pi2000

🤦

he's added weight which is good, but short term he will be adjusting to his new playing weight so don't expect too much out of the gate... trust the process

..but the players really really like him 🙄

Ha yeah I've always liked Torts, doesn't have to be that extreme thought. At some point this franchise needs to decide if they care more about their players feelings or actually winning games.

Yeah well guess who's job it was to have them ready to play? They way they looked tells me the past two weeks weren't intense enough... That shoulda been plenty of time to get them up to game speed. It looks like they coasted though the last 2 weeks. There shoulda been bag skates, battle drills, etc with RK pushing the pace as hard as he can... If anybody listened to Eichel on spittin chicklets last week it sounded like they had an easy camp.... disappointing.

It's always a red flag when the players like a coach too much. You want a friend? Look to the guy next to you on the bench, not the coach.

The ***** is he getting paid for? He basically took the night off, it's no wonder his team did as well. The balls on this guy, telling the media he wasn't going to coach and let his guys have fun? That's a fireable offense IMO. You have a team that hasn't made the playoffs in 9 years, almost half the roster is new faces who have never played together before, a rookie playing the top 9, and you're not going to coach them? What was it a couple years ago that Phil Housley cancelled practice the day before their first game and they got smoked? Now the coach decides he's "not coaching" the first game? What next, they gonna forfeit the first game come October?

It was aggressive in that Sheahan chased down a loose puck on a race back into the WSH zone... which started the entire sequence. I loved it, but want to see more of that type of aggressiveness in the neutral and d-zone. Don't let them setup and get comfortable, attack at all times. And it's not just on the PK, it's at even-strength as well. THey play a tight box and don't challenge the puck or take away the points... it's ***** hockey, playing afraid, scared to get burned by being too aggressive... that doesn't work, never has. The only reason you play that passively is if you don't trust your ability to win 1-on-1 battles... as somehone who's played, it's more a mental thing IMO. I believe it's why you see the "new guys" being more aggressive and confident on the defensive end. RK needs to fix that, if he doesn't it's going to another long season.

moist wine

That said, the problem with the PK is that it's too passive. They let them waltz right into the zone and setup shop. The best PKs in the league are aggressive, making teams uncomfortable on zone entries and aggressively attack the puck in the d-zone, which lead to turnovers. That style will occasionally give up easy goals as it leaves at lease one, maybe two, guys unaccounted for, but it's more effective than just sitting back and trying to block shots and take away passing lanes in your own zone, because good teams like WSH, PHI, NYI, etc.. will eat you alive if you give them enough time and space.

Correct, I went back and looked, it was in fact Rieder.

They brought in Eakin and Reider to play the PK... wtf was Skinner doing out there? You put him on the 4th line because he doesn't play the system, which we all assume is because he's not committed defensively, but then you put him out on the PK? The ***** are you doing RK? Correction, it was in fact Rieder.

A good coach puts his players in position to succeed, to maximize their potential. The fact that a 40g scorer has landed on the 4th line tells me the RK has failed at coaching him up. It's just as much a reflection of RK's inability to coach as it is on Skinner himself.

What exactly are these "other things" tho? And do we know for certain Tage Thompson is doing these things? There should be tangible visible evidence.

Skinner is good enough in other areas IMO to play in the top 6. I've never seen him as a huge defensive liability. He can be a puck hound and very disruptive on the forecheck causing turnovers, elite finish ability around the net. That's his game. That said, I liked what I saw from Tage Thompson in camp and in the scrimmages, but can anybody definitively say that he's more deserving of that spot than Skinner? It's completely baffling to me. Maybe somethine to do with off-ice stuff? I don't know, but frankly I don't trust RK's intuition on this... what has he really done as an NHL coach anyway? He's a likable guy, players like him? Great, good for you... I realy don't give a ***** if you're a likable coach, just win.

KO shoulda been bought out eons ago, now he's wearing a letter, smh. Prolly a really great guy, I have no problem with him as a human, but as a hockey player? ..making $6m for the next 3 seasons? oooof

One bad choice here... c'mon RK

I think it was Brett Hull? who told his coach "Do you want me to score 50 goals, or do you want me to back check?"

Cozens hasn't played a single shift in the NHL, yet you're anointing him "defensively responsible"? Sheahan and Lazar are better players than Mitts and Cozens at this point in time. They are more complete, more experienced, stronger players. Are they more offensively talented? No. Again, hockey is much more than just razzle dazzle offense. I also do not like how they're using Skinner. I'd swap him and Thompson in a heartbeat. Skinner pots 40 alongside Eichel, you pay him for that production, then never put him back in that same position... makes zero sense, something I'll never understand. Skinner's role is to score, clean up around the net, be a pest on the forecheck... is he defensively responsible? No, but that's not what you're paying him for. Mitts, I'm afraid, simply doesn't have the speed or quickness to succeed in today's NHL... which, from what I've seen (which isn't much haha), will forever handcuff him in both ends of the ice.

Hockey is more than getting points and producing offense. The concern with icing a defensively challenged yet offensively skilled 4th line should be obvious.

I'd argue Lazar and Sheahan have outplayed Mitts and R2 thus far in camp. They are more complete players. I didn't see anything from Mitts in the scrimmages to suggest he's taken a significant step. The captain wants to win now, they bring in Hall and Staal on 1 year deals, they're going to put their best foot forward... it's not a year (at least not yet) to experiment and play guys just so they can be evaluated or get experience. That said, in 2 or 3 weeks it may become evident that this team won't be sniffing the playoffs. If that's the case, then I expect to see guys like Mitts and R2 getting extended looks... but until that happens, they're going to play who they believe give them their best chance to win right now... and who knows, maybe Ullmark gets hot right out of the gate and they find some early season success.

What do you mean by "real opportunity"? I'm sure at some point during the season, they'll get a look. Good point. Yes it's frustrating, but until they get it right, I expect this trend to continue. It's certainly a better option than signing unknown quantities to multi-year deals and being hamstrung for multiple seasons at a time.

The lineup is certainly improved. Goaltending is still a question mark. Unfortunately, they're in the toughest division and will probably be out of playoff contention in as soon as 2-3 weeks time. I look at this as a season of growth (playing top teams) and figuring out who will be part of the long term solution. They have 12 players on expiring contracts, only 2 D under contract after this season... It's basically a season long tryout for more than half the roster.

No Larsson and now no Girgensons?! How will this team even compete this year?! /s

Maybe next season... not now.