BaerBoBoeser

Good post - interesting stats on the 1a and very positive As you said goal scoring is a concern and while you say his low shootiing % is not sustainable (as usually that low is not for a talented forward, and as such it should eventually revert to the mean - ie move up over time), one concern would be (and I doubt there is a stat on it) where is he shooting from If he's shooting alot from distance, the outside it would make sense that he's not scoring and his percentage is low - that works in Junior where his shot could over power goalies - AHL no way So, in my view I wish we knew 'where the majority of his shots are coming from'. If below the hash marks between the dots in high danger areas and the 'dirty areas below the circles (where Burr made a living) , ok it will eventually start going in. If outside the circles, not in danger areas, then he needs to start working harder to get to the net.

He definitely didn't need to gain weight last year but the 'talk' was the Canucks training staff was working with him in the summer - that doesn't jive with the fact he showed up to camp out of shape. Now out of shape could mean many things and none of us know it could mean 1. Laugh it up pudgeball 2. Put on alot of weight that even if muscle, on his frame makes it harder to get around the ice - expend more energy so he can't play a proper shift all out / length wise 3. Trained wrong and his aerobic shape wasn't up to snuff (could be caused by 1 or 2 ) Rumors say he was partying alot and living a celebrity life, I think we all know there is a hint of truth to that, and given that he is at home, making lots of money and 19 years old, like any kid he just acted like a kid - and likely why the Nucks wanted him in utica - to grow up (which we all also know needed to happen) Regardless of whether he came to camp out of shape from partying/eating and not working out, or not working out right, he was out of shape He came in at 225-230 ish - that is close to Bertuzzi weight and in this NHL , you need speed and quickness (which he has). They said green was skating him alot in utica too so its clearly a conditioning / aerobic issue My hope is he comes into camp slimmed down to about 210 lbs, even 205. If he comes in with that weight and has worked hard aerobically - he will turn some heads with those wheels

As a comparison as there are many similarities in their path's to the NHL and previous success in US College and the WJC Cory Schnieder who we all loved first season in the AHL 36 gp 21 W (3 SO) 12 L2 2 T (yes they had ties back then!) 2.28 GAA 0.916 sv % Thatcher Demko thus far 33 GP (2 SO) 16 W 11 L 1 SOL 2.57 GAA 0.909 sv% If Thatcher pushes us into the playoffs his numbers will look very close to one hell of a goalie in his first year, and Thatcher had a tough patch in there mid year I believe. I always look at save % and the quality of the team. Those matter most to me when evaluating goalies. GAA is more a team stat and even save % to a certain degree but clearly goalies have better control there. However, if you're on a weaker team, other teams will get more and better looks leading to more goals. Regardless, he seems to be having a solid start to his pro career. Let's hope they make the post season to get some more experience, then see him take the next step next year!

Agree , that's why patience is always the key physically with players - skill you can't teach, but size can come One of the big things scouts do is always meet parents, and its not for them to only know if the kid comes from a good home, they want to see how his parent are 'built' - how big a man the father is etc....seriously - and it makes sense - not just with horses! Granlund is at best 185 (I'd be surprised if that heavy) so if he's in the 180's but can play, I don't think it will be an issue - but the speed and quickness will be key for him then and as with all physically smaller players, learning how to play within that and still be effective

Very interesting post thanks for the intelligent insight! Not a bad thing for a kid that small to be kind of shielded until his body starts catching up. Some kids just take longer to 'man strength' out, regardless of how hard they work in the gym. I was 160 lbs in grade 12 and 5'11 - played football and hockey competitively till 24 and topped out at 6'1 185 at 24. I couldn't add muscle to save my life By the time I hit 25/26 I was 6'1 200 and strong as hell, just a late bloomer and cried at night wishing that I had that man strength 4 years earlier! it was such a difference and probably would have got me somewhere professional in either sport! I think 2 years in the AHL gaining weight, learning the north american pro game an allowing his body to catch up, we'll be able to know what we have.

Same and oddly few have given Benning and even Willie kudos for this. Benning spotted it, Willie has brought the talent out. I am actually very surprised by Granlund and I'm an old timer who's watched hockey for 40 years, played the game competitively so think I have a fairly educated and decent perspective on talent. I just didn't see what we had in him but now? Wow....this kid is remining me of a smaller hansen with better hands. He's on pace for 25 goals in what is effectively a rookie season (that is amazing). He's probably never going to be a 35-40 goal guy but hell if he keeps up this trajectory who knows. I mentioned in another post for all the heat Willie takes he has done an AMAZING JOB developing our young core, something many people ignore when they bark about him. Oddly, as much as we've been talking 'playoffs' and haven't got there people ignore the real results that Willie has achieved and those are really our more important ones long term (development) Willie seems to great at developing not so great at systems and strategy. Funny thing is, that's kind of what we've needed! Baer, Bo, Try, Stecher, Hutton, Granlund, Sbisa (although he will end up in vegas) have all taken big strides under willie - something people should really learn to appreciate IMHO

well, he's very young and he got a wakeup call and while he's clearly immature (and who isn't at 20 yrs old, its just we've become accustomed to young NHLers acting very mature at a young age for some reason) so that can change. The upside here is, as immature as jake is: A. Its normal for most people his age! LOL B. He's not an 'idiot' - from what we've seen he's a young kid being a kid bc he's got some cash now and buddies around (none of us would be any different, bo is actually an exception - I think being in Vancouver hurt him - too close to his bros who pumped his tires), so if he's not an 'idiot' he will mature and utica is good, away from all the nonsense and 'early celebrity'. C. He's got talent and now knows he's got to earn it, nothing is going to be given to him, especially with the moves JB has made (bringing in 2 young offensive wingers plus Boeser about to come in, and maybe Gaudette). Plus you have Baer and Granny pretty much cementing 2 of 4 top 6 spots. If he looks around, he'll notice there's no spot 'waiting' for him anymore - if that doesn't light a fire under him nothing will As I said in another thread lets see how he comes into camp next year and this is my view on how we need to evaluate him 1. Come into camp in great shape 2. Play your ass off and make it hard for the Nucks to send him back (but they should even as a test of his resiliency, to make him feel like he's close but can't quit or sulk) 3. Back to Utica and start being the 'driver of offense' and showing he can dominate physically and play 200ft 4. Be called up a few times and when called up, don't complain about what line you're on, with the limited minutes still show you want to be here by making yourself noticed 5. Following season should be starting to see him as the first call from utica even if he doesn't stick out of camp. He's got 2 years in my view before we start talking about bust or anything of the sort. The key here is improvement in all facets of his game, fitness, drive, effort, professionalism on and off the ice, positioning, scoring etc - lots to work on. When people say "powerforwards take more time' so far, this is an excuse for Jake to gloss over a lack of commitment. Powerforwards take time to put it all together at the NHL level but the best ones still showed progression. Jake won't wake up one day and voila its all working, we need to see progression and to date that hasn't been there. Let's hope over the next 2 years we start seeing that! I think we will, he's a decent kid, just the celebrity got a bit too much into his head early and the Nucks smartly recognized it. Now its up to him!

Don't people ever learn? Never tell Alex Burrows he can't play or he can't do something if you do he feeds you crow atta boy burr - go Sens go!