Curt

Im still not sure what you think Lundell is better at than Rossi. I agree with pretty much everything you say about him, but I think that a lot of the things you mention as strengths for Lundell, Rossi is just as good, and in some cases much better at, which I bolded above. It’s almost all the things written. I like Lundell, as a option in the top 10 even, I just think Rossi surpasses him in some important areas. I’m just curious how you compare the two and have Lundell come out on top. Admittedly, it can be had to compare such different leagues, so it’s a little tricky.

Oh, I’m not so sure about that. Not sure about Calgary, but for Tampa they desperately need the cap space, so if they decide that they need to trade away this good young player to get that cap space, they aren’t going to be wanting to take on much (any?) salary in the deal. They really really need the cap space.

^^^ Nice. Finley is a guy that I came up with when I was making out a list of potential “power forward” type prospects that Buffalo could draft. I think Buffalo could use a couple more big, physical forwards in their prospect pool.

The fact that you just listed Risto here but not Dahlin is a travesty of unimaginable proportions. Ban worthy, I would say.

Until they start winning, it’s shame on them no matter what.

I understand what you are saying, and in one sense you are right, but lottery tickets is a bad metaphor. It’s not dumb luck that the organization has no control over. There are actually reasons that players succeed or fail. The decisions that an organization makes can help them to identify and select more players who will go on to success. That’s why you see many organizations consistently performing above or below average in the draft. It’s a skill game with elements of luck mixed in. It’s not lottery tickets, it’s blackjack.

Some NHL C’s around his size are JP Pageau, Brayden Point, Vincent Trochek, Max Domi, Noel Accairi, Blake Lizotte, Alex Kerfoot, Jack Hughes, Tyler Johnson. I’m sure I missed a couple. Even going back to the last good Sabres team, they were led by two C’s about Rossi’s size Briere and Drury. Not all those guys have elite top speed. Same for the wingers that size really. How many C’s dominate their junior league in their draft year, but then fail because of their height? That’s the real question. Rossi is short, but not weak. He is thick, very strongly built, like a Drury, not a Briere. His skating is very very good, it’s a strength of his game. His acceleration, short area quickness, agility, and strength on his skates are great. I would say those are all more important than top speed. Even so, Rossi’s top speed is still probably above NHL average. Top skating speed is one of the more overrated aspects of skating. Players do a lot more starting, stopping, changing direction, turning, cutting than blowing halfway across the rink in a straight line, at full speed. Regarding Jack Quinn, you may be aware, but they actually did not play together at ES, and Rossi put up elite #’s at ES. I just think that when you look at all the factors, height is the only real deficit. I believe that his great skating combined with the fact that he is actually very strong for his height are going to allow all his other talents to play through, despite his height. And I’m actually going to ask the same question that I did in my last post: What do you think Lundell is better at than Rossi?

Still two development coaches employed. Two/three were fired. Maybe the new Director of Player Development will hire a couple more.

What, in your opinion, does Lundell do better than Rossi? For me, I think that Lundell has better size and maybe a better shot. They both have great hockey IQ and defensive game. Both should definitely be able to stay at C. Rossi is a better skater, better playmaker, and has better puck skills in general. I think that they both have a pretty high floor, but Rossi has a higher ceiling. For me, Rossi is the 3rd best prospect in this draft and I think it would be borderline crazy to draft Lundell ahead of him.

Agree, but also, Matt Ellis was hired at a department Director level. Does everyone actually think that he is going to be spending any significant amount of time working with players one on one? That’s for the development coaches. Not singling you out, but I just keep seeing stuff about Ellis working with players on skill development.

Just playing the odds, it is actually unlikely that Lundell does develop into a player of that caliber. Those guys are 1C’s (except Cirelli, who may be on pace to get there). And I like him.

What pro level head coaching experience is below AHL? Is a guy with experience as an AHL assistant really a super desirable hire? Is that better than lots of experience as a HC at the NCAA level? Don't a majority of AHL coaches come from the junior ranks? When Taylor was hired, he didn’t have a day of head coaching experience at the junior or pro level, just a couple years as an AHL assistant. People seem to think he was pretty good.

Seriously, it’s Director of Player Development. Who the F knows if Ellis is good at organizing the activities of a player development staff. It’s something so far removed from even hardcore fans that our insight on the subject is basically zero.

Yeah, but they have already been working together. Adams has seen Ellis in action, not just going off what someone says in an interview. That’s my point. I didn’t step in anything. Your being dismissive.

Thanks for the discussion.

Honestly, I bet this hire of Ellis is in large part about putting someone in place who is on the same page and can implement Adams vision for how he wants the player development department to run. Probably more so about that than about how great of an instructor Ellis is. As a director level position, I doubt Ellis will be spending a lot of time personally working with players anyway. That’s for the development coaches to do.

Who would you have suggested as a hire? Who do you know would have been good as Director of Player Development?

It’s going to be more like a flu shot than, say a measles vaccine. It’s not going to be: “I got my shot, now I’ll never get COVID!” More like: “I got my shot, hopefully I won’t get COVID this year.” However, if a lot of people in a given area are vaccinated within a couple months of each other, it’s going to have a huge effect on the virus‘ ability to spread. It could change it from a pandemic, to something that we can deal with while going about “normal” life.

None come to mind honestly. It’s tough for prospects because it’s harder to track numbers for junior leagues and fewer numbers are available. I’m probably not the best person to answer though. I’m sure there is some stuff going on that I don’t know about.

I mean, NHLe is a points projection system, so yes, it projects only points. It doesn’t claim to do anything else. It’s useful, but not all encompassing. NHLe is not the only analytics thing out there. Analytics is anything that you do with hockey numbers, so it could be anything that you have numbers for.

You used Stutzle’s NHLe numbers in place of Raymond’s here. Raymond’s are much lower (12-18).

What are the similarities between Rolston and Appert so strong that they represent good evidence that Appert will be a disaster? Is it proven that anyone who holds the position of USNTDP HC is doomed to be a disaster as an AHL HC? That seems to be quite a leap of faith, or clairvoyance.

How do? None of Botterill’s hires had any NCAA coaching experience.

Are you sure? Crowe’s last season was 2016-17, Appert’s first was 2017-18.

First, I see people saying that Appert is a USHL coach, he isn’t really. Most of his experience is at the NCAA level. He has spent the past 3 years as HC of the USNTDP team, which is basically a draft/college prep program for elite USA players. They play against USHL and NCAA teams, about 50/50. Before that had 20 years of college coaching experience, 11 as HC of RPI. Also serving as President of the American Hockey Coaches Association for 3 years. Second, this hire seems fine.