GDT: Training Camp: Oh, Hockey’s Back

[ColonialsHockey10]

The first PP unit kicked ass last year (though I think their performance is slightly inflated from some massive nights against Philly and the Devils). No reason to break them up.

The second PP unit was a huge problem though and something needs to be done to address that. At absolute best they were a way to kill time when we had a lead. If they got a zone entry it was a victory.

I hope Lundkvist will help here.

 

[IDvsEGO]

What I hated about the Rangers PP last year was that the first line was out there almost 2 minutes every time (at least when i watched the games)

The problem isnt the ratio of time. Its that pp2 typically got 30 seconds to set up/ shoot and run the pp. Whereas any real pp needs more time than that.
If pp2 starts on the ice, you need to give them a solid chunk of time.
75:25 is about avg for most nhl teams, and in fact the better the PP the more it starts leaning towards 80%+

When you give pp2 a short time to get set up, they start rushing everything, which is the opposite of what you want.

 

[bl02]

What do faceoffs have to do with anything? Are Kakko and Lafreniere going to add value there? Strome was 51.43% on the PP last season, for what it's worth.

Caufield wasn't gifted top minutes out of the gate. He averaged just under 13 minutes per game in his first five games. It went up as he produced. As it goes. If you're looking to watch young players in roles that don't match what they've produced, good news, the Buffalo Sabres will play 82 games this season.

I could see Strome adding value to the pp if he was a beast at faceoffs. Of course i'm not expecting Laf to take faceoffs I am expecting Lafreniere to do things Strome can never do. Caufield wasn't even around 10 games before he was given serious pp time. with a doubt it helped build his offensive confidence 5 on 5 play as well.
A.) The Sabres never had a Lafreniere or even Kakko level talent and surrounded them with the level of skill the Rangers have.
B.) They are being given top 6 minutes this season that is why I don't understand not giving them a chance on the first pp.

And how does one go about earing pp time? Kakko has earned PK time but I guess he doesn't work hard enough to earn pp time? OR maybe both these kids just stink at the offensive side of the game? I find the latter hard to believe.

 

[bl02]

The problem isnt the ratio of time. Its that pp2 typically got 30 seconds to set up/ shoot and run the pp. Whereas any real pp needs more time than that.
If pp2 starts on the ice, you need to give them a solid chunk of time.
75:25 is about avg for most nhl teams, and in fact the better the PP the more it starts leaning towards 80%+

When you give pp2 a short time to get set up, they start rushing everything, which is the opposite of what you want.

Agreed. If you expect a pp2 unit to set up and get good looks consistently with 25 seconds of pp its never gonna happen.

 

[JimmyG89]

Agreed. If you expect a pp2 unit to set up and get good looks consistently with 25 seconds of pp its never gonna happen.

Exactly, but so far in these preseason games, they've been getting off the ice around the minute mark, so hopefully that means the coaches got to them on making sure they aren't overextending their time.

I don't have an issue if they are dominating with possession and making plays, but once it clears and it's under the 1 minute mark, it's time to get fresh bodies out there.

 

[WojtekWolski86]

The only logical explanation to the PP and D pairs staying the same. Gallant wants a first hand look at the baseline of the team of what they are "comfortable with" and evaluate it himself. Then I supposed he would tweak afterwards and evaluate the delta between the baseline. But that would be using logic, reasoning and statistical analysis in a world where coaches mostly use "gut feelings" to make decisions.

 

[Bacon Artemi Bravo]

Let Kakko & Laffy earn their PP1 unit spot. Gallant's reputation is that guys earn their icetime, and he doesnt care if its your first game or your 1000th game, the best players play. That's how it should be. They shouldn't be babied or coddled, they have the talent to be on a PP1 unit for sure, but let's see them earn it.

 

[TJHKY]

Let Kakko & Laffy earn their PP1 unit spot. Gallant's reputation is that guys earn their icetime, and he doesnt care if its your first game or your 1000th game, the best players play. That's how it should be. They shouldn't be babied or coddled, they have the talent to be on a PP1 unit for sure, but let's see them earn it.

Well said. As #2 and #1 draft, do not certainly to have PP1 spot. They need to show Gallant what they can do, what they can bring to the team. Not using their #1 and #2 reputation in the past.

 

[Glen Sathers Cigar]

This still makes absolutely no sense.
Strome is not an integral part of the powerplay unit.
Fox/Mika/Panarin are the three big pieces to that powerplay.
Laf absolutely makes far more sense simply because having a righty on the far wall doesn't make sense from a shot perspective.
You then also have Laf+KK potentially on pp2, which probably needs a little more veteran presence with someone like strome.

I totally agree with all the points here, just saying I'm okay with Gallant starting with the current unit. I just hope when it runs stagnant, which it most likely will, he won't hesitate to shake it up. I never was fully against Quinn running this unit, just against his refusal to shake up. If it's working then by all means let them cook out there, but when it looks disjointed and can't get anything going the first change should be getting another LH shot on the unit. I look at Strome on that unit as a placeholder for Lafreniere anyway.

I'd prefer them to start with Lafreniere in that spot but I don't have an issue with Gallant starting with the old unit. Let Lafreniere or Kakko force their way up there.

 

[LOFIN]

Let Kakko & Laffy earn their PP1 unit spot. Gallant's reputation is that guys earn their icetime, and he doesnt care if its your first game or your 1000th game, the best players play. That's how it should be. They shouldn't be babied or coddled, they have the talent to be on a PP1 unit for sure, but let's see them earn it.

As long as it works both ways. Will we see Strome get dropped from #1 PP if he has a bad game?

 

[Thirty One]

There's a myth going around that Quinn just stuck Strome there to start the year and he left him on PP1 no matter how hard they struggled. In the first 18 games, Mika's PP ice time was 60% with Strome/40% without. After that, it was 93%/7% once they settled in. But there was an experimentation stage.

 

[Kravtsov420]

Terrible. This is why we are a joke of a franchise. Can’t get number 1 and number 2 overall picks on the PP for 2 and 3 years respectively.

This team will never learn. These players need reps on the PP because they have the most space and time. It’s actually better than 5v5. But yea “uRn It”. What the f*** has Chris Kreider done to earn that spot? You guys are a joke for defending it too

 

[Thirty One]

NHL Coaches: Still not as smart as HFBoards. Maybe next year they'll improve.

 

[Fitzy]

We are never going to get everything we want on these boards. That's life.

 

[Levitate]

Terrible. This is why we are a joke of a franchise. Can’t get number 1 and number 2 overall picks on the PP for 2 and 3 years respectively.

This team will never learn. These players need reps on the PP because they have the most space and time. It’s actually better than 5v5. But yea “uRn It”. What the f*** has Chris Kreider done to earn that spot? You guys are a joke for defending it too

lol Kreider is literally one of the best in the entire league in front of the net on the power play. For any complaints about him that's unequivocally the one thing he does that cannot be argued against.

I do think it's kind of a big problem to not get these kids on the power play. I know the power play works quite well as is but I do think you have to think a little more long term, it feels like it must be practically undheard of to not give high picks significant power play time unless they were just complete busts

Team needs to figure out how to balance "win now" and "develop the winning future". All signs are that Strome isn't here long term, time to start figuring out how to develop his PP replacement rather than running him out there every time. That's definitely the one guy they could afford to fiddle with. Everyone else on PP1 is a long term part of the team (for the moment). We'd all be shocked if Strome returns next season. So figure out how to make that work.

 

[Kravtsov420]

lol Kreider is literally one of the best in the entire league in front of the net on the power play. For any complaints about him that's unequivocally the one thing he does that cannot be argued against.

I do think it's kind of a big problem to not get these kids on the power play. I know the power play works quite well as is but I do think you have to think a little more long term, it feels like it must be practically undheard of to not give high picks significant power play time unless they were just complete busts

Team needs to figure out how to balance "win now" and "develop the winning future". All signs are that Strome isn't here long term, time to start figuring out how to develop his PP replacement rather than running him out there every time. That's definitely the one guy they could afford to fiddle with. Everyone else on PP1 is a long term part of the team (for the moment). We'd all be shocked if Strome returns next season. So figure out how to make that work.

It’s not that Kreider being on the power play is bad, it’s that his 5v5 play doesn’t warrant that he should have a spot. I think it sends the wrong message to the kids. That’s why I didn’t like it under Quinn either

 

[LOFIN]

It’s not that Kreider being on the power play is bad, it’s that his 5v5 play doesn’t warrant that he should have a spot. I think it sends the wrong message to the kids. That’s why I didn’t like it under Quinn either

That shouldn't stop him from having a spot on the PP, if he's good at his role. And Kreider is arguably the best in the league, when you actually look up statistics in tip-ins etc.

On the other hand, should Strome have a place on the powerplay just because he scores with Panarin? Like I said, I'd much rather have an actual shooting threat as in Lafreniere, or one hell of a playmaker as in Kakko man that right side spot instead of Strome. Because Strome isn't taking the face-offs in that powerplay either.

 

[Machinehead]

"Take Fox off the first powerplay unit" is going to be my favorite thing this season.

We didn't even make it past camp.

 

[Glen Sathers Cigar]

Terrible. This is why we are a joke of a franchise. Can’t get number 1 and number 2 overall picks on the PP for 2 and 3 years respectively.

This team will never learn. These players need reps on the PP because they have the most space and time. It’s actually better than 5v5. But yea “uRn It”. What the f*** has Chris Kreider done to earn that spot? You guys are a joke for defending it too

What has Kreider done to earn that spot? Besides be one of the best net front presence PP guys in the league? Between his screening ability, speed and board battle ability to chase and dig pucks out and keep possessions alive as well has his net front awareness for tips, screens and rebounds - Kreider is an elite PP player in his role.

Kreider is not the issue here, him being on PP1 as the net front player is a no brainer.

 

[JohnC]

"Take Fox off the first power play unit" is going to be my favorite thing this season.

We didn't even make it past camp.

It's funny. Isn't he statistically one of, if not THE best powerplay defenseman in the league?

And meanwhile you have some guy that insists Nils Lundkvist should be a better power play player and have his spot.

 

[SA16]

What I hated about the Rangers PP last year was that the first line was out there almost 2 minutes every time (at least when i watched the games)

Not true. I've posted these numbers so many times already. They're right in line with most of the league.

Terrible. This is why we are a joke of a franchise. Can’t get number 1 and number 2 overall picks on the PP for 2 and 3 years respectively.

This team will never learn. These players need reps on the PP because they have the most space and time. It’s actually better than 5v5. But yea “uRn It”. What the f*** has Chris Kreider done to earn that spot? You guys are a joke for defending it too

Probably score the 11th most 5v4 goals in the league the last 3 years.

 

[Thirty One]

Not true. I've posted these numbers so many times already. They're right in line with most of the league.

Now run it for just the games Nate070 watched.

 

[SA16]

Now run it for just the games Nate070 watched.

Looks like it's the full 2:00 in those games.

 

[Thirty One]

Looks like it's the full 2:00 in those games.

Which is what he said. You are both right.

 

[Trxjw]

Terrible. This is why we are a joke of a franchise. Can’t get number 1 and number 2 overall picks on the PP for 2 and 3 years respectively.

This team will never learn. These players need reps on the PP because they have the most space and time. It’s actually better than 5v5. But yea “uRn It”. What the f*** has Chris Kreider done to earn that spot? You guys are a joke for defending it too

Finally someone says it. It's not like the guy was top-5 in powerplay goal scoring last season or something.