HighOnHockey
-
Posts
1,874 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Blogs
Gallery
Posts posted by HighOnHockey
-
-
Been watching some Sweden games. Lots to like about Ohgren. He's kind of a Miroshnichenko-lite. Well, Ohgren is more husky, but Miro is a lean athletic machine. Ohgren likewise has all the natural abilities to go with the size - powerful skater, lethal shooter, good puck skills, some thoughtfulness to his playmaking on and off the puck. Bulls his way around the corners at this level, but one minor concern I noticed is his pivots are not too impressive. Not as important to a forward as to a D maybe, but for a power winger like this, you'd like to see him be able to make evasive manoevres out of the corners. I like him a lot though.
Man oh man, has anyone stopped to notice that that USA superteam was beaten by an underdog Sweden, led by one elite forward line and two elite D? And yet those players are still being slept on in the draft rankings.
Ohgren - Ostlund - Lekkerimaki
Odelius
Havelid
Bystedt, Carlsson, Stenberg, Almgren are pretty good players too, but they were just hanging in against any of USAs top three lines. The Ostlund line was taking it to any one of their lines. Lekkerimaki is a lock for the top ten and I think is better than Nazar. Ohgren should go top 15. Ostlund is a tougher call; he was a driving force for that line, but he's barely 5'10, 160 lbs, and can be a little bit over-enthusiastic with the puck. I'd be somewhat surprised if he doesn't go in the first round though.
On the defensive side, Salomonsson and Elias Pettersson are the rest of the top four D, and are pretty good players and prospects in their own rights. Salomonsson should go somewhere in the 2nd round. But Havelid has put up monster numbers at international events all year, at what point do we recognize him as pretty legit? Odelius has got to be a first rounder. I could see him going as high as the early 20s. My one criticism of Odelius is the same as I have for Lekkerimaki, they don't have separation speed. Odelius has a similar fault to Heimosalmi last year, both are highly evasive to beat the first forechecker, but then they too often aren't able to pull away. Lekkerimaki has some of the niftiest skates in the draft - quick as lightning, explosive on the 10-2 and multidirectionally, polished edges, pretty fast, but he just lacks a separation gear at this stage.
-
1
-
1
-
-
2 hours ago, SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME said:
I’d be really tempted. Sounds like the Hodgkin’s lymphoma diagnosis is going to push him down to late first or possibly even the second round, so it’s almost certain that he’ll be on the board for us. Had he not gotten sick, I’d imagine he’d have made his way through the top-10 and possibly into the top-5 of this draft.
He’s looking at around 90% survivability, but it’s anyone guess what the odds of he’s cured and returns to full athletic ability. Probably still quite high, but there are some potential lasting after effects, even if the treatment is successful.
But the upside, wow. I’ve seen him described as having one of the best shots in the draft and also being one of the best skaters. And all that comes with the size and playstyle of a power forward.
The few criticisms of his game (defensive positioning; shift-to-shift consistency; somewhat disappointing production, relative to ability, this season, etc) are all very likely to improve, assuming he recovers, and with maturity and coaching. And it’s quite possible any weaknesses/flaws he showed this past season were (at least in part) the result of the undiagnosed Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which tends to cause fatigue.
It’s definitely a big gamble at 15th overall, but the rewards could possibly justify it. Just a really tough call to make, especially when we don’t pick next until the third round. If we were holding multiple top-50 picks, I’d definitely earmark one of them for Miroshnichenko.
Still, if it’s his name called at #15, my reaction will mostly be positive (depending on who else is on the board) and certainly with a fair amount of excitement, albeit coupled with some trepidation (we’re not exactly known for being lucky when it comes to this kind of thing
). If he gets through this medical issue unscathed, I see him being a very good top-6 NHL player one day, and one who could fit in quite nicely with the future core of this team.
EDIT: Here’s what two working NHL amateur scouts (speaking anonymously) had to say about Miroshnichenko (from an article yesterday in The Athletic):
Ivan Miroshnichenko, LW, Omskie Yastreby (MHL)
Scout 2: I love this player. I think he’s a lock (as a) top-10 talent.
Obviously, his health issue and long-term health are something teams are going to have to do their homework on. But he’s a hard-skill player, a really good shot, two-way game. He wears a letter with the national team, even at the U20 in November he wore a letter as the youngest player there. He’s got a heaviness to him, he can score, he can create, he’s hard to knock off the puck — his game translates very well to North America.
Scout 1: It’s unfortunate that he’s ill and you’re just glad to hear that he’s doing better. To me, he’s the best Russian-born skater.
Right now I have no idea where he’ll get drafted because of his illness. This guy though, I mean he was dynamite at the U17s last year. He’s got everything: power, scoring ability. I’d rate him as a top-5 talent in this draft class.
Yeah personally I had him 2nd overall and in the mix for 1st overall before his diagnosis. Forget top six forward, I think he has 50 goal, 100 point potential. But between the Russia situation and the illness, I would be very surprised if he went as high as 15.
-
The one guy who never really wows but every time I watch him he just makes smart, skilled plays every time he touches the puck, is Calle Odelius. He's that player that you can tell he's pretty good after one viewing, but then the more you watch, game after game and shift after shift of never making a mistake and constantly making highly efficient plays, at a certain point you're just like "holy $&!# this player is really, really good."
-
1
-
-
4 hours ago, Beary Sweet said:
Who’s this year’s Pastrnak that could be available at our pick? Nice to see that we obtain #15. Who are some dark horses to target?
Maybe Kulich? Another Czech, high-end skill with an elite shot.
-
1
-
-
7 hours ago, S N Y P E R S 7 said:
He plays the game a lot like a J.T. Miller or Sam Bennett, the way he gains leverage on guys and bullies his way to the net where he can finish. He's also responsible defensively.
Played with Cutter Gauthier all year and, while I definitely looked hard at Gauthier, the guy who caught my eye every shift was McGroarty. It's similar to how every time I watched the Mooseheads back in 13-14, every time Ehlers was on the ice he caught my eye. It's just McGroarty plays a harder, grittier game.
He's a gem man. I could see him getting some mentorship from Miller if he sticks around, or Horvat on how he increased his top speed. Could take a few years for him to make it to the NHL, but he'll definitely make it eventually. He's a super hard working fella.
I don't mean to question your reliability or anything, but "all year" is a stretch. I caught a couple games later in the season and it was mostly the same lines we saw at U18s: Gauthier-Cooley-Snuggerud, Howard-Nazar-Smith/Brindley, Stramel-McGroarty-Lucius. And lately I've been watching some 5 Nations from last fall and I'm seeing a lot of McGroarty with Spicer, Cooley and Snuggerud. I don't doubt that he played significant time with Gauthier, but this team juggled lines all year, aside from the wonder-twins Nazar and Howard who have been pretty much inseparable since YOGs.
Anyway, I'm starting to come around on McGroarty. Had him early 20s throughout the year. I might have him inside my top 20 by now. There's just so many good players in this damn draft. There's a few guys I wanna move up but can't figure out who to bump.
I've talked about this a bit before but the thing that intrigues me about McGroarty is he always seems to struggle when he first makes the jump to higher levels, but then he pretty quickly figures it out. I remember being frustrated a number of games that he so often just wasn't involved in the play. I soon realized that it was due to his skating and just not getting there quick enough. But you can see as he learns the pace of the game at a new level that he starts to figure out where the puck is going to go and where he needs to be. This gives me a pretty good idea of just how high is his hockey IQ. I agree he'll definitely be a player in some capacity, but I'm still a little iffy on the upside
-
31 minutes ago, JM_ said:
according to this, maybe its just he's not expected to be top pairing or high scoring? https://thehockeywriters.com/lian-bichsel-2022-nhl-draft-prospect-profile/
At 15, lets reach. Why not? we need big bodies like this if we hope to get out of the west some day.
OK let me preface this by saying I haven't seen very much of Bichsel at all. But the "why not?" is pretty obvious - there are going to be some other really good players available.
-
Biggest risers from Centrals mid-term to final rankings is usually a pretty good indicator that a player will go even higher in the draft.
Kevin Korchinski (+17), David Goyette (+22), Owen Beck (+9), Jagger Firkus (+19) are some of the biggest risers in NA.
Strangely enough, Tristan Luneau (-14) and Matyas Sapovaliv (-10) were big fallers for Central while they seem to be rising everywhere else.
In Europe, Jiri Kulich (+9), Elias Salomonsson (+9), Lian Bichsel (+5) rise. Every Russian falls a few spots, but besides that Filip Mesar and Brad Lambert fall 5 spots each.
-
2 hours ago, hammertime said:
Depending on who's left at 15 Yurov is a great pick he's a beast on the boards and can wire it like Petey.
The Russian war isn't stopping every team in the league from trying to sign Kuzmenko. So I doubt it drops a top 5 player like Yurov further than 15.
Big difference. Kuzmenko is a free asset. If Russians are suddenly banned from the NHL or something crazy, it didn't cost you anything. Using a top 15 draft pick is a lot more risk.
-
1
-
1
-
-
On 5/5/2022 at 10:13 PM, hammertime said:
Appreciate the nodd.
I'm in full on work mode training greeners up for the season of forestry appraisals. Trying my best to work life balance with family. Haven't had much time for prospect watching lately. One number that really stood out without watching the games yet was Kulich 39 shots in 6 games seems like a fake made up number lol. Curious on your impressions of him.
Looks like Mcgroarty did his job in tight 8G 1A sounds to me like a guy who planted himself infront of the net and buried greasy ones. looking forward to watching him and seeing how he got his point's.
Is Lutz a sleeper in this draft?
Man I've seen painfully little of Lutz, as I suspect is the case for most people. Looks like he could be good. Would he have been a first rounder if he'd played more hockey?
On McGroarty actually I think you'd be surprised how much he created. He's one of those guys who makes plays so quickly off a turnover it makes your head spin. Has the combination of strength, deceptive skating, and stick skills to take the puck from the corner to the front of the net in a few strides. Scored on a couple blistering one-timers from the circle.
I can't remember which Czech game that was but at one point they had something like 3 minutes of powerplay which included a full two minutes was 5 on 3. They were looking for Kulich at every chance they could get. He was just clapping one timers from all over the ice. I remember he had at least 5 shots on net, and it must have been 10 or 15 shots attempted at the net, over that short span. Dude is up there with Kemell and Lekkerimaki for best shots in the draft.
-
7 hours ago, Marv-the-wet-bandit said:
I’m way too excited for this draft class, so many intriguing prospects, more then I will list here but I’ll do my top 15 with a 5 honourable mentions. Would love to see how your list is looking now too.
1) Shane Wright
2) Juraj Slafkovsky
3) Logan Cooley
4) David Jiricek
5) Simon Nemec
6) Frank Nazar
7) Matt Savoie
8) Jonathan Lekkerimaki
9) Kevin Korchinski
10) Gleb Trikozov
11) Pavel Mintyukov
12) Rutger McGroarty
13) Denton Mateychuk
14) Marco Kasper
15) Liam Ohgren
Honourable mentions being Filip Mesar, Tristan Luneau, Joakim Kemmell, Cutter Gauthier and Owen Pickering.
I have Jiricek over Nemec because I think his ceiling is higher but also believe Nemec has the higher floor. I couldn’t put Geekie on my list because of lack of effort and footspeed and when those are combined it’s really worrisome to me.
My latest list should be on the previous page. But since then been watching 5 Nations from last fall, and Frank Nazar was quite clearly the better player than Lekkerimaki at that time. At this most recent U18s, things looked quite reversed. I mean Nazar is Nazar. Two words sum up his game to me: tenacity and quickness. But he does try a lot of low percentage plays. Trikozov, Casey and Kemell are the kings of low-percentage plays in this draft, but Nazar is somewhere on that end of the spectrum. Although, I'll often see those other guys take excessive risks with not a ton of obvious reward. Nazar makes high risk, high danger plays at the net, and he seems to usually find at least one a shift
But Lekkerimaki is on the other end of the pro-style spectrum. High percentage, high danger plays. Reminds me in parts of Rossi and Holtz from the 2020 draft, as a guy who does his best work off the puck. Like Holtz, he skates brilliant routes, gives himself multiple options, has an elite shot, and high-end multi-directional skating to move suddenly into scoring areas. But he's a more dynamic skater than Holtz, and a better playmaker with the puck on his stick. Couple inches shorter than Holtz though. The thing that stood out to me with Rossi was, so accustomed to playing with players he was vastly better than, making brilliant plays to them, you might not get it back and they might not create anything with it, so he learned to be elite at giving it up and using his playmaking ability to put himself in positions for his linemates to make good plays with ease. I see a lot of that from Lekkerimaki. He lacks some of Rossi's sandpaper and defensive acumen, but he's a better skater than Rossi, a better shooter, and a couple inches taller.
I like that a few people here are so bullish on McGroarty. I'm coming around a little more every time I see him.
-
1
-
-
2 hours ago, Stech said:
Thanks for the shout out, I didn't get around to watching much of the U18s admittedly, although I will say every time I see Marco Kasper play he climbs my list. Right now he's in my top 10. I'll have another list ready to go closer to the draft.
Yes. Kasper is something wild. All-time best Champions League by a U18. All-time best SHL playoffs by a U18. And to have made the jump from Austrian junior league to SHL so smoothly with less than two dozen Swedish junior games in between. He just plays the game the right way.
-
-
1 hour ago, Bure_Pavel said:
They pretty much have him ranked in the second round, which seems wild. Everyone is entitled to their opinion though.
NHL Central Scouting is one of the most respected rankings out there. Not saying we need to take them as gospel, and I often find myself strongly disagreeing with them, but they shouldn't be taken lightly. This one does seem very strange to me though. I'm happy to remind people again, I was one of the first aboard the Nazar hype train. I said in October of 2020 that I thought he might be better than Savoie or Lambert (many fans throughout that season still thought there would be a "big three" of Wright, Savoie, Lambert), and I've stuck with him in my top 10 throughout; it's been interesting to see some of the internet scouts like EP and Smaht have actually moved him up as high as 4th and 6th respectively, higher than I can recall ever having him myself. Crazy how all over the place this draft is.
It took some digging, but I was able to find the fall 2021 5-Nation U18s archived on Youtube. Gonna be going through them in the coming days.
-
1
-
-
The Sharks will not be signing UFAs Timur Bilyalov, Alec Rauhauser, Yevgeni Oksentyuk, Kyle Turris. Will not qualify RFAs Teemu Turunen, Luke Green.
Edit: @Nail
-
Cool to see some more lists. Hope to see more people posting theirs.
4 hours ago, Bure_Pavel said:Below are my current rankings, should be some good talent left where we will be selecting.
1. Shane Wright - C
2. Logan Cooley - C
3. Juraj Slafkovsky - LW
4. Simon Nemec - RD
5. Matthew Savoie - C
6. David Jiricek - RD
7. Jonathan Lekkerimaki - RW
8. Conor Geekie - C
9. Joakim Kemell - RW
10. Rutger McGroarty - C
11. Frank Nazar - RW/C
12. Danila Yurov - RW
13. Marco Kasper - C
14. Kevin Korchinski - LD
15. Brad Lambert - LW
16. Tristan Luneau - RD
17. Denton Mateychuk - LD
18. Liam Ohgren - LW
Honorable Mentions: Pavel Mintyukov, Lian Bichsel, Cutter Gauthier, and Jiri Kulich
Love to see someone stick their neck out for McGroarty. As a Sens fan who took longer than I'd like to admit to come around on Mark Stone, I know as well as anyone how hockey IQ can make up fro skating deficiencies, which is why I was so bullish on Sillinger last year. I'm just still on the fence about McGroarty. Would be interested to hear your case for him?
2 hours ago, J.I.A.H.N said:I am not a real expert on the kids, nor do I put in the time others do, but I got a feeling about this years draft. First off, I feel the Russian prospects, just are not guaranteed to make it here, at all, ever, so there is alot of risk in them.. This is based off of the U18's somewhat.....................
1. Wright I have him number 1, because everyone else does. He does not impress me, as a number one
2. Cooley Cooley could go number 1, he sure is quick, but he has company, even at number 2
3. Slafkovsky I just love this kid..........This guy wins the Calder, when he comes...........just love him
4. Nemec Too much talent to be ignored
5. Jiricek A notch behind Nemec.........but it is a small one, and depends on if you want physical or not
6. Lekkerimaki This guys got talent and drive........love him too
7. Savoie Is the Savoie/Geekie combo pulling defensive responsibilities away from their defenders? pretty talented
8. Ohgren Don't know enough about him, but he is up there
9. Nazar Was not impressed at the U18's
10. Yurov 1st Russian faller............like Podkolzin did, talent wise he is in the 4 to 6 spot
11. Kemell Again.........good rep, but don't know enough about him
12. Gauthier I really liked this guy at the U18's..............just looks like a pro-typical player
13. Kulich This guy really made a name for himself at the U18's, and is my first really big riser
14. Korchinski Hmmmmmm, I am not sure about him, but the scouts say he is a gamer
15. Geekie Vanilla............I wish savoie had his size
16. Chesley I reall like his defensive play.............and for some reason get the McAvoy vibe off him
17. Luneau Any guy that High on Hockey says is that good is that good!
18. Mateychuk Probably better than Luneau and Chesley, but Hmmmm? Where do you place him.......he could go higher
19. Casey I was not impressed at the U18"s
20 Mintyukov Russian factor #2.............pretty good player who could go higher, but drops in my ranking
That is all I got! But what do I know?
Off of these rankings......who do you take at 15?
I actually agree about Nazar. Didn't love his U18s so much, and yet he came away with 9 in 6. To be fair, he was playing center, not really his natural position. I definitely think he's a right wing long-term. I can see why some folks aren't so high on him though - can tend to play a bit of a perimeter game. He's a long way behind guys like Savoie, Kemell and Howard in terms of physical development. Howard in particular is built like a sherman tank, but those other two are pretty physically mature as well. Nazar isn't exactly scrawny, but lets just say he's a hockey player first, athlete second. He'll need some development years.
Similar story for Casey but for different reasons. With him the issues are more around decision-making with the puck. I've talked a bunch about it with forwards Savoie, Kemell, Trikozov, but Casey is another who tends to try to do way too much. He'll need some coaching and to learn some hard lessons, but will join Nazar at an elite program in Mchigan next year. Both likely stay there at least two years, and Casey in particular might be 3.5 or 4 years away from seeing NHL daylight. But he also might have some of the highest upside in the draft.
Bold placement on Kulich. I like it. He'll definitely be moving up the rankings after U18s. I still need to watch more before I'm convinced, but the upside is unmistakable. As with Bure on McGroarty, I'd be interested to hear your case for Kulich?
-
2
-
1
-
-
5 hours ago, Off_The_Schneid! said:
If all The players you have in the top 14 went in the top 14 who would you pick at 15 if you were the Canucks?
Position/ team fit would have to be considered I would think
Don't have a very interesting answer for you. I'm just about as strict a BPA guy as they come. Don't think you can go wrong with Seamus Casey. Even if we already have Hughes and Rathbone in a similar role, the most important thing is getting the most valuable player and then can trade someone later. But I also think the difference between him, Luneau, Gauthier, Trik is razor-thin at this point, and I'd be happy with any of them. Luneau would be a perfect partner for Hughes someday - has a little bit of Severson vibes. Gauthier or Trikozov would add an interesting blend of size and skill to the top six - Gauthier more size, Trikozov more skill.
-
On 5/3/2022 at 9:13 AM, JM_ said:
thanks thats a good explanation.
So, for the same $ would you keep Pearson or sign Tierney?
Oh Pearson by a damn sight, if they cost the same money. But I would imagine Pearson should get a fair amount more.
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
-
33 minutes ago, spook007 said:
So we should probably expect anyone from Savoie to Lambert...?
Well, worth noting that this is just my personal rankings, not any sort of predictions on how things will actually play out. Most rankings still seem to have Savoie and Kemell quite a bit higher. Also I have yet to see anyone with Kasper as high as I have him, but after his playoff performance with Rogle you can bet he'll be climbing up every list, the question is just how high. Reminiscent of Moritz Seider, I think he could easily jump as high as 8 on draft day. It's almost unheard of for a 17 year old in SHL to be such a key contributor for a championship contender (regular season 1st place) on a deep playoff run.
Yurov likely falls quite a ways due to the Russian factor, but I think we can guarantee the other 6 guys in my top 7 will be gone by the Canucks' pick. After that it looks pretty wide open. I'd say there is at least a slight chance anyone I have after 7 could fall to the Canucks. I mean, I'd be shocked if Nazar or Ohgren fall that far, but I'm sure a lot of other folks will say they'd be shocked if Savoie, Kemell, Gauthier or Lambert fall to 15. This draft is about as uncertain as any in recent memory, but the one thing I'm certain of is that there will be some very good players available at 15.
-
1
-
1
-
-
20 hours ago, HKSR said:
I'll agree to disagree. I think showing you can do what you do for a number of years in succession means a lot more than one single year ... especially when it's a contract year.
At $8M AAV, he'd be one of the highest paid defencemen in the entire NHL.
Just an additional FYI, if you look up the numerous trade rumor articles around Severson, his comparison for value was Jake Muzzin.
I'm a big Severson fan and have been a proponent of the Canucks acquiring him since around last summer. I think 6.25 is close to fair, but I could see him getting a little more. 8 million definitely seems excessive, unless he takes another substantial step forward next year, but I could see around 7.
I wouldn't pay too much attention to the rumor articles you talk about. Much better to just look at the teams and the situations for yourself. Regarding what New Jersey would be looking for in return - their rebuild is in a bit of an awkward position, in that they are stacked deep with young, skilled forwards, but their marquee defensemen are going to be 28 and 29. They do have Smith and Siegenthaler waiting in the wings, but you have to think they're going to want to open their first contention window under of the Hughes era while Hamilton is still in his prime. They're going to want established veteran forwards.
People are saying it's a lot to give up for Severson, and value-wise sure, maybe it's a fair return, but I think New Jersey could find better elsewhere. Garland makes some sense, but adding two more small forwards to an already pretty small group is probably not going to be the best possible return for them.
Last year I suggested something around Miller for Severson+, but that was before Miller broke out as a 100 point player. Obviously I'd much rather sign Miller at this point, if at all realistically plausible, and it probably doesn't make sense for New Jersey to give up the futures they would need to for a 29 year old. More recently I pondered if something around Severson for Boeser could make sense. They don't really have a proven trigger-man for Hughes' wing. That's really the only thing I can see from New Jersey's perspective that makes much sense to me. I mean, I'm sure they'd love to have Horvat or Miller, but I don't think the Canucks should trade them. Canucks would probably have to add a bit to Boeser, but it seems plausible.
-
- Popular Post
- Popular Post
1 hour ago, Googlie said:Bones has 3 points (1 goal, 2 assists) in 17 NHL games over 2 seasons and is -4 in those games. I'd temper expectations. The AHL isn't the NHL - just ask Brogan Rafferty
I'm fine with my expectations. Not saying he will be a 50 point scorer, just that there's a chance and it would be stupid to trade him without giving him an honest look to see what he can do in the NHL.
Brogan Rafferty was 24 his rookie AHL season and had 0.789 p/g. Rathbone was 22 and had 1.026 p/g. Not a strong comparison.
-
4
-
1
-
2
-
My post-U18s rankings:
1. Shane Wright - C
2. Logan Cooley - C
3. Juraj Slafkovsky - LW
4. Danila Yurov - RW
5. Jonathan Lekkerimaki - RW
6. Simon Nemec - RD
7. David Jiricek - RD
8. Frank Nazar - RW/C
9. Liam Ohgren - LW
10. Conor Geekie - C
11. Marco Kasper - C
12. Matthew Savoie - C
13. Joakim Kemell - RW
14. Kevin Korchinski - LD
15. Seamus Casey - LD/RD
16. Cutter Gauthier - LW/C
17. Tristan Luneau - RD
18. Gleb Trikozov - LW/RW
19. Brad Lambert - LW
20. Rutger McGroarty - C
21. Owen Pickering - LD
22. Denton Mateychuk - LD
23. Isaac Howard - LW
24. Pavel Mintyukov - LD
25. Jiri Kulich - C
26. Alex Perevalov - LW
27. Calle Odelius - LD
28. Noah Ostlund - C/LW
29. Filip Mesar - RW/C
30. Ryan Chesley - RD
31. Matyas Sapovaliv - C
32. Mattias Havelid - LD
-
1
-
1
-
-
- Popular Post
- Popular Post
1 hour ago, JM_ said:I'd like to hear from someone that watches Ottawa regularly @HighOnHockey - what happened with Tierney this season? I see that his ice time dropped a lot, on an underperforming team. Is there a warning sign there?
Lol, I don't mind him so much, but he is public enemy number one among Sens fans, and has been for a long time. They hate him. Definitely a little over-paid currently. He's never been all that talented, but he was placed in a top six forward role early in the rebuild and was able to capitalize. He's not exactly a great defensive center either, in the traditional sense. But what he is is a good offensive zone possession player. Pretty good on the forecheck, strong along the boards, he's always focused on looking to make a play to extend possession, rather than trying to create offence. So when he was playing in the top six with more skilled players, the plus side was he was able to help create long OZ possessions that would so often eventually lead to a breakdown from the opponents that his more skilled linemates could capitalize on. The downside was that when those opportunities did arise, Tierney would time after time fumble pucks and whiff his shot or pass attempts.
I always talk about that Islanders' "fourth line" (Martin-Cizikas-Clutterbuck) as the dream fourth line. They have next to no interest in creating offense, but they just grind it out along the boards, wear you down, and can maintain zone possession for entire shifts at times, sometimes even against opponents' top lines. Tierney would be perfect on a line like that with a couple heavy wingers. As far as the question of cap hit, look no further than Cizikas at 2.5 and Tierney should be somewhere around there, probably slightly under.
-
4
-
1
-
On 4/30/2022 at 11:19 AM, KKnight said:
Hey guys & gals,
Well considering our worst point in the season with Travis Green, Bruce sure turned this team around. I'm going to take a shot at an offseason proposal. I really feel we must address some major areas, buy saying that our team has some good pieces going forward. We might take a step back next season, but this will definitely put us in a better position in 2 years.
1. We need to move cap space & we have a very good chance of getting great returns, without having to eat money as well.
2. We need to get faster, acquire youth within our cores competitive timeline and use our cap space for smart signings.
3. Defense needs to be addressed with more skill and some more grit.
Re-sign -
Boudreau - give the man a 2-3 year deal. Get it done.
Boeser to a 3 year deal at 6 million per. This rebuilds his trade value, so we're not selling low and makes sense for our cap.
Horvat - 6-7 year deal at 6.5-7 Million per, he is our captain and a very vital piece to our group.
Already resigned Spencer Martin.
Resign Lammikko, Highmore, Burroughs to 1 year deals.
Dries - 2 way deal
Offseason trades -
Love Milller, but it makes too much sense to capitalize on his extremely high value now, he won't fit our timeline. Here are some options:
NYR - Miller
Van - Schneider, Kravstov, 1st and 3rd
LAK - Miller
Van - Turcotte/Vilardi , Grans , 1st and 3rd
Colorado - Miller, Dickinson (25% retention)
Van - Newhook, Byram, Compher and 2nd
I personally think a lot of teams are going to be desperate to improve this offseason with next to no cap space. This makes Miller an extremely attractive commodity. We should make out like bandits in any deal. I would take the NYR package if offered.
Next is Myers - I think there could be a few suitors and we wouldn't have to retain salary while gaining some form of draft capital. Potential suitors - Dallas, Pittsburgh (if Letang isn't resigned), Columbus, Nashville.
If Dickinson isn't included In a Miller deal, we could see if any bites at a 25-30% retention would be possible.
Pearson - trade for draft capital, with a 2 year term and a reasonable cap hit there should be some suitors.
That leaves us with -
? - Pete - Boeser
Garland - Bo - Podkolzin
Hoglander - ? - Kravstov
? - Lammikko - Lockwood
Ex.Highmore
Hughes - Schenn
OEL - Schneider
Dermott - Poolman
Ex. Burroughs
Demko
Martin
Do I think this team is a playoff team, definitely not, but we're not horrible. I think we can make some bold signings it may pay off for the youth in our lineup.
1st signing - I am very surprised Bergeron is not signed as of yet, he may want the bag before he retires and Boston is up against it. We need a right handed centerman in the worst way. He is a constant selke candidate and he isn't going to require mass term to get a deal done, which is great for us.
Bergeron - 2 years at 8 million per.
2nd signing - Mason Marchment - 4 year deal at 3.5- 4 per. He provides size, speed and some skill, had a career year on a great Florida team. I think he would be a provide the pwf element this team will need going forward.
Lastly -
Noel Accari - 1 year 2.25 deal , adds grit - right handed center, PK.
Our team -
Marchment - Petey - Boeser
Garland - Bergeron - Podkolzin
Hoglander - Bo - Kravstov
Lammikko - Acciari - Lockwood
Ex. Highmore, ?
Hughes - Schenn
OEL - Schneider
Dermott - Poolman
Ex. Burroughs
Demko
Martin
Summary - Not crazy about the defense, but this is a lot of movement for one offseason. I think we turn some assets into open cap space, youth/speed/upside, along with adding smart signings that don't cripple us going forward.
Out - Miller, Myers, Dickinson, Pearson
In - Schneider, Kravstov, Bergeron, Marchment, Acciari, reallocation cap space and gaining draft capital.
What do you guys think?
No thanks to the Rangers deal. Maybe Kravtsov could still be good, but maybe he's a career KHLer. And Schneider is just meh.
The Colorado option is interesting, but a team isn't going to give up a return like this for just one year. It has to be a team that thinks they can re-sign him. Can Colorado afford to do that?
The L.A. trade is the one that makes by far the most sense. They need a replacement for Kopitar on the horizon. We need RHD, they have a plethora.
Never expected to see a sign Bergeron proposal on CDC, so points for originality there. Kinda makes sense too if you're trading Miller. Intriguing.
-
1
-
-
Wow. What a gold medal game. Absolutely wild.
First 2019 and now again in 2022, USA Super Teams lose to Sweden in the final. Sweden's only two gold medals at this tournament.
I had Jonathan Lekkerimaki 6th in my last ranking. Many fans still seem to think of him as outside the top ten. Believe me now?
Perhaps nobody in the tournament trending up more than Rutger McGroarty. Some people predicted this. I was more cautiously optimistic. Skating is always going to be a concern with him, but maybe the hockey IQ is high enough to make up for it. Hell of a shot, great playmaker, clearly processes the game at breakneck speed, elite stick skills in tight spaces, punishing body checker.
Liam Ohgren also trending up sharply for me. Pretty much everything I already knew with the skating, shot, strength, puck protection, but he showed glimpses of some pretty high-end playmaking as well, which is what I was unsure about.
USA's top line outside of Cooley was slightly disappointing. Cooley is unreal, gonna be a tough call between him and Slafkovsky for 2nd overall. But Snuggerud showed a troubling lack of any kind of creativity or playmaking ability. Big body, good shot, strong on the boards, good two-way player, should make a fine bottom six winger, but he might just fall out of my first round after this tournament. Gauthier was also a little disappointing for similar reasons, plus for all the hype around his shot, he missed the net an awful lot. The McGroarty line essentially became the de facto top line by the gold medal game.
Joakim Kemell and Seamus Casey were the two most frustrating players in the tournament. Just ridiculously skilled and make plenty of really good plays, but then they also both make way too many bad decisions.
-
1
-
). If he gets through this medical issue unscathed, I see him being a very good top-6 NHL player one day, and one who could fit in quite nicely with the future core of this team.
2022 NHL Entry Draft
in Prospects / Farm Team
Posted · Edited by HighOnHockey
In my humble opinion, Kasper will be gone before 15. Similar prospect to Anton Lundell. He's nastier than Lundell, and probably a better skater, but he probably doesn't have Lundell's 200 foot hockey IQ. I've mentioned it before but Kasper made the jump almost directly from Austrian junior leagues to SHL, stepping right into a top nine role on the regular season standings leader, Rogle. All-time most points by a U18 in a Champions League tournament, and in an SHL playoffs. As far as more established NHL players, comparisons would be Mike Fisher and Nazem Kadri.
Seems like more and more people are coming out as McGroarty fans. Cool to see. Hope to see him go high. I remember following him since his 160 point season in bantam and first watching him at YOGs on a line with Stramel and Snuggerud.