January 5 2015
Dobber
2015-01-05
Thoughts on MacKinnon, Kucherov, Turris, Stralman, Gelinas, Lehner and more …
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I would also like to extend my best wishes and thoughts to the founder of Cap Geek Matthew Wuest, who had to shut his site down on the weekend due to health reasons. He created one of the best hockey sites in the world and he built it up pretty much on his own.
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With his 22nd point of the season, Aaron Ekblad topped Jovanovski’s franchise record for most points by a rookie defenseman. And he still has half the year to go. Ekblad is well on his way to 45 points and stands a good chance of getting 50.
Nick Bjugstad has four points in four games since signing his big contract December 30.
Luongo left Sunday’s game with what looked like a head injury. He finished the period, but then left the game. He returned to the bench midway through the third. But it’s a head injury so you never know with these things.
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With two more points Sunday, Alex Ovechkin has three consecutive two-point games. His numbers are still too low so in my mind – this “market correction” is just getting started.
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The Oilers sent 19-year-old Leon Draisaitl back to the WHL. He left on a high note, posting two points in his last NHL game. The Oilers are actually make some good moves right now. It may look like they’re going hard after McDavid and you know what – they probably are. But the team is inadvertently addressing some needs. Derek Roy, Matt Fraser, Anton Lander and (technically) Benoit Pouliot bring a different kind of game to the table, versus Draisaitl, Mark Arcobello and David Perron. I know that obviously one side is vastly more appealing than the other. But the common criticism has always been that there were too many David Perron types. The team is still losing, but are 1-0-2 in their last three games and all have gone to overtime. I wonder if this is going to be another one of those scenarios in which a team gets torn apart to get that top draft pick – but starts winning with the inferior team that was supposed to lose.
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Heading into Sunday night – Brock Nelson has points in just two of his last 10 games. With Frans Nielsen taking his spot on Ryan Strome‘s line with Anders Lee – and showing fantastic chemistry – Nelson will be in tough to put up points going forward. Even his PP time is in danger of disappearing due to the emergence of this pretty good second line.
Teuvo Teräväinen got into his first NHL game of the season, seeing 10:50 in ice time with three shots on goal. Saw a bit of PP time (secondary) and was stuck with Nordstrom and Smith at even strength for the most part. He did see a couple of shifts with Kane and Sharp, just as a teaser I’m guessing.
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Those of you who think that Eric Gelinas isn’t getting a fair shake in New Jersey, look no further than this Player Usage Chart (via Rob Vollman):
You may not like or understand advanced stats, but this paints an important picture and I’ll put this in non-fancy speak as best as I can:
1. The further right the bubble is, the higher the amount of shifts that start in the offensive zone
2. The higher on the chart indicates more difficult competition (i.e. seeing the other team’s first line every game would put your bubble near the top).
As you can see, Gelinas is pampered. Full offensive situations and low quality of competition. If he’s starting his even-strength shifts in the offensive zone against the other team’s weaker lines and he’s still not scoring, well that’s on him. Not the coach.
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I don’t know if Nathan MacKinnon was being taught a lesson or what. But he was pretty much held off playing the power play on Sunday and he’s now pointless in his last four. He has just five points in his last 17 games. That’s a slump that I thought I would never see out of MacKinnon until he was in his late 30s. Wish I had answers for you. But that’s not the mark of a potential “Big 3” player. Just doesn’t happen. So bring on McDavid, our next hope.
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Tonight. Gold Medal. Canada vs. Russia. Still has a nice ring to it, much as we wanted to face USA at this point. Winnipeg prospect Nic Petan (prospect profile here) with the hat trick Sunday to ice the win. Petan leads the WJC in scoring with 11 points in six games. The Jets have been patient with him, bringing him along properly despite the dazzling junior numbers. I still have him targeted for 2016-17, but he could force his way onto the Jets roster next year.
I’ve been impressed most by Petan, Sam Reinhart (profile here), Anthony Duclair (profile here) and Joe Hicketts (profile here) for Canada, Dylan Larkin (profile here) for USA, Ivan Barbashev (profile here) for Russia, and William Nylander (profile here) for Sweden. We have you covered for WJC over at DobberProspects, but just in case you wanted to know who caught my eye. Obviously I’ve been watching the Canada games mostly. So a liiiiitttle biased.
Disappointed in the McDavid vs. Eichel battle. But yeah, my expectations were sky-high. I was hoping for a Crosby vs. Tavares at age 17 scenario. But no. They’re mere mortals after all. And McDavid padded his points with three assists Sunday to salvage what had been a modest tournament by his standards.
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This is hilarious. Holtby can’t find the puck in his equipment. LOL Oh man he literally looked for over a full minute, finally gave up – and what do you know?