triumph_communes

Krueger is known for his unorthodox, yet top performing PP.

no, they don't

Thanks, I indeed was reading it backwards.

Given the interview responses, I feel like it's more likely that Johansson ends up playing center. Whether Mittelstadt or Johansson get more minutes (being the true 2nd or 3rd line) will just depend on how they play, but I expect a much improved Mittelstadt and for that line to get sheltered the most anyway: Skinner-Eichel-Rodrigues/Thompson/Nylander Sheary-Mittelstadt-Reinhart Smith/Oloffson/Rodrigues/Nylander-Johansson-Vesey Girgensons-Larsson-Okposo I think any combination of LW/RW really works in this Top-9, except that Reinhart needs to be kept away from Eichel. One thing to keep in mind about Krueger: He will keep lines together to a fault, as he believes as certain pairings face adversity they learn together. Different philosophy as our last few coach's. I'm not sure how far into the season it will be until he settles on his lines though.

Interesting graphs. I agree with your logic and assessment, but I just struggle with them as they really conflict with the eye test for me. There’s too many minutes of Girgensons/Larsson cycling in the o zone against Bergeron and Marchand last year for me to see such a small sliver in the 1-3.

6.65 for McCabe, Ullmark, Rodrigues, and Larsson 2 1.5 1 2 =6.5 Roster size of 24, minus 1 million for whoever is demoted and there’s the wiggle room. Dahlin’s bonuses can be carried over into next year worst case, when a lot of cap will open up, but I wouldn’t worry much with all the LTIR going on. What I was hoping for was a trade involving Risto to either Winnepeg or Tampa, depending on who Montreal offer sheets, to help them fill in their gap at defense while taking back some salary on a forward like Ehlers or Gourde in return. I don’t see how we have the room to do anything like that now with Johansson, but there’s still some cap magic possible (Bogo straight to IR, buyouts, etc)

Skinner-Eichel-Thompson/Oloffson Johansson-Mittelstadt-Reinhart Smith/Sheary-Ruostalainen-Vesey Girgensons-Larsson-Rodrigues Okposo

Most of the guys edging out are waiver trash. He doesn’t need to get anything for them really, just bury them and be done.

Playing with Okposo. The puck hog

In terms of minutes played, Sobotka was our 2C last season. Mittelstadt was our 4C. Promoting Mittelstadt to 2/3C minutes with Reinhart and Johansson beside him while also giving the GLO line 2/3 line minutes match-up grinding against top lines will do wonders. At the very least, think of the minutes each line gets as much more balanced. Lots of teams only play 3 lines and put the fourth out there for 6 minutes a game. We don’t have that kind of line up.

Vesey is a left handed RW. Skinner-Eichel-Oloffson/Sheary/Vesey Johansson-Mittelstadt-Reinhart Smith-Rodrigues-Oloffson/Sheary/Vesey Girgensons-Larsson-Okposo camp will be competitive

To the stats people—- he came back from injury when traded too soon and he wasn’t clicking. He finally got it together for the playoffs for them. I wouldn’t put much into his regular season with Boston stats.

Two year term on a guy begging for 5 and his comparable all got 4 or 5 year deals? Amazing! No downside to the contract whatsoever. I believe Mittelstadt will still be 2C and he will be fine, and Johansson will be his backup center in a pinch or if he’s struggling too much. They’re both lefties and can alternate through that role.

The problem with Mittelstadt was his conditioning (just like Eichel at the same age), and being anchored by Okposo almost all season. His shifts with Skinner and Reinhart were magical. Eichel can hold his own with other wingers we have. Its not the end of the world if we go into the season with Mittelstadt as a 2C. Girgensons and Larsson or Rodrigues can hold down the 3/4C just fine. More talent on the wing and these centers aren’t in shambles like last season. Plus a new system and coach will do wonders.

Bleh, bad situation to be in.

I stand similarly with the other poster from above. Botterill’s job is to ensure continued success year after year. The timeline for that, unfortunately, is longer than may be fair to fans. But given the hole Murray had us in, it’s necessary. Housley’s job was to just get the most out of the player pool his GM gave him. He had all season to switch Girgensons or Rodrigues to center and call up Smith et al, but he didn’t ask for that. Thompson’s problems were his cute dekes. He gets away with them in the AHL, but he doesn’t in the NHL. I believe the reason he stayed up is because keeping him down was just going to reinforce bad habits. I also have a difficult time being hard on a player who was stapled to Sobotka the vast majority of his time.

Thanks for the drawn out reply. I respectfully disagree with the overall assessment, but I’m just going to focus on a few points: 1). There are many interviews where Botterill has stated that his relationship with the coach is to suggest players for the main squad, but he has repeatedly said final decision on which league a player is in is on the coach. Yes, the GM obviously has the power to trump this line if needed, but Botterill lets the coach have reign. This is the sort of leash that helps him attract guys like Krueger in the future— most coaches have a bit of an ego and don’t want to fight their GM. Look at Toronto this off season and all that messy noise.. 2) Thompson was never meant as some 1 for 1 replacement for ROR. At most he was a half replacement, in the future. That’s some incredible pressure to put on the kid. His role is to be a large body finisher on a team that has plenty of playmakers. This team needs RWs and unfortunately he didn’t develop right away and that’s why we ended up with Vesey as a stop gap for the upcoming season. 3) On the trade deadline Botterill made it clear- the team was in no position to hedge the future just to make the playoffs last season (with a coach he already gave up on). He also didn’t sell everything for spare parts either. Montour was the perfect balance there and was a great trade. Again though, if you think he failed at acquiring a 2C mid season, I will reiterate that statistically the team was getting very lucky bounces and was bound to regress to a mean unless Housley changed something (and he didn’t). Also, you don’t often see trades mid season for 2Cs like that. The better deals were this offseason that he is yet to make. 4) The Montour trade was as much positive endorsement the GM could realistically give on a team that was already playing with no heart. I believe they gave up on the coach who couldn’t figure out how to teach his system to the players on the team who were struggling to learn it. Housley’s failures appear to be on communication more than anything.

Toronto was only marginally worse until they actually signed Ceci and told him to expect to be in their top-4. They got much worse. Kadri was a huge loss too

I work under the premise that Krueger was Botterill’s coaching target all along, and the only reason we didn’t get him instead of Housley originally is because he refused to abandon Southampton until his stint was naturally over. Botterill was operating under a premise that if Housley couldn’t motivate the boys then he was gone I also take Botterill’s words at face value that he has repeatedly stated that all roster decisions were the coach’s final decision to make. And that it was Housley, not Botterill’s doing that Sobotka had the time on the ice last year he did. Remember, even then Sobotka was eventually scratched in the end of last season beyond the injuries sustained The reason Botterill stood pat is that he saw the underlying analytics behind the ten game run and saw how it was cardiac kid luck, not sustainable success that was occurring. And it’s not like Botterill did nothing, he went out and acquired Montour without taking anything away from the current roster, yet Housley couldn’t inspire a fly to get out of the way of a slap back into reality. Tage has a chance, absolutely. I also see what Botterill did to Moulson and know if the coach has no interest, Botterill has no problem making someone disappear. If you look at Krueger’s history as an NHL coach, he played rookies more often than not. He would set them up for success, something I don’t think Mittelstadt ever once was put in the situation of last year. Krueger made Yakupov look like a rising star— I am really excited to see what magic he can do here. I understand the Housley love of Sobotka, but I don’t think Krueger is that dumb. I think Mittelstadt can play the sheltered 2C type minutes as long as we have Erod holding down a 3rd line that maybe dos some more lifting that other teams do. But we have an amazing shutdown duo in Larsson and Girgensons (that honestly Vesey is a perfect compliment for, given Vesey likes to take the puck right to the net while the other two will cycle ad infinitum) and if they are used properly, can shelter Mittelstadt some. Sheary-Mittelstadt-Reinhart in their short time last year was dangerous, and as long as Kruger watches the tape from those games, I foresee him putting that forward next season. Plus Oloffson as a LH RW on Eichels side is what Eichel needs. We all wanted a better player there like Nyquist or Zucc, but those players chose not to sign here. Oloffson will be a gem to help spread the rest of the talent elsewhere in the line up.

Theres two options July 1st: 1. The Murray approach of signing Moulson and Okposo to huge contracts 2. Patience and building from within on a realistic timeline

Theres 18 forwards who could easily take one of the 13 slots. There’s at least 12 defenders for 7-8 slots. If that’s not competition I’m not sure what is. If if you’re afraid Sobotka wasn’t pre-relegated, I don’t think you understand what meritocracy means. A lot of these guys will get new leashes under a new coach.

The ‘hole’ at 2C is just a year or so until Mittelstadt’s strength and condition catches up and he takes it. It’s not a problem to be solved by FA where the deals are 4+ years and for top dollar. A trade involving Ristolainen I bet is still on the table, pending what shakes out with the Habs offersheeting players like Point and Tampa being forced then to make a move to make space. Some people pled need to calm the hell down. Rome wasn’t built in a day and Murray had this team in a bad bad place. Plus, a coach was the difference between last place in the league St Louis and Stanley cup champions St. Louis. We’ve got a good one coming, be patient.

Both Oloffson and Vesey will play RW

Skinner-Eichel-Oloffson Sheary-Mittelstadt-Reinhart Smith-Rodrigues/Ruotsalainen-Vesey Girgensons-Larsson-Okposo Wilson/Sobotka/Elie waived Thompson and Nylander injury callups Dahlin-Montour McCabe-Ristolainen Scandella-Miller Hunwick/Nelson one waived Pilut to push Scandella or McCabe out of the lineup when healthy. Bogosian to kick the remaining 7th dman back when he’s healthy So, much, competition here, coming from young guys, fringe guys, and old vets. Nobody’s spot is safe, pretty crazy. Only Okposo is getting gifted minutes imo

Mittelstadt will center. We have other LWs.