Turcotte- time to worry?

[HookKing]

I’m at the game. Row 8 on the Eagles defending blueline for periods 1 and 3.
Turcotte was bringing the puck in the Eagles zone with speed.(100 feet from my seat, at the blue line I’m at) Got hit very hard and square. Could not tell if the hit was impact on the head. But think so. Happened fast. He went down hard. Was laying there maybe 5 seconds . Then got up to try to go to the bench . As soon as he was upright and moving slowly, he fell forward down, almost face planted and broke the fall with his hands. F. He then made it to the bench abd was huddled over 3 or 4 minutes and attended too: then went down the tunnel. I about cried. And I almost left.
Sucks all around.

He had his head down? I can't remember the last time I saw someone get hit like that square on.

 

[King'sPawn]

It’s obviously very unlucky for the player and the team, but the team wasn’t perfect in the process. Three years later there are clearly better players taken shortly after. That is almost certainly the case, injuries or no injuries.

Also an undersized gritty guy who battled injuries in his 17 and 18 year old seasons maybe should have been told to get bigger and stronger rather than be thrown into the AHL with bigger pros. He looked tiny in the AHL and was expected to be a sandpaper type guy. I think the Kings overreacted to the disappointing D+1 year and made a poor decision that in atleast a small way contributed to all these injuries.

Eh, I'm not disputing the Kings would be reaping more rewards if others were taken. There are certainly more skilled players.

But there are many more skilled players than Danault, but he's a player I don't want the Kings to go without.

Not saying that Turcotte would be Danault, but skilled players who punch above their weight and play all-round hockey just have a variety of value. I don't fault the Kings for the pick.

 

[Peter James Bond III]

He had his head down? I can't remember the last time I saw someone get hit like that square on.

I was straight across, at the same blueline...he was closer to the other side of the ice from the side I was at....there were a few Reign players entering the zone and a few eagles on the other side of the blueline and I did not have a full, unobstructed view of the impact. I don't think he had his head down or the opponent was coming from an angle, so much. It was like he had good speed and just was hit hard, full contact and knocked back. He was then down for at least 5 seconds and I watched him get up and as soon as he was upright and moving towards the bench, he fell straight forward, straight down to the ice. Got his hands / stick to the ice first and his face didn't plant, but almost. Was a horrible thing to see. That he lost balance / control. He then made it to the bench barely...and was then hunched over for about 3 minutes and attended to (never saw his face) and then went down the tunnel.

 

[LAKings88]

Kupari
Vilardi
Turcotte
JAD
Byfield

Kings will be lucky if Byfield becomes a contributor. (Not sure he is a first line center even)

I don’t see much future for any of the others. Space is limited and competition keeps coming with each draft let alone adding free agents.

Turcotte is having too many concussions. Not a good sign.

 

[YP44]

hope he get healthy. At this point cheering on the person more than anything

 

[Statto]

Eh, I'm not disputing the Kings would be reaping more rewards if others were taken. There are certainly more skilled players.

But there are many more skilled players than Danault, but he's a player I don't want the Kings to go without.

Not saying that Turcotte would be Danault, but skilled players who punch above their weight and play all-round hockey just have a variety of value. I don't fault the Kings for the pick.

I think a Danault type is exactly what the Kings wanted and let’s face it, all teams need a couple of those guys.

At this point I just pray he can fully recover from the concussion because 2 in quick succession is a real worry. Being well enough for life in general becomes the first thing he needs to think about The draft pick stuff isn’t even a discussion right now, it can happen to any player.

 

[saintsnsoldiers]

This kid does not know how to dodge/avoid hits at all. Even during his WJC time he was always getting lined up, even Zegras was changing angles or lines and avoiding hits. Kinda sucks. Usually it only takes once to get blasted before you learn to avoid most of the contact. Whats up with this kid. High hopes but man.

 

[Mats26]

I said it last year that if Turcotte doesn't change his game he won't amount to anything. He is too reckless and has no awareness of dangerous hits and plays. I just don't see how he can overcome all these injuries and still reach his potential ceiling.

 

[bmr]

Kinda stings when you know that Seider and Zegras were available. But that's hindsight. Hopefully he can figure it out. I've always been worried about the injuries with the kid. I really think he could be a difference maker on the team if he can stay healthy.

All that being said - lucky for us we still got Bjornfot, Kaliyev, Fagemo and Spence in that draft to cushion the blow. I've always been high on Fagemo and think he has a decent shot of making the team next year. He really progressed this year in the AHL. High IQ player with a great shot and defensively responsible...will fit right in.

 

[Mats26]

Kinda stings when you know that Seider and Zegras were available. But that's hindsight. Hopefully he can figure it out. I've always been worried about the injuries with the kid. I really think he could be a difference maker on the team if he can stay healthy.

All that being said - lucky for us we still got Bjornfot, Kaliyev, Fagemo and Spence in that draft to cushion the blow. I've always been high on Fagemo and think he has a decent shot of making the team next year. He really progressed this year in the AHL. High IQ player with a great shot and defensively responsible...will fit right in.

I would of settled with Cozens, who was my pick at 5. Right-handed shot with size and some scoring.

 

[YP44]

I would of settled with Cozens, who was my pick at 5. Right-handed shot with size and some scoring.

I've been impressed with Cozens as well. I wanted LA to get him or Zegras at the time

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

Just went through the first 3 pages of the '#5 overall pick' thread...not a single negative post, everyone very happy. Nobody upset that we didn't get Seider....funny how that works.

 

[YP44]

Just went through the first 3 pages of the '#5 overall pick' thread...not a single negative post, everyone very happy. Nobody upset that we didn't get Seider....funny how that works.

for sure.
I thought at the time I wanted Dach the most as I remember being pissed Chicago grabbed him. Looking at past threads I clearly ranked Turcotte over Dach though.

No matter what just want him to get healthy and get his career back on track

 

[Herby]

Just went through the first 3 pages of the '#5 overall pick' thread...not a single negative post, everyone very happy. Nobody upset that we didn't get Seider....funny how that works.

Ok and your point? Other than maybe Thomas Hickey most every first round pick, whether it was Anze Kopitar or Colten Tuebert were liked by the majority here.

Also, there were plenty of people who wanted other players picked. Zegras had his fans, Caufield, Byram, Cozens, Dach etc. And yes there was someone who wanted Seider, I didn’t remember it either but @KingsHockey24 did say in the lead up to the draft that is who they wanted.

If you are saying people are contradictory or move the goal posts that isn’t untrue, but at least call it all out. There were plenty of posts in that discussion that had **this years** team lead by Vilardi as the 1C and Turcotte as the 2C with Kopitar playing the veteran 3C role. Now that wasn’t unrealistic, when you take one guy #11 it’s a reasonable expectation you have a 1st line performer in D+5, a few guys taken after are first liners bordering on stars, and when you take another at #5 it’s a reasonable expectation to expect a 2nd liner in D+3, plenty of guys taken after in that draft are at that level. So based on what was said in that thread and what the reasonable expectations were for those players is or fair to call those two guys big disappointments considering neither has really done anything at the NHL level? I said both were and get my head ripped off by those same people who had those projected lists. That is just as contradictory as what you are complaining about.

No one saw Turcotte being injured this much, no one saw the poor offensive season at UW or the lack of offensive ability at the pro level. But just because no one saw it doesn’t mean it can’t be discussed now. If Turcotte isn’t an NHL regular by the end of next season you can basically throw in the towel on him being anything more than a depth player. Unless you think he can do what very few players taken they high have ever done.

 

[johnjm22]

Kupari
Vilardi
Turcotte
JAD
Byfield

Kings will be lucky if Byfield becomes a contributor. (Not sure he is a first line center even)

I don’t see much future for any of the others. Space is limited and competition keeps coming with each draft let alone adding free agents.

Turcotte is having too many concussions. Not a good sign.

I think 3 of the 5 will be solid NHL players.

Kupari and JAD have looked fine to me.

 

[King'sPawn]

If not Turcotte, I wanted Boldy. He was No. 6 for me.

 

[LAKings88]

I think 3 of the 5 will be solid NHL players.

Kupari and JAD have looked fine to me.

On the Kings?

 

[kings11]

You look at his numbers - he has one season when he put up a lot of points and i believe he was playing with Zegras and Hughes a lot. Look at his numbers on the Reign last 2 seasons - almost identical and unimpressive. If you look at the scouting reports - they all sounded certain he would be a top 6 center with a full set of skills including shooting.. the guy hardly puts up goals at any level. Not sure what they saw.

Are you f***en kidding?? Who on the Reign are even comparable to Zegras and Hughes?
How much PP time did he get over the older guys like Tynan or even JAD..
the kid did all the dirty work on his line when he played on team USA. There’s no doubt he’s been injury prone and his development has stalled but he was absolutely the correct pick at the time

 

[King'sPawn]

You look at his numbers - he has one season when he put up a lot of points and i believe he was playing with Zegras and Hughes a lot. Look at his numbers on the Reign last 2 seasons - almost identical and unimpressive. If you look at the scouting reports - they all sounded certain he would be a top 6 center with a full set of skills including shooting.. the guy hardly puts up goals at any level. Not sure what they saw.

He wasn't playing with Hughes or Zegras that much in his draft year, except for the powerplay. His most common teammate was Matt Boldy. He would sometimes play with Caufield.

And he put up 27 goals in 37 games for the USNTDP his draft year, of which, he put 12 goals in 16 games versus the USHL.

His scoring ability has tapered off at the higher level, but it's blatantly false to say he hardly put up goals in any level.

 

[AbsentMojo]

He wasn't playing with Hughes or Zegras that much in his draft year, except for the powerplay. His most common teammate was Matt Boldy. He would sometimes play with Caufield.

And he put up 27 goals in 37 games for the USNTDP his draft year, of which, he put 12 goals in 16 games versus the USHL.

His scoring ability has tapered off at the higher level, but it's blatantly false to say he hardly put up goals in any level.

Thanks for filling in details on who he was playing with that year.. didnt know that. His draft year was the outlier - prior and since then, he never got past 16 goals. I hope that 18-19 season does reflect the kind of player he can be - but one season of production followed but ive seen with the reign, a little worrisome: Alex Turcotte at eliteprospects.com

 

[Statto]

Tutcotte was never a bad pick and arguing with hindsight that he was is revisionist. He was expected to go anywhere between 3-6. Yes he’d had an Injury and illness (mono?) but there was no repeated injury where you’d have called him injury prone at the time. Even his injuries since have been different.

He’s had a terrible run of injuries (plus appendicitis) that have absolutely affected his development and none of us can say with anything other than arrogance what he’d have become (by now) had he stayed fit and healthy. I can’t say he’d have been Richard’s light, anymore than someone else can say he’d have been a bust. Even if he wasn’t ‘your’ pick, he was never a bad pick or a stretch at #5. Was coming out of Wisconsin a bad choice? Yes, with hindsight but the place was a tire fire in his first year there.

He’s a good kid and exactly the type of character that you want in a dressing room. He’s young enough to turn it around but the back to back concussions are the first time I’ve been properly worried for him. At this point I just hope he recovers from those fully and then secondly can become a regular in the league.

 

[funky]

Still has a chance to be a contributor. Not writing him off. Our best player this year is a defensive specialist that finally got a chance on his third team at 28 ish years old to show his offensive ability. Turcotte still reminds me of him. Tenacious, pain in the ass, in your face, high energy guy with skill that may only pot 40 to 50 points but has the ability to change the game in other ways. Kid just needs to stay healthy. Let’s hope he gets that chance.

 

[johnjm22]

On the Kings?

I don't know if they'll end up being solid NHLers on the Kings, but I do believe at least 3 of 5 will be decent players in this league somewhere.

 

[tbrown33]

headshot

 

[BigKing]

headshot

He can't stare at his pass though. Guy got him up high but guys are going to go for hits like that and you need to be aware of it.