To make the next step, what do we need?

[Whileee]

We shall see moving forward, but they have also been looking for an everyday 4C for a while now. They tried to make Kupari work there all year even though Gus out played him last year and arguably in his stints this year as well. Low and behold an injury gives them the opportunity to move Barron there and he has many of the same traits as the player they were trying force into the role but is bigger and grittier. All things they have long valued for that role.

Maybe he is able move up at some point but I'd peg them as thinking he's more likely Lowry's future replacement for 3C a couple years down the line.

That might be realistic, but I still doubt Chevy was thinking about solidifying 4C in that comment.

 

[PhilJets]

Normal playing time!!!! and don't revolve around whenever Toronto or Big Easter team city is playing.

White Jersey for home ice!!!

Growth more by Perfetti , Samberg as its difficult to get grade A players from free agency.

then these two kids breaks the door down and makes it hard for the Jets to send them back down.

Lambert rotating in line 2 as winger and Center in line 4

Salomonsson 3rd pairing D

1	Elias Salomonsson	RHD
2	Brad Lambert	C/RW

 

[LowLefty]

I don't understand people's fascination with this player. He put up 15 points last year after scoring 18 the year before. He hasnt progressed at all in terms of offense and at 26 thinking he's going to magically be able to jump from being an adequate 4C to a 2C is the definition of wishful thinking.

Watch him play and spend less time reading the numbers.
His game is better - and in the PO's, he was one of the few that would take the puck to the net - with speed and power. If he continues to grow a game that includes those assets, he could be better (maybe even a lot better) than we saw last year or even as recently as this year.
He's a 4th line player - he's not going to be piling up the points with the guys he is playing with - which at times, was a revolving door.

But he needs to be better - and I noted that. But he looked to me like a guy that might be starting a bit of a breakout.
You and I don't know where he'll end up - but I saw some stuff that looks good and if there is still some growth to come, he has the basic size / speed to be a very good asset.

Assuming we will continue fishing for 2C's, he might be a guy that can do what Names does, only better - especially with a couple of small wingers.
I'm not saying he is the answer to all our prayers - and I don't bother building wish lists of all the centers that would be great here but will likely never be here.
IMO, that's wishful thinking

 

[Daximus]

I'm not saying that he doesn't have some offensive upside. It's just not 2C levels, and he's not the answer there.

I could see him taking on more of a Lowry type role, though. I agree that I loked what I saw from him at centre, and he fits the mold for a really good bottom six guy there

We shall see moving forward, but they have also been looking for an everyday 4C for a while now. They tried to make Kupari work there all year even though Gus out played him last year and arguably in his stints this year as well. Low and behold an injury gives them the opportunity to move Barron there and he has many of the same traits as the player they were trying force into the role but is bigger and grittier. All things they have long valued for that role.

Maybe he is able move up at some point but I'd peg them as thinking he's more likely Lowry's future replacement for 3C a couple years down the line.

I think it all comes down to could he be better in that role than Names currently is? Is he the lord and saviour top 6 C we have been waiting for? Probably not but for the time being maximizing the roster we have in the best way possible is what we should be doing anyways so I don't see the harm in trying him there. Worst that happens is he doesn't fit and we move him back down to 4C. But you might as well give it a good look just to be sure that you aren't missing out on the possible best case scenario.

I'm hoping the Jets at least give him a decent look next year to give it a try.

 

[CanMerc]

Chevy commenting on Barron as a C scares me…makes me think they plan on running with Names at 2C next season and plugging Barron in the 4C slot

 

[surixon]

Watch him play and spend less time reading the numbers.
His game is better - and in the PO's, he was one of the few that would take the puck to the net - with speed and power. If he continues to grow a game that includes those assets, he could be better (maybe even a lot better) than we saw last year or even as recently as this year.
He's a 4th line player - he's not going to be piling up the points with the guys he is playing with - which at times, was a revolving door.

But he needs to be better - and I noted that. But he looked to me like a guy that might be starting a bit of a breakout.
You and I don't know where he'll end up - but I saw some stuff that looks good and if there is still some growth to come, he has the basic size / speed to be a very good asset.

Assuming we will continue fishing for 2C's, he might be a guy that can do what Names does, only better - especially with a couple of small wingers.
I'm not saying he is the answer to all our prayers - and I don't bother building wish lists of all the centers that would be great here but will likely never be here.
IMO, that's wishful thinking

I'm not just stat watching. I've made notes numerous times on why I don't believe his game is suited for playing with skilled players. The players we build around in our top 6 like to change the pace of play depending on the situation, they like to use rotations and smart puck movement to break teams down. Barron plays the game at one speed and has a good amount of tunnel vision when he has the puck. Is he going to be able to see the seams our top 6 opens. Is he going to be able to get our skilled guys the puck off our rotation game? From what I've see I have a lot of doubts.

As I said earlier he has the traits and game style that if he continues to grow may allow him to replace Lowry.

 

[braunm]

We need:
1. Legit 2C
2. Legit Back up Goaltender (20-25 games)

 

[surixon]

We need:
1. Legit 2C
2. Legit Back up Goaltender (20-25 games)

I think at this point we should know that it doesn't matter who the BU is Helle will play the amount of games he wants to play. I also imagine having Helle as your starter scares good backups away as they know they won't get the starts they want.

 

[Zhamnov5GoalGame]

I don't understand people's fascination with this player. He put up 15 points last year after scoring 18 the year before. He hasnt progressed at all in terms of offense and at 26 thinking he's going to magically be able to jump from being an adequate 4C to a 2C is the definition of wishful thinking.

You didn't notice a major difference in his game at the end of the year when he switched to C?
He scored a few beautiful goals and had a huge one in the playoffs that was taken off the board because Appleton had his head up his butt and was standing offside for no reason.

 

[surixon]

You didn't notice a major difference in his game at the end of the year when he switched to C?
He scored a few beautiful goals and had a huge one in the playoffs that was taken off the board because Appleton had his head up his butt and was standing offside for no reason.

He scores a few beautiful goals every year, and has stretches of play every year exactly like he had last year. We have this same conversation on him during these stretches every year.

 

[Zhamnov5GoalGame]

He scores a few beautiful goals every year, and has stretches of play every year exactly like he had last year. We have this same conversation on him during these stretches every year.

I've never thought he played as well or as effective as he has since he became a C.
His stints covering for Lowry on the 3rd line looked good.
He gets the puck to the other teams end of the ice and helps to keep it there.
That is a very valuable skill set.

 

[surixon]

I've never thought he played as well or as effective as he has since he became a C.
His stints covering for Lowry on the 3rd line looked good.
He gets the puck to the other teams end of the ice and helps to keep it there.
That is a very valuable skill set.

The data would indicate that he doesn't actually do that. He's in around the 50th percentile on offensive and defensive zone time. So negligible ability to tilt the oce at best.

 

[bumblebeeman]

The data would indicate that he doesn't actually do that. He's in around the 50th percentile on offensive and defensive zone time. So negligible ability to tilt the oce at best.

That would be pretty good for a 4th liner tho right?

 

[surixon]

That would be pretty good for a 4th liner tho right?

No idea how it stacks up against other fourth liners.

 

[Adam da bomb]

He scores a few beautiful goals every year, and has stretches of play every year exactly like he had last year. We have this same conversation on him during these stretches every year.

And despite doing that every year he has never got better opportunities.

 

[LowLefty]

I'm not just stat watching. I've made notes numerous times on why I don't believe his game is suited for playing with skilled players. The players we build around in our top 6 like to change the pace of play depending on the situation, they like to use rotations and smart puck movement to break teams down. Barron plays the game at one speed and has a good amount of tunnel vision when he has the puck. Is he going to be able to see the seams our top 6 opens. Is he going to be able to get our skilled guys the puck off our rotation game? From what I've see I have a lot of doubts.

As I said earlier he has the traits and game style that if he continues to grow may allow him to replace Lowry.

I'd love to see all the guys on the second line with the skill you note - but we may need to consider strengths each of them bring and assignments they can take on individually. He doesn't need to be the playmaker - even if he is a center.
IMO, he might turn into a better option than Names - and that's all I'm really saying. That line could use someone that can and will go to the net and work the walls - that type of player doesn't always end up on a defensive or checking line - sometimes they play a role or support players / lines that can score.
I think we'd all love to see a skilled center step into that role - but that might not happen. So there are other things to look at with this being a possibility.
It's easy to say we need a better center than what we have, on our second (third?) line - I get that. But I also know how hard it has been for this org / city to draw much in the way of talent at 2nd line level.

 

[surixon]

I'd love to see all the guys on the second line with the skill you note - but we may need to consider strengths each of them bring and assignments they can take on individually. He doesn't need to be the playmaker - even if he is a center.
IMO, he might turn into a better option than Names - and that's all I'm really saying. That line could use someone that can and will go to the net and work the walls - that type of player doesn't always end up on a defensive or checking line - sometimes they play a role or support players / lines that can score.
I think we'd all love to see a skilled center step into that role - but that might not happen. So there are other things to look at with this being a possibility.
It's easy to say we need a better center than what we have, on our second (third?) line - I get that. But I also know how hard it has been for this org / city to draw much in the way of talent at 2nd line level.

I'm in agreement that they need more diversity in the top 6 as we have too much overlap in complimentary skills. Namestnikov is just a very poor man's version of what we already have there offensively and needs to be replaced. Having said that they need to bring in size that is still capable of thinking the game along the lines of how our skilled players think. That person can still do the board work and get to the net but they still need to link up effectively and fins those seams for the playmakers to take advantage of.

My thinking though is we need to set the bar higher then hoping for a Namestnikov level player albeit with a different skill set.