Speculation: Trade Value of Pulock or Reinhart

[danteipp]

Just to add a little more to the Graham discussion, I like his skating ability, shiftiness and creativity and perhaps he could (eventually) be a third-pairing or depth defense man down the line, however, he will likely be the last of the current AHL prospects to develop since he is physically inferior to the rest of the prospects and needs to get stronger.

If the Isles can properly develop Reinhart, Pulock and Mayfield or perhaps even Pelech (but I liked what I saw from Mayfield more in the few games I have attended this season), and get them acclimated to the NHL alongside Hamonic, Leddy and (a hopefully re-signed) Boychuk, then Graham could have a role in a couple years as the 7th or 8th defender - assuming CdH doesn't elevate his game and/or prices himself out of the Isles salary cap structure and Hickey is traded or moves on.

Graham could be a Spurgeon type pitching in when injury hits or when facing a less physical team. Honestly if Graham develops and CdH and/or Hickey remain serviceable, it is a nice problem to have with more depth than roster spots at the NHL level so a chip or two can be moved.

But ultimately I think Graham, Church and Pelech are a ways off right now. I feel much better about Reinhart and Pulock with Mayfield up next. But these things can change quickly, so who knows.

 

[Brooklanders*]

Lol, unfortunately, it seems many Islanders fans are only happy when they are complaining. Even if it is just a small matter, such as who is the sixth/seventh defenseman, they are secure when wrapped up in a complaint rather than just enjoying a winning culture and what appears to be a bright future.

2-4 in your last 6 games including three straight losses is hardly winning.

If Halak goes down with a significant injury this team is screwed.

 

[crasherino]

They are both better than Reinhart is right now. These guys are NHL ready now, Reinhart isn't.

I'm not sure you can say that one way or another. His best game was against Chicago and he was sent almost right after. IMO he could play 3rd pairing minutes now and be effective and gain valuable experience. Straits been filling in nicely so I can't really complain but overall I would rather Straits minutes go to Reinhart.

 

[bigd]

2-4 in your last 6 games including three straight losses is hardly winning.

If Halak goes down with a significant injury this team is screwed.

And you think Reinhart is our savior?

 

[MBossy22]

2-4 in your last 6 games including three straight losses is hardly winning.

If Halak goes down with a significant injury this team is screwed.

The fact they have not lost more than 3 games in a row all season, and seemingly have bounced back every time they have had 2 or 3 losses in a row shows this teams character.

Not to mention 34 wins all of last season, and they already have that many this season with 29 or 30 games remaining? I would say is winning.

 

[danteipp]

2-4 in your last 6 games including three straight losses is hardly winning.

If Halak goes down with a significant injury this team is screwed.

That is a tremendously myopic view.

The Isles are in first place in the Metro after finishing as a bottom-5 team last year. That is winning.

You looked at just the last six games. Every team typically has a mini slump at some point in the season. What matters is the overall body of work and peaking at playoff time.

What about looking at the last eight games where they are 4-4? Not great but still .500.

Or the last 13 games where they are 8-5? However, none of that supports your argument or is worth complaining over.

As for Halak getting injured, it would be a tough and unfortunate loss. However, a deal can be made to bring in a serviceable vet. Average goalies typically get moved for third rounders and I have faith Snow can make such a deal if needed.

Keep the faith man. We have all come this far watching some terrible teams. Enjoy the ride, the change in culture and winning without stressing yourself out. There is nothing either of us can do about it.

 

[islesfan3913]

2-4 in your last 6 games including three straight losses is hardly winning.

If Halak goes down with a significant injury this team is screwed.

Unless Reinhart can play in goal I don't see how he would save this team if Halak goes down.

 

[lazycop]

Reinhart's obviously not ready, or he'd be up by now. I'll trust Garth & Co. on this one.
The guy who I'd like to see up is Poulin. He seems to be holding his own down there, and would be a better option, in my opinion, than rolling the dice every 5th game with the Chad.

 

[IIlya4Life]

Trading either of these defenceman would be a HUGE mistake...they may very well be the backbone of the team for the next decade. Let them develop down there, next year one of them takes viz's spot and the other stays down there another year and eventually takes possibly hickeys spot.

That is if we re-sign boychuck. If not its a possibility they both could be here next year, doubtful but possible.

 

[13th Floor]

Reinhart's obviously not ready, or he'd be up by now. I'll trust Garth & Co. on this one.
The guy who I'd like to see up is Poulin. He seems to be holding his own down there, and would be a better option, in my opinion, than rolling the dice every 5th game with the Chad.

We gave him that chance, and he crapped the bed against Buffalo.

 

[IIlya4Life]

We gave him that chance, and he crapped the bed against Buffalo.

As much as im against trading him and i am, he is a -13 in Bridgeport which is a bit concerning for a big stay at home dmen, no?

 

[gadiamon72]

Reinhart's obviously not ready, or he'd be up by now. I'll trust Garth & Co. on this one.
The guy who I'd like to see up is Poulin. He seems to be holding his own down there, and would be a better option, in my opinion, than rolling the dice every 5th game with the Chad.

I've seen Reinhart play a few times this year in Bridgeport. Each time I walk away shaking my head. What do the scouts, media, fans, etc. see in this guy? I have to admit that although I am a big hockey fan, I never played hockey competitively, so I don't see things from the standpoint of the experts. However, I do consider myself to have a healthy knowledge of sports in general and I just don't get people's love for this guy's game. He is slow, indecisive with the puck, and doesn't play nearly as physical as I think he should. Can someone with good hockey sense please come forward and shed some light?

 

[danteipp]

Just my opinion on Poulin, having seen him Saturday night and several other times this season with the BST, the good news is that he appears to have regained his speed, side-to-side/lateral movement and reflexes post all of the injuries.

He also appears to be flopping less, however, he is still dropping to his knees too often (at least IMHO) before a shot is taken and conceding the top shelf too easily.

He also almost cost his team a goal wandering out of the net to play a puck but thankfully recovered in time.

He definitely looks much better physically, and very fast with his glove hand, but the mental aspect still probably needs some work. Of course he is probably better than the hanging Chad.

 

[13th Floor]

As much as im against trading him and i am, he is a -13 in Bridgeport which is a bit concerning for a big stay at home dmen, no?

I was referring to Poulin, sorry.

 

[Nuch3232]

I've seen Reinhart play a few times this year in Bridgeport. Each time I walk away shaking my head. What do the scouts, media, fans, etc. see in this guy? I have to admit that although I am a big hockey fan, I never played hockey competitively, so I don't see things from the standpoint of the experts. However, I do consider myself to have a healthy knowledge of sports in general and I just don't get people's love for this guy's game. He is slow, indecisive with the puck, and doesn't play nearly as physical as I think he should. Can someone with good hockey sense please come forward and shed some light?

He is 21, and has a ton of room still for growth, hence why he is in the AHL. To work on those things.

He must be doing something right though to get drafted 4th overall, captain a Memorial cup winning team, be on the Canadian World Junior team, twice, and win the WHL playoff MVP.

He will be fine.

 

[IIlya4Life]

He is 21, and has a ton of room still for growth, hence why he is in the AHL. To work on those things.

He must be doing something right though to get drafted 4th overall, captain a Memorial cup winning team, be on the Canadian World Junior team, twice, and win the WHL playoff MVP.

He will be fine.

I haven't been impressed so far, but for all the reasons you listed i wouldn't trade him hopefully he comes to camp next year ready to go, as long as we get Boychuck back, reinhart and poulock are fighting for the last spot in the top 6, the other one could be spending another full season in Bridgeport possibly. If that =s not motivation enough i don't know what is.

 

[Nuch3232]

Exactly - I wasnt trying to come off as rude or anything, but the guy is a big part of our future, along with Pulock and MDC.

Can you imagine what this D could be within the next two years with Pulock and GR? Along with Leddy, CdH and Hammer, and if Boychuck stays long term.

Let's not just trade him to trade him. It's his first year of pro, and has had a taste of the NHL prior as well. If he needs another year than so be it.

 

[dlawong]

Big D men takes longer to develop. If you look at the career history of Chara when he was with Isles, the 1st 2 years he was -27 both with point production under 10. Now he is one of the premium D men in NHL and a vital part of Bruin's SC championship. With Reinhart I believe it is a timing issue. He need to feel comfortable about his game and figure out the timing and start to slow the game down to the level he can handle. Once that happens and his foot speed improves, he will be a very good shutdown D men who can put up some 5 on 5 assist points because he has a very good outlet passes. Mind you right now there are not that many fast promising young forwards on the BST team for him to feed the pucks to, like he did on the Oil King. Have some patience and give him extra incentives to improve his timing and speed issue, and he will get there eventually. Not saying that you should not trade him now, but Snow should not undervalue him and only trade him if Isles can get something coming back that will significantly upgrade the team instantly and certainly not for a rental that Isles may fail to sign this or next summer.

I would definitely not trade Pulock now though, because young D men with big accurate shots who can skate decently does not grow on trees. They are extremely rare and when you can draft one, you keep them, unless they lose that shot down the road somehow. This is especially important for Isles, because besides Johnny Boychuk, they do not have any d man who can wind up and one time the shot like that from the point and most other Stanley Cup contending teams have at least one - Tampa, Montreal, Boston, Rangers, Blues, and Nashville. The only contending SC teams do not have big accurate shots from the points are Pittsburgh, Anaheim, Chicago and Washington but they do not need them because they have multiple top 6 forwards who can really shoot the puck fast and accurately from the perimeter and d men who are extremely good at feeding passes to put them in the clear. As of the moment, Isles have no forward who have that kind of fast accurate release. Even JT and KO missed their shots from those area quite often or can't consistently beat the goalie with a clean quick release, especially when checked. Dal Colle is the only forward in the Isles system who truly has that talent, but he is not yet ready and should not be rushed.

As for Mayfield, I believe he also can turn out to be a very good D man in a year. All the tools is there and I like his willingness to play a hard physical game as that is very important in NHL. As for his hockey sense, he need to work on that and review his games each day to figure how he can play better in a certain situation and be a more composed. With luck, Mayfield may turn out to be a Scott Steven type of player, who opposing forwards hate to play against.

 

[seafoam]

As much as im against trading him and i am, he is a -13 in Bridgeport which is a bit concerning for a big stay at home dmen, no?

de Haan was a career minus player in the minors. It doesn't mean much anything.

At the junior level, Reinhart could get away with being slow physically and had a lot more time to make decisions. His stride was long and powerful enough to do that. He just needs to adapt to the speed of the pro game. The size, brains, and bloodlines are there.

 

[IceAce]

As much as im against trading him and i am, he is a -13 in Bridgeport which is a bit concerning for a big stay at home dmen, no?

If you're the sort who values terrible stats like plus/minus then maybe?

FYI John Tavares is a -3 currently, for whatever that's worth

 

[PWJunior]

de Haan was a career minus player in the minors. It doesn't mean much anything.

Reinhart has high end hockey IQ like de Haan, let's have a little patience with the big kid before bashing him and considering him a bust. Reinhart is as unflashy as you can get, he doesn't have the 'wow' factor that so many want so clearly he sucks.

 

[blitzkriegs]

I haven't been impressed so far, but for all the reasons you listed i wouldn't trade him hopefully he comes to camp next year ready to go, as long as we get Boychuck back, reinhart and poulock are fighting for the last spot in the top 6, the other one could be spending another full season in Bridgeport possibly. If that =s not motivation enough i don't know what is.

Why does he HAVE to make the team next season? Is it a disappointment, if he doesn't? Shouldn't be. He's the AHL to learn, adjust his game, and when he's ready for NHL-duty based on the Isles management, he'll get his chance.

Waaay too much emphasis on his current play in the AHL and his draft position = NHL player less than 3yrs from his draft.

 

[lazycop]

We gave him that chance, and he crapped the bed against Buffalo.

The Chad's been crapping the bed all season!

 

[JZCislesHockey]

Don't trade either one for anything short of a ridiculous overpayment. Both of them will be key cogs of our team in the future.

 

[gadiamon72]

Just my opinion on Poulin, having seen him Saturday night and several other times this season with the BST, the good news is that he appears to have regained his speed, side-to-side/lateral movement and reflexes post all of the injuries.

He also appears to be flopping less, however, he is still dropping to his knees too often (at least IMHO) before a shot is taken and conceding the top shelf too easily.

He also almost cost his team a goal wandering out of the net to play a puck but thankfully recovered in time.

He definitely looks much better physically, and very fast with his glove hand, but the mental aspect still probably needs some work. Of course he is probably better than the hanging Chad.

For whatever the reason, I'm one of the few who has had a good gut feeling about Poulin. I can't help but wonder if one more full season in the AHL along with good coaching (not likely) would elevate his game to the NHL level and turn him into a reliable backup. He has all the physical tools. The issues seem to be positioning and sensory. Nothing that can't be fixed with experience and dedication to his game.