2018-19 Reports From the Rink ? Practice Updates Thread

[Giacomin]

I don't think Letteri is ever going to be an NHL player. I'd love it if someone else down there would step up and get the call.

 

We don't have any real forward prospects left in the system, except for Kravtsov. Why expect someone to magically appear. Vinnie, Boo, Fogarty and Tim are the best we have left. I'm not confident any of them should even be a 4th liner on a top team. Are you hoping one steps up to be serviceable in the short term?

[Dunny]

Yeah, I was thinking about that this morning, need forwards in this draft.

[Giacomin]

McLeod to IR and another call up or dressing 7 D for the road trip?

 

Phucket, dress Claesson and go with 7D. Play Shatty mostly on the PP. Rotate (double shift) a real forward to play with Lias' 4th line.

[Giacomin]

Fuckin Brady Tkachuk, now 9 goals in just 14 games. He looked amazing before the injury (looked serious), but is right back to dominating. Key on him tomorrow. Anyone still sticking with the projection that he tops out as a 25 goal scorer? Still can't believe the Rangers think Krav is going to be better, imagine if they are right?

[Gravesy]

Fuckin Brady Tkachuk, now 9 goals in just 14 games. He looked amazing before the injury (looked serious), but is right back to dominating. Key on him tomorrow. Anyone still sticking with the projection that he tops out as a 25 goal scorer? Still can't believe the Rangers think Krav is going to be better, imagine if they are right?

 

“You can get a player like him in the 3rd round” iirc.

[lefty9]

The rangers just doesn't have the luck to draft a elite forward since Gilbert and Ratelle ,unreal.

[Gravesy]

Kravtsov is going to be incredible. I can feel it.

[Giacomin]

The rangers just doesn't have the luck to draft a elite forward since Gilbert and Ratelle ,unreal.

 

Don't fret just yet. Philip Chytil may be the modern day Jean Ratelle. I haven't seen a Ranger C with more skill since we imported a couple of guys from Edmonton.

 

Love how he compares to old-timers like Ratelle and Peter Statsny. He has that length, smooth stride, slick stick and oozes puck/scoring instincts. Now we just need the rest of the GAG line.

[Giacomin]

“You can get a player like him in the 3rd round” iirc.

 

Brady is absolutely the best listen when it comes to talking hockey, of any kid I've ever heard. For a player with a "gritty label", he repeatedly demonstrates an amazingly cerebral outlook on the game. It is not just X's and O's, plays and positioning, even though he can break-it-down in a way that taught me a whole bunch of things. He gets why teams succeed, why goals get scored, interesting methods of training and preparation. And his leadership qualities and mental approach remind me of Messier, except he gets along with everyone. It will all lead to a career that will be reminiscent of his dads. He will be better than his bro. Ottawa made a great pick.

[Pete]

?You can get a player like him in the 3rd round? iirc.

YOu don't recall correctly. It was "based on the projection of 20g/60 pts", and if you told anyone that would be your output from a #4 overall, go find me some folks that are thrilled with that.

 

 

 

But, good to know we can deem Brady a success after like 20 games.

 

Guess that makes Lias a bust. :thumbs:

[Gravesy]

YOu don't recall correctly. It was "based on the projection of 20g/60 pts", and if you told anyone that would be your output from a #4 overall, go find me some folks that are thrilled with that.

 

 

 

But, good to know we can deem Brady a success after like 20 games.

 

Guess that makes Lias a bust. :thumbs:

 

Pretty sure I recall correctly.

I said he'd be an excellent top 5 pick.

You said you can get a player like him in the 3rd round.

 

I'm calling this an internet win. :cool:

[Giacomin]

YOu don't recall correctly. It was "based on the projection of 20g/60 pts", and if you told anyone that would be your output from a #4 overall, go find me some folks that are thrilled with that.

 

 

 

But, good to know we can deem Brady a success after like 20 games.

 

Guess that makes Lias a bust. :thumbs:

 

Just so Gravesy isn't alone on this limb, I don't mean to assure anyone that Brady should be deemed a success (though I did watch plenty of his college games, not just a few pro games), yet. Or that Chytil will be Jean Ratelle in 2-3 years. However, I am projecting that they will be top line talent based on a whole lot of real good things I've seen and heard about both of them and some other younger players that I follow closely.

 

Tkachuk and Chytil are already more than flashing a high level of play in the NHL for 18/19 year olds. I find following the talented kid's development one of the most fun aspects of being a hockey fan. I'm also very optimistic about Howden and Hajek as key contributors for years. It is too early to get down on Lias, but no one is going to compare him to a top line player until he demonstrates that level of play for at least a nice stretch of games. He has potential, we just need to see more of it.

[Giacomin]

Oh and Pete, you missed the heat Gravesy, Puck and I took here, much earlier in the season when we said Brady was among the top 3 forwards in this draft. That he was going to be better than his brother. It was discussed and argued to death way before the season even ended.

[ThirtyONE]

We don't have any real forward prospects left in the system, except for Kravtsov. Why expect someone to magically appear. Vinnie, Boo, Fogarty and Tim are the best we have left. I'm not confident any of them should even be a 4th liner on a top team. Are you hoping one steps up to be serviceable in the short term?

 

I'm just saying Vinny isn't gonna make it. Having him up is the same as having Holland up. It's not exciting. Hopefully they can get a few more guys down there in the coming years that could actually push for roster spots.

[Giacomin]

I'm just saying Vinny isn't gonna make it. Having him up is the same as having Holland up. It's not exciting. Hopefully they can get a few more guys down there in the coming years that could actually push for roster spots.

 

I hear ya. I'd hope mgmt plays the guy with the best chance to being a decent 4th liner. If they think Gettinger has a chance but needs more time in Hartford, send him back, he got a taste.

[Pete]

Pretty sure I recall correctly.

I said he'd be an excellent top 5 pick.

You said you can get a player like him in the 3rd round.

 

I'm calling this an internet win. :cool:

That's cool, clearly the internet matters more to you.

[Gravesy]

That's cool, clearly the internet matters more to you.

 

Of course it does Peter ;)

Even Pronman had to eat humble pie over his predraft assessment of Brady, it's ok for you too.

 

 

Pronman: Prospects I was wrong about.

 

 

Brady Tkachuk, LW, Ottawa

 

In the past two weeks, I started to get texts about Tkachuk and whether I’ve come around on him. The answer is yes.

 

By the time the draft rolled around, I liked Brady a lot. I pegged him as a first-line forward. After the World Junior camp in the summer, I bumped him up to a good first-line forward but not a star. He’s looked like a star early on this NHL season and, at the very least, I underrated how much of a sure thing he was to be a very good player.

 

I was skeptical midseason, though, and it’s where I got a reputation as a Brady Tkachuk hater.

 

He didn’t kill it at Boston University. There were games where he was fine but not amazing. He was a top player on the USNTDP the season prior, but it wasn’t a deep offensive team and his numbers weren’t that great. Compared to Oliver Wahlstrom at the same age, the two players weren’t close production-wise.

 

I liked certain things about Tkachuk. His physicality and compete were amazing. I liked his hockey sense a lot but didn’t think it was elite. I saw skill and speed but didn’t think it was amazing. The hockey sense part was my major error. His hockey IQ isn’t just very good, it’s elite. He and his brother, Matthew Tkachuk, have incredible instincts and see the game at the highest level.

 

Debating this aspect of Brady Tkachuk’s game with an NHL scout who believed Tkachuk’s IQ was special, I argued, “how can you say a guy has elite IQ/vision if he never runs a power play off the half-wall and is never a primary playmaker on a line?”The scout replied, “why does that have to be true for him to have an elite brain?”

 

He was right. I was viewing the world too narrowly. I let Tkachuk’s statistics and a simplistic view of what a top prospect should look like alter my view of what was a top player (also by the end of the season, Tkachuk was running BU’s power play off the half-wall). I’m adjusting the way I view the sport due to this mentality. The way I view 2019 prospect Matt Boldy is an example. He’s not a traditional playmaker. He doesn’t run power plays or drive play as a center, but he creates down low as well as anyone, with elite vision and instincts and makes special plays.

 

I didn’t give Brady his due. He drives play exceptionally well, makes plays at an elite level and looks like a potential star for the Senators.

[Pete]

Of course it does Peter ;)

Even Pronman had to eat humble pie over his predraft assessment of Brady, it's ok for you too.

I had no predraft assessment of Tkachuk (we're not on the first name basis).

 

I reacted to other folks assessment and said, if that's all he is, you can get that in the third round and I hope the Rangers don't take him. And they weren't going to, apparently.

 

So all is right in the world. And in your case, the internet.

[Gravesy]

Ok.

[Bugg]

Bruins retired Rick Middleton's #16 last night. Simply one of the most awful trades in NHL history. Rangers have not drafted a goal-scoring forward to score 40+ for them in forever. Last guy they drafted who scored 40 here anyway was Don Murdoch.

[Kevin]

Bruins retired Rick Middleton's #16 last night. Simply one of the most awful trades in NHL history. Rangers have not drafted a goal-scoring forward to score 40+ for them in forever. Last guy they drafted who scored 40 here anyway was Don Murdoch.

 

That's brutal. Who's the last one that they drafted that scored 40 anywhere? Kovalev? Amonte?

[Pete]

That's brutal. Who's the last one that they drafted that scored 40 anywhere? Kovalev? Amonte?

Amonte, he was drafted before Kovalev. But they both got to 40.

[Bugg]

Amonte, he was drafted before Kovalev. But they both got to 40.

 

Video nerd alert; if you play EA's NHL'94 Kovalev is simply the most talented player in the game. If you run simulated seasons, he will win scoring titles, MVPs and the Selke trophy. And he was a great talent, and universally liked by everyone he played with. But he was also a knucklehead and not clear how you could program that back then. Recall Mike Keenan one night grew so exasperated with him that he left him on ice for a 7 minute shift. After the game, Kovalev claimed he had no idea Keenan was furious, rather he simply thought he was having a great shift. Reason he was so great in the game is because the guy who drafted him, Neil Smith, was a consultant to EA when they designed the game, and he wasn't about to say anything but wonderful stuff about his own draft pick.

[Dunny]

Ulf Dahlen and Mike Ridley carried my '94 teams. Until I pushed my brother through a window over a tough loss and Mom took it all away :(

[josh]

Juneau - Oates - Neely

 

Didn’t use the Rangers as much because they rated Breaser above Richter. :angry: Also used the Devils because Bruce Driver was a beast.

 

 

I loved that disparity in player rankings. Now, everyone is the same.