Player Discussion Tyler Kleven (D) at 44th Overall (Sens traded up)

[PlayOn]

I have no problem having kleven on the roster and learning I do think it was a bit of a miss potentially having him with another young guy in JBD and also having all of Kleven, JBD and Hamonic on the roster after 1 injury. I don't think Kleven has to play every night and it might actually help his development sitting out a few games here and there.

I don't buy the capspace issue. They chose to overpay to bring Perron. Lets see if it pays off. They also chose to not buyout Hamonic. I do think we need to be using our cap space a bit more wisely going forward

I agree on JBD. I don’t know if they even see a future for him here so I’d have liked an upgrade but he’s held his own, not sure we can really do much better at that price.

They want vets, Staios said that over and over again. He alluded to conflict in the room so I can see why he placed a higher priority on Perron or even Hamonic. Green basically said as much, that part of the reason Hamonic plays are things we don’t see, and referenced him giving Kleven advice after a certain play. If people disagree with the vet prioritization that’s fine, but from my perspective it’s a hard thing for us to quantify the importance of as we’re not in the room.

 

[Micklebot]

So, people are complaining about depth on D, but our depth on D has seen is get to where we are, Zubs been out most of the season

We're pacing at around 91 pts and a wild card spot, which is about what was expected.

I honestly think our depth on D is outperforming expectations. Kleven has been fine, JBD a bit up and down, Hamonic while certainly not ideal in the top 4 isn't costing us. Heck, even Matinpalo looked good in his season debut .All this while Sanderson has had a bit of an unexpected slump.

You can always be better, an upgrade on JBD that could push Hamonic out of the top 4 while Zub is out would be great, but the reason Staios isn't rushing to backfill for Zub while he's out is because depth on D hasn't really been our problem.

 

[JD1]

I didn't know a GM can only do 3 things. Staois has done good things and has overlooked some areas. Lets see what he does going forward here but it is clear that bottom pairing some insulation.

Do you think Yzerman is doing an excellent job since he played over a 1000 games in the nhl?

This kind of thing in the bold...This is misdirection. Its OK. You can say "you know, on second thought, ya Staois was probably aware that a rookie D might have some struggles on the road"

 

[JD1]

So, people are complaining about depth on D, but our depth on D has seen is get to where we are, Zubs been out most of the season

We're pacing at around 91 pts and a wild card spot, which is about what was expected.

I honestly think our depth on D is outperforming expectations. Kleven has been fine, JBD a bit up and down, Hamonic while certainly not ideal in the top 4 isn't costing us. Heck, even Matinpalo looked good in his season debut .All this while Sanderson has had a bit of an unexpected slump.

You can always be better, an upgrade on JBD that could push Hamonic out of the top 4 while Zub is out would be great, but the reason Staios isn't rushing to backfill for Zub while he's out is because depth on D hasn't really been our problem.

Not only has D not been a problem, I'd say it's been a strength.

Top 15 or better in all of

Corsi
Shots against
Scoring chances against
High dannder shots against
Expected goals against

While having a schedule to date difficulty of 13 of 32. With an easy schedule from now til year end, our D metrics should improve.

 

[Micklebot]

I didn't know a GM can only do 3 things. Staois has done good things and has overlooked some areas. Lets see what he does going forward here but it is clear that bottom pairing some insulation.

Do you think Yzerman is doing an excellent job since he played over a 1000 games in the nhl?

Come on.

There's a difference between doing a good job of building a team, and recognizing a rookie might have some struggles when on the road.

Dorion recognized that we needed a RD adding Zaitsev, Hainsey, Hamonic, Gudbranson, and Chychrun, he didn't do a great job at identifying a D that would actually fill the role well.

You can identify issues, and still not do a great job overall if you miscalculate on how good a player is when you sign them, overpay on trades, put together a roster that doesn't gel, ect.

Staios brought in 2 D with NHL experience in Roos and Davies (three is you count the Chychrun for Jensen trade), gave another one a PTO in Addison. On top of that, we had 7 D on NHL contracts and 3 prospects in Sebrango, Guenette, and Matinpalo.

We clearly had other priorities given we actually spent cap on Perron and Amadio, but he did look to shore up the depth in the system albeit with budget options. I don't think Davies, Addison or Roos panned out as callup options, but our D has stood up pretty will given Zub has been out for nearly the entire season. We're getting you you should expect out of our 7th Dman.

 

[Loach]

This kind of thing in the bold...This is misdirection. Its OK. You can say "you know, on second thought, ya Staois was probably aware that a rookie D might have some struggles on the road"

You know?....on second thought...I will have another beer.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

Not only has D not been a problem, I'd say it's been a strength.

Top 15 or better in all of

Corsi
Shots against
Scoring chances against
High dannder shots against
Expected goals against

While having a schedule to date difficulty of 13 of 32. With an easy schedule from now til year end, our D metrics should improve.

Team d has been a strength.

We can improve players on defence. Just like we can improve players on forward.

 

[Micklebot]

Team d has been a strength.

We can improve players on defence. Just like we can improve players on forward.

Sure, Zub can get healthy and our D becomes much better, pushes one of Hamonic our JBD out of the lineup.

I don't think our depth at D has really been a problem though, the fact that we've had to use our 7th Dman in 25 out of 36 games because we're missing a top 4 RD is a bit of an issue, but the depth has held up well enough. Could it be better, sure. No team in the league is going to say they can't be better or deeper at a position.

 

[Senovision]

Tyler leads our dmen in hits with 45.
The expectation for Tyler was to be a physical dman and use his size and strength. He is coming in as advertised with being our most physical dman on our team.
Jensen is next with 37 hits.
Sanderson is further down and has 24 hits this season and ranks 5th in our dmen in hits.

 

[OD99]

My biggest takeaway with Kleven is that he has much more poise and patience with the puck than I expected.

He uses his body and reach to protect the puck, and make a play rather than just firing it away. I think that is such a good sign for his future.

 

[bicboi64]

My biggest takeaway with Kleven is that he has much more poise and patience with the puck than I expected.

He uses his body and reach to protect the puck, and make a play rather than just firing it away. I think that is such a good sign for his future.

I love his composure. His slip ups have been when he feels he needs to do more to acquire the puck or make a play, but that's easy to coach and will get better with more experience.

Looking forward to him growing and eventually taking on harder minutes.

 

[Cosmix]

I think we need another big strong defensive defenseman who can clear opponents from in front of our net. Our current set is relatively soft.

I think we could also use a more offensive defenseman to improve our ES attack.

Would be great if we could get a D who can do both. Yak perhaps.

 

[Golden_Jet]

I love his composure. His slip ups have been when he feels he needs to do more to acquire the puck or make a play, but that's easy to coach and will get better with more experience.

Looking forward to him growing and eventually taking on harder minutes.

I find he runs around and chases sometimes, but feel like he’s been improving on that as well lately.

 

[Boud]

Had his worst game of the year against Winnipeg last week but came back with a strong performance against Minny. Overall I’m impressed with him this year. He’s able to handle the puck under pressure and get the puck out of the zone, which is all you can ask for from a guy playing his first year in the league.

I think he just needs a partner that can help him settle things down. I would have faith in a Kleven-Yakemchuk for next season. I think they will complement each other well. Right now playing with JBD his role is not as defined as it should be IMO.

Once he has a partner that has clear strenghts that can compliment his style of play he will be even better and we’ll see his true shutdown ability and physical play shine.

 

[starling]

When he's matched up against 3rd/4th lines he's fine. When he is matched up against opponent's top lines, he can't keep up.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

When he's matched up against 3rd/4th lines he's fine. When he is matched up against opponent's top lines, he can't keep up.

Yeah. Like 90% of bottom pairing d men in the league . And he’s just a rookie.