GDT: Stickpuck Gaem #??

[zman77]

 

[cptjeff]

I mean sometimes the best trades are the ones you don't make

That said, I don't think anyone had Necas turning into an Uberelite player on their bingo card this year.

Yeah, even his biggest boosters weren't expecting this. Or at least they weren't saying that they expected it in public.

 

[3CanesInTheBox]

I gotta eat some crow. I knew Necas had the talent but I didn’t think he had the extra gear. I am happy to be wrong.

can't imagine many people saw THIS happening. I did think his potential was being wasted on ridiculous /wonky lines last year, but wow.

 

[CandyCanes]

Idc who you are. No one saw this coming. Necas playing outstanding, the new guys are big contributors. Freddy hurt again, oh wait everyone saw that one coming... chemistry is there and PK taking the reins..... like i had hoped.. team needed changes... its helped a ton!!!

Always thought Necas could be a point per game level of player, in another system. But I absolutely did not have him as a guy that’d push for 100+ points in a Canes uniform.

I think a lot of people forgot that Orlov is a really good defender. Legit Top 4 without question. The team had a net loss of one, not two.

#7 is tied for #1 in +/- leaguewide, btw.

Absolutely. Also give credit where it’s due. Chatfield has been great too. He’s such a fun player to watch, he really uses his speed to his advantage.

 

[CanesUltimate11]

Is it time to try Nachos at 2C?

If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

 

[Borsig]

If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

I agree 110%.

But doesnt he want to play C? Wasnt that why he wanted a trade?

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

I agree 110%.

But doesnt he want to play C? Wasnt that why he wanted a trade?

I have a feeling he’s pretty happy right now lol

 

[The Jerk Store]

I've thought all along he had PPG potential and *maybe* a 100 pt season in a really good year when the stars align, but I figured it would require a change of scenery to do so.

 

[Big Daddy Cane]

I would guess that Necas’ unhappiness was about the PP primarily. He went from Unit 1 to Unit 2 through no fault of his own. (No fault of the coach either; it was the #2 PP in the league without him on Unit 1.) His PPPs were cut in half and that impacted his earning power this Summer.

I saw low key growth from him last season. He carried around Drury and Bunting for several months pre-deadline. Undisputed best player on his line, unlike his other best stretches of March ‘21 (w/Aho) and October ‘22 (w/Svechnikov). What he’s doing now is that on steroids.

 

[tarheelhockey]

I know they’re due to regress etc. But as things stand right now, it really feels like Rod and the front office have broken the game. This team’s playing without Jarvis, without Andersen, having lost a ****load of talent over the summer and replaced them with guys who were expandable on bad teams. And somehow they’re just running opponents into the ground night after night.

The Jack Adams usually goes to the coach of the most improved team, but how does Rod not win it if this continues? He’s getting 100% out of the talent they’ve given him to work with. Not 95%, not 99%. Even solving the issues with Necas, making the center depth issue a non factor, making it so goalie injuries don’t hurt. It’s probably too much to hope that this continues all season, but damn, if this isn’t an illusion then it’s some kind of miracle.

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

I know they’re due to regress etc. But as things stand right now, it really feels like Rod and the front office have broken the game. This team’s playing without Jarvis, without Andersen, having lost a ****load of talent over the summer and replaced them with guys who were expandable on bad teams. And somehow they’re just running opponents into the ground night after night.

The Jack Adams usually goes to the coach of the most improved team, but how does Rod not win it if this continues? He’s getting 100% out of the talent they’ve given him to work with. Not 95%, not 99%. Even solving the issues with Necas, making the center depth issue a non factor, making it so goalie injuries don’t hurt. It’s probably too much to hope that this continues all season, but damn, if this isn’t an illusion then it’s some kind of miracle.

The additions were great fits, to start off. Roslovic and Robinson are both fantastic skaters and can defend off of the puck. One thing that's also really impressed me is how balanced the ice time has been on our defense. Part of me wondered if Slavin was going to be leaned on more heavily for ice-time shares with Skjei-Pesce swapped for Ghost-Walker, but it really hasn't been the case. Last year, Slavin only averaged 20:56 a night in the regular season (an utter pittance for a top-pairing D), and this year he's averaged 21:18 a night, a whopping 22 seconds a game more. The evenly-balanced 4-6 attack of Chatfield/Ghost/Walker has made it so that Rod still isn't overly dependent on Slavin or Burns to eat heavy minutes.

One other thing I must say: most of the analytical data coming in, especially when it comes to even-strength expected goals for AND against, corroborates with their record. They're legitimately as good as they look. Sure, some guys like Necas have had a ton of puck luck to start the year, but guys like Svech and Aho have had the complete opposite, which balances things out.

 

[geehaad]

I've almost commented on this a number of times (probably shouldn't now, too!), but the biggest surprise to me of all of this isn't Nachos (re?)emergence, not that the defense has been just as good as last year's, nor that the Canes are winning so many games...it's that they've scored goals at a near-historic rate (for the franchise). They've been kept under 4 goals in a game only 4 times in 15 games...no one would've predicted that about any of these Canes teams of in recent memory.

BTW, after singing the praises of ChatGPT because it solved a work problem that had perplexed me for weeks, it has been brought back to earth via this exchange:

 

[Blueline Bomber]

I know it's a losing battle, but don't use AI.

Even putting aside the environmental toll of chip manufacturing and supply chains, the training process for a single AI model, such as a large language model, can consume thousands of megawatt hours of electricity and emit hundreds of tons of carbon. This is roughly equivalent to the annual carbon emissions of hundreds of households in America. Furthermore, AI model training can lead to the evaporation of an astonishing amount of fresh water into the atmosphere for data center heat rejection, potentially exacerbating stress on our already limited freshwater resources.

The Uneven Distribution of AI’s Environmental Impacts

The training process for a single AI model, such as an LLM, can consume thousands of megawatt hours of electricity and emit hundreds of tons of carbon. AI model training can also lead to the evaporation of an astonishing amount of freshwater into the atmosphere for data center heat rejection...

hbr.org

And yes, I realize the irony of saying this with my avatar.