Prospect Info: C/RW Matthew Savoie, 9th Overall, 2022 NHL Draft - Traded to Moose Jaw 1/4/24

[TheBarnIsElectric]

Are all the PP comments in response to what I said? Because I definitely did not say all his points were on the PP or that that is bad. I said most of his highlights were not him creating offense in ways that translate to the NHL, IMO. PP goals are just one example of that.

Here let me be more specific. Let's take the first couple minutes of this video (only because I'm not going to do the whole thing):



First highlight (over the credits): Great goal! This is what I'm looking for. But then...

2 - Loose puck, nice shot. Didn't create the opportunity.

3 - PP. Loses the puck goes right to teammate. A

4 - PP, mundane secondary A

5 - Left all alone in front, scores front point blank on a good setup.

6 - PP, rips a one timer from a good spot after a good setup

7 - Shoots misses, rebound is knocked in. A

8 - Tries a back door tip in pass, gets saved, rebound knocked in. Secondary A

9 - Loose puck pops to him in the neutral zone, easy 2-1, feeds his teammate who scores.

10 - Mishandles a puck but gets back to it and drops it to a player 2 feet away in the slot who scores.

Stopping here so that I have time to mow the lawn...

There are good plays here, and this is obviously just part of a highlight video, which in itself tells only a fraction of the story. My point isn't that he isn't good, it's just that based on these highlights, he's not creating a lot of offense by carrying the puck, controlling play, finding open guys, using his speed to open things up. It's just a lot of good finishes and capitalizing on opportunities. This just gives me a tiny bit of doubt about whether he can do the same things when those opportunities are harder to come by at the NHL level.

 

[TheBarnIsElectric]

So you get worried after the pick and your solution would be to draft pretty much the same but worse version of the player.

I'm not worried, lol. I expressed a slight bit of doubt about what I still think is a great prospect. I obviously have a different opinion of Nazar than you do. That's ok, friend. How are you so certain about any of this?

Why do people act like getting points on the power play is a bad thing? Every good offensive player in the history of the game racks up big time PP points. You want your PP to be a weapon for you. You want players that can strive on the PP.

Savoie drives his line offensively at 5 on 5. What seems to be the issue?

Don't think anyone is acting like that.

He does? What are you basing that on? My opinion is just based on highlight videos where he scored points and actually analyzing the plays. If you have other data or videos of him driving play I'd love to see them!! I've been looking all day for just that.

 

[Reddawg]

Are all the PP comments in response to what I said?

Yes, right after you stated that one of the reasons you're worried about the player is because most of his goals and assists come on the power play, which is demonstrably untrue.

 

[Fjordy]

Why do people act like getting points on the power play is a bad thing? Every good offensive player in the history of the game racks up big time PP points. You want your PP to be a weapon for you. You want players that can strive on the PP.

Savoie drives his line offensively at 5 on 5. What seems to be the issue?

Panarin and JT Miller not good, many PP points.

 

[TheBarnIsElectric]

Yes, right after you stated that one of the reasons you're worried about the player is because most of his goals and assists come on the power play, which is demonstrably untrue.

Here's the exact quote: His goals and assists all look competent, but most of it is power play, shots through traffic, finishing great setups by other players, capitalizing on bad defense. Etc.

PP was just one in a list of things I was using to make a point that is very different from "he only scores on the PP and that's bad," which is what a lot of you are cherry picking to disagree with.

It's kind of annoying, tbh. So I'm going to mow the lawn now and come back to this thread 5 pages from now...

 

[elchud]

A bit of Briere a bit of Marner. I think he is a top line winger when we win a Cup

 

[Tatanka]

Driving play has a lot to do with the play not dying on his stick. He passes to not only open men but the one in the best position to bury it. His shot skills through traffic are a good thing at the NHL level, less clear looks. I am not worried about his skill set translating. Building up the frame to handle physicality would worry me more. He has a bright future if he can handle the grind.

 

[Dingo44]

Here's the exact quote: His goals and assists all look competent, but most of it is power play, shots through traffic, finishing great setups by other players, capitalizing on bad defense. Etc.

PP was just one in a list of things I was using to make a point that is very different from "he only scores on the PP and that's bad," which is what a lot of you are cherry picking to disagree with.

It's kind of annoying, tbh. So I'm going to mow the lawn now and come back to this thread 5 pages from now...

Goals count the same no matter how they are scored. People used to knock Esposito because so many of his goals were of the "garbage" type.

 

[DeletedUser539]

Why do people act like getting points on the power play is a bad thing? Every good offensive player in the history of the game racks up big time PP points. You want your PP to be a weapon for you. You want players that can strive on the PP.

Savoie drives his line offensively at 5 on 5. What seems to be the issue?

Yea mid season i was buying the powerplay specialist idea and then after realized hos pp production got way overblown he'll be a fine 5v5 player one more season in the whl and maybe one in Rochester we got a potential superstar

 

[Diaspora]

Driving play has a lot to do with the play not dying on his stick. He passes to not only open men but the one in the best position to bury it. His shot skills through traffic are a good thing at the NHL level, less clear looks. I am not worried about his skill set translating. Building up the frame to handle physicality would worry me more. He has a bright future if he can handle the grind.

5'9" and 180 is pretty solid. Expect him to be 5'11" 195 by the time his ELC is done. What you say is true for all draftees, but I'm not at all worried.

 

[Tatanka]

5'9" and 180 is pretty solid. Expect him to be 5'11" 195 by the time his ELC is done. What you say is true for all draftees, but I'm not at all worried.

Didn’t say I was worried, just stating I think that is the bigger challenge. That said. The additional two inches isn’t guaranteed and neither is the 15 lbs. That is why they are prospects. 5’11” 195 would be more than adequate if he can get there.

 

[BuffaloGooner]

Didn’t say I was worried, just stating I think that is the bigger challenge. That said. The additional two inches isn’t guaranteed and neither is the 15 lbs. That is why they are prospects. 5’11” 195 would be more than adequate if he can get there.

I think if he’s 5’11 and pushing 195 he’s a top 5 player drafted

 

[Tatanka]

I think if he’s 5’11 and pushing 195 he’s a top 5 player drafted

Especially if he was projected to 6’ 200 when he gets to the League. Probably in the 1 OA discussion. Again it is about projection, not what they are on draft day. JMHO.

 

[BuffaloGooner]

Especially if he was projected to 6’ 200 when he gets to the League. Probably in the 1 OA discussion. Again it is about projection, not what they are on draft day. JMHO.

Agreed. I think we’re super lucky he was there at 9.

 

[Ace]

I learned the context of this tweet and it’s exactly what you think it was.

It was in response to Paul Hamilton on WGR saying he’d take Geekie over Savoie because he’s bigger. Marino brought it up on his latest podcast…his tweet was to point out Hamilton hasn’t watched either play one time and his opinion is a joke.

 

[Fjordy]

I learned the context of this tweet and it’s exactly what you think it was.

It was in response to Paul Hamilton on WGR saying he’d take Geekie over Savoie because he’s bigger. Marino brought it up on his latest podcast…his tweet was to point out Hamilton hasn’t watched either play one time and his opinion is a joke.

Hamilton

 

[Chainshot]

Why do people act like getting points on the power play is a bad thing? Every good offensive player in the history of the game racks up big time PP points. You want your PP to be a weapon for you. You want players that can strive on the PP.

Savoie drives his line offensively at 5 on 5. What seems to be the issue?

From a scouting side, ES primary point production is often very indicative of NHL success. Measuring point percentages and such gets into the art of figuring out if a player's game translates well to doing the same thing at the next level.

How it came up seemed to be some mid-season group-think in the circles that follow him that putting the actual numbers puts it into the context of minor concern made larger.

I learned the context of this tweet and it’s exactly what you think it was.

It was in response to Paul Hamilton on WGR saying he’d take Geekie over Savoie because he’s bigger. Marino brought it up on his latest podcast…his tweet was to point out Hamilton hasn’t watched either play one time and his opinion is a joke.

We know PHam barely watches the Sabres and doesn't show up for the Combine. I doubt he puts in any time trying to find out personally what these players are about either.

 

[Fjordy]

From a scouting side, ES primary point production is often very indicative of NHL success. Measuring point percentages and such gets into the art of figuring out if a player's game translates well to doing the same thing at the next level.

How it came up seemed to be some mid-season group-think in the circles that follow him that putting the actual numbers puts it into the context of minor concern made larger.

How many PP points do Cooley and Wright have compared to Savoie? While I doubt this theory, there are certainly examples of players at the junior level scoring high on PP and then scoring high in the NHL at ES and PP.

 

[Chainshot]

How many PP points do Cooley and Wright have compared to Savoie? While I doubt this theory, there are certainly examples of players at the junior level scoring high on PP and then scoring high in the NHL at ES and PP.

It's not a comparison of contemporary players but part of projection used by actual scouts. If you want to know that question, feel free to dig up a primary point source for junior or European leagues that hasn't had its webmaster hired on to an NHL team as I would love to have a new source for that data without having to dig through it manually.

 

[Fjordy]

It's not a comparison of contemporary players but part of projection used by actual scouts. If you want to know that question, feel free to dig up a primary point source for junior or European leagues that hasn't had its webmaster hired on to an NHL team as I would love to have a new source for that data without having to dig through it manually.

Well, I've seen comparisons of Savoie's PP points with other players in this draft somewhere before, but I don't remember where. I think he will be good both at 5v5 and at PP in the NHL, which will also help us a lot.

 

[jc17]

Why do people act like getting points on the power play is a bad thing? Every good offensive player in the history of the game racks up big time PP points. You want your PP to be a weapon for you. You want players that can strive on the PP.

Savoie drives his line offensively at 5 on 5. What seems to be the issue?

Didn't his linemate score more than him at 5v5? I watched some where he played with them, and some without.

Anyone want to shed more insight on who he spent the majority of the time with?

 

[Buffaloed]

I think if he’s 5’11 and pushing 195 he’s a top 5 player drafted

They should be tough at 180-185 once they get their "man strength". That's all Lafontaine and Briere weighed.

 

[Buffaloed]

Why do people act like getting points on the power play is a bad thing? Every good offensive player in the history of the game racks up big time PP points. You want your PP to be a weapon for you. You want players that can strive on the PP.

Savoie drives his line offensively at 5 on 5. What seems to be the issue?

It will be years before the Reinhart civil rights act achieves equal respect for PP points.

 

[BG82]

Savoie was my top target and BPA at 9. Like what we did this draft.

 

[Woodhouse]

Anyone want to shed more insight on who he spent the majority of the time with?

Savoie centered predominantly Pederson and McClennon for the first half, then a mishmash of center and wing play in the second half. It'd be anything from Benson/Geekie, Pederson/Smallwood, Finley/McClennon, and so on.