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[Waivers] Karson Kuhlman

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SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME Canucks Franchise Player

SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME

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Kuhl, man!


(sorry ;)) 

 

Would not be against a claim here.

 

(And not just for the name factor.)

 

Kuhlman is a 4th line RW/C with some really good wheels and high energy/effort level. A bit undersized at 5’10”/5’11” but pretty strong build at 190lbs. Very effective on forecheck; uses his speed to get in and pressure and disrupt; brings really solid defensive play (statistically, he’s actually an elite defensive forward), both on backcheck and in-zone/Dzone; good PKer; and, while probably more of a RW, he can play C and take Dzone/PK draws as a RH option.

 

He’s a bit limited in terms of his scoring potential in the NHL. Seems to lack the necessary creativity, at least at pro level. Owns a good shot, just doesn’t seem to find enough opportunities to actually use it. In college, while he wasn’t a huge points producer, he did chip in decent enough scoring, and was pretty clutch at big moments. Captained the the UMD Bulldogs to a national title and was named NCAA tournament MVP in 2018.

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Phil_314 Canucks Star

Phil_314

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

Kuhl, man!

(sorry ;)) 

Would not be against a claim here.

(And not just for the name factor.)

 

Kuhlman is a 4th line RW/C with some really good wheels and high energy/effort level. A bit undersized at 5’10”/5’11” but pretty strong build at 190lbs. Very effective on forecheck; uses his speed to get in and pressure and disrupt; brings really solid defensive play (statistically, he’s actually an elite defensive forward), both on backcheck and in-zone/Dzone; good PKer; and, while probably more of a RW, he can play C and take Dzone/PK draws as a RH option.

 

He’s a bit limited in terms of his scoring potential in the NHL. Seems to lack the necessary creativity, at least at pro level. Owns a good shot, just doesn’t seem to find enough opportunities to actually use it. In college, while he wasn’t a huge points producer, he did chip in decent enough scoring, and was pretty clutch at big moments. Captained the the UMD Bulldogs to a national title and was named NCAA tournament MVP in 2018.

Do you have stats to back that?  Would be great if that's true (and if he can win draws at a solid rate that'd be gravy).  
I'm glad that Lammikko has developed chemistry with Highmore and Motte though, since he shores up the 4th line which was previously considered a bit of a weakness (now Bruce "there it is" is willing to put them out on the 2nd unit PP in the 3rd of a 1-goal lead to defend against the mighty Caps), and I think that says a lot about his trust for Juho and the line and how far they've come since their joining together.  It's great that these waiver guys can be options but we don't need to hope for a solution to a problem but a supplement to what's already strong (i.e. the lineup up the middle can be further bolstered by getting a RH C but we don't need one).

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Ilya Mikheyev Canucks First-Line

Ilya Mikheyev

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1 hour ago, Phil_314 said:

Do you have stats to back that?  Would be great if that's true (and if he can win draws at a solid rate that'd be gravy).  
I'm glad that Lammikko has developed chemistry with Highmore and Motte though, since he shores up the 4th line which was previously considered a bit of a weakness (now Bruce "there it is" is willing to put them out on the 2nd unit PP in the 3rd of a 1-goal lead to defend against the mighty Caps), and I think that says a lot about his trust for Juho and the line and how far they've come since their joining together.  It's great that these waiver guys can be options but we don't need to hope for a solution to a problem but a supplement to what's already strong (i.e. the lineup up the middle can be further bolstered by getting a RH C but we don't need one).

I agree - but we can also consider replacing Dowling and Chiasson on the roster. I don't see a point in breaking up the trio you mentioned, but I really really don't see a rationale reason why Chiasson should ever tie up the skates. Kuhlman, Pitlick and Nash types would all be upgrades as extras to Dowling or  Chiasson IMO.

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SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME Canucks Franchise Player

SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME

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4 hours ago, Phil_314 said:

Do you have stats to back that?  Would be great if that's true (and if he can win draws at a solid rate that'd be gravy).  
I'm glad that Lammikko has developed chemistry with Highmore and Motte though, since he shores up the 4th line which was previously considered a bit of a weakness (now Bruce "there it is" is willing to put them out on the 2nd unit PP in the 3rd of a 1-goal lead to defend against the mighty Caps), and I think that says a lot about his trust for Juho and the line and how far they've come since their joining together.  It's great that these waiver guys can be options but we don't need to hope for a solution to a problem but a supplement to what's already strong (i.e. the lineup up the middle can be further bolstered by getting a RH C but we don't need one).

 

1 hour ago, gurn said:

The poster is SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME

 

His word is good.

As is Vintage's.

Haha, appreciate it, @gurn.


TBH, I haven’t done a detailed dive on his stats, just saw on one chart today that he’s 93rd percentile on even strength defence. And then was looking at Evolving Hockey’s stats page. Kuhlman’s defensive (and shorthanded) GAR are quite good and solidly in the positive. He’s played limited games/minutes, but what he’s done in his short NHL career looks pretty decent, at least by those metrics (I think he’s 4.3 goals above replacement on his defensive metrics, for his career 75 GP, and if any player managed that over one single 82 game season, it’d be considered damn near elite).

 

Eye test wise, he looks to me like a guy who provides solid pressure through three zones, mostly using his skating and workrate, and has a good playstyle/game for bottom-six duties as a checking/energy guy and PK option.

 

As for faceoffs, the Bruins haven’t really used him as a centre, so there’s not much data to speak of (IIRC he’s only taken about 10 draws total in the NHL). But looking at his last season at UMD (NCAA), he was 56.3% faceoff win percentage, so he should at least be able to take the occasional strong side faceoff in the NHL (especially since we don’t have a RH’d option, currently).

 

I’d add a caveat that his offensive stats aren’t great. Negative impact on scoring, at the NHL level, in terms of GAR (xGAR he’s more neutral, so could be he’s somewhat been a victim of poor percentages). But he’s unlikely to move the needle on offence. Defensively, there looks to be good value, especially on a 725k contract. And he’d definitely improve team speed.

Edited by SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME
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Boudrias Canucks All-Star

Boudrias

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9 hours ago, Ghostsof1915 said:

It would be different if he was 6'3" 200 lbs and at least hit everything that moved, and could win faceoffs. 

We have that side in Lammy. Found it interesting that BB singled Lammy out for some positive reinforcement after the Carolina game. Said he needed more TOI to develop and that he had improved his game steadily.

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