Nashville Predators Talk - 2024/2025 Season II

[Top 6 Spaling]

If we trade Sissons for a 1st, I am going to buy some kind of celebratory beverage, that's for sure.

I don't even think it's totally impossible... highly unlikely... but but I really like Sissons as a player, and the way picks are devalued this year, who knows?

I was mostly exaggerating for humor but....a guy can dream, right?

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

I am really bummed about the Lauzon situation. Man, that guy sucks as a hockey player. I just really don't see any situation in which he doesn't make us a worse hockey team. While at the same time his ridiculously dumb hit stats might have made him a marketable TDL commodity? Damn. That's an opportunity missed, and it's going to suck when he starts with us next season ahead of Stastney or Willsby.

 

[Armourboy]

Lauzon giveth, Lauzon taketh away.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

Lauzon giveth, Lauzon taketh away.

At least I guess if we just accept up front that we're going to suck next season too, then we might take some remorse from thinking we'll get a better player with a 2026 draft pick than the same pick in a "bad" 2025 draft?

 

[nine_inch_fang]

Lauzon ruled out for rest of season... so there goes trading him



The rest of the injured are practicing atleast



Denisenko is a smallish fella. Maybe some filler for MIL should we need to call more players up after a trade or two.


Id be equally excited if we got anything for smith and/or McCarron

L'Heureux was also practicing with that group yesterday.

I am really bummed about the Lauzon situation. Man, that guy sucks as a hockey player. I just really don't see any situation in which he doesn't make us a worse hockey team. While at the same time his ridiculously dumb hit stats might have made him a marketable TDL commodity? Damn. That's an opportunity missed, and it's going to suck when he starts with us next season ahead of Stastney or Willsby.

I wonder what he could be with some decent coaching. I think he has the skills to be a high quality 3rd pair/low quality 2nd pair guy if you can coach him to read and react to situations differently.

 

[Preds Partisan]

Can't trade Lauzon if he's broken. Unless there's a Trotz clone out there we don't know about that will make dumb decisions.

 

[Kat Predator]

We acquired Denisenko from Vegas for future considerations. Former Panthers 1st rounder who hasn't ever shown anything at NHL level, he has been largely AHLer for Vegas.

Do I have to grow a beard again? I mean this sounds like a Cup run!

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

Do I have to grow a beard again? I mean this sounds like a Cup run!

Maybe Calder Cup run.

 

[Kat Predator]

L'Heureux was also practicing with that group yesterday.


I wonder what he could be with some decent coaching. I think he has the skills to be a high quality 3rd pair/low quality 2nd pair guy if you can coach him to read and react to situations differently.

Lauzon was a serviceable 4/5/6 sort of NHL defenseman before he got here. He was even adequate on either side at filling a bag of minutes for you.

I think he's a lot like Carrier in this regard and gets the same critique. A coach can ask him to do crazy sh1t that he's not great at, and he'll give it his best shot and come up smelling a little stinky. But that's on the coach. Just saying, "I want you to play exactly like Hedman" doesn't really turn that delusion into a reality.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

L'Heureux was also practicing with that group yesterday.


I wonder what he could be with some decent coaching. I think he has the skills to be a high quality 3rd pair/low quality 2nd pair guy if you can coach him to read and react to situations differently.

Oh I agree on that... he just shouldn't be thinking "pinch, rush, pinch" all the time at the other end, and he shouldn't be thinking "hit, hit, hit" outside of the play in our end.

He has the overall skill level to be a fine #5. Fearless and physical. But he just does not employ his skills at the right places on the ice. I mean, the guy has 1 assist in 28 games this season... that's goalie stats... how on earth has it not occurred to him that he has absolutely nothing whatsoever to contribute in the offensive zone?

 

[herzausstein]

Lauzon is fine for what he is and is paid fairly for a 3rd pairing player. We just insist that he gets 2nd pairing minutes

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

Lauzon is fine for what he is and is paid fairly for a 3rd pairing player. We just insist that he gets 2nd pairing minutes

I still maintain he would suck if he was a 3rd pairing player who constantly pinched unnecessarily or took himself out of the play trying for a hit along the side boards when a smarter play would just be to angle out a player.

He could be an ok 3rd pairing player. But he chooses not to be.

I would FAR rather use Stastney or Wilsby in his spot. They are not physical AT ALL. But they can skate, and they angle players and manage gaps, and don't do dumb things gambling at the other end. They are vastly superior to Lauzon IMHO. At less than half the cost.

 

[Armourboy]

Lauzon could be solid but I get the feeling he doesn't listen all that well. I mean we give Brunette crap, and I think he probably fed some of the bad qualities Lauzon has early on, but in his comments he has clearly stated that they wanted him to take that physical ability and use it correctly. He never has done that, and I don't know if he just hasn't listened or if Brunette just sucks that bad, or maybe he just doesn't seen the game well enough to make the correct decision.

There is a decent physical 3rd pairing Dman there, he just can't seem to figure it all out.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

Lauzon could be solid but I get the feeling he doesn't listen all that well. I mean we give Brunette crap, and I think he probably fed some of the bad qualities Lauzon has early on, but in his comments he has clearly stated that they wanted him to take that physical ability and use it correctly. He never has done that, and I don't know if he just hasn't listened or if Brunette just sucks that bad, or maybe he just doesn't seen the game well enough to make the correct decision.

There is a decent physical 3rd pairing Dman there, he just can't seem to figure it all out.

Some players have mastered the art of... I don't know what you call it... "cheerleading", consistent rah-rah talk, or marine ooh-rah or whatever. And coaches buy this stuff hook line and sinker. It makes it SEEM like the player is listening and making some kind of huge extra leadership contribution. When in fact, they could be totally on auto-play and tuning out all the details.

I think Lauzon and McCarron are at least two examples of that. Whether they listen or not, or whether they are capable of executing any better than our rookies, who knows. The thing is they lead the charge from a hockey-talk vocal chatter perspective.

And maybe there are guys, maybe Fabbro was one, who are kind of the exact opposite of this. And their on-ice ability goes under-appreciated as a result?

 

[wmupreds]

Lauzon could be solid but I get the feeling he doesn't listen all that well. I mean we give Brunette crap, and I think he probably fed some of the bad qualities Lauzon has early on, but in his comments he has clearly stated that they wanted him to take that physical ability and use it correctly. He never has done that, and I don't know if he just hasn't listened or if Brunette just sucks that bad, or maybe he just doesn't seen the game well enough to make the correct decision.

There is a decent physical 3rd pairing Dman there, he just can't seem to figure it all out.

To my eye Lauzon had the same issues under Hynes.. I know Hynes is no popular figure here, and he may have been part of the problem regarding the hit chasing, but I don't think he was encouraging the offensive adventuring like Brunette might.

Anyway, seems to me the guy just lacks hockey IQ.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

"chasing the hit" is just bad hockey. A few times in NHL history it has worked out when an overtly physical and aggressive NHL team has won championships (Flyers in 70s, I dunno maybe some Bruins teams or others?)

BUT... and it's a HUGE BUTT!... any time it worked, the team also had a big skills advantage at the same time. Yeah, it's great to be cocky and belligerent and intimidating and physically dominant... when you're just going to beat the other team on the scoreboard regardless. But there is some chicken and egg here. You didn't win BECAUSE of those physical things. You won because you have more talent. Then those things were just rubbing their noses in it. Whereas when your team lags behind on skills and talent... eh...

 

[Predsanddead24]

The problem is hit totals are a pretty poor metric of physicality and while we rack those up we're actually pretty soft in the places it matters like in front of the net. I think someone like Shea Weber is a perfect example because he was undoubtedly one of the more physical defenseman in the league but he never really racked up a particularly large amount of hits.

 

[Dadof5boys]

Maybe Calder Cup run.

I support the Ads, but like the Preds, the Ads are one of the oldest teams in the A. We don't have a lot of depth in the AHL level. I don't understand how we've been ranked so high with our prospect pools. Our top 5 guys in the AHL are all AHL mainstays with maybe a tweener in there. Kemell is the only prospect that has any kind of NHL potential on the forward end, and he's not exactly lighting up the AHL. Our youth development is absolutely atrocious! Molendyk looks good, but he's 20 years old playing in Juniors. We have never been great in development as evident by the fact that we have very little success....especially in the forward position to draft and develop impact players. In 25 drafts we could probably name, at most, ten players that we developed to be impact players for the Preds.

 

[Armourboy]

I support the Ads, but like the Preds, the Ads are one of the oldest teams in the A. We don't have a lot of depth in the AHL level. I don't understand how we've been ranked so high with our prospect pools. Our top 5 guys in the AHL are all AHL mainstays with maybe a tweener in there. Kemell is the only prospect that has any kind of NHL potential on the forward end, and he's not exactly lighting up the AHL. Our youth development is absolutely atrocious! Molendyk looks good, but he's 20 years old playing in Juniors. We have never been great in development as evident by the fact that we have very little success....especially in the forward position to draft and develop impact players. In 25 drafts we could probably name, at most, ten players that we developed to be impact players for the Preds.

Cause there is more than just the AHL and Juniors out there. You have college players and guys overseas in various leagues to account for as well.

Plus keep in mind, anyone not actively tanking is probably going to be even thinner than we are.

 

[herzausstein]

Oh well. Back to our games. Back to back this weekend against the devils and avs. Followed by the Panthers and Jets. Coming out of the break against 4 playoff teams.

 

[weeze]

Some players have mastered the art of... I don't know what you call it... "cheerleading", consistent rah-rah talk, or marine ooh-rah or whatever. And coaches buy this stuff hook line and sinker. It makes it SEEM like the player is listening and making some kind of huge extra leadership contribution. When in fact, they could be totally on auto-play and tuning out all the details.

I think Lauzon and McCarron are at least two examples of that. Whether they listen or not, or whether they are capable of executing any better than our rookies, who knows. The thing is they lead the charge from a hockey-talk vocal chatter perspective.

And maybe there are guys, maybe Fabbro was one, who are kind of the exact opposite of this. And their on-ice ability goes under-appreciated as a result?

Also they are the two that do most of the fighting for the Preds. Schenn on an occasion but these other two mostly. Get rid of them and who? You have to have someone willing to stand up and drop the gloves, whether they win , lose or draw doesn't matter but at least make a stand for your teammates and team in general. I give these two credit for doing that!