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Prospect Info: Hartford Wolf Pack/Bloomington Bison Thread: Part XV

Ola

Ola

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gravey9 said:
Just looked up Jesper's stats. He was roughly a 1 ppg player in the AHL in his time there. Paju is currently at .5 ppg. Lauri has been getting better and better on the forecheck. His game has definitely improved since the start of the season. But I think he still has a ways to go. Lauri came over a year earlier than Jesper did, essentially. He just turned 22. Jesper came over a few months before turning 23. Currently Pajuniemi is listed at 183 lbs. Which is a bit light.

I think Jesper was further along when he came over. But I think a bunch of that has to do with skating. If Lauri keeps developing his game at the same pace, he has a shot at getting to the NHL next year I suppose. But his progression would need to be pretty noticeable.

One aspect of watching minor league hockey that I find particularly hard to grasp is why certain effective AHL players are seen purely as AHL while others are deemed as NHL prospects -- when they may have nearly identical abilities in the A. Lauri, in a fishbowl, is exceeding expectations, adapting and improving. But when I watch his current effectiveness in the A, it's not better than say Tanner Fritz or Anthony Greco or Ty Ronning. All three players are somewhat average or slightly undersized for the NHL. They are all top 6 AHL forwards. They are very effective in the AHL. All-Star quality in some cases. And then I look at Paju and I think he's good -- but likely not quite as effective as these similar sized vets.

What makes Lauri stand out from them is his shot and having slightly better vision. But his impact on the actual game itself is not yet better than the other three I mentioned. And the question becomes -- what does Paju need to look like for him to get the call over others? Is it merely that he's as effective at this level and his shot and vision become the thing that separates him? Or does he literally need to display that his entire game is a notch above the others?

At the end of the day, I'd guess Lauri only comes up with major injuries or if the Rangers are out of the playoffs and wanting to see what they have in some of their AHL guys. Otherwise, I see this entire season as an adjustment year. And hopefully over the summer, Lauri continues to get stronger and faster now that he understands the NA game and has the time to train even better for it. My guess is, next year is a really important year for Paju. He doens't need to crack the NHL next season, but he does need to loudly knock on the door. And he needs to be okay with playing in the A a bit longer than most euro guys prefer.
Click to expand...

I look at it like this. On a scale, the European leagues are at one of the the far ends then comes the NHL in the middle, and on the other far end comes the AHL. Then on top of that, individual coaches of course has a big impact, just like Barry Trotz and Bruce Godreau aren't very similar in their coaching, neither are the extremes in the SHL/KHL or the AHL. I mean you can play in the KHL and play for a coach that is strict by NHL players like Bob Hartley.

Players in Europe needs to learn to play faster, with less ice and time. Players in the AHL must learn to make decisions with the puck expected by their teammates and that reads of the lay of the land in front of them.

Someone like Marek Hrivik is a good case study from my POV. A really hard worker who had hands and some skill, but he was never trusted in the NHL. The reason for that was so obvious, after X years under Gernander he had never been taught what it takes. Jesper Fast was super vanilla his first year in the NHL and made the team out of camp, but he was trusted. You play as a team. When do you move forward, when do you opt to try to shift sides of the ice, when do you just chip it in and when do you try a collected attack. How do you ship in the puck. All these and many other issues -- are advanced at the NHL level. Its very frustrating for the coach and also all the players, if someone isn't on the "same page" as the team.

All AHL stars that aren't NHL prospects aren't the same. I think many just have skating issues, this is the case both in Europe and the AHL. It is not enough to be really good if you are a poor skater, you must be great to be a poor skater and still be a star in the NHL. But among the rest in the AHL, the way they see the ice is just way way "too primitive". They play like Joe Michelletti would love to see all players play, but that isn't how the NHL game is played right now, not even remotely even when the Islanders play. Its give and go's, players changing positions, they are often reverting back to their Ds if they run into patrol in the neutral zone and so forth. If someone like Vinny Lettieri hopes on the ice when the Islanders play, and gets a puck looks down at it while skating in a straight line down the ice to put a puck on the net -- it disrupts the entire team. Nobody would be on board with that. The other players become passive.
 
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GAGLine

GAGLine

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Anyone else watching on AHLTV and getting this:

upload_2021-11-26_19-13-56.png
 
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GAGLine

GAGLine

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Working now. Pack outshooting Springfield 6-1 with 8:47 left in the 1st.
 

Ranger Ric

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Oct 26, 2015
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Yes. So much for the new improved AHL TV.

A couple of game notes.

Kinkaid in goal.

Guitar in for Skinner. Jones with Schneider, Robertson and Guitar and Reunanen with Bitetto.

Up front Barron centers DiGiacinto and Richards. I'm guess this makes sense, I just don't understand how.

Fritz centers Ronning and Paujniemi. Brodzinski centers Gettinger anf Greco. Khodorenko centers Labre and Whelan. Which means that Reuschhoff sits. In what world does it make sense to play Alex Whelan over Reuschhoff?

GAGLine said:
Anyone else watching on AHLTV and getting this:

View attachment 484406
Click to expand...
 
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cwede

cwede

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bl02 said:
Any smart GM around the league would be calling regarding Jones availability.
Click to expand...

Any GM that moves this kid, after just 27 pro games, for than a home run, is overmatched

This isn't Joey Keane like exceeding expectations, this is even more - a talented kid who has arc'ed upward pretty consistently, was a leader on an NCAA champ last spring,
and has not looked overmatched much in his first few months of pro action.

Tinordi has shown his weaknesses are a consistent part of his game.
Nils is developing fine, but some AHL time, w top 4 icetime, might help.
And so far the NYR D has been very healthy
Jones gonna get some NYR ice again this season
 
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bl02

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cwede said:
Any GM that moves this kid, after just 27 pro games, for than a home run, is overmatched

This isn't Joey Keane like exceeding expectations, this is even more - a talented kid who has arc'ed upward pretty consistently, was a leader on an NCAA champ last spring,
and has not looked overmatched much in his first few months of pro action.

Tinordi has shown his weaknesses are a consistent part of his game.
Nils is developing fine, but some AHL time, w top 4 icetime, might help.
And so far the NYR D has been very healthy
Jones gonna get some NYR ice again this season
Click to expand...
Preaching to the choir
 
duhmetreE

duhmetreE

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SnowblindNYR said:
If Jones is as good or close to as good to DeAngelo it will do a lot to make feel better about losing him.
Click to expand...
From what I've seen Jones is more like Fox-lite

I was all for trading him last off-season and keeping Nils... how the turns tables

With Jones and Schneider, Nils is the odd one out.
 
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bl02

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And Jones is younger than Nils by a small bit. Plays a more mature game. Obviously still tons of time time for both to develop even more. Hope Drury makes the right choice
 
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duhmetreE

duhmetreE

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bl02 said:
And Jones is younger than Nils by a small bit. Plays a more mature game. Obviously still tons of time time for both to develop even more. Hope Drury makes the right choice
Click to expand...
He honestly caught me off guard last offseason. I was expecting a lot of mistakes and just overall bad play...

He really did look like Foxy. Calm, cool and collected.... while moving pucks
 
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