Off Season Thread 2025
- Thread starter PredsV82
- Start date
Armourboy
Hey! We suck!
Normally I would agree but there is a difference here, Trotz and Brunette like Molendyk. That could play a huge difference in what we've seen in the past and frankly puts him in territory we haven't really seen yet.I just can't see it. I'm watching Molendyk in the Memorial Cup. He's good, but he's not the kind of guy who plays D in the NHL at 20. We have sort of over-hyped him here based on a few rookie camp reports, but I think we better slow our roll on him a little bit?
He's not more ready for the NHL than Wilsby or Stastney, anyway, even if he hopefully has higher upside.
I mean, I would be all for the Preds at this point in the franchise downturn playing kids above their level and basically just "throwing them to the wolves", even if they're not traditionally "ready". But I don't see it happening. Molendyk isn't ready under any "normal" criteria. Bumping him up ahead of schedule isn't something I can imagine the Preds doing.
herzausstein
Registered User
Seems like a very premature thing to do with the draft right around the corner.... we will be right back in the 8-10 ranking area. But yes, we did trade away our best prospect (Askarov) but we will be adding a top 5 pick in a couple weeks plus a couple more later first rounders
AtlantaWhaler
Thrash/Preds/Sabres
- Jul 3, 2009
- 19,650
- 4,340
Agreed. Unless a follow-up analysis is done after comparing the before/after draft analysis. Otherwise, weird timing.
Armourboy
Hey! We suck!
Porter Stoutheart
Feliz Cinco De Lotto
- Jun 14, 2017
- 15,469
- 14,901
I feel like it might have been a 2-year deal last summer? I don't know, but it seemed like after the initial round of worrying that Taylor might look elsewhere, they locked him up at that time?
Of course, this never precludes a coach from "moving up"... if he had any NHL offers, the Ads would still let him go. But selfishly, it's great for us if he's here another year.
perhaps, but it was reported this week that he was just extended.I feel like it might have been a 2-year deal last summer? I don't know, but it seemed like after the initial round of worrying that Taylor might look elsewhere, they locked him up at that time?
Of course, this never precludes a coach from "moving up"... if he had any NHL offers, the Ads would still let him go. But selfishly, it's great for us if he's here another year.
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The 2024-25 Awful Announcing local NHL announcer rankings
Our readers have given us their NHL local announcer rankings for 2024-25, with significant movement since our last NHL rankings.
awfulannouncing.com
31. Nashville Predators (Willy Daunic, Chris Mason):2.00
Nashville Predators’ voices Willy Daunic (L) and Chris Mason on Fox Sports South in 2020. (Fox Sports South.)Most common grade: C (46.4% of votes)
Percentage of A/B/C grades: 73.9%
This is a team that’s been together since the 2017-18 season, with Daunic working with Stu Grimson before that and Mason working on the radio side since 2015. Daunic and Grimson received a 1.90 in 2016 (26th of 30 teams), and Daunic and Mason earned a 1.63 in 2020 (26th of 31). Their 16 As (of 226 total votes) were the lowest, but their six Fs were the lowest of any team. So, while this pairing doesn’t have many devoted fans, they have very few people who outright hate them.
The comments saw a fair bit of praise for Mason. who’s also gained some national prominence as an ice-level analyst for TNT. Remarks on him included “a good analyst” and “last guy I’d expect to do colour, but he does a good job.”
One unusual compliment/criticism of Mason was “is knowledgeable but not enough of a homer compared to other markets.” Most of the comments on homerism across teams are negative, and another respondent found this team “very homerish,” with yet another saying, “Chris Mason can only tell viewers that goals against the Predators were unfortunate or the goaltender had no chance while far too many saves by Predators goaltenders are “incredible.” Tell us why and how plays happened, as opposed to describing via replays what we just saw.” But apparently, there wasn’t enough homerism for one figure here, which reinforces how individual announcing preferences can be.
As for Daunic, he received some significant accolades. Those included “a criminally underrated wordsmith,” “always brings high energy to the broadcast,” and “provides plenty of information and storylines.” One reader suggested he has “a lack of in-depth hockey knowledge,” though, with another saying he “knows nothing about hockey,” and another (who found this team the “worst in the league”) said he “sounds bored.”
Still, the overall comments were higher on this team than the numerical grade, including lines like “This duo kept up the enthusiasm despite team struggles” and “consistently been in the top 16 for NHL commentary.” The total votes here don’t support that, but this booth does have plenty of people who like them.
This is more or less my take. I don't think they're offensively bad like some here do, just very mid/forgettable. They definitely have some ongoing issues that get grating over time, but I think most announcers would if you listen to them a lot.The 2024-25 Awful Announcing local NHL announcer rankings
Our readers have given us their NHL local announcer rankings for 2024-25, with significant movement since our last NHL rankings.
31. Nashville Predators (Willy Daunic, Chris Mason):2.00
Most common grade: C (46.4% of votes)
Percentage of A/B/C grades: 73.9%
This is a team that’s been together since the 2017-18 season, with Daunic working with Stu Grimson before that and Mason working on the radio side since 2015. Daunic and Grimson received a 1.90 in 2016 (26th of 30 teams), and Daunic and Mason earned a 1.63 in 2020 (26th of 31). Their 16 As (of 226 total votes) were the lowest, but their six Fs were the lowest of any team. So, while this pairing doesn’t have many devoted fans, they have very few people who outright hate them.
The comments saw a fair bit of praise for Mason. who’s also gained some national prominence as an ice-level analyst for TNT. Remarks on him included “a good analyst” and “last guy I’d expect to do colour, but he does a good job.”
One unusual compliment/criticism of Mason was “is knowledgeable but not enough of a homer compared to other markets.” Most of the comments on homerism across teams are negative, and another respondent found this team “very homerish,” with yet another saying, “Chris Mason can only tell viewers that goals against the Predators were unfortunate or the goaltender had no chance while far too many saves by Predators goaltenders are “incredible.” Tell us why and how plays happened, as opposed to describing via replays what we just saw.” But apparently, there wasn’t enough homerism for one figure here, which reinforces how individual announcing preferences can be.
As for Daunic, he received some significant accolades. Those included “a criminally underrated wordsmith,” “always brings high energy to the broadcast,” and “provides plenty of information and storylines.” One reader suggested he has “a lack of in-depth hockey knowledge,” though, with another saying he “knows nothing about hockey,” and another (who found this team the “worst in the league”) said he “sounds bored.”
Still, the overall comments were higher on this team than the numerical grade, including lines like “This duo kept up the enthusiasm despite team struggles” and “consistently been in the top 16 for NHL commentary.” The total votes here don’t support that, but this booth does have plenty of people who like them.
Bringer of Jollity
Registered User
They are a bland, middle-of-the-road crew. Definitely not 2nd worst, but I suspect the methodology of the list skews results toward teams that get a lot more viewership/exposure or "familiar announcers" (e.g. Rosen, Beninati, Forslund and Gord Miller-who really are excellent announcers, etc...).
Predsanddead24
Registered User
- Mar 7, 2019
- 5,255
- 7,359
Yeah and this kind of matches the results where most people gave them C's and they had the fewest A's but also the fewest F's of any crew. I went through a period where I watched the opposing teams feed for a lot of our games and the reality is that most local crews are pretty mediocre. I think @wmupreds is also correct that a lot of it is probably just listening to them so much and that's especially amplified when we're playing poorly. I do often find their over the top positivity frustrating (e.g. every goal is just bad luck), but I also think if they were constant doom and gloom they'd be even worse.
Porter Stoutheart
Feliz Cinco De Lotto
- Jun 14, 2017
- 15,469
- 14,901
Yeah, I have heard some announcers that are outright annoying even to a non-fan of the team they work for. Daunic and Mason are ok, they aren't really slurring words or butchering the job like some crews do. My biggest problem with them - and it really only stands out probably if you are a close follower of the team - is that they are overly positive and overly praising the team, even when it's a bad showing by the team, or a bad season like this last one. They know who is paying them, obviously. But still, at least SOME objectivity or criticism when warranted would be nice.
BigFatCat999
First Fubu and now Pred303. !@#$! you cancer
glenngineer
Registered User
I think if Mason were to have a partner that knew a lick about hockey, he'd be a shining star. He's much better than Grimson ever was. Daunic is absolutely horrible. He calls the game like a radio announcer would. I don't need every single thing spelled out for me, I can see it. And for whatever reason, whenever he says Cole Smith, it irritates me. It's Smith. Just call him Smith. We don't have another Smith on the roster. No reason to use his first name. No reason to use any of their first names to be perfectly honest. Be concise. FYI, watch and listen to other great announcers so you can get better at your craft.
I think Kevin Costner said it best in Wyatt Earp, Willy is affable.
I think Kevin Costner said it best in Wyatt Earp, Willy is affable.
