Lander, Marincin and Musil compare? The were picked in roughly the same spots as those guys over a similar period.

When for example did you know that Bickell would be the type of guy who would be a player to contribute in a cup run? Six year after his draft he was still in the AHL and was able to clear waivers. Do we know for sure that there is no late bloomer like Bickell in the Oilers system?

Will Petry be as good as Hjalmarsson? Remember that in 2011-2012 Hjalmarsson was a guy who looked like he may have been on the way out

The Oiler have also just turned Paajarvi into Perron. Maybe they can turn the 2015 #1 into a real player?

There is no sure thing here but I stand by what I said that it is too early to compare the Oilers with Chicago.

I would say the draft is an inexact science and even a team that does well like Chicago or Montreal (another team that I think drafts very well), is still going to have plenty of misfires. What I don't believe is that the Oilers misfires are at a level that we should be happy with. At best, this an average drafting team, and in no way do I consider MacGregor to be some drafting genius, no matter how many times Stauffer tries to tell me otherwise.

As for the Oiler prospects, I think I answered this in my response to BBO's post. I admit I don't follow them as closely as you do, but what I do see on them is not encouraging. Maybe it is too early to start writing them off entirely, but I also would say it's wishful thinking to say things are looking good right now.

 

[Debonair]

Thanks for posting this... love this stuff. Even if its non-Oilers.

 

[gqmixmaster]

I can see your point up until the bolded, MAF is nothing to write home about even though they won the cup with him in net. That said it will be interesting to see how the kids that we did draft progress. Stu has been given the mandate in the past to add size and grit, now he's been given the mandate to add skill. If his staff fails this time around then changes need to be made.

Montreal has won games in spite of Price or because Halak stepped up when Price crapped his bed.

Fleury was really good in Pittsburgh's cup run but generally as been average and widely viewed as Pittsburg's weakness.

Bottom line, good goalies are good goalies, 1st round picks are just 1st round picks not necessary good.

 

[Fourier]

I would say the draft is an inexact science and even a team that does well like Chicago or Montreal (another team that I think drafts very well), is still going to have plenty of misfires. What I don't believe is that the Oilers misfires are at a level that we should be happy with. At best, this an average drafting team, and in no way do I consider MacGregor to be some drafting genius, no matter how many times Stauffer tries to tell me otherwise.

As for the Oiler prospects, I think I answered this in my response to BBO's post. I admit I don't follow them as closely as you do, but what I do see on them is not encouraging. Maybe it is too early to start writing them off entirely, but I also would say it's wishful thinking to say things are looking good right now.

Part of the problem with assessing the current draft team is that they had three straight #1 picks. That is basically a no win scenario because it is almost the same as not having a #1 pick as far as much of this analysis is concerned.

If you look around the league the vast majority of the real impact players are first round picks. There is no question what so ever that a teams success in the first round is far more important than hitting the jackpot by adding a solid bottom six forward in the third round of the draft. (If you want evidence of this ask yourself how much better this team would be right now if Plante and Nash had been PK Subban and Max Pacioretty).

In this respect the Oilers have been very good since picking Eberle in 2008, the first year that Stu was in charge. Every one of their first round picks since then has been a solid pick at worst. Even Paajarvi, who was good enough to be the key piece in a deal that returned Perron. As to the #1's in my mind they picked the right guy all three years and it is only in hindsight that people can say these were easy because it is not like everyone agreed on who they should pick.

During that period 2008-2009 alone here are a few of the other guys picked in round 1 that have either been busts or have yet to make it and are no better right now than a guy like Lander or Marincin:

2008:
Columbus #6 Nikita Filatov
Chicago #11 Kyle Beach
Boston #16 Joe Colborne
Washington #21 Anton Gustafsson
Calgary #24 Greg Nemisz

2009:
Dallas #8 Scott Glennie
NYI #12 Calvin De Haan
Montreal #18 Louis Leblanc
Vancouver #22 Jordan Schroeder

This is not a comprehensive list. There quite a few others that will not pan out at all just from those two years.

I also think that it is not so easy to say that all the news has been bad. You mention three names. Hamilton has been a big disappointment to me as well. I personally still think there is a player in Pitlick, just not the #2C I had probably unrealistically hoped for. But he has the tool box to be a very good bottom six winger or at least a 4th line energy guy. He has at times played very well in OKC but has had injuries and has been very inconsistent. This year will tell us a lot about where he goes from here.


I am not really sure why you feel Ewanyk has disappointed. He still seems like a solid prospect to me. And you do not say anything about guys like Rieder, Laleggia, Khaira, Rajalla and Zharkov who have all played up to or better than their draft spot. Davidson also had a solid year last year in the AHL. Hartikainen is another guy that has outplayed his draft spot. He is in the KHL right now but remains Oiler property.

Not everything is rosy, but reality is that after the first round 90% of a teams draft choices end up doing nothing or if they do play it is for another team. Where certainly I do agree with you is in their drafting of goalies. They really have a problem right now in terms of both quality and depth!

Martindale is another that I had high hopes for who so far has not delivered. But it seems that this year may also tell the tale on him as well as he is slated for a bigger role in OKC. He has had spurts where he has played very well.

 

[Lacaar]

This is nonsense.

One only has to look to the last time the Oilers were in the playoffs to see what difference a good goalie makes.

We were a good team with a bad goalie for most of the year, until we brought in Roloson. That made all the difference in the world. Then when Roloson got hurt...........well, you know the rest of the story.

Goaltending is huge, and more often than not is the difference between winning and losing.

If you don't think the game is different today than 2006 I don't know what you're watching.

Just like your post about Fuhr.

Goaltending in the 80's was 100 times more important than goaltending today.

The position was just harder to play back then. It's hard to play when the game is opened up... like 2006.

When it reverts back to dead puck hockey.. the playing field gets leveled out.

Everytime the pads get bigger and defense is coached into the game the goalies job gets easier and the talent disparity gets neutralized IMO. And I don't see them shrinking the pads enough to make it a difference again. Also don't see them opening the game back up since Sidney got his bell rung.

Combine that with the long development curve. I could care less if we never drafted a goalie again. Just take the next one off the shelf and have at it.

In todays NHL good teams make goalies good.

Before the great goalie pad explosion and defensive system hockey.
Good goalies made teams good.

 

[Lacaar]

I also want to add that Dubnyk is the opitome of that strategy.
He's big and covers a lot of net. Good enough to get the job done in todays game.

If the game opened up and the pads were truly shrunk.
I believe we'd be in a heap ton of trouble with Dubnyk.