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Prospect Info: Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL)/Maine Mariners (ECHL) Thread *Part X*

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Vitto79 said:
So Anderson and Meskanen the likeky call ups after the F purge at the deadline ?
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Honestly, and this is coming from one of Andersson's biggest advocates, he hasn't exactly looked engaged lately. I think he's sulking. Not sure the best reward is a call-up. They should sit down with him and say, "Hey kid, you have a ton of talent, bust your ass for the next four weeks and show us you belong back up here." And if he responds then call him up. If not, he can wait until camp in the Fall.
 
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Gropp scored a beautiful goal. Anticipated the passed, rushed to get there, stole the puck, used skill to skate through two defensemen, protected the puck with his body and a nice backhander to score. A driver goal by a kid with a reputation for being a passenger. A lot of improvement by Gropp this season.

Also, the Fogarty goal was mostly done by Vinni, but Fogarty did finish it well on the rebound.
 
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Beacon said:
Gropp scored a beautiful goal. Anticipated the passed, rushed to get there, stole the puck, used skill to skate through two defensemen, protected the puck with his body and a nice backhander to score. A driver goal by a kid with a reputation for being a passenger. A lot of improvement by Gropp this season.

Also, the Fogarty goal was mostly done by Vinni, but Fogarty did finish it well on the rebound.
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Gropp has improved his game away from the puck, for sure. He has also improved defensively, and seems better up to speed with the game. Unfortunately he still can't regularly find any space to use his shot, which is how only NHL-caliber asset. He's on pace for like 8 goals and 20 points, which would actually be a regression from his first season given the likely difference in games played.

I haven't see anything from him that leads me to believe he'll be more than an average AHL player. He's 22, so he has a little time to improve, maybe a couple years, but he has to make a massive improvement to get anywhere close to being NHL-ready. Despite jumping a pass, I still see little-to-no hockey sense there.
 
Mac n Gs said:
My only problem with Lias is that I wish he would've stayed in Sweden for the entirety of last season. I think he would've had the extra benefit of how regimented and structured SHL training programs are, especially since they skate nonstop.

Other than that, I'm not wasting time going down this Lias rabbit hole again. Lias has essentially identical production to Eeli Tolvanen this season.

Hartford is trash again this season, and Gorton and Drury really need to figure out how to build a winning environment down there.
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I do not get to watch the Pack so I have no insight, yet it seems to me like had the Rangers left Howden, Chytil, Georgiev down to start the season at the very least Gorton would have had more information towards deciding if it is a talent issue or a coaching/development issue in the AHL. Seems like if they are rebuilding that would be important to differentiate.
 
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nyr2k2 said:
Gropp has improved his game away from the puck, for sure. He has also improved defensively, and seems better up to speed with the game. Unfortunately he still can't regularly find any space to use his shot, which is how only NHL-caliber asset. He's on pace for like 8 goals and 20 points, which would actually be a regression from his first season given the likely difference in games played.

I haven't see anything from him that leads me to believe he'll be more than an average AHL player. He's 22, so he has a little time to improve, maybe a couple years, but he has to make a massive improvement to get anywhere close to being NHL-ready. Despite jumping a pass, I still see little-to-no hockey sense there.
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I don't disagree, but Gropp had a good year for his development all things considered. He started out being closer to the ECHL than the NHL, maybe closer to the ECHL than the AHL. He's a legit AHLer now, half a season into it. I never liked Gropp, I'm sure you remember my comments about him going back to his Barzal days when I felt that a Juniors passenger is just not going to make the NHL. But progress is progress. Let's see what he does next year.

I also think his skating is good enough for the NHL, not just his shot. He needs to develop his all-around game to make the NHL. He will never be a guy who sticks in the NHL because he scores 30 goals at that level. He will need to learn an overall game where he can chip in an occasional goal. Towards that end, this season is good for him. Still very far from the NHL, but he's only 22 years old. Let's see how he does in his 23 season. He could stop developing at that age or make a big jump. We'll see.
 
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Tokarski left after a goal in the last game, I wonder if it's because he was injured. Neither of the two goals were egregiously bad so I was surprised to see him pulled so quickly.
 
have any Rangers insiders/fans/posters visited Portland since the affiliation was shifted from Greenville, doesn't necessarily have to be Hartford fans or insiders
 
cwede said:
c'mon man, Clendening had an assist, while Saarela had 6 shots

Gamesheet: Cleveland at Charlotte - Feb 6, 2019
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Clendening was ok. Nobody on the Checkers looked good, including Saarela. Off night for them.

I do find myself rooting against Saarela, just so he can be an object lesson that B prospects are expendable assets to contending teams (or at least teams that think they're contending...). Lots of over-stated complaining from the Staal trade.
 
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I still don't fully understand the deal with Saarela. He has been a very good player in the AHL. I've always been impressed. He just turned 22. He was an early cut from Carolina's camp and they haven't called him up in either of his full professional seasons. I wonder what it is about his game that they don't like?
 
nyr2k2 said:
Honestly, and this is coming from one of Andersson's biggest advocates, he hasn't exactly looked engaged lately. I think he's sulking. Not sure the best reward is a call-up. They should sit down with him and say, "Hey kid, you have a ton of talent, bust your ass for the next four weeks and show us you belong back up here." And if he responds then call him up. If not, he can wait until camp in the Fall.
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This is so discouraging if true. That’s why this kid has all the makings of a complete bust. If he’s not hungry at his age, his destiny is sealed already.
 
This Lias talk is so dumb, using a ~15 game sample to trash him instead of using his D-1, D, D+1 and the first 14 games of his D+2 season to evaluate him, do any comparables on the bigger sample please…. Lias is a really good prospect with definite top 6 upside, atleast that's what his numbers over a 3+ season sample when he was 16-20 tells me, but i guess the 15 game sample after a demotion is better to use, or something…. stupid...
 
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effen said:
I'm actually more worried about a bad attitude and entitlement issues at 20 more than skating.

I still think he'll be fine.
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Yeah this times 100! I really am worried about how he’s reacted to this demotion and based on you guys who watch the Wolf Pack games and your observations, I’m sort of gutted. He does not have the skill set to think he should be gifted an NHL job and if he’s not willing to earn it, he’ll be quickly recycled through the bottom of the AHL system and eventually back to Sweden. It’s so hard to teach grit and mental toughness, it’s teachable but really takes commitment on the players part.

Those arguing he has great hockey IQ are hopefully right but it’s a little meaningless when he seems to be incapable of using that IQ because he’s just always behind the play. He will always be just slow enough to be able to just miss the interception of a pass, or just fall behind the rush. Players like this develop bad habits like cheating the play or flying the zone to early because they think they know what’s coming but also know that without that early anticipation, their first step will be too slow and they can’t keep up.

I’m not rooting against Lias at all- but everything I saw, and now am reading, just seems to be adding up to a project type pick and not a top 10!
 
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ManUtdTobbe said:
This Lias talk is so dumb, using a ~15 game sample to trash him instead of using his D-1, D, D+1 and the first 14 games of his D+2 season to evaluate him, do any comparables on the bigger sample please…. Lias is a really good prospect with definite top 6 upside, atleast that's what his numbers over a 3+ season sample when he was 16-20 tells me, but i guess the 15 game sample after a demotion is better to use, or something…. stupid...
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Respectfully I disagree. I’ve officiaited youth hockey for 20+ years including having worked a few games with future NHL players(Sonny Milano and Rob O’Garra most often when they were much younger) when they were 16. They were elite talent then and stood out in their games but those numbers could not be more irrelevant to projecting future NHL potential. The competition level is nothing and the players they play against may never even make a D1 college program let alone the NHL.

15 games is a small sample size. I agree it’s too early to be definitive but I’m not willing to give Lias the benefit of the doubt because he had a tremendous Bantam and Midget season...
 
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JHS said:
Respectfully I disagree. I’ve officiaited youth hockey for 20+ years including having worked a few games with future NHL players(Sonny Milano and Rob O’Garra most often when they were much younger) when they were 16. They were elite talent then and stood out in their games but those numbers could not be more irrelevant to projecting future NHL potential. The competition level is nothing and the players they play against may never even make a D1 college program let alone the NHL.

15 games is a small sample size. I agree it’s too early to be definitive but I’m not willing to give Lias the benefit of the doubt because he had a tremendous Bantam and Midget season...
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But he didn't have Bantam or Midget seasons? He had the 3rd most points in a season in history in his D-1 year in the SuperElit, and then has been playing against men since. Men as in: Competition older, larger, and more skilled than him. And he has still done very well. Your experience with youth hockey has no bearing on your ability to judge Andersson's play, and it shows.
 
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Vitto79 said:
So Anderson and Meskanen the likeky call ups after the F purge at the deadline ?
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For the life of me, I can't understand why Meskanen hasn't gotten a cup of coffee yet. I mean, do they want the kid to go back to Finland? Everyone else that I would even remotely consider for a call-up other than maybe Fontaine has gotten one.

Can someone who watches the pack more than I do explain why this might be?
 
ManUtdTobbe said:
This Lias talk is so dumb, using a ~15 game sample to trash him instead of using his D-1, D, D+1 and the first 14 games of his D+2 season to evaluate him, do any comparables on the bigger sample please…. Lias is a really good prospect with definite top 6 upside, atleast that's what his numbers over a 3+ season sample when he was 16-20 tells me, but i guess the 15 game sample after a demotion is better to use, or something…. stupid...
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I hope this isn't directed at me. I've been one of his most outspoken advocates, think it's silly that he's down there, and believe he should have been given an opportunity to take Howden's minutes months ago.

However, the guy I see right now is not the great AHL player I saw at the beginning of the year. I personally think he looks slightly disinterested and not as motivated. I could be COMPLETELY wrong, but that's what I see.

It doesn't change my long term outlook for him or anything. It's just an observation.
 
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