A nice 2-way 2nd line winger. I don't know if he has it in him to be a 70p player, but a couple 30/30 seasons should be doable for him with PP time.
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A nice 2-way 2nd line winger. I don't know if he has it in him to be a 70p player, but a couple 30/30 seasons should be doable for him with PP time.
- Dec 10, 2012
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Realistically he's going to be a solid defensive 3RW. Especially given you have guys like Fiala and Kaprizov in front of him, he's not going to out-offense those kind of guys. He and Ek have been very good this year though, both on pace for about 40 points with no PP time. I wouldn't be surprised to see him with career years around 50, I just don't know if he's ever going to take the step to being a consistent 60 point guy for the top 6.
I'll be damn glad to have him on the third line though. Good defense, good shot, solid hands, good speed.
Dr Jan Itor
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Seems like a fairly safe bet to be a 20+20 guy going forward. Not sure if there's anything more there though.
Dr Jan Itor
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True, but I'm not really expecting him to get substantially more opportunities in the future. Safe bet for 20+20 can still mean some years up in the 25 range.
BuiumSaveUs
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Dr Jan Itor
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Pretty tough to do as a 3rd liner with little PP time. Last year, ~50 ES points were guys like Backstrom, Kuznetsov, Zibanejad, Voracek, Atkinson, etc...
BuiumSaveUs
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I wouldn’t bet on it happening in the next few years, but situations chance quick in this league and he’s 22. In his prime I’m sure he’ll have a top 6 role somewhere.
Kunin and Eriksson-Ek are definitely worth some optimism.
As of today, Eriksson-Ek is averaging .5 ppg. Not heady numbers to be sure, but considering he averaged in the .2s the last couple years, gets the hardest minutes with no PP, I am impressed with what he is becoming at the ripe old age of 22.
As of today, Eriksson-Ek is averaging .5 ppg. Not heady numbers to be sure, but considering he averaged in the .2s the last couple years, gets the hardest minutes with no PP, I am impressed with what he is becoming at the ripe old age of 22.
- Dec 10, 2012
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Yeah sometimes I forget that these two are only 22/23. Looking at how they're trending against how Coyle, Nino, Zucker and Granlund were at the same age, it's pretty promising.
Russo posted the results of the Wild "player poll" for the Athletic today, and it was pretty hilarious. Things like worst roommate (Greenway), spends the most time in the weight room (Donato, who is rarely actually working out), worst dressed (Koivu), etc. Lots of humorous banter in there.
The Wild Player Poll: Who'd be the worst road roommate?
The Wild Player Poll: Who'd be the worst road roommate?
I think JEE is coming along very well. He is a physical and defensive force out there. On pace for about 40 points, which IMO, makes him valuable indeed, considering he play tough minutes against the other team's best, in many cases. I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that he becomes the next Koivu, which is pretty damn good. At least, i think he might be a more consistent Coyle, which is also pretty ok. Unlike Coyle, i don't think he will be playing anything but C, which should help steady his play.
Kunin is on pace for 41 points this season, with all of 126 NHL games under his belt - I can see a positive difference in his game from the start of this season. He is getting better. He did just turn 22 last month.
50 point winger, if he ever gets PP time? Fuggetaboutit!
50 point winger, if he ever gets PP time? Fuggetaboutit!
Yeah, I can't see how someone could suggest that Kunin has a ceiling of 20+20. He is barely 22. You can expect that he will get better as he gets stronger and matures. I can see a 50-60pt player in Kunin.
Dr Jan Itor
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"A safe bet to be a 20+20 guy" doesn't mean that it's his ceiling, it actually sort of means the opposite. It's really just saying that there isn't a lot of space between the floor and ceiling, given his current role. Now, if he sees an elevated role and PP time going forward, then sure, I would expect a bump. But if guys like Kaprizov, Boldy, maybe Beckman come in and keep him at only ES and PK, then 50-60 is going to be hard to get.
When Granlund was scoring 60+ for us a couple years ago, his ES points were in the mid-40's and that was with top line time. Zucker's best year with us, playing top line time, was in the mid-40's for ES.
Yeah, the powerplay's a huge factor. There were 42 players in the league that had more than 50 even strength points last year, and there are plenty of 1st-line caliber players that didn't.
The list of guys in the 35-45 EV pts range (with at least 75GP) isn't exactly a bunch of stiffs:
| Player | Age | Tm | Pos | PTS | EVPTS |
| Ryan Dzingel | 26 | TOT | C | 56 | 45 |
| Brendan Gallagher | 26 | MTL | RW | 52 | 45 |
| Brett Connolly | 26 | WSH | RW | 46 | 44 |
| Mathew Barzal | 21 | NYI | C | 62 | 44 |
| Brock Nelson | 27 | NYI | C | 53 | 44 |
| Evander Kane | 27 | SJS | LW | 56 | 43 |
| Andreas Athanasiou | 24 | DET | C | 54 | 43 |
| Mikael Backlund | 29 | CGY | C | 47 | 43 |
| Jonathan Marchessault | 28 | VEG | C | 59 | 43 |
| Jakub Vrana | 22 | WSH | LW | 47 | 43 |
| Joe Pavelski | 34 | SJS | C | 64 | 42 |
| Jamie Benn | 29 | DAL | LW | 53 | 42 |
| Dylan Strome | 21 | TOT | C | 57 | 41 |
| Josh Bailey | 29 | NYI | C | 56 | 41 |
| Travis Konecny | 21 | PHI | C | 49 | 41 |
| Chris Kreider | 27 | NYR | C | 52 | 40 |
| Ryan Nugent-Hopkins | 25 | EDM | C | 69 | 40 |
| Bo Horvat | 23 | VAN | C | 61 | 40 |
| Kasperi Kapanen | 22 | TOR | RW | 44 | 39 |
| Anze Kopitar | 31 | LAK | C | 60 | 39 |
| William Karlsson | 26 | VEG | C | 56 | 39 |
| Justin Williams | 37 | CAR | RW | 53 | 39 |
| Tyler Johnson | 28 | TBL | C | 47 | 38 |
| Brandon Saad | 26 | CHI | LW | 47 | 38 |
| Chris Tierney | 24 | OTT | C | 48 | 38 |
| Nino Niederreiter | 26 | TOT | RW | 53 | 38 |
| Yanni Gourde | 27 | TBL | C | 48 | 37 |
| Jonathan Drouin | 23 | MTL | LW | 53 | 37 |
| Josh Anderson | 24 | CBJ | RW | 47 | 37 |
| Eric Staal | 34 | MIN | C | 52 | 36 |
| Kevin Labanc | 23 | SJS | RW | 56 | 36 |
| Carl Soderberg | 33 | COL | C | 49 | 36 |
| Mike Hoffman | 29 | FLA | C | 70 | 35 |
| Anders Lee | 28 | NYI | C | 51 | 35 |
It'd be a pretty good sign if Kunin and Ek can push into that 40-ish range by 22/23 years old.
That's putting the cart before the horse to me. I see it more as Kunin will be keeping the guys that are 2+ years away from even sniffing the NHL off the PP.
I agree. I think Kunin will be given a spot on the PP as soon as next season. He is the shooter we need there.
Actually I think Donato is the shooter we need right now on the PP. Well that and Dumba remembering how to score goals.
MuckOG
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- May 18, 2012
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With Kaprizov coming on board next year, the log jam of top 9 wingers gets even bigger. It seems more and more likely that one of either Greenway, Donato or Zucker will need to be moved either at the TDL or draft. Maybe even two of them. Zucker has the most value, is slightly older and the largest contract. Does that make him the more likely of the three to be on his way out?
On the other hand, he is one of our fastest players and can be counted on to score at least 20+ goals per season. Can we afford to lose that much productivity in the line-up?
On the other hand, he is one of our fastest players and can be counted on to score at least 20+ goals per season. Can we afford to lose that much productivity in the line-up?
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I like Donato better in tight on the goalie. Guy knows what to do in that 5ft range, its incredible the mitts he flashes.
I really think it depends on who the head coach is next year before I could say which of these wings should be traded.
I do think Zucker has the most value of the 3 players you listed, so he'd be the first one I'd trade. I'd rather keep Donato and Greenway than trade them for say a 3rd rounder (each) and hope their game improves to be in the lineup or at least get a better return further down the road.
Sarge58
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- Jan 25, 2014
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Right now the Foligno-JEE-Kunin line has the ability to know where each other are on the ice and are working extremely well together. I hope that continues.
As for Kunin he has the ability to find the soft spot around 10-15 from the goal and I can see him as a 25 goal scorer or more especially if he works on his release and accuracy.
As for Kunin he has the ability to find the soft spot around 10-15 from the goal and I can see him as a 25 goal scorer or more especially if he works on his release and accuracy.
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