GDT: The Kraken versus Winnipeg Jets
- Thread starter kihei
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The Jets' goal in the dying seconds was such a typical Kraken softie for no good reason we've seen so many times. Must drive the coaches bonkers.
Nyman's shot really is top notch even by NHL standards. Eyssimont looks good. Evans is bleeding goals against in the last few weeks. Maybe he's not fully recovered from his injury but he looks a step behind too often.
Just got home from the cabin. 2-2 game. Glad to see that Nyman scored another. Excited about this kid.
Is it weird that we have looked "better" since the TDL despite losing some decent vets in Bjorkstrand and Gourde?
Is it weird that we have looked "better" since the TDL despite losing some decent vets in Bjorkstrand and Gourde?
I'm surprised too. Maybe the lines simply balanced more naturally after the trade.
Nyman looks very promising. Skating is the issue as expected, once he falls behind the play his lack of footspeed becomes noticeable. He skates fine once he has worked up a bit of momentum.
That the Kraken are hanging with a top tier team despite some mistakes in coverage is a nice thing to watch. It makes me cautiously optimistic that maybe next year sees tweaks instead of a full teardown.
In Nyman's case, I look on the bright side. If his footspeed had been one of his assets, he would have never fallen to the Kraken as the 49th pick in the draft. Get him a good skating coach and the problem should be mitigated.
Jessica's a crack skating coach. I'm sure his skating will be much better in a season or two.
Now this is more like it. We actually look dynamic in streaks this period. This is fun.
The games post-TDL have been good fun, mostly. This team is almost a good team, almost good on the cycle, almost good defensively, almost good on the pp, almost good on transition, almost good on the forecheck. No star UFA is going to change most of that, apart from the PP, but even the PP has looked better the last few games with more determined and quicker movement of the puck.
The teams at the other end of the table are heavier, deeper and better organized. That's the bottom line the Kraken have to raise to keep growing, outside of any one individual.
Something we havent really been talking about is that Evans has arguably been pretty damn bad for the last 30 games or so.
I've noticed. I have to question his role a little, that's why I suggested trading for someone like Romanov who has a far sturdier D presence. Evans is good when on the puck but he leaks goals against. Does this team really need 3 D, maybe even 4 with Larsson, that are primarily puck movers? Maybe if Dunn is moved Evans has a spot but... I don't think Francis wants to move Dunn.
I've said it before, I don't like the overall balance of this Defence, even if I appreciate the players individually. This is where I'd start strengthening the team if I were Francis. It's also not the easiest to fix, however. Much easier to bring in a winger or two that won't really change that much but looks splashy on the surface.
As an aside as analytics go Dom's hockeystatcards is a bit Pejorative Slured and doesn't give the full picture, still it's good to see Jani at the top.
Yeah, I've been on the cusp of bringing it up, but last night was one of those where he really stood out in a bad way. He's young, and he was injured. The long season is probably taking its toll. Either way, he's going to have to figure things out if he's going to be anything more than a bottom pair guy. At this point I definitely wouldn't be trusting him with more minutes.
Our D is just defensively very bad. Has been all season.
It's his third game and it's the Kraken M.O. to shelter players minutes when they come up from CV. Hell, they are still sheltering Wright.
Also, Nyman is great. His skating needs some work, otherwise, he's had a positive impact on the team and has produced. Might have the best shot on the Kraken at the moment.
This. The coaches, well our coaches anyway, tend to shelter the kids in close games and rely heavily on the vets. Beniers, has been the one exception there where he has been thrown into difficult situations right from the beginning.
Nyman's skating is an issue but I think it is NHL passable. That plus work with Campbell and others over the off-season can help improve that. Overall, he has been pretty solid over the first 3 games.
Was a fun game to watch last night - I did notice that the NHL game summary said that Eric Comrie was injured in a collision with Matty, which it was clear to me that it was his own guy that really nailed him.
