SamJamIam

Maybe because Gagner isn't a superior offensive option to anyone.

Sure there are exceptional players who are simply better than more developed prospects. But Svech and Zadina are not those guys. They have nothing close to the record-breaking cred of Pettersson and Tolvanen. Dahlin may truly be something special but as a defensemen he'll struggle to catch attention when rookie forwards start scoring 3x as many points as him.

Shiny new toy syndrome. No matter how good Dahlin, Svech and Zadina are I fully expect Pettersson, Mittelstadt and Tolvanen to be miles ahead of them with an extra year of development under their belts.

I'm pretty sure the narrative exists exclusively for dumb people to get worked up about when they call in to sports talk radio shows.

Part of the issue with PCS/pGPS, and therefore CA since they derive a lot of their views from those "player comparability" metrics, is that the USHL is really starting to churn out quality talent with regularity which was previously not the case. CA also laid a giant egg on Brock Boeser for the exact same reason: https://canucksarmy.com/2015/06/27/first-look-canucks-draft-brock-boeser-23rd-overall/ I don't begrudge CA for using these models as heavily as they do given their limited resources. They even regularly acknowledge that the lack of comparables in certain leagues (Allsvenskan, MHL, USHL, Finnish Jr Liiga) is a big hole in their predictions. Yet they never outright discount the results of those models. At most they will say "Well a player could be slightly worse/better than PCS predicts" and I think that's a matter of pride. From what I've seen of many of their writers, that's not something I expect to change any time soon.

Different play there bud

I think it's very possible. Given the Canucks' injury luck, expect to see him slot in fairly quickly and stick. If you look at Dahlen, his best comparable up until his D+2 years was Filip Forsberg. In fact he exceeded Forsberg each year when adjusting for age until their paths diverged in their D+2 years. Dahlen stayed in Allsvenskan while Forsberg went to the AHL. Forsberg didn't see much drop in production in the AHL. Not too surprising given his size and having played in a men's league for 3 years. Dahlen saw significant gains in his production while playing a very NA-style game. Some would argue playing with Pettersson for the latter part of the year helped his numbers but if anything I would argue it helped his offensive creativity to play with and form chemistry with such a good player instead of playing with grinders in the AHL. In their D+3 years, Forsberg finally made the Preds out of camp and immediately scored at 0.75 ppg, which he's consistently done every year since. Dahlen unfortunately got mono so went back to Allsvenskan minus Pettersson to regain his health and lead the entire league in points. He turned down offers to play in the SHL (arguably the second best league in the world) to single-handedly drag Timra back to the SHL. I can't find the stat but I believe he was on ice for 50-60% of all Timra goals which is just ridiculous. So this year will be the big one for Dahlen. I don't expect him to get a spot right out of camp given the depth of LWs ahead of him but as players go down with injuries, he'll get his looks likely before the end of 2018.

What was he going to do? Fight the door to the bench? Come on...

Thanks. Knew about the latter but not the former.

I think all are going to get time in the NHL and if they blow the doors off, they stay. If they don't, they'll go to the AHL

Is there an NCAA rule about not having an agent? I keep seeing NHL folks referring to his "family & advisors". I recall the same for Boeser, Demko, and Gaudette. Is this related to the no payments/sponsorships rule that requires these guys to pay their own way to dev camp or something else?

Agreed. I don't think Calgary did poorly with this trade but I can't see it making them any more relevant. Calgary fans were also putting Adam Fox on a pedastal. Some are likely pretty pissed he's gone while others may be waiting to see if Lindholm and Hanafin can improve. Both good players but I suspect the fanbase will turn on them quickly because of expectations inadvertantly set by the trade.

Battles hard but really small. Unfortunately not athletic enough to overcome his stature and be an NHL goalie but he's been perfectly serviceable when he's been called up. He had some bad nights with Utica but honestly that was usually due to breakdowns from the Comets in front of him. Demko just is on a whole other level and made them look good. Bachman should be a solid addition to Timra.

He deserves it with the season he's had. And I think JB and team have it figured out when it comes to signing their kids. A couple hundred grand and an easy, friendly negotiation at the start of a kid's career is worth a ton of goodwill. It likely ends up saving the team far more when the kids recontract and/or decide to stay rather than looking elsewhere.

That is filth. Absolute filth. To add to it, only 3 times in the SHL season did his -'s not get cancelled out by a +.

Please stop. I've been hurt before

I thought dioxin was the flavour of the week?

Bull. Also the plural of ox is oxen

Dude, those examples are not of game breaking speed. Gudbranson could outrace Scandella and that Ehlers goal was just a god awful PP breakdown. The one hand deke was cool but I don't think you're crazy enough to claim EP couldn't demonstrate similar shiftiness. When it comes to speed, I think a better example is Barzal, a guy who gives himself options and creates space using his speed. Part of that is simply build but Barzal has a mind to go with his legs that leads to goals. EP has his hands. That's fine since if EP had all 3 he'd be the best player in the league. However I think you're massively underestimating EP's ability to use his above average speed combined with his hands, patience and vision to generate on a level few will be able to match.

I maintain that Gronberg is Sweden's Pierre Dorion and is an idiot

Good shot, good vision, great lateral movement, hard to get off the puck. I know we'd love if every guy had everything but what more do you need to be an NHL player? Kid's gonna put up points. Olli doesn't look bad on a lot of these plays too where he's creating space, shifting lanes and making options for the other TPS players.

Gronberg is Swedish hockey's Pierre Dorion. Just an absolute muppet

Time for Pettersson to go tear up the AHL and I know he will. Know how I know this? EPs nickname is Alien. Guess what the Comets' mascot is?

What I love is the fact that, in cutting to the net he contacts the Skelleftea defender...and just keeps going. The kid is sturdy on his skates!

Agreed on all points but I was half-joking. I was more pointing out that the criticisms of LInd are the criticisms of almost every junior player with offensive skill.