kipwinger

#culture

Marco Kasper, a guy I'm pretty high on, has 2 assists for Rogle in their SHL playoff game today against Farjestad. That brings him up to 5 points (2 goals, 3 assists) in 10 playoff games. Keep an eye on this guy, depending on how the lottery shakes out I think he's a guy who would very much be on Yzerman's radar.

We talking Stanley Cup winner, 3 time All Star, and 3 time 30+ goal scorer Danny Grant? Or are we talking Danny Grant that fell off a cliff after his first season in Detroit because of injuries? I'm hoping the former.

Me too, believe me. Then again I'm probably more psyched about Edvinsson though. He's a boss.

Two on one hand. I'm a freak.

Edvinsson for RoY, not Sodorblom.

Guy was pissed he got traded to Detroit and had no interest whatsoever in playing for the Wings. It's a miracle we got that 2nd for him, let alone Walman and Sundqvist. F*ck Nick Leddy.

Who has two thumbs and a massive boner for the future of our blue line? This guy.

I'm starting to talk myself into Cutter Gauthier with our 1st (assuming we don't win the lottery). Big, fast, tough, can shoot, can play center or wing (his numbers at center this year were better than wing). Rumor has it that Yzerman and Co. really liked Mason McTavish at the draft last year but he went off the board early. Gauthier fits into that mold. Reminds me a lot of Mika Zibanejad. I still really like Nazar and Kasper as well, so I'm not sure how I'd rank them, but Gauthier is solidly in the mix with those two for me now.

Another goal for Berggren tonight. Ho hum.

Anybody notice how Michael Rasmussen is legitimately fast now? Not quick, but his end to end speed is impressive.

Might still make a pretty good 3rd line

Beat me to it lol. That’s two games in a row where he’s picked the corners with his shot. He doesn’t use it enough, but his shot is actually pretty good. And as predicted his transition game is lethal.

1st period for Grand Rapids down and Berggren with ANOTHER point. He’s a primary assist machine.

I would be annoyed if we signed a guy who has done jack sh*t in his career to a 4 year contract. I'd look to package him in a trade this offseason, and if nothing materializes I'd give him a 1 year "prove it" contract for roughly the amount of money you've mentioned; which A) doesn't saddle you if he continues to suck, B) gives him an opportunity to improve, and B) is tradable at the deadline if he's "meh". And I'm going to mentioned again (for the zillionth time) that I'd astounded that fans are acting like "what to do with Filip Zadina" is some big existential question for Steve Yzerman. If this guy had the EXACT same career so far, but was drafted in the 2nd round he'd be Tomas Jurco and nobody would give a sh*t about him or what happened to him.

Yes Ras was better a year ago too. Throughout his NHL career Ras has CONSTANTLY been asked to do more, and harder, things things for this team and has still produced about as well as Zadina. First, he played in the NHL at 19 because he was too good for the CHL and couldn't play in the AHL (being a Euro on loan, Zadina played in the AHL at 19 like he should have). Then Ras was asked to be a defensive center despite only ever being a top line scorer in the CHL (a total role change). Then last year, when Jamie Benn broke Larkin's neck, Ras was asked to be the 1C for the last 15 games of the season or so. All while playing a much harder position than Zadina, having more responsibility on the ice, playing special teams, and taking faceoffs. Zadina has only ever been asked to do the thing that he's supposedly good at, shoot and score. All while Blashill moved heaven and earth to help him succeed at THAT (top six minutes, great linemates, powerplay time). And the results have been...not good. His .37 points per game is only marginally better than Rasmussen's .31 despite the fact that offense is supposed to be his calling card. Put another way, Rasmussen scores nearly as much while playing harder position, having more defensive responsibilities, AND having to drag around guys like Adam Erne, Givani Smith, etc. Zadina, on the other hand, can't score alongside Bert, Suter, Larkin, Raymond, Vrana and that's LITERALLY his only job. AND you're way off base defensively. Zadina apologists noticed a year ago that he was pretty good at stripping pucks on the backcheck and the "Zadina is a good defensive player" narrative was born. But the numbers don't support it. His defensive metrics rank near the very bottom of a team that's abysmal defensively. Finally, Michael Rasmussen is a whopping 7 months older than Zadina and has only played 17 more NHL games than Zadina. Much is made about how Zadina is so young and has never had a full year's worth of development in the NHL. It's worth mentioning that he was an older player for his draft class (Ras was on the young end), and that Ras battled serious injuries early in his career. Their developmental curves are nearly identical aside from the fact that Ras is asked to do more...as I've already mentioned. TLDR: Ras is MUCH better than Zadina.

1. Berggren and Zadina are nothing alike. The only similarity is that they're both offensive players. Otherwise they're completely different in terms of their physical skills, and completely different in terms of their playing styles. You can advocate for the Devil all you want, but you're off base here. 2. Zadina is not "dependable". He is bad defensively and he doesn't score. He's a non-factor on special teams too. What does he "dependably do"? Hustle? Sure, but so does Adam Erne and at least he doesn't get caved defensively while not scoring. 3. Rasmussen is better than Zadina in every single facet of the game of hockey, including on offense. And Veleno plays a different position. Both are MUCH more valuable than Zadina at this point in their respective careers. 4. I have never, EVER, said Berggren will be a 2nd line player. If you're not pulling that out of your ass then I'm not sure where you're getting it form.

It's an overpayment. So no. Roslovic is a strictly offensive center, with pretty severe defensive limitations. Which is why in my fantasy line combos I put him with two really solid defensive wingers. He's probably not going to get too much better on the defensive end, so you're gambling that he can become a Mark Schiefle type - offense only - center with more icetime and solid wingers. But that's a pretty big gamble since he's never scored even 50 pts in the league. And BECAUSE it's a gamble you're not giving up a top end 1st round pick. But I can't imagine Columbus would expect one either, thankfully. Look at all the 1st round picks that get traded each year and almost none of them are lottery picks. There is a reason for that. The only time you see lottery picks involved in trades is when a team trades (for instance) their 2023 1st before the 2022 draft has even taken place (so basically two years out) and then the team ends up sucking worse than they thought. Yzerman is smart, he's not doing that.

I know, that's why I'm suggesting the Wings should trade for him and make him a 2C. Suter and a high 2nd seems pretty fair to me. They'd essentially be getting a 3C who's the same age, much better defensively, a little worse offensively (but not by THAT much), and a pretty valuable pick. If anything I'm undervaluing Gavrikov, who's probably worth more than Zadina and McIsaac but he doesn't really have a long track record and Zadina/McIsaac have some upside and are cost controlled for like 80 more years.

Why is he untouchable? He's played primarily on the 3rd and 4th lines this season, is not well liked by the well liked coach, is not a team leader (Like Boone Jenner, who is ahead of him on the depth chart), and is on a rebuilding team that just drafted Kent Johnson and Cole Sillinger to play center as well, and Columbus was openly shopping him prior to the deadline.

Obvious troll is obvious. But I'll play along: 1. You: "He's like Franzen, that won't be transferable". Reality: Franzen was an awesome NHL player who was indispensable to two Cup runs and one Cup win. 2. You: "If he was good he'd be up by now". Also you: "It took Bertuzzi 5 years" to develop. 3. You: "The NHL is about going top corner and 5 hole shots". Reality: Every top scorer in the NHL has more assists than goals. 4. You: Berggren is a soft floater who needs to lift weights. Also you: Vrana has transferable skills at the NHL level. 5. You: "Berggren and his 171 lbs is gonna get steam rolled." Reality: Berggren is 5'11, 195 lbs. https://griffinshockey.com/team/roster/jonatan-berggren 6. You: Veleno gets is, he lifted weights and got stronger. Reality: Berggren (who is the same age as Veleno) added 25 lbs of muscle since he was drafted.

In other prospect news, Rogle is currently riding William Wallinder through the SHL playoffs. He's been an absolute horse, playing 20+ minutes a night of solid defensive hockey. Tasked with shutting down the other teams' top lines. I still don't see too much offensive upside at the NHL level, but if he can turn into a Matthias Ekholm/Danny Dekeyser type who can score 25-30 points at even strength and play really good defense for 20 mins a night I'm going to be pumped.

Step 1: Trade Suter, Zadina, McIsaac, and a 2nd to Columbus for Jack Roslovic and Vladislav Gavrikov Step 2: Move Ras to the wing permanently. Step 3: Sign Brett Kulak Step 4: Ice this lineup Ras-Larkin-Vrana Bert-Roslovic-Raymond Berggren-Veleno-Sodorblom Sundqvist-Stephens-Erne Smith Gavrikov-Seider Kulak-Hronek Edvinsson-Lindstrom Oesterle

Agreed, but it's not just that Berggren scores. It's HOW he scores. His skills are transferable. We wouldn't be having this discussion if we were talking about Martin Frk (for example) because he's got all the same problems as Zadina despite how good he is in the AHL. But we're talking about a totally different type of offensive player. Berggren has A+ skating, passing, vision, and smarts. Zadina has none of those things. Zadina had a good shot at lower levels but it's clear he can't consistently beat NHL goalies with it. And he doesn't really bring much else to the table.

That was a typo I corrected, it was 4 in 16. As far as the second part of your post, I'd say a few things: Zadina probably would be tearing it up in the AHL. So what? Does that mean he's a good NHL scorer, or that Berggren won't be? Zadina was a better AHL scorer than Bertuzzi, and? Berggren will score more in the NHL than Zadina for a few reasons. One, he doesn't rely on his shot for points. He's a playmaker, and when he moves to the NHL he'll be passing to better shooters. Zadina, on the other hand has zilch for primary assists. Two, he's a MUCH better skater which (combined with his passing) should help him score more in transition than Zadina does. Third, Zadina sucks on the powerplay. He's a one trick pony (one timer off the flank), and that trick doesn't work in the NHL because his shot isn't very good. Berggren is a nightmare on the powerplay because his edgework is sick as f*** and his passing is elite. I don't care about Zadina, personally I'm blown away that a guy who's done SO LITTLE gets so much discussion from this fan base. Conversely I'm excited about Berggren because he's a lot of things Zadina isn't. But he will DEFINITELY score more, you can mark that down.