Low Effort GDT Sens v Buffalo tonight

[LiseL]

I haven't liked Kleven's camp much at all, but when Filip Roos is your competition you're pretty much on the team by default.

That's why I was happy to see Hamonic's play look good the other night. I think he'd be a great partner for Kleven on the 3rd pairing, show him the ropes. Yes, they're both defensive D but that's not a bad thing. I always go back to what Sandy said about Hamonic, how he really helped his game. Would be nice to see him do the same for Kleven, i.e., help him be the best he can be.

 

[LiseL]

If only he had played all game but yeah, he showed why he's an actual starter in this league.

The # of shots he faced, he might as well have played a full game.

 

[LiseL]

Leafs fan who is becoming a Yak fan, is he making the team this year? thinking he will make a great sleeper D pick in my pool if he makes it

He was named the captain of his Calgary WHL team so I'd don't think he stays all year. Think he still needs some seasoning but I worry that the coaching staff in Calgary isn't good enough. If Zub is out with injury, they still have Hamonic and Bernard-Docker available on the right side. But yeah, he doesn't look out of place.

 

[LiseL]

Ullmark with a Korpi goal last night. But got peppered in the first.

Crookshank looked like he had something to prove. I was very in and out in a different time zone. How did Boucher look?

One of our D screened him on that shot. That's something our D have to ensure they don't do. If you're going to screen your goalie, you better block that shot. This happened a lot last year. It's one thing to collapse in front of the goalie, it's another if you're the cause of the goal either by accidentally redirecting it or by not letting your goalie see the play/incoming shot. Hard to tell if Ullmark could see that play develop before the shot.

 

[SpezDispenser]

If that's the case, then they don't deserve to be in the NHL.

I'm confident most won't be this year.

 

[Icelevel]

So, I did a quick and dirty Expected return calculation for our drafting from 2016 to present, and we should have expected about 9-10 NHL players with our picks. I think we're on pace for about that, maybe a touch behind.

Our drafting has been about average, nothing to write home about, but not something for heads to roll over either. What killed us is trading off 4oa, 7oa, 12oa, 39oa, 49oa, and 72oa, that should have likely netted us another 2-3 legit players (if Duchene, Chychrun and DBC worked out and extended, the value of the trades were fine, but not for one or two years of each). The GM is gone, and we have someone who seems like he's got a plan instead of reacting. Things should improve.

All that said, I'd still like to improve on our scouting and be above average. Maybe Jokiharju or Hague instead of Bowers, K'andre Miller instead of JBD, Sillinger instead of Boucher, Peterka instead of Jarventie, ect would have done it, but every team has it's misses. I think we need to clean up our first round a bit, we've technically met expectations with Brady Stu, Greig and Sanderson, especially if Yakemchuk hits. But I think Boucher, Thomson, and Brown were all area's of opportunity. Having a McAvoy, Sillinger and McMichael in the system for example, would have been a huge boon.

Carlo instead of Gagne. Lowry instead of filatov. Boeser instead of white.
Too many dumb ones like that.

 

[Wondercarrot]

Against a AHL/ECHL roster no less. The only bright spot was Linus and Gregor so far. Easy to say our depth doesn't come anywhere close to matching up against Buffalo's depth.

Honestly who cares?
You can only play 12 forwards and 6 D at a time.
We have enough young high end players, good support players, and not on the team young guys who will contribute to be deep enough at the NHL level to compete against anyone.
The real trick will be somehow have a couple of really good drafts over the next couple years so 5 years from now we can stay good.