Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL) / Maine Mariners (ECHL) 2018-19: Part IX

[Amazing Kreiderman]

17 in 28 is still a bit low for my liking, but a lot of that can be pegged on Hartford being s dumpster fire last season. He looked pretty damn good in the weekend games, and I’d really like to see him have a different LW than Gropp. I don’t think they work well together.

.56 PPG as a 19 year old rookie in the AHL is higher than Alex Nylander, JT Miller, Tomas Tatar, Jesse Puljujarvi, Mika Zibanejad, Klim Kostin. I think people forget that what Chytil and Andersson did last season is quite rare for their age.

 

[Edge]

Who does Gropp work well with? Barzal doesn't count.

I don't know, that works out to about a 46 point pace as a 19 year old.

Obviously, I'd expect that projection to go up as he adjusted and continued to develop.

But there aren't many 18 or 19 year old kids putting up 46+ points in the AHL --- though the Rangers had/have two score at that pace.

 

[Edge]

.56 PPG as a 19 year old rookie in the AHL is higher than Alex Nylander, JT Miller, Tomas Tatar, Jesse Puljujarvi, Mika Zibanejad, Klim Kostin. I think people forget that what Chytil and Andersson did last season is quite rare for their age.

As an 18 year old, Chyil scored at a 51 point pace in the AHL.

As a 19 year old, Andersson has scored at a 46 point pace in the AHL.

I don't know if we truly realize how rare that is.

 

[Mac n Gs]

Who does Gropp work well with? Barzal doesn't count.

He fits well with a finesse player that can draw defenders and open up space for him to shoot. I’m not giving up on him yet, but he needs to improve a lot and he a go-to goal scorer this season for Hartford.

.56 PPG as a 19 year old rookie in the AHL is higher than Alex Nylander, JT Miller, Tomas Tatar, Jesse Puljujarvi, Mika Zibanejad, Klim Kostin. I think people forget that what Chytil and Andersson did last season is quite rare for their age.

It’s in no way shape or form bad play- in fact, like you mentioned, it’s very damn good. I just have high expectations for Lias and want to see him reach a level that I know he’s capable of doing.

 

[Blue Blooded]

I don't know, that works out to about a 46 point pace as a 19 year old.

Obviously, I'd expect that projection to go up as he adjusted and continued to develop.

But there aren't many 18 or 19 year old kids putting up 46+ points in the AHL --- though the Rangers had/have two score at that pace.

To clarify; it was an indictment of Gropp, not of Andersson. I'd prefer Schneider/Meskanen as his linemates rather than Gropp/Butler.

 

[NYR Viper]

To clarify; it was an indictment of Gropp, not of Andersson. I'd prefer Schneider/Meskanen as his linemates rather than Gropp/Butler.

I mean this is fair, however if he keeps scoring at a ppg pace I don't care who his linemates are.

I have some hope for Gropp in that he can start to realize he can use his size a bit more and start shooting more.

 

[eco's bones]

The AHL is not an easy league to run up numbers in. Only two guys hit the 70 point mark last year--Chris Terry--71 and Phil Varone--70. It ain't easy to score. Most everybody can skate and check and a lot of those who would still be considered prospects are being groomed to one day become bottom 6 NHL forwards--to skate, hit, check and penalty kill and all that less than exciting shit. It's a more defensive minded league than the NHL.

American Hockey League Scoring Leaders | Top 100 2017-2018 – followthepuck

That should be taken into consideration when you have teenagers like Chytil and Andersson playing against pros/older guys--many of whom have NHL experience--some even some success at the NHL level. They're playing against physically mature and well schooled players who have played at high levels.

 

[nyr2k2]

The AHL is not an easy league to run up numbers in. Only two guys hit the 70 point mark last year--Chris Terry--71 and Phil Varone--70. It ain't easy to score. Most everybody can skate and check and a lot of those who would still be considered prospects are being groomed to one day become bottom 6 NHL forwards--to skate, hit, check and penalty kill and all that less than exciting ****. It's a more defensive minded league than the NHL.

American Hockey League Scoring Leaders | Top 100 2017-2018 – followthepuck

That should be taken into consideration when you have teenagers like Chytil and Andersson playing against pros/older guys--many of whom have NHL experience--some even some success at the NHL level. They're playing against physically mature and well schooled players who have played at high levels.

This is a valid point and one I have made myself. The AHL is not a high-scoring league.

However, through showing the leaderboards over the years, it also occurred to me that there are quite a few more players that likely would have eclipsed 70 or came damn close had they not been called up one or more times. To wit, from last year:

Lucas Wallmark, 55 in 45, played 11 games and spent more time up with Carolina
Daniel Sprong, 65 in 65 but played 8 games with the Penguins
Austin Czarnik, 69 in 65 but started with the B's for 10 games
Andreas Johnsson, 54 in 54 but spent 9 games plus time with Toronto
Kalle Kosilla, 54 in 55 before going up to the Ducks
Dylan Strome, 53 in 50 but also spent 21 games with Phoenix
Nic Petan, 52 in 52 but also spent 15 games in Winnipeg

And beyond prospects, there are guys like Reid Boucher down there who score at a point-per-game pace but eventually come back up to the NHL. There are a whole bunch more examples like I listed, both prospects and older player like Boucher. So, I definitely think that the AHL is tougher to post gaudy numbers in, but I think it's partly due to the nature of it being a developmental league, where guys that are killing it naturally will get a call-up to the NHL.

Again, however, eco's point is totally valid--it's not a high-scoring league. I think it's--average, maybe. Probably fairly close to the NHL. So, it's probably unreasonable to expect a teenager to do more than .5 or .6 PPG, unless they're absolutely elite.

 

[Edge]

The AHL is not an easy league to run up numbers in. Only two guys hit the 70 point mark last year--Chris Terry--71 and Phil Varone--70. It ain't easy to score. Most everybody can skate and check and a lot of those who would still be considered prospects are being groomed to one day become bottom 6 NHL forwards--to skate, hit, check and penalty kill and all that less than exciting ****. It's a more defensive minded league than the NHL.

American Hockey League Scoring Leaders | Top 100 2017-2018 – followthepuck

That should be taken into consideration when you have teenagers like Chytil and Andersson playing against pros/older guys--many of whom have NHL experience--some even some success at the NHL level. They're playing against physically mature and well schooled players who have played at high levels.

It's interesting to see how the minors have evolved over the years. The days of Brad Smyth or the Ferraro Brothers putting up video game numbers are long gone.

Obviously there is a dip in production as a player moves up to the NHL, but some of the older assumptions about how a kid will perform based on his AHL production don't carry the weight they used to.

 

[eco's bones]

This is a valid point and one I have made myself. The AHL is not a high-scoring league.

However, through showing the leaderboards over the years, it also occurred to me that there are quite a few more players that likely would have eclipsed 70 or came damn close had they not been called up one or more times. To wit, from last year:

Lucas Wallmark, 55 in 45, played 11 games and spent more time up with Carolina
Daniel Sprong, 65 in 65 but played 8 games with the Penguins
Austin Czarnik, 69 in 65 but started with the B's for 10 games
Andreas Johnsson, 54 in 54 but spent 9 games plus time with Toronto
Kalle Kosilla, 54 in 55 before going up to the Ducks
Dylan Strome, 53 in 50 but also spent 21 games with Phoenix
Nic Petan, 52 in 52 but also spent 15 games in Winnipeg

And beyond prospects, there are guys like Reid Boucher down there who score at a point-per-game pace but eventually come back up to the NHL. There are a whole bunch more examples like I listed, both prospects and older player like Boucher. So, I definitely think that the AHL is tougher to post gaudy numbers in, but I think it's partly due to the nature of it being a developmental league, where guys that are killing it naturally will get a call-up to the NHL.

Again, however, eco's point is totally valid--it's not a high-scoring league. I think it's--average, maybe. Probably fairly close to the NHL. So, it's probably unreasonable to expect a teenager to do more than .5 or .6 PPG, unless they're absolutely elite.

Well I agree with all this too. There have been some really fine and skilled players who even recently have come through the AHL like Pastrnak or Aho or even Buchnevich (who hasn't really got it altogether yet). When a younger player starts running up numbers he usually doesn't stay there long. On the other hand somewhat older players like Peter Holland could arguably put up lots of points too but if called up are almost certainly going to be put in bottom 6 roles because they've had chances before and their expectations are known and are what they are.

In any case I'm not disappointed by either Chytil's or Andersson's point production. To me they both have done well so far. The AHL is a tough league to play in--especially for guys who are still teenagers.

 

[eco's bones]

It's interesting to see how the minors have evolved over the years. The days of Brad Smyth or the Ferraro Brothers putting up video game numbers are long gone.

Obviously there is a dip in production as a player moves up to the NHL, but some of the older assumptions about how a kid will perform based on his AHL production don't carry the weight they used to.

I think like any other league--the AHL is continually evolving to meet the needs of the NHL teams it feeds its players to. The AHL will mirror whatever the direction the NHL goes towards--maybe just lagging behind it a little.

 

[Ranger Ric]

So with the discussion about how Chytil and Andersson performed last year in the AHL and what it projects, it’s interesting to look at today’s Athletic, which has a story by Jonathan Willis. Willis developed a model to rank the top 100 AHL prospects based on their performance last year and their age. He evaluated how past AHL performance projected into NHL performance based on the AHL performance and the age of the prospect.
With regard to Ranger prospects his ranks were:
2. Chytl — projects as second line forward.
47. Georgiev — projects as number two goalie
91. Bigras
97. Gilmour
Former Ranger Aleksi Saarela ranked 68.
As I’m looking through the list the two obvious omissions were Lias Andersson and Neil Pionk. Based on his qualifications for ranking it looks like Pionk should have been considered. I have asked Willis if he considered Pionk.
But after reading the article and not seeing Andersson Willis included an addendum in which he apologized that he missed Anderson in his ratings and concluded that Andersson would come in at 9 with a projection of a middle six forward.
I think Willis would say that based on their age and AHL performance last year both Chytil and Andersson had very good seasons.

 

[Ranger Ric]

Day and St. Aumont healthy scratches tonight. New line mates for Andersson: Warmup lines for
@WolfPackAHL vs. P-Bruins: Gropp-Holland-Butler, Schneider-Andersson-Lindqvist, Gettinger-Fogarty-Meskanen, O'Donnell-Fontaine-Ronning. D: Hajek-Bigras, O'Gara-Pedrie, Lindgren-Gilmour. Tokarski starts

 

[mike14]

Only following via twitter but Andersson scored his first to tie it at 1

 

[Levitate]

Only following via twitter but Andersson scored his first to tie it at 1

Andersson from Bigras and O'Gara

 

[nyr2k2]

Still no Crawley. Is he still injured? If it was that bad they wouldn't have been able to send him down. If they're not going to play him, send him to Maine.

In other news, Maine opens tonight.

EDIT: I lied, Maine opens tomorrow.

 

[I Eat Crow]

I'm waiting for the Rangers to inevitably waive Gropp, have the Islanders claim him, and see him as a 20 goal scorer on Barzal's wing

 

[Ranger Ric]

"Ty Ronning in the lineup for the 2nd straight game, Vince Pedrie makes his season debut on defense in place of Sean Day who's a healthy scratch, Shawn St. Amant also a healthy scratch, Brandon Crawley still injured #HWP #HartCity #FeelTheImPACKt"

BTW, listened to the 31 Thoughts Podcast and they interviewed Daniel Briere who is the VP of Hockey Operations for Maine.

Still no Crawley. Is he still injured? If it was that bad they wouldn't have been able to send him down. If they're not going to play him, send him to Maine.

In other news, Maine opens tonight.

EDIT: I lied, Maine opens tomorrow.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Nice to see Lias with a strong strart to the season with 4 points in the first 4 games (including the game being played)

 

[nyr2k2]

Nice to see Lias with a strong strart to the season with 4 points in the first 4 games (including the game being played)

Yeah, he just keeps mediocre-ing his way to more points.

 

[LeetchisGod]

Gettinger with another goal. 5th round pick who appears to have a legit NHL future. Good stuff.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

Yeah, he just keeps mediocre-ing his way to more points.

He has been doing the same thing over and over, year after year, at every level. It's a great thing to see. In my opinion, the goals he scores are very easy to reproduce at a higher level. He just always knows where to be

 

[bobbop]

Bigras has certainly done well since the Rangers acquired him last year. Former Avs #2 pick (#32 overall) Any strong opinions out there about him?

 

[GeorgeKaplan]

Bigras has certainly done well since the Rangers acquired him last year. Former Avs #2 pick (#32 overall) Any strong opinions out there about him?

Wouldn’t surprise me if he was the first D call up, I thought he was the best player on the ice in the game against Laval last Sunday

 

[nyr2k2]

Pack blew a late 3-1 lead and lost in OT.