kipwinger

Anybody else think the price Anaheim just got for Josh Manson bodes well for us trading Leddy?

Totally agree, with few exceptions all of these are REALLY close. I was just forcing myself to make a judgement call. It's even closer when you compare them at the same age. Like, Seider was way more physical a year ago in Sweden than he was two years ago (the same age Edvinsson is now) in the AHL. And two years ago Seider's shot wasn't obviously better either. In their D+1 year they're almost identical except that Edvinsson is just much more aggressive offensively and Seider is so much smarter (especially positionally).

Both are good. I'd break down their tools like this: Better Shot: Seider Better Passer: Edvinsson Better Skater: Edvinsson Better Physicality: Seider Better Transition: Edvinsson Better Hockey IQ: Seider Better Defense: Seider Better 5on5 scorer: Edvinsson Better PK: Seider Better PP: Seider They're really alike in a lot of ways but different in one big way. Edvinsson is WAY more aggressive on offense. He jumps up into plays, will skate with the puck below the goal line, and relies a lot more on his physical tools. Seider is more conservative in the offensive zone, tends to make plays from the dots back, and (despite his nearly impressive physical tools) relies on his smarts. Right now Seider is better by a fair margin because he understands the game so much better. If Edvinsson develops a good shot (which he currently lacks) it will be a lot closer.

Good point.

Zito looked really good in the prospects tournament as well. Probably just a bottom end guy, but he's got a legit shot at playing in the NHL one day. His goal scoring is actually pretty good.

People on Twitter are blaming Blashill for this as if he doesn't have a bottom five defense in the league and his starting goalie didn't let in 4 goals on the first 12 shots he faced in the first period.

Agreed, there's no risk and we need bodies. I basically view him exactly the same way I view Jordan Oesterle, except that at 23 years old it's still at least possible (not probably) that he could improve a bit.

Who knows? I mean, he was free to acquire. Maybe they thought he was good enough for a sticker price of zero dollars. If we end up nabbing someone better at the deadline they can just waive him again or send him to GR.

I doubt they're expecting much from him. I'm sure he's just a warm body to fill out the roster because they're anticipating trading a defenseman or two at the deadline. I'd be surprised if he ever amounts to more than a stop gap until the end of the season.

Fat lot of good it’s done him.

Hasn't really been an issue this year. I mean, he's never gonna be Tyler Bertuzzi (we have Mazur for that) but I'd say he's just as willing to go to the hard areas as guys like Vrana or Raymond. But he's going to score most of his points on assists anyway. His passing is elite.

As impressive as his size is, his shot is the best part of his game. He's got a REALLY good shot. His release is sick, but he can change angles, pick corners, shoot off drags. He has a A level shot and you basically can't defend it because his stick is so long (6ft). I genuinely believe you're looking at a 30 goal scorer in the NHL given what a nightmare he'll be to defend.

Here's a fun video of a dude the size of Moritz Seider taking a run at Sodorblom with predictably hilarious results...

I almost salivate thinking about Berggren skating and passing to someone like Vrana. He's that good. The only reason he's not leading the AHL in scoring right now is because Grand Rapids has zero offensively capable forwards outside of him. Niederbach is an interesting case. He's young for his draft class, and he's super underdeveloped. I think he's got another year in Sweden and then probably a year in GR (same developemental path as Berggren). I'm not as confident in Niederbach, but it's hard to say what he'll look like if he ever hits puberty. He's a high level thinker though. Check out this goal where he passes to himself off the end board and splits two d-men.

Hopefully we can get Elmer to show Rasmussen around the weight room.

He's just exactly like a bigger Franzen. I've watched a ton of their games this year and that's the player he reminds me of most. He's big, nasty shot, good hands, good skating (for his size). He's not physical in the "Tom Wilson" sense, but he's physical in the "you can't get the puck from me" sense. Just like Franzen was. This kid is going to be awesome. https://themalikreport.com/2021/10/22/roughly-translated-20-questions-with-elmer-soderblom-via-icehockeygifs/ FWIW he benches over 300 lbs. So he's not some tall skinny pud either. He's a beast.

What's not to like about a center that's as big and fast as Ryan Kesler and scores like Larkin?

They've got 3 centers who are better (McDavid, Draisaitl, RNH) and they're trying to win now. If you believe in Zadina (and Holland did enough to draft him) then it's hard not to imagine him helping you now more than a 20 year old Holloway would. In the scenario I advocated Holland would also be getting pretty significant cap relief, which is going to be huge for him because if Edmonton falls flat he's going to have to do some major retooling in the offseason.

Holloway is a center. Our center depth after Larkin blows. Conversely, our depth at left shooting, top six, scoring winger is pretty deep with Bert, Vrana, and Fabbri all ahead of Zadina. You'd be giving up your fourth best left wing for your future 2C. And you still have Berggren, Sodorblom, and (maybe) Mastrosimone as future LW options. Zadina is not an obviously better option than any of those guys (except maybe Mastro). Meanwhile, Holloway is substantially better than every center we have in our prospect pool, and better than probably half the centers on our team. He put up Larkin like numbers in his draft plus one year in the NCAA and is currently eating up the AHL despite missing a huge chunk of time with a serious injury. He's really good. So that's how he helps.

I've already proposed Zadina + Leddy + 3rd for Holloway and Kassian elsewhere. So lets not pretend like I've said we should trade Zadina for Eric Staal. Secondly, you're rewriting history to advance a false narrative. Zadina has almost never been asked to be anything other than what he is. He has been in a top six scoring role for MOST of the season (and his NHL career so far), and has been given tons of powerplay time. He's played WAY more games with Larkin/Raymond/Bert/Fabbri/Suter than he has with guys like Rasmussen. Nobody is asking him to be something he wasn't in juniors. Coincidentally, that's EXACTLY what they've asked Michael Rasmussen to do (in juniors he was a top line wing/center) and he's STILL scoring more than Zadina. But this is also circular logic. Zadina apologists all say "well sure he doesn't score, but he's good at everything else". But heaven forbid Blashill take him off a scoring line and put him on a checking line to use the skills he supposed does have. "Sure Zadina never scores, but if you take him off a scoring line he's never going to score", and round and round we go.

Fun Fact: There are 24 players in the NHL who are YOUNGER than Filip Zadina and who are outscoring him this year. Superstars like Joel Farrabee, Filip Tomasino, and Seth Jarvis. "But Kip, you can't expect Zadina to be better than Alex Ovechkin...durrrrr" I don't. But it'd be cool if he was better than Nils Hoglander.

1) You insinuate it 40 times a day. "Sure Zadina has disappointed, but you don't trade him because he's only 22". If you don't trade him when he's young and sucks, and you shouldn't trade him if he's good, then when should you trade him? 2) I'd rather have Vlad Namestnikov fill in the top six in case of injury. At least he can score. And there are about 2 million guys like Vlad Namestnikov floating around the league. How on earth could we ever hope to find such a player? P.S. we got Robby Fabbri for a dude we claimed off waivers. Zadina ain't good, or special. 3) There are two powerplay units. Berggren will start on one of them. Zadina gets powerplay time and he's not on the top unit. It's a pretty simple concept. I'll make a friendly wager with you, assuming Zadina is still on the team I'll bet Berggren scores more than him as early as next season? 4) For the millionth time, I don't expect Zadina to be Raymond. That ship has VERY OBVIOUSLY sailed. But I do expect him to be better than Sam Gagner and Vlad Namestnikov. He isn't. He's decidedly worse. He's not even better than Michael Rasmussen.

Agreed, but at no point was Larkin ever considered a top five talent, let alone a guy people were calling "generational" and the like. Ideally you don't wanna have to hide your franchise savior from good players if you're New Jersey. If Jack puts on about 20 more pounds and learns how to play a tougher brand of hockey maybe he'll prove me wrong (Crosby did it after all). But right now I see a priss that can't handle the grind of an NHL season, and it's only gonna get worse if they start making the playoffs. There's a reason Yzerman values competitiveness in his draft picks after all. Read this article about Jack. He's a kid who's had it easy his whole life and really isn't used to putting in the work. https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/32999798/how-jack-hughes-leveled-game-personality-season

Aren't our next two games against Florida and Tampa? I'm not gonna read too much into that part. Dorion in Detroit is interesting though.