Pretty sure this kid topps out where he is right now: Bottom pairing D on a weak D roster.
Name the last NHL player that completely passed through waivers who didnt have a toxic contract and then went on to become an impact NHL player afterwards
Name the last NHL player that completely passed through waivers who didnt have a toxic contract and then went on to become an impact NHL player afterwards
Name the last NHL player that completely passed through waivers who didnt have a toxic contract and then went on to become an impact NHL player afterwards
Name the last NHL player that completely passed through waivers who didnt have a toxic contract and then went on to become an impact NHL player afterwards
Probably not the last, but Kunitz.
Name the last NHL player that completely passed through waivers who didnt have a toxic contract and then went on to become an impact NHL player afterwards
Mike Hoffman on Ottawa
Might be the only comparable answer but at the time kunitz was waived and claimed, he played only about 20 NHL games
Mcilrath played something like 35 games last year. Its not like he didnt get an extended look.
Kunitz barely had a cup of coffee in the nhl before being put on waivers
You're moving the goalposts again. You assumed a thing to be true, and when SEVERAL answers came forth (and there are many more. Parenteau, just off the top of my head, was a waiver wire player who became a solid NHLer), you shifted gears rather than considering the notion that you might be wrong. Now, your line is that Kunitz' 32 games was "barely a cup of coffee" whereas McIlrath's 35 games makes him some kind of seasoned veteran? It's a 15 game difference (and in one of those game, AV had the kid skating as a winger).
Bottom line--you said that McI was horrible and you specifically listed his first pass and being able to recognize the right play as reasons why (I believe the wording was something akin to "the puck is a grenade on his stick"). That is factually incorrect. He has an excellent first pass and, particularly in the defensive zone, he's one of the Rangers' calmer defensemen, using his size to shield players in order to make the right play. He'll never be mistaken for a PMD, but he's very good at making controlled zone exits.
Not being claimed does not mean that he was not claimed for the things you criticized him for.
[MOD]
You're moving the goalposts again. You assumed a thing to be true, and when SEVERAL answers came forth (and there are many more. Parenteau, just off the top of my head, was a waiver wire player who became a solid NHLer), you shifted gears rather than considering the notion that you might be wrong. Now, your line is that Kunitz' 32 games was "barely a cup of coffee" whereas McIlrath's 35 games makes him some kind of seasoned veteran? It's a 15 game difference (and in one of those game, AV had the kid skating as a winger).
Bottom line--you said that McI was horrible and you specifically listed his first pass and being able to recognize the right play as reasons why (I believe the wording was something akin to "the puck is a grenade on his stick"). That is factually incorrect. He has an excellent first pass and, particularly in the defensive zone, he's one of the Rangers' calmer defensemen, using his size to shield players in order to make the right play. He'll never be mistaken for a PMD, but he's very good at making controlled zone exits.
Not being claimed does not mean that he was not claimed for the things you criticized him for.
[MOD]
Yet nobody claimed him despite all these positives? Did all GMs fall into a coma when he hit the waiver wire?
He's had 9 minutes this season. 9. After AV stapled his ass to the bench for the better part of LAST season (after a stretch of games where, statistically and from the eye test, he and Yandle were our best pairing).
Opposing GMs aren't allowed to watch practice. They scout players who ARE playing like crazy before they make a move.
As I said--AV hates the kid. Refused to play him. On the rare occasions when he DID play him, it was to put him in a position to fail (no leash whatsoever--one mistake and he was done for the night, playing him as a winger, etc). AV did the same thing with Del Zotto, who has done quite well for himself after getting away from AV.
Teams aren't going to lose a current player for a player they can't watch and haven't seen in almost a year. Particularly not when they can just scout him in Hartford and then sign him after the expansion draft (because McI would need to be protected).
You can hate all you want. I'm done feeding you opportunity. But I honestly believe that by the end of next season, people will see McIlrath as a good 2nd pair guy (think a harder hitting version of Klein--another player who needed a long time to marinate before making the show full time).
Thats a good recent one in memory. The point I was making (and I clearly dont know of every player in the NHL in the last 15 years that went through waivers at some point and blossomed) is that it is EXTREMELY, EXTREMELY rare, especially for dmen, that they go through waivers unclaimed and become something later
Guys like Rundblad and Gormley were comparable picks and actually showed more on the NHL level for longer, and in the end they couldnt get any team to take a flier on them for free when they were making very little money and they looked to have died their way out of the NHL for good
Gormley was taken 13th overall, played 58 NHL games, and cant get a call up or waiver claim anymore
Rundblad was taken 17th overall, played 115 NHL games, won a cup, and couldnt get a claim
I am just saying McIlrath is cut of the same cloth in terms of career arc
^^^^interesting that all the examples of guys getting waived, then turning it around, are forwards.
The fact that 29 GM's....AND COACHES....didn't like him enough to claim him is telling. I mention coaches because you would think their might be a coach who would be going to his GM asking him to claim DM because he fills a need on the team.
Personally, I am surprised no one rolled the dice on him.
He's had 9 minutes this season. 9. After AV stapled his ass to the bench for the better part of LAST season (after a stretch of games where, statistically and from the eye test, he and Yandle were our best pairing).
Opposing GMs aren't allowed to watch practice. They scout players who ARE playing like crazy before they make a move.
As I said--AV hates the kid. Refused to play him. On the rare occasions when he DID play him, it was to put him in a position to fail (no leash whatsoever--one mistake and he was done for the night, playing him as a winger, etc). AV did the same thing with Del Zotto, who has done quite well for himself after getting away from AV.
Teams aren't going to lose a current player for a player they can't watch and haven't seen in almost a year. Particularly not when they can just scout him in Hartford and then sign him after the expansion draft (because McI would need to be protected).
You can hate all you want. I'm done feeding you opportunity. But I honestly believe that by the end of next season, people will see McIlrath as a good 2nd pair guy (think a harder hitting version of Klein--another player who needed a long time to marinate before making the show full time).