Player Discussion Brady Tkachuk: Episode 5 - Management Strikes Back

[Do Make Say Think]

Grass is always greener is all I'll say about "we should have taken another player".

 

[MatchesMalone]

Who cares about performance? Brady’s personality/hilarity is generational.

We’re going to suck on the ice for a long time. Might as well have entertainment off it.

Easily worth the 4th pick.

This is some real quality analysis right here.

 

[bert]

And I completely disagree. That’s fine. He is not what he is in his second year of nhl hockey. He has a ton of room to grow his offensive game IMO

Shocking that people dont understand this concept.

 

[Agent Zuuuub]

How is best defencemen defined by you? My guess is it's all about pts, just like so many with EK it was always about the pts which made them turn a blind eye to his terrible defensive play for most of the time he was here & it seems to have carried on to SJ.

I have no doubt that Hughes will be a big pt producer, but best defencemen gives zero credence to how underwhelming they are defensively which is also a big part of the game especially as they get older & in juries begin to catch up to them.

No I don't judge them solely on points. I don't even think Karlssons highest point seasons were his best.

Hughes value is in much the same things that made Karlsson one of the best players in the world. Skating and passing ability that transforms his teams breakout. Driving the play and making everyone on the ice that much better.

Being able to break puck out is the most underrated play in hockey. Teams that can do it well are almost always successful.

 

[Bileur]

This is some real quality analysis right here.

That’s why they pay me the big bucks to share my opinions on HFboards.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

 

[Mark Stones Spleen]

No I don't judge them solely on points. I don't even think Karlssons highest point seasons were his best.

Hughes value is in much the same things that made Karlsson one of the best players in the world. Skating and passing ability that transforms his teams breakout. Driving the play and making everyone on the ice that much better.

Being able to break puck out is the most underrated play in hockey. Teams that can do it well are almost always successful.

In the regular season.

 

[slamigo]

I can admit that often I pretty much only tune in to Sens games to watch Tkachuk. My kids(teenagers) love him and they're the next generation of paying fans.

 

[Micklebot]

In the regular season.

Teams that can't do it don't typically get to the post season, so not sure what you're getting at here.

 

[Mark Stones Spleen]

Teams that can't do it don't typically get to the post season, so not sure what you're getting at here.

My point is that everyone needs to be able to make a simple pass, but I'm not building a team of puck movers. Brann/Chabot/Wolanin and co. are good enough for the next few years that I wouldn't necessarily target a pick moving specialist for this team.

 

[BondraTime]

Teams that can't do it don't typically get to the post season, so not sure what you're getting at here.

Yeah, teams that can't break the puck out don't win in the playoffs, teams that win are always great on the breakout. I'm confused as well

 

[Micklebot]

My point is that everyone needs to be able to make a simple pass, but I'm not building a team of puck movers. Brann/Chabot/Wolanin and co. are good enough for the next few years that I wouldn't necessarily target a pick moving specialist for this team.

Sure, we already have puck movers. Had we drafted Hughes though, we probably wouldn't have targeted Brannstrom in the Stone trade though.

I also think it's more than everyone needs to be able to make a simple pass. Puck movers like Hughes do far more than that. He's their Chabot.

 

[Matsens15]

Man everybody relax . Brady is 20 years old playing on a terrible team.

 

[Sens9292]

Brady is asked to do a lot more on a worse team, Hughes doesn't have the same responsibilities as Brady.

 

[BondraTime]

Brady is asked to do a lot more on a worse team, Hughes doesn't have the same responsibilities as Brady.

Not sure about that.

Hughes is playing in a top 4 role, top PP, with 20:20 mins per game on a team that's 9-3-2.

Tkachuk is playing in a top line role, top PP, with 18:20 mins per game, on a team that is 3-8-1.

In a "baring the rebuild on your shoulders" way, sure, more is being asked of Brady. On ice, don't think so.

 

[Ice-Tray]

Not sure about that.

Hughes is playing in a top 4 role, top PP, with 20:20 mins per game on a team that's 9-3-2.

Tkachuk is playing in a top line role, top PP, with 18:20 mins per game, on a team that is 3-8-1.

In a "baring the rebuild on your shoulders" way, sure, more is being asked of Brady. On ice, don't think so.

I think he means more in the sense of talent in the ice. The Canucks have a lot of options for Hughes to make plays to, and his position and style is one that puts him in that position often. I’m not knocking him at all, he’s been great for the ‘nucks.

BT has much less to work with at this moment in time, and is relied upon personally to make an impact every time he hits the ice. The nice things is that this seems to be right in the wheel hous of BTs personality.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

Not sure about that.

Hughes is playing in a top 4 role, top PP, with 20:20 mins per game on a team that's 9-3-2.

Tkachuk is playing in a top line role, top PP, with 18:20 mins per game, on a team that is 3-8-1.

In a "baring the rebuild on your shoulders" way, sure, more is being asked of Brady. On ice, don't think so.

He's being asked to carry a line as a 20 year old powerforward who is still pretty awkward.

I don't disagree that more is being put on Hughes but we aren't really putting Brady in a position to succeed.

 

[BondraTime]

He's being asked to carry a line as a 20 year old powerforward who is still pretty awkward.

I don't disagree that more is being put on Hughes but we aren't really putting Brady in a position to succeed.

You'll get no arguments from me there. He's never going to carry a line, let alone as a 20 year old on the worst team in the league.

 

[RAFI BOMB]

Tkachuk has had a slow start to the season offensively but the critics on here are overreacting.
Last season Tkachuk's stats were 71 GP 22 G 23 A 45 PTS
This season his stats are 12 GP 3 G 3 A 6 PTS

He is producing at 0.205 goals per game and 0.5 points per game. If he simply maintains this pace he will finish the season with:
82 GP 21 G 21 A 42 PTS. If he plays the same games as last season his stats will read 71 GP 18 G 18 A 36 PTS.

Last season he scored 0.31 goals per game and 0.63 points per game. It is a meaningful drop but to be expected when an organization gets rid of almost all its skill.

It is quite possible that Tkachuk could convert on more of his opportunities and then we will see his production look comparable to last season.

Comparing Tkachuk's offensive production to prospects on other teams like Hughes on Vancouver seems silly to me. Ottawa has very little offensive talent so it is easy to gameplan against them. Taking Tkachuk and Chabot out of the game offensively basically guarantees a win for any opponent. Tkachuk may be given more minutes or whatever but he is keyed on defensively from the other team. If any of those other prospect was on this team they would also be struggling to produce.

Overall Tkachuk is doing fine. It would be nice to see him produce more but with the way this team is built I won't hold it against him if he struggles to put up comparable points to last season.

EDIT:
After today's performance his stats line is now 13 GP 4 G 4 A 8 PTS. He is now producing at 0.31 goals per game and 0.615 points per game. (pretty comparable to last season of 0.31 g/gp and 0.63 pts/gp). If he maintains his production his stats will be 82 GP 25 G 25 A 50 PTS. If he only plays the same amount of games as last year his stats will read 71 GP 22 G 22 A 44 PTS. Therefore he is producing as good as he was last season on a significantly worse team.

 

[BondraTime]

I really don't think teams are keying in on Tkachuk at all

 

[JungleBeat]

Tkachuk has had a slow start to the season offensively but the critics on here are overreacting.
Last season Tkachuk's stats were 71 GP 22 G 23 A 45 PTS
This season his stats are 12 GP 3 G 3 A 6 PTS

He is producing at 0.205 goals per game and 0.5 points per game. If he simply maintains this pace he will finish the season with:
82 GP 21 G 21 A 42 PTS. If he plays the same games as last season his stats will read 71 GP 18 G 18 A 36 PTS.

Last season he scored 0.31 goals per game and 0.63 points per game. It is a meaningful drop but to be expected when an organization gets rid of almost all its skill.

It is quite possible that Tkachuk could convert on more of his opportunities and then we will see his production look comparable to last season.

Comparing Tkachuk's offensive production to prospects on other teams like Hughes on Vancouver seems silly to me. Ottawa has very little offensive talent so it is easy to gameplan against them. Taking Tkachuk and Chabot out of the game offensively basically guarantees a win for any opponent. Tkachuk may be given more minutes or whatever but he is keyed on defensively from the other team. If any of those other prospect was on this team they would also be struggling to produce.

Overall Tkachuk is doing fine. It would be nice to see him produce more but with the way this team is built I won't hold it against him if he struggles to put up comparable points to last season.

I highly highly doubt teams game plan against Brady. He’s not a threat on the ice expect for around the crease.

 

[Micklebot]

I highly highly doubt teams game plan against Brady. He’s not a threat on the ice expect for around the crease.

They probably talk about not let him get under your skin, stay disciplined ect.

 

[FormentonTheFuture]

I highly highly doubt teams game plan against Brady. He’s not a threat on the ice expect for around the crease.

not a threat on the ice...come on

 

[Samsquanch]

Brady is already worth his weight in gold to this team, and hes only going to get better and better. The high end skill is there, and Im very sure that he will continue to shock people (as there are clearly some people who still think that hes a glorified 3rd liner, for some strange reason).

If you believed some people in here the other guys all seem to have sky high potential and no timeline for getting there, and that's ok. But because Brady was ready at day 1 he therefore has peaked as a hockey player...it makes literally no sense at all, but some people will argue otherwise. A prospects ceiling is literally a made up concept that is not really a thing; their is no magic barrier that cant be overcome. Practice makes perfect, and everyone develops differently. Sometimes a 2nd round pick like Kucherov can eventually become the MVP of the league, mostly because he put in an insane amount of extracurricular work to refine his game.

This team has been so sorely lacking swagger, character, and a real identity for such a long time. And Brady gives us all of those things - which is not something that any other player available to us in these alternate scenarios could have single handedly done for us.

After clamouring for a player exactly like this for pretty much our entire modern history, and because we know from our own past failures that you need players like this to go deep (something that Tampa and the Leafs are still figuring out), it's really sad and disappointing to see how many people here would still take a mystery box offensive player for the (increasingly small) chance that we someday gain a handful or two of extra points over the course of a full season. That trade off is beyond brutal in the eyes of this hockey fan.

 

[Pierre from Orleans]

Aside from him being a net front presence, his willingness to send a message after his teammates get hit is my favorite part of his game.