Get to know Nick Blankenburg - newest signing for the CBJ

[ColumbusTrill]

Haven’t got to watch a cbj game in a little bit, can someone break down what’s made blankenburg so impressive early on?

 

[majormajor]

Haven’t got to watch a cbj game in a little bit, can someone break down what’s made blankenburg so impressive early on?

Quick feet, quick reads, aggressive, tight gaps, far stronger than he looks. Good passer. He's very involved.

 

[Xoggz22]

so capfriendly list him as a 10.2 (c) player

am I reading right that he either gets a qualifying offer, or can only negotiate with CBJ?

he is not a UFA? also not a RFA?

A 10.2 player can not receive an offer from another team. Period. As long as CBJ qualifies him they are the only team that can negotiate with him.

 

[tunnelvision]

Haven’t got to watch a cbj game in a little bit, can someone break down what’s made blankenburg so impressive early on?

He looks like someone who has worked diligently on his skills and tools to max out a lot of his potential as a small defenseman. He's already a very good skater, stickhandler and passer at the NHL level. Strong on his skates, good balance. Excellent compete/involvement level in every shift.

I won't try to give an in-depth analysis of his game but I can say that I've been really impressed to see that type of high IQ+great skillset+competitiveness mix in a 5'9 package that can actually play well versus NHL competition.

He makes quick reads - in defensive and offensive situations - and this is an area of his game that has really stood out in my perspective. Watch him, Bean and Boqvist in the defensive zone when the Jackets don't have possession, and tell me, which of them seems to have 1) the best alertness of their positional play and ability to anticipate what the opposing team is going to do next, 2) shortest reaction time to unexpected changes in the ongoing play, and 3) the greatest willingness to take good body/stick positioning against opposing players around the net and in the corners.

For me, Blankenburg is #1 in all of those aspects. In a way, the arrival of Blankenburg has been shocking because it has made me realize how much work some other guys on our blueline need to do in order to become top-6 dmen of a winning hockey team. It's not only more weight lifting in the gym, they need to learn to do more shoulder-checking on the ice and be more aware of what's happening around them.

 

[ColumbusTrill]

He looks like someone who has worked diligently on his skills and tools to max out a lot of his potential as a small defenseman. He's already a very good skater, stickhandler and passer at the NHL level. Strong on his skates, good balance. Excellent compete/involvement level in every shift.

I won't try to give an in-depth analysis of his game but I can say that I've been really impressed to see that type of high IQ+great skillset+competitiveness mix in a 5'9 package that can actually play well versus NHL competition.

He makes quick reads - in defensive and offensive situations - and this is an area of his game that has really stood out in my perspective. Watch him, Bean and Boqvist in the defensive zone when the Jackets don't have possession, and tell me, which of them seems to have 1) the best alertness of their positional play and ability to anticipate what the opposing team is going to do next, 2) shortest reaction time to unexpected changes in the ongoing play, and 3) the greatest willingness to take good body/stick positioning against opposing players around the net and in the corners.

For me, Blankenburg is #1 in all of those aspects. In a way, the arrival of Blankenburg has been shocking because it has made me realize how much work some other guys on our blueline need to do in order to become top-6 dmen of a winning hockey team. It's not only more weight lifting in the gym, they need to learn to do more shoulder-checking on the ice and be more aware of what's happening around them.

Great breakdown, thank you!

 

[Monk]

Looks like the best skater on the team to me

 

[MAHJ71]

He looks like someone who has worked diligently on his skills and tools to max out a lot of his potential as a small defenseman. He's already a very good skater, stickhandler and passer at the NHL level. Strong on his skates, good balance. Excellent compete/involvement level in every shift.

I won't try to give an in-depth analysis of his game but I can say that I've been really impressed to see that type of high IQ+great skillset+competitiveness mix in a 5'9 package that can actually play well versus NHL competition.

He makes quick reads - in defensive and offensive situations - and this is an area of his game that has really stood out in my perspective. Watch him, Bean and Boqvist in the defensive zone when the Jackets don't have possession, and tell me, which of them seems to have 1) the best alertness of their positional play and ability to anticipate what the opposing team is going to do next, 2) shortest reaction time to unexpected changes in the ongoing play, and 3) the greatest willingness to take good body/stick positioning against opposing players around the net and in the corners.

For me, Blankenburg is #1 in all of those aspects. In a way, the arrival of Blankenburg has been shocking because it has made me realize how much work some other guys on our blueline need to do in order to become top-6 dmen of a winning hockey team. It's not only more weight lifting in the gym, they need to learn to do more shoulder-checking on the ice and be more aware of what's happening around them.

noticed the bold in particular against Ottawa.. happened to be sitting glass right behind the goal that game and Blankenburg's line kept getting matched against Tkachuk's. Given where Tkachuk likes to play, Blankenburg had to keep track of Tkachuk and while he got bullied a bit by Tkachuk's size... he did a good job boxing him out and keeping an eye on his movements. So much so, that Tkachuk was visibly frustrated a few times.

 

[grentthealien]

Looks like the best skater on the team to me

Is his skating that good ? If so that’s very impressive, the few times I’ve watched the Jackets play this year they have had some guys that can absolutely fly.

 

[Monk]

Is his skating that good ? If so that’s very impressive, the few times I’ve watched the Jackets play this year they have had some guys that can absolutely fly.

May not necessarily be the fastest? But seems the best in terms of leveraging his skating really well to make good hockey plays. Probably has a lot to do with these facets from tunnelvision's post above:

"1) the best alertness of their positional play and ability to anticipate what the opposing team is going to do next, 2) shortest reaction time to unexpected changes in the ongoing play, and 3) the greatest willingness to take good body/stick positioning against opposing players around the net and in the corners."

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

Is his skating that good ? If so that’s very impressive, the few times I’ve watched the Jackets play this year they have had some guys that can absolutely fly.

1) There are other ways for skating to be "good."
2) There's probably a little bit of shiny new toy happening.

That said, he has stood out in good ways, especially for a guy who arrived the way he did.

 

[grentthealien]

1) There are other ways for skating to be "good."
2) There's probably a little bit of shiny new toy happening.

That said, he has stood out in good ways, especially for a guy who arrived the way he did.

True but when I think of the best overall skater on a team I think of someone with at least above average speed to go along with their edgework and overall agility.

I’ll have to catch some of the remaining CBJ games to see for myself, tough competition for Nick too with 2 vs Tampa and 1 against the Pens.

 

[majormajor]

Looks like the best skater on the team to me

Is his skating that good ? If so that’s very impressive, the few times I’ve watched the Jackets play this year they have had some guys that can absolutely fly.

In a technical sense he certainly isn't the fastest, but if you combine the quick assertive decision making, the fluid pivots, great first step, and good speed, then in some situations I could see him being the quickest player out there.

 

[Fred Glover]

So what does everyone think is his upside? Is he top 4? A 5-6 defenseman?

 

[Youngguns80]

So what does everyone think is his upside? Is he top 4? A 5-6 defenseman?

I would say 2nd pairing and could play top 2 for some games if injuries occur

 

[MoeBartoli]

So what does everyone think is his upside? Is he top 4? A 5-6 defenseman?

I want to see more before making that projection. Looking at him in a limited sample size and measure against our current DMen, he’s a second pair guy. If he is truly that it potentially solves one issue as I don’t otherwise see a RD 2nd pair guy.

That would give us
Z-?
Gav-Blanks
Bean-Peeke/Boqvist

Not a great group but maybe OK with a capable top pair D who ideally could be a tough guy as well. I have no idea who that is.

 

[majormajor]

I want to see more before making that projection. Looking at him in a limited sample size and measure against our current DMen, he’s a second pair guy. If he is truly that it potentially solves one issue as I don’t otherwise see a RD 2nd pair guy.

That would give us
Z-?
Gav-Blanks
Bean-Peeke/Boqvist

Not a great group but maybe OK with a capable top pair D who ideally could be a tough guy as well. I have no idea who that is.

Sounds like a very pricey player, or very difficult to find.

On the other hand - Blankenburg has some qualities that would make him an ideal partner for Werenski. And you probably want a more defensively oriented player with Gavrikov if you're going to use him for shutdown duty. I'm still dreaming that we can get Zub out of Ottawa, though it's unlikely.

 

[MoeBartoli]

Sounds like a very pricey player, or very difficult to find.

On the other hand - Blankenburg has some qualities that would make him an ideal partner for Werenski. And you probably want a more defensively oriented player with Gavrikov if you're going to use him for shutdown duty. I'm still dreaming that we can get Zub out of Ottawa, though it's unlikely.

Agree on cost factors and if Blanks could fill that role it’d allow things to set up nicely. At this point it’s clear to me that neither Peeke or Bo can be top pair guys. And getting a tougher guy on second pair is a larger pool than as a top guy - at least I think that’s true.

 

[VT]

Sounds like a very pricey player, or very difficult to find.

On the other hand - Blankenburg has some qualities that would make him an ideal partner for Werenski. And you probably want a more defensively oriented player with Gavrikov if you're going to use him for shutdown duty. I'm still dreaming that we can get Zub out of Ottawa, though it's unlikely.

Not for nothing in my defense pairs suggestion I wrote Werenski with Blankenburg. In my opinion, they complemented each other well. Nick's aggressive play plus his good reading of the game helps Zach's play. More accurate from what I watched, as there were some issues with the tablet.

 

[LJ7]

 

[LJ7]

 

[Xoggz22]

not gonna lie... I swear I thought I saw "Bad Ass" in there.... haha

 

[Cowumbus]

 

[CBJ goalie]

Love this kid.

 

[LetsGOJackets!!]

You have more faith in the front office than I do. Remember JD was fired in New York because the owner didn’t like that the team he was building wasn’t tough. Then they added guys like Reaves, Goodrow, and Nemeth. There is a part of me that expects us to draft two small but skilled guys even though I think we need to add some size and grit to our prospect pool.

We need some more talented players and those need to be drafted - the grit can be traded for or signed off the market. I would love a guy like Anderson or Oshie but the only way we will get em is to draft them