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Curt

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Everything posted by Curt

  1. I know it wasn’t directed at me, but here is my opinion. Tried to address your question best I could. After Hughes and Kakko, the next group of players: Byram, Turcotte, Podkolzin, Dach, Zegras, Krebs, Cozens, Boldy all probably will get 1 or 2 years before being full time NHLers. None of them are expected to be NHL ready. I think that group has very similar hype/expectations as Nylander and Mittlestadt had at the time of their drafts, along with guys like Dubois, M. Tkachuk, Sergachev, Puljujarvi, Chychrun, Juolevi from 2016; and guys like Makar, Pettersson, Glass, Vilardi from 2017. Newhook, Caufield, York, Soderstrom, Broberg are generally rated just below this group, but have the potential to be selected before some of them. There is definitely no Dahlin, McDavid level prospect in this draft, and honestly probably no Eichel, Matthews level prospect. Hughes and Kakko are probably more comparable to Hischier, Laine level prospects. However, the group of guys after that is deeper than normal, IMO. With something like 15 players who could would go in the top 10 most years. I think that’s the real strength of this draft compared to most years, the quality of the players who will be available in the 5-15 range.
  2. Actually, I don’t think everyone feels that way. The majority of people/scouts’ player evaluations differ greatly from your’s.
  3. Very unlikely. I think it would be a bad idea. However, any player can be pushed into the NHL before they are ready. We’ve seen that once or twice.
  4. Baseball still has bench clearing brawls on a semi regular basis. Multiple times per year at least.
  5. Not really. The Islanders are in pretty good salary cap shape. They shouldn't have a problem bringing everyone back.
  6. Ok, fair enough. I’m trying to understand exactly what you are invisioning though. Could you elaborate on this 5-man unit concept you are talking about above?
  7. I don’t really think that he is. Do you think he is after some sort of positionless way of playing hockey with all 5 players seamlessly rotating positions around the ice? Perhaps he is interested in using 5 man puck moving type of stuff through the neutral zone, like Nashville has done at times. As coach of Sweden’s national teams, has he been using groundbreaking tactics that are blowing peoples minds?
  8. Sounds great to me. I’m all for a coach who will use all available information to help make decisions. Like I said, he seems like a good candidate. I’m a little uneasy about the fact that Grönborg doesn’t have much experience in a league environment, coaching the same group over a 6 month, or year after year, period of time. No candidate is perfect though, and he check pretty much every other box.
  9. I can’t wait until he is hired, fans spend the entire offseason basking in the warm glow of it, then Grönborg shows up to training camp completely clean shaven.
  10. Exactly. Forwards dropping back to cover for a defenseman who jumps up into the play is not an innovative idea. It’s something that is done in literally every NHL game. All of these Gronborg quotes are cool and it really seems like he “gets it”. The guy looks to be a good candidate for an NHL HC job, but I don’t think anything he says in these quotes that are floating around is revolutionary, innovative, on the cutting edge, or any of these other buzzwords that have been used by fans to express gushing admiration for him. Great beard though.
  11. I don’t think this is necessarily true. His views that I’ve heard all sound good, but I haven’t heard anything that’s new exactly.
  12. 1) Why would he? 2) Why would you think that a Rochester coaching change is at all likely?
  13. I really think the article is only talking about discussions 2 years ago regarding the AHL job, and is just poorly worded. If it had come out that this was actually happening now, it would have been reported somewhere. I Googled “Leaman Sabres Head Coach”. The first result was an article about Jacob Bryson, Sabres prospect who played for Leaman at Providence. The second result was.........this thread on Sabrespace. Call me unconvinced.
  14. This is old, outdated information. I know it’s on NHL.com, but I’m 95% sure that it’s incorrect. There is other info on NHL.com which contradicts it, and describes the way the draft order has been set since the current CBA went into affect. The conference finalists get the last 4 spots, and then it’s decided by points after that. Just look at how the draft has been the past few years. The process hasn’t changed.
  15. This would be fine with me. Is this article actually saying that Buffalo has spoken with Leaman in the past couple weeks regarding the HC position? Or are they only referring to the talks a couple years ago about the AHL job? It’s not entirely clear to me.
  16. Totally different situation in my eyes. NFL Off/Def Coordinators make close to $1M/yr, with some of the top guys well over that. AHL Head Coaches and NHL assistants make considerably less, I believe in the 150-300k range. That’s nice money, but you can’t retire off a few years of $200k. However, if you can secure a 3yr NHL HC contract, at $1.25M per, that is truly life changing money, not just for you, but for your family. For these guys there is no guarantee that another NHL HC job offer comes along. Say you are DJ Smith, Babcock’s AC in TOR. You turn down the Sabres HC offer in 2019. Next year TOR loses in the first round again and Babs gets canned. Dubas gives Keefe the HC job. Keefe doesn’t really want you on his staff though, looking for someone more experienced to help the first time HC. So you have to go find a new job anyway. Lamarello liked you as an AC from when he was GM in TOR so he offers you the AHL HC job there. It’s a good job but the team doesn’t have a lot of talent and can’t get them anywhere in the AHL playoffs. NHL GM’s aren’t really falling over themselves to hire AHL coaches who aren’t winning big. You get 1 or 2 HC interviews over the next few years but they go to other people. You decide that if you are going to get noticed you are going to need to make a change and you are able to get a job as an NHL AC in BUF under HC Grönborg. They are one of the best teams in the league and the GM Botterill has always liked you (he once offered you the HC job after all). So you stay in BUF as an AC for a few years, you win the Cup with them in 2026 and are able to get a HC job in Columbus after the 2027 season! 3 years at $1.75M per, $5.25M guaranteed money! Finally, you’ve made it! I got a little creative here, but I hope my point was clear. This scenario I laid out would not be particularly uncommon (apart from a BUF winning the Cup of course). There are no guarantees for these guys that the job they chose to stay at will still be there 1-2 years from now. They don’t have much job stability even if they decide pass on that HC job that they could get fired from in 2 years. There is no guarantee for these first time guys that another HC opportunity comes along or if it does it could 5, 6, 7, 8 years from now. What if you turn down a big money job like that, then a few years later come down with cancer or are in a serious car accident. Your family would never have that money. Unlikely, I know, but real people think about stuff like that when they are making major decisions. Add in that this is probably a lifelong dream for these guys and I would be shocked if guys turn down what would be their first NHL HC job with any regularity. I won’t say never, but I would guess that it’s an extreme exception. I agree that previous HCs who have made millions already are probably more picky.
  17. Would you uproot your family for 2 years if it would ensure financial security for the rest of your life? That’s the worst case scenario. Other potential outcomes include wildly advancing your career, fulfilling lifelong dreams, even more money, etc, etc
  18. Really? Is it? To take a job which would triple/quadruple your salary, along with a title that you have been desperately wanting, in a world where only 31 of these jobs exist. It’s literally a wonderful, life changing event. I have a very difficult time imagining that many (any?) first timers would turn down the opportunity to coach the Sabres.
  19. They don’t even have the option of talking to DJ Smith or Keefe yet, well I guess Smith can as of last night. Those guys have been working. Also it’s hard to invision one of them saying no thanks to even interviewing for a job that would be a massive massive promotion and pay raise, as well as fulfilling a major career goal.
  20. That was Nicushkin maybe? He hasn’t been particularly good.
  21. Legitimate question: Why is Jacques Martin a bad coaching choice? I want actual reasons relating directly to Martin himself. Just to clarify, I’m not in favor of Martin, but I would like to hear actual opinions of him as a coach.
  22. If Botterill could get Miller and Cirelli for Risto, that would be a heck of a deal. Those are two 2nd line players (3rd line on an amazing team). Not futures, but good, skilled, gritty, young NHL players both with several years of team control.
  23. This should really only come into play for guys who could take more than 2 years before they are ready for pro hockey. Anyone drafted at #7 will be expected to be NHL ready within 2 years, and if not, then AHL ready at least. It’s the 3rd round and later picks that the CHL becomes a bit of a disadvantage, because a large percentage of those players could take 4 years (age 21/22) before they are ready for the AHL/NHL. The CHL players need to be signed, or not, after 2 years, while college or Euro players have 4 years before they need to be signed. At least this is my understanding of things.
  24. Yes, I believe it was more a decision to play “his game” and fit that into the system, as opposed to trying to be a robot within the system. He has been a much more effective hockey player since, so it definitely seems to be working. Unless you want to assume the worst about every situation. In that case you can just assume that Reinhart meant “Screw the coaches, I’ll do whatever I want, whenever I want.” But I hope that we collectively are more nuanced than that.
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