Kreider was pretty amazing on the PK and is a threat at all times due to his speed
That's on Jones. From all accounts he didn't stand out at Rookie camp or the games, which he absolutely should have after playing much better competition all last year, and I haven't heard him much at training camp impressing anyone.
Yeah Jones didnt stand out at the rookie game I attended. At all. Actually he stood out way more to me playing actual games in the NHL last season. That being said, it's just 2 games. Any player can have a bad couple games, especially in the very beginning of a season. I do agree though, if Hajek wins that spot, Jones will have had to play pretty poorly.
Jones is done. Jayden Grubbe beat him for a goal. Hajek has elevated Schneider offensively. And Robertson has reportedly impressed thus far. Trade Jones for a protected 1st rounder.
You joke, but we are less than three weeks away from “I can’t believe they kept Jones over Lundkvist” takes around here.
Here's the thing. Our 6D and 7D are either going to include a Bartkowski, a Tinordi or all kids. Hajek is technically not a kid anymore. But he still sorta is because he just hasn't played that many games in the last few years. I think he's likely the #6 or the #7 during most of the season. As a result, we need to get him as many reps as possible this preseason. We need him to be as confident and reliable as possible. I would say, even more so if he's the #7. So, I say give him as much hockey as he can handle the next month.
Well, true. But a -- Kakko was out most of the year. B -- Kravtsov has had a lot more PP usage in the KHL and is likely to help set up and puck retrieval. And c -- I think, he and Chytil together should cure the retrieval issues. As far as setting up -- I really think they need to decide on the trigger man. Who they are feeding to shoot? Is it going to be VK, KK or Trouba or Laffy? I would put VK and Kakko along the walls. Laffy in the bumper and Chytil in front. I think between Laffy and VK they should also be better and carrying it over the blue line. If they wind it up like PP1 I could see VK being the trailing Panarin that gets them into the zone.
Yeah, but if they got more time and PP1 got a less goals this season (where they shined last season), we'd all complain that the PP needs work. I don't have a problem putting your best players out there for most of the PP time. It's when they can't enter the zone and you still keep them out for 90-100 seconds. Just wasted.
Which was kinda odd. They struggled to get it into the zone and get it going. But when they got it going, it usually looked pretty good. Untill Trouba f***ed it up by breaking his stick on a slapshot that would've been blocked by the first guy.
Zibanejad and Panarin averaged 19+ minutes, Kreider 18+, Strome 18+. Lafreniere and Chytil averaged around 13. Thats the 3rd line. Where's the extra time coming from? If Lafreniere were on PP1 that would offset it and give him a boost of offensive chances. Otherwise they're going to be under the microscope to produce at unrealistic rates with the time a 3rd line gets. Even if Lafreniere gets stapled onto PP1 that'll only boost his ice time to like 16 minutes. Better than 13 minutes. But a #1 overall pick should be getting 17-18 minutes at his age. Jack Hughes averaged over 19 minutes the last two seasons. Stutzle averaged over 18. Lafreniere averaged in the 13 range. Still scored 19 even strength goals. More than Stutzle and one less than Hughes. If he got on PP1 he would be putting up a lot of points his confidence would grow.
100% on the money.
We just dont really know if thats his ceiling, he broke in with a team that was deep at F
