Player Discussion Daniel Sprong

[Ducks DVM]

Yes I do believe scouts were either making it up or just flat wrong - because he is not physical. There seems to be an abundance of folks in here reiterating that notion, when you’re in the minority like that, you’re likely wrong. That would be you in this case.

Scouts who make things up about prospects are referred to as “former scouts”. It seems a lot more likely that he played a certain way against players of a certain age (and more importantly size), then changed his game as his opponents became significantly larger than him, no?

The only reason I posted that was to point out that he was drafted as a two way guy with significant upside. What he’s become since then is irrelevant to those evaluations.

 

[nbducksfan19]

Petterssen is 6’3”, 173#
Kronwall is 6’0”, 194
Vatanen is 5’ 10”, 185#
Dumba is 6’0”, 182#

Petterssen is significantly taller and significantly lighter than any of the other players. There’s some amazing intellectual dishonesty going on comparing these players as equally “undersized”. All three of those guys are significantly better muscled by comparison.

No one said they were equal size, the point was that you don’t need to be 210+ to be physical. If you play that style, you will show it despite your size.

Also what is intellectually dishonest is comparing Pettersson weight at 22 to these other guys weight much later in life.. These, guys like dumba, kronwall and vatanen were physical when they were younger, and lighter or as light as Pettersson.Why don’t you create a list of all the guys who were not physical in there amateur career or early pro career, but all of a sudden became physical later in life. I don’t have a clue why you have an agenda to argue that a guy who has shown such little physicality, is physical or will become physical, despite virtually no evidence to support that.

 

[Exit Dose]

Yes I do believe scouts were either making it up or just flat wrong - because he is not physical. There seems to be an abundance of folks in here reiterating that notion, when you’re in the minority like that, you’re likely wrong. That would be you in this case.

There's an abundance of short memories here. I don't take the inability to remember those moments where his nasty side showed up to mean a thing. I'll add that I doubt that you or anyone laughing about this watched him in junior or even the SHL for that matter. The grounds for dismissing these reports are scant.

 

[Ducks DVM]

No one said they were equal size, the point was that you don’t need to be 210+ to be physical. If you play that style, you will show it despite your size.

Also what is intellectually dishonest is comparing Pettersson weight at 22 to these other guys weight much later in life.. These, guys like dumba, kronwall and vatanen were physical when they were younger, and lighter or as light as Pettersson.Why don’t you create a list of all the guys who were not physical in there amateur career or early pro career, but all of a sudden became physical later in life. I don’t have a clue why you have an agenda to argue that a guy who has shown such little physicality, is physical or will become physical, despite virtually no evidence to support that.

Those guys were all their current height or shorter at 22 years old. Even if they were the same weight as Petterssen at that age, they’d still be correspondingly stronger and less fragile, that’s simple physics, and it’s intellectually dishonest to pretend otherwise. I have zero idea how to find out what weight Dumba was 2 years ago, Kronwall was 15 years ago, and vatanen was 5 years ago, and it’s irrelevant. They’re not good comparables, period.

I don’t have a single post saying he’s physical, will be physical, wants to get physical, or even knows who Olivia Newton John is. I’m just pointing out a nonsense comparison and producing reports from the player he was seen as WHEN HE WAS DRAFTED. You’re the one so set on his course that you’re actually suggesting that paid professionals would endanger their careers by lying about a prospect.

 

[pbgoalie]

Seems his passing, and more important, receiving was better last couple games?

 

[Exit Dose]

Seems his passing, and more important, receiving was better last couple games?

His poise, too.

 

[AngelDuck]

He's looked solid to me. Best I could have hoped for. This guy is not going to be an all star player (lacks the vision or size) but if he can extend our depth scoring that's huge considering how bad we suck offensively

 

[eternalbedhead]

He's looked solid to me. Best I could have hoped for. This guy is not going to be an all star player (lacks the vision or size) but if he can extend our depth scoring that's huge considering how bad we suck offensively

Thank you for getting the topic back on track after 2 pages of bickering over Pettersson's physicality. I like him as a player.... he's got a hell of a shot. Just wish he had a little more of a nose for the net. It's too often that he looks lost off the puck.

 

[TopShelfWaterBottle]

Definitely a CY Young type of hockey player as in 30 goals 10 assists IMO

 

[MMC]

Honestly, even though he's not perfect, I still love the fact that he's on the team.

 

[mightyquack]

Just poked my head into the Pens forum and they are still talking like crazy about Sprong, it's amazing. On one hand they talk about how great Pettersson is, on the other a lot of them still moan about not having Sprong anymore. What a weird f***ing fanbase they have over there.

 

[Trojans86]

Playing with Getz and Rakell is absolutely perfect for Sprongs development. Not so much for the ducks because Sprong is still figuring it out but playing alongside those two guys will teach him a ton. I even saw a few things last game that I hadn't seen out of him before. Potential is there, just needs to keep working hard and study the game.

 

[Sean Garrity]

He has been better than advertised in my opinion. He sucks along the boards, and looks lost defensively (although it doesn't appear to be an effort issue) but there's no denying his great goal scoring ability.

 

[Boo Boo]

Just poked my head into the Pens forum and they are still talking like crazy about Sprong, it's amazing. On one hand they talk about how great Pettersson is, on the other a lot of them still moan about not having Sprong anymore. What a weird ****ing fanbase they have over there.

you can tell that there are many of them over there that are not used to their young forwards not being elite players at the beginning of their career.

 

[Lyons71]

He has been better than advertised in my opinion. He sucks along the boards, and looks lost defensively (although it doesn't appear to be an effort issue) but there's no denying his great goal scoring ability.

Honestly I can’t really point to any player on our team that doesn’t look lost defensively right now. (Maybe Getzlaf?) If we were a better team (or playing better) we would have a good gauge of his d zone play. The offense he brings (shoots the puck) is welcomed like you say.

 

[Gurglesons]

you can tell that there are many of them over there that are not used to their young forwards not being elite players at the beginning of their career.

It’s very frustrating. Sprong for Pettersson is basically a perfect trade.

We have Rust, Hornqvist and Kessel as top nine RW options. All good for around at minimum 35-40 ES pts. Sprong was excess and his defensive coverage didn’t provide any sympathy from a win now coach. Meanwhile our defensive prospects are basically nothing outside of Addison who luckily will be an NHLer after the next lock out.

Ducks have Larsson, Fowler and Lindholm making Pettersson a wasted asset who was somewhat replaceable for forward depth.

Sprong has been solid for Anaheim, but he’d never get that usage here.

Pettersson has been solid for Pittsburgh, but he’d never get that usage in Anaheim.

Don’t know why Pens fans want to make it so difficult.

 

[Anaheim4ever]

It’s very frustrating. Sprong for Pettersson is basically a perfect trade.

We have Rust, Hornqvist and Kessel as top nine RW options. All good for around at minimum 35-40 ES pts. Sprong was excess and his defensive coverage didn’t provide any sympathy from a win now coach. Meanwhile our defensive prospects are basically nothing outside of Addison who luckily will be an NHLer after the next lock out.

Ducks have Larsson, Fowler and Lindholm making Pettersson a wasted asset who was somewhat replaceable for forward depth.

Sprong has been solid for Anaheim, but he’d never get that usage here.

Pettersson has been solid for Pittsburgh, but he’d never get that usage in Anaheim.

Don’t know why Pens fans want to make it so difficult.

Its also great that if Petterssen turns into a top pairing D it isn't in the western conference & the same for Sprong, Pitt doens't have to worry about facing him alot if he turns into a top 6 forward
Same with when we moved Kunitz all those years ago, it was easy to live with him going back east.
Sad to see his career is pretty much over, he played with so many elite players from Selanne to Crosby.

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

Definitely a CY Young type of hockey player as in 30 goals 10 assists IMO

Sprong is 6-3-9 in 17 games with us, so that estimate checks out over 82 games.

 

[Arthuros]

It’s very frustrating. Sprong for Pettersson is basically a perfect trade.

We have Rust, Hornqvist and Kessel as top nine RW options. All good for around at minimum 35-40 ES pts. Sprong was excess and his defensive coverage didn’t provide any sympathy from a win now coach. Meanwhile our defensive prospects are basically nothing outside of Addison who luckily will be an NHLer after the next lock out.

Ducks have Larsson, Fowler and Lindholm making Pettersson a wasted asset who was somewhat replaceable for forward depth.

Sprong has been solid for Anaheim, but he’d never get that usage here.

Pettersson has been solid for Pittsburgh, but he’d never get that usage in Anaheim.

Don’t know why Pens fans want to make it so difficult.

Because the majority of fans want their team to be a definitive winner in a trade. Trades have to be a zero-sum gain, and it had better be their own team fleecing the other.

 

[Gurglesons]

Because the majority of fans want their team to be a definitive winner in a trade. Trades have to be a zero-sum gain, and it had better be their own team fleecing the other.

I don’t even think it is that.

Penguins Fans are shell shocked from the Bylsma era where we didn’t develop a single “star” winger to go with Sid or Geno.

We also have sold a ton of futures for immediate help so certain prospects get a ton of hype when they show a little upside. (See Teddy Bleuger as the most recent example of this)

Sprong and Kapanen were two very skilled players we took and there was a lot of excitement around them.

Easier to put blame on a coach than admit maybe the prospect wasn’t as good as we thought (although he’s proving that wrong in Anaheim).

Now, Anaheim actually does have a case
against their coach, but you also have one of the best drafting and development franchises in the league so seeing a player bust or simply need a change of scenery is not surprising to you.

 

[Duck Off]

Agree to disagree. First, I think you are dead wrong about the draft- there are many Dman in their draft year are noted as being defensive d-men (even top ranked ones). Off the top of my head, Filip Johansson, Urho Vaakanainen, Samuel Morin, or our very own Jacob Larsson. Also, picking a guy in the second round who you think has 4-6 Dman upside, especially if you believe he has a high probability of being an nhl player in some capacity, happens all the time. The large majority of 2nd round picks don't play and NHL game, so if there is a guy there you think has a high probability of being a middle pairing or depth dman, you take him. All drafting isn't an indication of what management thinks upsides of players are, it is largely about probability of reaching said upside. The reason Vatanen was a 4th round pick and Pettersson was a 2nd is in no way an indication of who had higher upside, it was about the fact that players like Vatenen were seen as unlikely to make the NHL (at that time).

I don't know why you feel inclined to change my opinion that Pettersson has limited upside, while presenting very little in the way of facts to prove your point. IMO Pettersson has limited upside, but is almost certainly a minimum solid 3rd paring d-man, and has the potential to be an average second paring Dman. Sprong could be out of the NHL in 2 years, or be a 30+ goal scoring winger. Higher risk, higher reward.

Read my original response to you in this thread. I didn't attempt to change your thoughts on Pettersson at all. I said your assessment was not fair because you were attaching labels to Marcus like "serviceable depth d man" and "dime a dozen asset" and referred to Sprong as "high end prospect". I said numerous times that your opinion of Pettersson when you elaborate is almost identical to mine. Just that your descriptions were off, or at least seemed extremely biased. If I am talking about a lady I just met, and I say something like "That bitch drove me crazy; nice lady though". No one is going to ignore the first part of that statement. As I said a long time ago in this discussion, calling someone a "safer prospect" or "serviceable depth d man" are nowhere near the same thing. It doesn't mean much to call him a safer prospect after saying things like that.

 

[nbducksfan19]

Read my original response to you in this thread. I didn't attempt to change your thoughts on Pettersson at all. I said your assessment was not fair because you were attaching labels to Marcus like "serviceable depth d man" and "dime a dozen asset" and referred to Sprong as "high end prospect". I said numerous times that your opinion of Pettersson when you elaborate is almost identical to mine. Just that your descriptions were off, or at least seemed extremely biased. If I am talking about a lady I just met, and I say something like "That ***** drove me crazy; nice lady though". No one is going to ignore the first part of that statement. As I said a long time ago in this discussion, calling someone a "safer prospect" or "serviceable depth d man" are nowhere near the same thing. It doesn't mean much to call him a safer prospect after saying things like that.

Is today Groundhog Day?

Glad we have Sprong, he may never put it all together, but with every passing game you see a skill set we desperately need and I am more than ok with the cost of acquiring him.

 

[KyleJRM]

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - 2014-04-23

 

[Duck Off]

Is today Groundhog Day?

I don't view the boards as often as I did in the past. Part of it is a promotion at work, and part is because the Ducks blow now. Still, that's the benefit of a MB.

Glad we have Sprong, he may never put it all together, but with every passing game you see a skill set we desperately need and I am more than ok with the cost of acquiring him.

100% agree

 

[Magnus the Duck]

I don't view the boards as often as I did in the past. Part of it is a promotion at work, and part is because the Ducks blow now. Still, that's the benefit of a MB.

Congratulations! Go delegate work and get back here!

Oh wait, we are just in whine mode at the moment. Please hold on.