December 27, 2014
steve laidlaw
2014-12-27
Pastrnak is the #1 prospect for immediate impact, some World Junior thoughts, MacLean rumoured to take over in New Jersey and more…
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UPDATE: Adam Oates and Scott Stevens have been named co-coaches to replace DeBoer with Lamoriello also joining the bench to “supervise.”
This is about as embarrassing as Edmonton’s interim to the interim situation. Lamoriello is no stranger to puzzling coaching changes having taken the reigns himself at certain points and also having fired his coach just before the playoffs even though they were winning!
It’s hard to see this tandem being successful though. What the heck does co-coach mean? When push comes to shove who gets final say? Flip a coin?
Not only is that puzzling but Stevens is a first-time coach and Oates was horrible with Washington in his first go around. I’m all for guys learning from their experiences (mistakes) but now he’s got a co-coach and a supervisor to hand hold or second guess. It’s just not a confidence inspiring situation.
As mentioned earlier, the Devils will get a boost just from getting healthier. That’s as far as I’d go with that now. I no longer have much faith in a strong second half for Schneider. Not with this circus taking place on the bench.
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Did everyone have a great holiday break? I sure hope so. NHL hockey returns tonight so remember to set those lineups!
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No NHL action but yesterday was a great day of hockey. I'm not ashamed to say that I watched all four of the games from the World Juniors. I don't want to step on the toes of our prospect writers so I'm just going to rapid fire some thoughts here since there's no NHL action to report on. Keep in mind these are thoughts based on one viewing.
Jack Eichel was the single most impressive player that I watched all day. That US team is loaded but he carries them anyway. He isn't really dominating in a "man amongst boys" way either. He just does everything at a high level. He's so fluid. It looks easy. It's like someone built a hockey player in a lab. I don't know if it will translate to huge scoring at the NHL level (it has in college) but this dude is going to win a lot in the NHL.
I didn't really see much that impressed me about US defenseman Anthony DeAngelo. He's supposed to be this game breaker from the blueline but I was underwhelmed. Underwhelming can sometimes be good for defensemen. Guys with perfect positioning and just do their job in a business-like manner can produce a heck of a lot. That's not how DeAngelo was billed however.
Ville Husso getting the start over Jusse Saros for Finland was a bit of a shocker considering Saros was named Top Goalie at this tournament last year but such is the nature of Finnish goaltending – there's always another good one on the way. And Husso was good. Given he's much taller than Saros if I had to bet on one of those two making it in the NHL it would probably be Husso. They could both probably make it but given what we've seen, Husso is on his way.
I wonder if Nikolai Ehlers will prove to be more Marian Gaborik or Michael Grabner at the NHL level. It's clear that he can break games wide open with his speed alone. Whether or not he can fit into the East/West portions of the NHL game will dictate if he's a star or a supernova.
This is a credit to the Danes but Russia as a whole was just terribly disappointing. Pavel Buchnevic, Ivan Barbashev, Sergei Tolchinsky, etc. These guys were supposed to be top notch scorers. I sure as hell didn't see it. Nikolai Goldobin was the one guy who flashed an intriguing amount of creativity. If there's one forward off this team developing into more than a third-liner it's Goldobin.
William Nylander is a stud, plain and simple. Lots of speed, vision and creativity. I don't know if he's going to be a "winning" hockey player but that dude is going to put up points by the dozen.
Nothing much to say about Canada. That was a blood bath. I try not to overreact to results in games that lopsided. That being said, I have a hard time seeing how Canada doesn't win at least Silver at this tournament. They are LOADED.
Looking forward to some more World Junior action again today!
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I mentioned a bunch of beauties at the World Juniors above but if there's one guy who could have an immediate impact for you it's Czech Republic's David Pastrnak. I've talked a lot about Pastrnak this season and for good reason. Between his explosive play in the AHL and his impressive but brief cameo with the Bruins, Pastrnak has shown enough to get excited about. He played fairly well for the Czechs yesterday but what is really exciting is the news that once this tournament is over, he'll be headed back to skate for the Bruins. It won't be in some small role either. Pastrnak is set to skate on the top line with Milan Lucic and David Krejci.
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