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kipwinger

All Purpose Grand Rapids Griffins Thread

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Landen Ferraro had 15 goals in 70 games last year, and 15 in 35 this year. What's up with that?

That's called "Progression" :lol:

Seriously though, the kid is starting to figure things out. Though the Griff's radio guys were mentioning that Ferraro has been notoriously streaky, so we'll see if he's just on a temporary tear or if he in general figured out how to score in the AHL.

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That's called "Progression" :lol:

Seriously though, the kid is starting to figure things out. Though the Griff's radio guys were mentioning that Ferraro has been notoriously streaky, so we'll see if he's just on a temporary tear or if he in general figured out how to score in the AHL.

A couple years ago he had 24 in 70+ games. He's always had the ability to score at lower levels, because he's REALLY fast. But unless he can put some weight on (he's 175 lbs. now), he's never going to translate that success into the NHL IMO.

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Landon's a weird one. Scored 37 the year before he was drafted, then dropped off. Had a solid sophomore season in GR, then slumped last season. More minutes or not, he's got some consistency issues.

I agree about him needing to gain weight, too. Not skilled enough to play on a scoring line, not heavy/physical enough to playing a check role usually = AHL purgatory.

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I honestly think he can still make the NHL, after all, he is only 23 years old. Where is this 175lbs. coming from? I was watching the game the other night and I'm sure they had him listed at 190lbs. which really isn't that bad at all, considering Miller is what? 180lbs. soaking wet... He has the speed and tenacity to make the NHL as a 4th line penalty killer. He also has a pretty underrated wrist shot, and is willing to go to the dirty areas to score goals, a lot of them coming at the timely variety. I'm not sure on this, but I would think he leads the Griffins in game winning goals this year. He's a pretty decent player, unfortunately, I don't see him ever making the Wings team, but he could be a great pick-up for a team next season...

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I honestly think he can still make the NHL, after all, he is only 23 years old. Where is this 175lbs. coming from? I was watching the game the other night and I'm sure they had him listed at 190lbs. which really isn't that bad at all, considering Miller is what? 180lbs. soaking wet... He has the speed and tenacity to make the NHL as a 4th line penalty killer. He also has a pretty underrated wrist shot, and is willing to go to the dirty areas to score goals, a lot of them coming at the timely variety. I'm not sure on this, but I would think he leads the Griffins in game winning goals this year. He's a pretty decent player, unfortunately, I don't see him ever making the Wings team, but he could be a great pick-up for a team next season...

From the Griffins website. They've actually got him listed at 170 lbs, but I gave him a few pounds.

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Again, I'm not sure where you're getting this information... It certainly wasn't the Griffins official website, they have him listed at 185lbs. and the Red Wings official website have him listed at 186lbs. And I'm sure I heard Bob Kaser say he is around 190lbs. a few nights ago, while I was watching the Griffins game. I'm not 100% sure which game it was, but I think it may have been the game against Milwaukee last Friday when Ferraro scored two goals...

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Again, I'm not sure where you're getting this information... It certainly wasn't the Griffins official website, they have him listed at 185lbs. and the Red Wings official website have him listed at 186lbs. And I'm sure I heard Bob Kaser say he is around 190lbs. a few nights ago, while I was watching the Griffins game. I'm not 100% sure which game it was, but I think it may have been the game against Milwaukee last Friday when Ferraro scored two goals...

Griffinscentral, HF and hockeydb have him listed at 170-174, and they're checked quite often (at least by me). I used to go to RWC for up-to-date info. NHL wasn't always dependable - at times I'd find guys with the wrong handedness. I'm assuming they've gotten better, and AHL is reliable?

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Again, I'm not sure where you're getting this information... It certainly wasn't the Griffins official website, they have him listed at 185lbs. and the Red Wings official website have him listed at 186lbs. And I'm sure I heard Bob Kaser say he is around 190lbs. a few nights ago, while I was watching the Griffins game. I'm not 100% sure which game it was, but I think it may have been the game against Milwaukee last Friday when Ferraro scored two goals...

You're right. I was looking at the wrong thing. My mistake.

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I frequent hockeysfuture quite often for articles but as far as their stats and bios go, I think they're terrible. hockeydb is great for NHL players info but I have found it to be very sketchy when it comes to minor leaguers and European players. griffinscentral is another good spot for articles but I find it to be very amateur, and considering they haven't updated Landon's profile picture from his days with the Red Deer Rebels, I think it's a safe bet that they haven't updated his bio either... redwingscentral was by far the best for all Red Wings prospects related info. I miss them...

Either way, I'll trust the two official team sites over any of the others. Also, I can't imagine Bob Kaser not knowing the information on any of Griffins players that he deals with on a daily basis.

No worries. It's not that big a deal, I was just curious to know where you were getting the information.

Either way, I do believe Ferraro still has the potential to be a decent grinder at the NHL level. I hope he makes it someday.

Edited by krsmith17

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I frequent hockeysfuture quite often for articles but as far as their stats and bios go, I think they're terrible. hockeydb is great for NHL players info but I have found it to be very sketchy when it comes to minor leaguers and European players. griffinscentral is another good spot for articles but I find it to be very amateur, and considering they haven't updated Landon's profile picture from his days with the Red Deer Rebels, I think it's a safe bet that they haven't updated his bio either... redwingscentral was by far the best for all Red Wings prospects related info. I miss them...

Either way, I'll trust the two official team sites over any of the others. Also, I can't imagine Bob Kaser not knowing the information on any of Griffins players that he deals with on a daily basis.

No worries. It's not that big a deal, I was just curious to know where you were getting the information.

Either way, I do believe Ferraro still has the potential to be a decent grinder at the NHL level. I hope he makes it someday.

When you google his name, google provides a short summary profile on the right side of the screen and it has him listed as 170 lbs. That's where I saw it, but clearly that's not a good source.

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Yikes! Think he'll be playing college hockey somewhere soon lol?

His name is julian kislin, but I haven't found too much on him other than that video, he was born in 99 so hes still got at least one probably two years of high school left...

But after this hell be on some teams radars for sure, if he wasn't already. whether its college or some form of junior league...

I also seen him listed as a defenseman.

Which if thats true its crazy that they have a kid that silky playing defense.

Edited by jimmyemeryhunter

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Sproul was our best defender for a while there, playing great hockey, while paired with Paetsch. The past few games he has been paired with Brennan Evans and he hasn't looked near as good. A lot can be said about the veteran presence of a guy like Nathan Paetsch, he makes whoever he is paired with, that much better. There's no question that Marchenko is our most consistent, and definitely most NHL ready defenseman. He is more of a shut down defender but can put up some points as well. He doesn't shoot very often, despite having a pretty decent shot, he is also a very underrated passer. He leads the Griffins defense in points, despite getting very little power-play time, spending most of his time at even strength and penalty kill.

Mantha hasn't been playing as well as many had anticipated, but he's right where I figured he would be at this point. I said that I think he will start to pick it up after Christmas and I still expect that to be the case. He has been playing much better as of late, although he did have a pretty forgettable game last night, with a couple horrendous turnovers. The thing that I still see Mantha lacking, is what he was labeled for in his draft year, up until he supposedly proved everyone wrong in his final year of junior. He lacks compete level. Often times he will give the puck away and then show little to no effort in trying to get it back. He doesn't back check the way he should, and until he improves his defensive game, I don't see him making the jump to the NHL. I'm sure Blashill has had talks with him and I'm sure he will get it straightened out, but until then, he will remain down in Grand Rapids.

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Sproul was our best defender for a while there, playing great hockey, while paired with Paetsch. The past few games he has been paired with Brennan Evans and he hasn't looked near as good. A lot can be said about the veteran presence of a guy like Nathan Paetsch, he makes whoever he is paired with, that much better. There's no question that Marchenko is our most consistent, and definitely most NHL ready defenseman. He is more of a shut down defender but can put up some points as well. He doesn't shoot very often, despite having a pretty decent shot, he is also a very underrated passer. He leads the Griffins defense in points, despite getting very little power-play time, spending most of his time at even strength and penalty kill.

Mantha hasn't been playing as well as many had anticipated, but he's right where I figured he would be at this point. I said that I think he will start to pick it up after Christmas and I still expect that to be the case. He has been playing much better as of late, although he did have a pretty forgettable game last night, with a couple horrendous turnovers. The thing that I still see Mantha lacking, is what he was labeled for in his draft year, up until he supposedly proved everyone wrong in his final year of junior. He lacks compete level. Often times he will give the puck away and then show little to no effort in trying to get it back. He doesn't back check the way he should, and until he improves his defensive game, I don't see him making the jump to the NHL. I'm sure Blashill has had talks with him and I'm sure he will get it straightened out, but until then, he will remain down in Grand Rapids.

I agree with your assessment of Marchenko. He's a "shutdown defender" in the way that Dekeyser is. Which is to say that he's not known for his offense, and he definitely prioritizes his defense and plays a safe game. But he's also an effective puck mover and is really good at getting the puck up the ice. I actually think he'll put up more points at the NHL level than he does in the AHL when he's surrounded by more first rate finishers.

Edit: As far as Mantha goes, I think he struggles from the same thing that Jurco does. He's a big guy, and at the pro level will be expected to play a big man's game. But until he came to GR, he played a skilled, finesse game, despite his size. He's basically learning how to be a power forward at the pro level and the learning curve is steep. Once he figures out the power forward's game (i.e. where to be on the ice, how to play without the puck, etc.) he'll be fine. But until now he's always played the way a center has to play at the pro level (carry the puck and make plays on individual effort).

Edited by kipwinger

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Sproul was our best defender for a while there, playing great hockey, while paired with Paetsch. The past few games he has been paired with Brennan Evans and he hasn't looked near as good. A lot can be said about the veteran presence of a guy like Nathan Paetsch, he makes whoever he is paired with, that much better. There's no question that Marchenko is our most consistent, and definitely most NHL ready defenseman. He is more of a shut down defender but can put up some points as well. He doesn't shoot very often, despite having a pretty decent shot, he is also a very underrated passer. He leads the Griffins defense in points, despite getting very little power-play time, spending most of his time at even strength and penalty kill.

Mantha hasn't been playing as well as many had anticipated, but he's right where I figured he would be at this point. I said that I think he will start to pick it up after Christmas and I still expect that to be the case. He has been playing much better as of late, although he did have a pretty forgettable game last night, with a couple horrendous turnovers. The thing that I still see Mantha lacking, is what he was labeled for in his draft year, up until he supposedly proved everyone wrong in his final year of junior. He lacks compete level. Often times he will give the puck away and then show little to no effort in trying to get it back. He doesn't back check the way he should, and until he improves his defensive game, I don't see him making the jump to the NHL. I'm sure Blashill has had talks with him and I'm sure he will get it straightened out, but until then, he will remain down in Grand Rapids.

I've actually caught a few GR games lately, and I think Marchenko is the real deal. His outlet pass is every thing they say it is. I haven't seen nearly as many games as you have, but I agree with him being the most NHL ready guy down there. Sproul/Jensen offer offensive skill, but I'm not so sure Marchenko is that far behind them, especially in Detroit's system. That outlet pass is going to get Detroit speedy forwards up the ice much faster. Plus, he offers an element that Sproul/Jensen don't (sound defensive play), at least not from what I've seen.

I said it in another topic, but I really believe that it's going to come down to Sproul vs. Jensen in a year and a half. If Ouellet progresses as he should, I think he'll be able to take over Quincey's role on the team. I think with the guys they'll have out of waiver exemption, you let Lashoff go. Barring any trades or signings, I think Detroit could run something like: Kronwall, Ericsson, DeKeyser, Smith, Ouellet, Marchenko & Sproul/Jensen for the 2016-17 season.

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I think you are hitting the nail on the head, Kip. Plus, the timing of his injury had to put a cramp on the development curve. How many games did he miss? Plus, how long did it take him to get to full game conditioning one he was playing? He basically lost all he'd gained from the prospects camp, etc. and then some. I think he will be fine once he gets over the curve you mentioned. Plus, he is playing against bigger and more experienced players than he did in the Q.

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You have to go Sproul over Jensen if that is the decision we are making. I really like Jensen and he has been great. But Sproul just has all these tools that Jensen doesn't to make an effective NHLer. Jensen is way faster but Sproul is also a fast skater with additional huge slapshot, size, and physical play. I wish we could keep Jensen as a number 7.

I think we should consider moving one of Smith or Ericsson at some point in the coming years. Neither are exactly lighting it up and we need better in our top 4.

Down the road I could see:

Kronwall - Something good

Dekeyser - Sproul

Ouellet - Smith/E

Marchenko

Edited by dirtydangles

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I think you are hitting the nail on the head, Kip. Plus, the timing of his injury had to put a cramp on the development curve. How many games did he miss? Plus, how long did it take him to get to full game conditioning one he was playing? He basically lost all he'd gained from the prospects camp, etc. and then some. I think he will be fine once he gets over the curve you mentioned. Plus, he is playing against bigger and more experienced players than he did in the Q.

I don't think we should underestimate the effect missing training camp and the start of the season can have on a player. Over the years plenty of guys - vets, star players - who get injured in pre-season take months to get back in form when they come back. Imagine you're a kid playing in your first pro season. Mantha gets a semi-mulligan from me for that.

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