Adam Gaudette | #96 | C

[SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME]

51 minutes ago, Yotes said:

Zack aston Reese just got a call up from the pens. He was hobey baker finalist last year and almost 2ppg. Around .7ish in the AHL this year. 

 

Curious to see how long of a look he gets with Sheary out, but I would expect Reese and Gaudette to be fairly compareable players? I know Gaudette is slightly younger and will not have as hard of a time making the nhl as our team not near as deep upfront as pittsburgh.

I think the difference between Aston Reese and Gaudette is that with Aston Reese, you never looked at his game and picked out any particular skill or play and said “that kid looks NHL level.” It was more about his overall game and seeing potential for him as a bottom-6 NHL forward.

 

With Gaudette, there are plenty of times when you look at his shot or his skating and you say “that was an NHL level play.” And there are moments when you see the potential for a really high level player in Gaudette that you never really saw in Aston Reese.

 

Aston Reese rarely blew you away with his highlights. He scored a lot of “garbage goals” off of tips and rebounds, or open net looks off of amazing setups by teammates. Of course, he needed to be pretty good to get in those spots and finish his chances, but he just rarely looked “special” doing it. His skating also never looked great. It was good enough, but nobody ever called him a “plus” skater. His physical dominance was often impressive, but it came against college kids, and from a guy who was only 6 foot and around 200 lbs (so around average size in the pros). There were legitimate questions as to whether or not his “heavy game” would translate to the NHL.

 

Aston Reese also didn’t really dominate until his senior year. His 4 year progression, in terms of season totals, reads 19, 23, 43, 63 points.

 

Gaudette started dominating in the second half of his freshman year (when he was over a point per game). His progression reads 30, 52, currently on pace for ~60 as a junior, and we’ll probably never know what he’d score as a senior, since he’s going to be signed before he gets the chance, but it probably would’ve been a monster total.

 

Those are very different scoring charts. And when modeled statistically, they suggest very different kinds of upside.

 

It’s a similar story with the eye test.

 

With Gaudette, you look at those lasers from the left circle and say, “that shot is going in even against an NHL goalie.” Or you look at him scoring on a rush with Sikura and you say “that’s an NHL level play.”

 

He makes highlight worthy plays. He shows NHL grade abilities.

 

When it comes to comparing Aston Reese and Gaudette, I see Aston Reese as a pretty good “floor” comparable (a player with good early AHL numbers and some potential as a depth or bottom-6 NHL forward). But the “ceiling”’comparable for Gaudette is definitely something more along the lines of higher end NHLers like a Kesler.

Edited February 3, 2018 by SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME
Typos

[Gaudette Celly]

1 hour ago, SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME said:

With Gaudette, you look at those lasers from the left circle and say, “that shot is going in even against an NHL goalie.” Or you look at him scoring on a rush with Sikura and you say “that’s an NHL level play.”

 

He makes highlight worthy plays. He shows NHL grade abilities.

In the first period of his first NHL game against Minnesota, it was obvious that Boeser was an NHL player.  Same can be said of Gaudette from the prospect showcase -- NHL-level players stand out above the rest.

[86Viking]

1 hour ago, SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME said:

I think the difference between Aston Reese and Gaudette is that with Aston Reese, you never looked at his game and picked out any particular skill or play and said “that kid looks NHL level.” It was more about his overall game and seeing potential for him as a bottom-6 NHL forward.

 

With Gaudette, there are plenty of times when you look at his shot or his skating and you say “that was an NHL level play.” And there are moments when you see the potential for a really high level player in Gaudette that you never really saw in Aston Reese.

 

Aston Reese rarely blew you away with his highlights. He scored a lot of “garbage goals” off of tips and rebounds, or open net looks off of amazing setups by teammates. Of course, he needed to be pretty good to get in those spots and finish his chances, but he just rarely looked “special” doing it. His skating also never looked great. It was good enough, but nobody ever called him a “plus” skater. His physical dominance was often impressive, but it came against college kids, and from a guy who was only 6 foot and around 200 lbs (so around average size in the pros). There were legitimate questions as to whether or not his “heavy game” would translate to the NHL.

 

Aston Reese also didn’t really dominate until his senior year. His 4 year progression, in terms of season totals, reads 19, 23, 43, 63 points.

 

Gaudette started dominating in the second half of his freshman year (when he was over a point per game). His progression reads 30, 52, currently on pace for ~60 as a junior, and we’ll probably never know what he’d score as a senior, since he’s going to be signed before he gets the chance, but it probably would’ve been a monster total.

 

Those are very different scoring charts. And when modeled statistically, they suggest very different kinds of upside.

 

It’s a similar story with the eye test.

 

With Gaudette, you look at those lasers from the left circle and say, “that shot is going in even against an NHL goalie.” Or you look at him scoring on a rush with Sikura and you say “that’s an NHL level play.”

 

He makes highlight worthy plays. He shows NHL grade abilities.

 

When it comes to comparing Aston Reese and Gaudette, I see Aston Reese as a pretty good “floor” comparable (a player with good early AHL numbers and some potential as a depth or bottom-6 NHL forward). But the “ceiling”’comparable for Gaudette is definitely something more along the lines of higher end NHLers like a Kesler.

thanks for the solid analysis. I am pumped and hope we get to see Gaudette to finish off the year. With the contract spots out of 50 we have available(5 I believe) I would think we for sure will be trying to sign a college player or 2, hopefully 1 of the rhd.

 

Is Gaudette potentially going to play late into the year like Boeser did with North Dakota. I would assume his team is fairly good and has a chance to go deep. Meaning a similar 8/9 game showcase this year is what we might see

[SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME]

23 minutes ago, Yotes said:

thanks for the solid analysis. I am pumped and hope we get to see Gaudette to finish off the year. With the contract spots out of 50 we have available(5 I believe) I would think we for sure will be trying to sign a college player or 2, hopefully 1 of the rhd.

 

Is Gaudette potentially going to play late into the year like Boeser did with North Dakota. I would assume his team is fairly good and has a chance to go deep. Meaning a similar 8/9 game showcase this year is what we might see

I haven’t seen updated rankings yet, but IIRC Northeastern is 2nd in Hockey East and ranked somewhere around 9-12 nationally.

 

So there’s a pretty good chance, barring an end of season collapse, that Northeastern will be one of the teams selected for NCAA regionals (16 team tournament set for March 23-25).

 

If they were to advance, the Frozen Four starts April 5th and the national championship game is April 7th.

 

Canucks will have 6 regular season games remaining after the NCAA regionals. And Vancouver’s season ends the same day as the national championship game (April 7th).

[Gaudette Celly]

29 minutes ago, SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME said:

Canucks will have 6 regular season games remaining after the NCAA regionals. And Vancouver’s season ends the same day as the national championship game (April 7th).

The AHL season, however, does go a week longer, and the Comets are on track to make the playoffs.  Would be great for him to get signed and join them for the run.

[Sean Monahan]

13 minutes ago, Hutton Wink said:

The AHL season, however, does go a week longer, and the Comets are on track to make the playoffs.  Would be great for him to get signed and join them for the run.

Wouldn’t he have to sign an ATO (and therefore not burn a year off his ELC) for that to happen?

[86Viking]

2 minutes ago, Sean Monahan said:

Wouldn’t he have to sign an ATO (and therefore not burn a year off his ELC) for that to happen?

I believe Werenski from Columbus signed a deal and played out the season with their AHL affiliate. Would love to see Gaudette do the same, but looks like to seal the deam and try get fans excited they would hope to have him get NHL games at the end of the year.

[Sean Monahan]

8 minutes ago, Yotes said:

I believe Werenski from Columbus signed a deal and played out the season with their AHL affiliate. Would love to see Gaudette do the same, but looks like to seal the deam and try get fans excited they would hope to have him get NHL games at the end of the year.

I think he signed an ATO to play in the AHL. According to capfriendly Werenski is only in year 2 of his ELC. 

[86Viking]

1 minute ago, Sean Monahan said:

I think he signed an ATO to play in the AHL. According to capfriendly Werenski is only in year 2 of his ELC. 

Ah yes that rings a bell. I would love for Gaudette to do that so he doesnt burn a year of his deal. But dont think it would be a make or break thing from our end. He would get a longer season if he went to Utica to try help them push for a long playoff run.

 

Might be nice if we can ADD to the Comets for once instead of always subtracting. Could be the last full year they have Demko so make the most of it?

[Sean Monahan]

2 minutes ago, Yotes said:

Ah yes that rings a bell. I would love for Gaudette to do that so he doesnt burn a year of his deal. But dont think it would be a make or break thing from our end. He would get a longer season if he went to Utica to try help them push for a long playoff run.

 

Might be nice if we can ADD to the Comets for once instead of always subtracting. Could be the last full year they have Demko so make the most of it?

It would certainly be ideal on the Canucks end for probably every reason other than generating some buzz amongst the fan base but I just don’t see Gaudette agreeing to it. Maybe he’s the ultimate team guy and does it but it doesn’t really do much to help him other than getting playoff experience at the pro level. If I were in his shoes I’d insist on the ELC. 

[Gaudette Celly]

Quote

Northeastern coach Jim Madigan, who frequently describes Gaudette’s puck pursuit as a “dog on a bone,” ticks off a list of things that make Gaudette stand out.

“He plays with passion, he works his butt off each and every shift, he never gives up on any puck,’’ Madigan said. “He’s hard to play against. He only knows one speed and that’s full-out every shift. It’s just that high-end compete level.”

 

Gaudette is counted on to score goals, but he’s also a penalty killer and has worked relentlessly to develop a 200-foot game and make himself NHL-ready, adding strength to his 6-foot-1-inch, 184-pound frame.

 

“Something I’ve always gone by is just never really be satisfied,’’ Gaudette said. “It’s something my dad really instilled in me growing up; he comes from a blue-collar, hard-working family. Same with my mom. Just hard work and determination is something I learned from them and that is how I play hockey, never be satisfied, always want more, just keep working hard and good things are going to come.’’

https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/colleges/2018/02/03/northeastern-adam-gaudette-college-hockey-leading-scorer-longer-overlooked/vsCpvdInYtyKDysH1asNPL/story.html

This is why the only games he'll see in the AHL are if the Canucks aren't playing.  It'll be nice having a new Burrows, albeit one with more skill.

[86Viking]

4 minutes ago, Sean Monahan said:

It would certainly be ideal on the Canucks end for probably every reason other than generating some buzz amongst the fan base but I just don’t see Gaudette agreeing to it. Maybe he’s the ultimate team guy and does it but it doesn’t really do much to help him other than getting playoff experience at the pro level. If I were in his shoes I’d insist on the ELC. 

If a top 10 D can agree to that, I would think a 5th round pick should be fine with it. Will he not sign with us otherwise? That would be quite sad. Gaudette does nothing for the Canucks in 9 games to end the year. Gaudette playing for the Comets and playing in the playoffs would be better for him and us.

 

Fact is Canucks are likely signing him to burn a year off the ELC, I just think the AHL tryout is the better way for the Canucks to go. Added depth for Utica to try go on a magical playoff run!

[Sean Monahan]

1 minute ago, Yotes said:

If a top 10 D can agree to that, I would think a 5th round pick should be fine with it

 

1 minute ago, Yotes said:

Fact is Canucks are likely signing him to burn a year off the ELC, I just think the AHL tryout is the better way for the Canucks

That’s definitely true but Werenski seems to be more of an exception rather than the norm. Look at Johnny Gaudreau- he destroyed college hockey as a 4th round pick and signed an ELC to play just one game and burn a year off of his contract. 

 

If Gaudette signs an ATO I’ll be very happy but I’m not counting on it 

[Guest]

Players coming out of college have a lot of leverage.  

 

NHL teams have been burned before by having the college player wait it out and become a free agent, free to sign with any team coming out of college.  

 

Because of this, I think it's very likely that we see Adam get a freebie from the Canucks and one of his years of ELC burned this year.

[86Viking]

4 minutes ago, VancouverHabitant said:

Players coming out of college have a lot of leverage.  

 

NHL teams have been burned before by having the college player wait it out and become a free agent, free to sign with any team coming out of college.  

 

Because of this, I think it's very likely that we see Adam get a freebie from the Canucks and one of his years of ELC burned this year.

True, I hope this loop hole gets changed or reworked in the next cba. Definitely not fair for the team that drafted and holds the players rights. I guess any player can just choose not to sign with the team that drafted them, but Junior players would have to then be re drafted again vs just signing an elc after 4yrs of college

[coolboarder]

11 hours ago, Yotes said:

True, I hope this loop hole gets changed or reworked in the next cba. Definitely not fair for the team that drafted and holds the players rights. I guess any player can just choose not to sign with the team that drafted them, but Junior players would have to then be re drafted again vs just signing an elc after 4yrs of college

I agree.  I'd love to see them closing this loophole, somehow.  My idea is teams that sign him must give that team a draft pick back as a compensation according to that specific round.   Example: if a NCAA is drafted 1st round, then teams that sign him must give up their 1st round back for to compensate for a lost pick to a free agent.  If that player is 2nd round pick, they must give 2nd round back and 3rd, for 3rd, and so on.

[73 Percent]

5 hours ago, coolboarder said:

I agree.  I'd love to see them closing this loophole, somehow.  My idea is teams that sign him must give that team a draft pick back as a compensation according to that specific round.   Example: if a NCAA is drafted 1st round, then teams that sign him must give up their 1st round back for to compensate for a lost pick to a free agent.  If that player is 2nd round pick, they must give 2nd round back and 3rd, for 3rd, and so on.

So you'd be happy with a 5th from let's say the oilers if he signed with them?

[AlwaysACanuckFan]

 

[Darius]

Gaudette and his Northeastern team will be playing Boston College on TSN2 today at 2pm pacific.  This is the Beanpot semi final...

 

 

[Gaudette Celly]

Gaudette with the 2nd assist on NE's first goal by Sikura.