League News: NHL Talk - (News n' Scores n' Stuff) - 2021-2 Regular Season Edition, Vol. 2

[max21]

I strongly dislike the Bruins

 

[Langway]

Sprong scored again. Watch him get 30 next year away from these sandbagging slowpoke amateurs.

 

[Baszie]

 

[tycoonheart]

Yeah but can he play a 200 ft game?

 

[Capitals40]

This is a video game it is not real.

 

[AlexModvechkin8]

That’s why I didn’t want to trade Sprong. Sprong can do things very few other people on this team can do.

 

[zappa4ever]

Sprong, on the currently 3rd worst team in the league who are free to be spoilers to playoff/bubble teams, gets a meaningless goal in a Loss.
meh.
Anybody think he's going to have time and space to even get off a shot in the Playoffs?

I absolutely love his World-Class Release and here's what many of us predicted:
some decent success getting free reign and full minutes on a bottom dweller

There's a reason he's been dealt to several diff. teams now, I wish he was more rounded but seems like he can't (or refuses to) evolve

 

[Jags]

And again NOBODY saw him doubling his production away from DC. Nobody. The only CS fanboi here lauded him for his DEFENSE.

That's not quite so true. I know I don't post as much as many others here, but I was all about Stephenson after 2018. He was Beagle with more offensive upside. All of the indicators were there that he could be an impact 3rd-liner right away, and could sub higher in the lineup when needed. Cap casualty? If they had taken the chance on him that they should have, they wouldn't have needed one of Hagelin or Panik, saving the team millions while also being a better player. Or if it took a bit longer, he'd have made Eller expendable.

It was never just defense with him. He had speed and toughness, showed real promise on the forecheck, good smarts in pursuit, and was a good (and improving) penalty killer. Reirden put him in that ridiculous revolving door of players on the 4th and that was the ballgame. He showed zero interest or faith in Stephenson and Mac moved him so he'd get the chance he deserved.

No, I didn't foresee such an uptick on offense, but he was obviously a versatile, cost-controlled player with a lot of potential upside. The general feeling here was that he wasn't living up to that potential, and it only stood out because he was the best player being swallowed alive by the talent vortex on Reirden's 4th line. No one on that line played well, what with the constantly shifting personnel and horseshit deployments.

We punted on a very good, cheap player for no good reason. Some folks here make it sound like he blew his shot in DC. That's not what happened.

 

[Jags]

NOW….if I had a crystal ball, I would have held onto Stephenson…….but it would likely still be a fools errand because he would NOT be gifted top line time in DC for multiple seasons as he became a finished product.

He wouldn't have needed top-line time. After 2018, he was a solid bet to be a 3rd liner. That's all we needed from him. He would have been a serviceable replacement for Connolly immediately, and with the benefit of hindsight, yeah, we know he'd have been a cheaper, better upgrade to Eller in the long run. He showed that he had all of that in him during 17-18 and was a real contributor on the run to the Cup.

If we had bet on him instead of spending to fill that spot (a bigger gamble and far more costly), we'd have been far better off. The narrative here that he was a disappointment in DC and miraculously exploded in Vegas is nonsense. He showed us what he could be and our coaching staff couldn't be bothered.

 

[g00n]

That's not quite so true. I know I don't post as much as many others here, but I was all about Stephenson after 2018. He was Beagle with more offensive upside. All of the indicators were there that he could be an impact 3rd-liner right away, and could sub higher in the lineup when needed. Cap casualty? If they had taken the chance on him that they should have, they wouldn't have needed one of Hagelin or Panik, saving the team millions while also being a better player. Or if it took a bit longer, he'd have made Eller expendable.

It was never just defense with him. He had speed and toughness, showed real promise on the forecheck, good smarts in pursuit, and was a good (and improving) penalty killer. Reirden put him in that ridiculous revolving door of players on the 4th and that was the ballgame. He showed zero interest or faith in Stephenson and Mac moved him so he'd get the chance he deserved.

No, I didn't foresee such an uptick on offense, but he was obviously a versatile, cost-controlled player with a lot of potential upside. The general feeling here was that he wasn't living up to that potential, and it only stood out because he was the best player being swallowed alive by the talent vortex on Reirden's 4th line. No one on that line played well, what with the constantly shifting personnel and horseshit deployments.

We punted on a very good, cheap player for no good reason. Some folks here make it sound like he blew his shot in DC. That's not what happened.

I wasn't talking about you I was talking about maaco who loved CS mainly for his defense. If you thought he was a better player than what he showed in DC that's cool but again you even said you didn't forsee him doubling his points.

So bottom line is this trade was not some huge and obvious blunder by GMBM in a supposed long list of similar blunders. It's an outlier.

 

[illpucks]

Sprong, on the currently 3rd worst team in the league who are free to be spoilers to playoff/bubble teams, gets a meaningless goal in a Loss.
meh.
Anybody think he's going to have time and space to even get off a shot in the Playoffs?

I absolutely love his World-Class Release and here's what many of us predicted:
some decent success getting free reign and full minutes on a bottom dweller

There's a reason he's been dealt to several diff. teams now, I wish he was more rounded but seems like he can't (or refuses to) evolve

Could have been used in a package to get Vrana back not Mojo

 

[VaCaps Fan]

We don’t need vrana back, headcase unlike mantha.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

He wouldn't have needed top-line time. After 2018, he was a solid bet to be a 3rd liner. That's all we needed from him. He would have been a serviceable replacement for Connolly immediately, and with the benefit of hindsight, yeah, we know he'd have been a cheaper, better upgrade to Eller in the long run. He showed that he had all of that in him during 17-18 and was a real contributor on the run to the Cup.

If we had bet on him instead of spending to fill that spot (a bigger gamble and far more costly), we'd have been far better off. The narrative here that he was a disappointment in DC and miraculously exploded in Vegas is nonsense. He showed us what he could be and our coaching staff couldn't be bothered.

If people are expeciting the same level of offensive output as we see today, he would have needed top-6 time with much more talented players….at a minimum.

If you‘re only expecting him to develop into a bottom-6 plumber, then sure, I agree, but people are longing for the guy we see playing between talent in Vegas, not a 3rd line plumber version of the player.

 

[tycoonheart]

Woah Vrana has 13 goals in 20 games with Detroit?!

 

[tycoonheart]

Pittsburgh looks scary good.

 

[RedRocking]

Pittsburgh looks scary good.

And NYR just won in OT. I don’t think we’re catching these guys.

 

[max21]

Pittsburgh looks scary good.

Twice this year Detroit has gotten a 10 piece on them

 

[zappa4ever]

Pittsburgh looks scary good.

PIT is straight Jekyll and Hyde
Look like dogshit last 2 games and then World Beaters running up the score on DET today

 

[pman25]

You know I’m not totally sure Stevie Y is the great GM like many claim. He supposedly wins all these trades but that team is so so bad.

 

[HTFN]

Could have been used in a package to get Vrana back not Mojo

I don’t know why I still let you do this to me but

1.)Yzerman isn’t going from Mantha to Sprong in two trades
2.) literally anything about the salary cap

 

[Hivemind]

You know I’m not totally sure Stevie Y is the great GM like many claim. He supposedly wins all these trades but that team is so so bad.

You realize he's only been Detroit's GM since April 2019, right? Before that he was with Tampa Bay, building the framework for their Cup teams.

He also got hosed by the 2020 draft lottery (picking 4th instead of 1st) and still might be coming away with the best player from that draft.

 

[895]

It's annoying that Matthews will soon be an actual 50 goal scorer instead of a hypothetical one.

 

[pman25]

You realize he's only been Detroit's GM since April 2019, right? Before that he was with Tampa Bay, building the framework for their Cup teams.

He also got hosed by the 2020 draft lottery (picking 4th instead of 1st) and still might be coming away with the best player from that draft.

Yes but i give more credit there to BriseBois who basically ran everything there as AGM and has proven to be a master of the salary cap. BriseBois hired Jon Cooper as the Admirals coach and managed the Admirals and ultimately was hired as full time GM in 2018. He's the reason they didn't really fight to keep Yzerman to begin with.

GMs need time but coming up on three years and the team is allowing 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 goals- against in a game in a single season is not ideal. And Blashill is still coach, a holdover from the prior regime and someone he chose to extend. He's had good success on his european draft picks but that probably speaks to the strengths of Hakan Andersson who has been there since the 90s. That job was always gonna be tough but think Yzermans reputation far exceeds actual results thus far

 

[um]

Yes but i give more credit there to BriseBois who basically ran everything there as AGM and has proven to be a master of the salary cap. BriseBois hired Jon Cooper as the Admirals coach and managed the Admirals and ultimately was hired as full time GM in 2018. He's the reason they didn't really fight to keep Yzerman to begin with.

GMs need time but coming up on three years and the team is allowing 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 goals- against in a game in a single season is not ideal. And Blashill is still coach, a holdover from the prior regime and someone he chose to extend. He's had good success on his european draft picks but that probably speaks to the strengths of Hakan Andersson who has been there since the 90s. That job was always gonna be tough but think Yzermans reputation far exceeds actual results thus far

To be fair, next year would be a great season to tank in.

 

[Peeri]

Pittsburgh looks scary good.

Scariest thing is that Malkin is entering his playoff mode, and there is no stopping him when he is in the groove. The 6-0 goal from last night was just so pretty, never ceases to amaze me how such big dude can be so smooth.