Jonas Mahonas 1,872 Report post Posted January 8, 2019 On 1/6/2019 at 9:39 AM, kliq said: I think this is fair.....though I would just add that for me to consider someone elite, I need to see this level of play for a few seasons in a row. Many guys have been top 5 players at their position for 1 year only to drop off the next season. Yah, Larkin is getting better tho. I think he will benefit from the next few drafts big time. 2 kliq and krsmith17 reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
toby91_ca 620 Report post Posted January 8, 2019 He's currently 61st in the league in PPG, so be careful at looking his projected point totals in isolation. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kliq 3,755 Report post Posted January 8, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, Jonas Mahonas said: Yah, Larkin is getting better tho. I think he will benefit from the next few drafts big time. Agreed.....look at what he's putting up playing with Nyquist, Abby, Helm or whoever else is put on his line. Imagine if the kid was playing with actual elite wingers like Patrick Kane, Ovie etc. Edited January 8, 2019 by kliq 1 krsmith17 reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Neomaxizoomdweebie 3,083 Report post Posted January 8, 2019 On 1/6/2019 at 12:39 PM, kliq said: I think this is fair.....though I would just add that for me to consider someone elite, I need to see this level of play for a few seasons in a row. Many guys have been top 5 players at their position for 1 year only to drop off the next season. Agreed. Elite is a pattern of play. 1 kliq reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
krsmith17 7,191 Report post Posted January 8, 2019 7 hours ago, kliq said: Agreed.....look at what he's putting up playing with Nyquist, Abby, Helm or whoever else is put on his line. Imagine if the kid was playing with actual elite wingers like Patrick Kane, Ovie etc. Agreed. But I don't even necessarily think Larkin needs "elite" wingers like Ovechkin or Kane. I think even if he had legit "top line" wingers he could be a 90+ point two-way center. Which in my opinion would put him in the conversation of elite. If Mantha continues to grow into the player he's capable of... If Zadina hits his ceiling... If we draft in the top 3 in the next two years... Larkin could have some very good, maybe even elite wingers to play with... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jonas Mahonas 1,872 Report post Posted January 8, 2019 10 hours ago, kliq said: Agreed.....look at what he's putting up playing with Nyquist, Abby, Helm or whoever else is put on his line. Imagine if the kid was playing with actual elite wingers like Patrick Kane, Ovie etc. Yes, if he gets Mantha-Kakko, the points could start flying in. Mantha-Larkin-Stone Zadina-Athanasiou-Kakko Rasmussen-Helm-Bertuzzi Abdelkader-Nielssen-Glendening Veleno/Svechnikov One great trade/UFA and one great draft pick away from having a pretty formidable F group. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The 91 of Ryans 3,014 Report post Posted January 8, 2019 3 hours ago, Jonas Mahonas said: Yes, if he gets Mantha-Kakko, the points could start flying in. Mantha-Larkin-Stone Zadina-Athanasiou-Kakko Rasmussen-Helm-Bertuzzi Abdelkader-Nielssen-Glendening Veleno/Svechnikov One great trade/UFA and one great draft pick away from having a pretty formidable F group. YES! Take two rookie blue chip wingers and pack them around this team's most one-dimensional forward who has proven to no one ever that he can be a good center in the NHL. Athanasiou will never be this team's 2nd line center. Not if they plan on contending. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jonas Mahonas 1,872 Report post Posted January 8, 2019 2 hours ago, The 91 of Ryans said: YES! Take two rookie blue chip wingers and pack them around this team's most one-dimensional forward who has proven to no one ever that he can be a good center in the NHL. Athanasiou will never be this team's 2nd line center. Not if they plan on contending. I thought we were ALL done hating on AA. The guy is awesome!!! 1 chaps80 reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The 91 of Ryans 3,014 Report post Posted January 8, 2019 9 minutes ago, Jonas Mahonas said: I thought we were ALL done hating on AA. The guy is awesome!!! As a specialty winger with explosive north-facing talent? You betcha. As a 2nd line center responsible for distributing the puck to two potential star wingers and looking after them defensively? That's a big F nope. Even Bill Berz wan't this dumb. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
krsmith17 7,191 Report post Posted January 8, 2019 I actually like Athanasiou in the middle, but probably not as a 2C. I wouldn't mind seeing what he could do as our 3C for a few games though... Bertuzzi - Larkin - Mantha Nyquist - Nielsen - Vanek Helm - Athanasiou - Rasmussen Abdelkader - Glendening - Ehn / de la Rose Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chaps80 1,591 Report post Posted January 9, 2019 5 hours ago, Jonas Mahonas said: I thought we were ALL done hating on AA. The guy is awesome!!! He is awesome. When is Larkin going to get the C? I feel it's heading his way anyways, why wait? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jonas Mahonas 1,872 Report post Posted January 9, 2019 5 hours ago, krsmith17 said: I actually like Athanasiou in the middle, but probably not as a 2C. I wouldn't mind seeing what he could do as our 3C for a few games though... Bertuzzi - Larkin - Mantha Nyquist - Nielsen - Vanek Helm - Athanasiou - Rasmussen Abdelkader - Glendening - Ehn / de la Rose Dude, we aren't talking about our next game. We are talking about next year. 5 hours ago, The 91 of Ryans said: As a specialty winger with explosive north-facing talent? You betcha. As a 2nd line center responsible for distributing the puck to two potential star wingers and looking after them defensively? That's a big F nope. Even Bill Berz wan't this dumb. You're still on the hate train. Dude, that thing derailed a long time ago. We all like AA now. Climb out of the wreckage, bruh. 6 minutes ago, chaps80 said: He is awesome. When is Larkin going to get the C? I feel it's heading his way anyways, why wait? I'd have given him the C by now. 1 chaps80 reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
krsmith17 7,191 Report post Posted January 9, 2019 50 minutes ago, Jonas Mahonas said: Dude, we aren't talking about our next game. We are talking about next year. Dude, I was talking about next game. Not next year. But since you're talking about next year... Hughes - Larkin - Mantha Athanasiou - Nielsen - Zadina Bertuzzi - Veleno - Rasmussen Abdelkader - Glendening - Helm Cholowski - Green Ericsson - Hronek DeKeyser - Jensen Howard Bernier Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Neomaxizoomdweebie 3,083 Report post Posted January 9, 2019 Saying that AA shouldnt play center doesn't make you a hater, just a good judge of talent. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kipwinger 8,522 Report post Posted January 9, 2019 1 hour ago, Neomaxizoomdweebie said: Saying that AA shouldnt play center doesn't make you a hater, just a good judge of talent. Yeah. I clearly got that wrong. I called for him to play center for years. But he's a pretty good winger eh? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The 91 of Ryans 3,014 Report post Posted January 9, 2019 Since this thread is about Larkin, I'd like to continue to add to the AA discussion. One thing I like about the kid is he creates his own offense which means he can play wing on any line. You can put him with Helm and Glendenning and provided they get the ice time (which they will) AA will produce. It's beautiful. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jonas Mahonas 1,872 Report post Posted January 9, 2019 10 hours ago, krsmith17 said: Dude, I was talking about next game. Not next year. But since you're talking about next year... Hughes - Larkin - Mantha Athanasiou - Nielsen - Zadina Bertuzzi - Veleno - Rasmussen Abdelkader - Glendening - Helm Cholowski - Green Ericsson - Hronek DeKeyser - Jensen Howard Bernier Looks good. Really hope we can move Ericsson and Daley at the deadline. Cholowski-Green DeKeyser-Hronek Sulak-Jensen Witkowski Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jonas Mahonas 1,872 Report post Posted January 9, 2019 59 minutes ago, The 91 of Ryans said: I'd like to continue to add to the BILL discussion. One thing I like about Bill is he's rad. Thanks buddy! 1 Neomaxizoomdweebie reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The 91 of Ryans 3,014 Report post Posted January 9, 2019 (edited) 56 minutes ago, Jonas Mahonas said: Thanks buddy! No problem DUDE BRAH! I also liked Bill's brevity. As in: it was the only redeeming quality of his posts. They were short. Made them less painful to read. Got it over with quicker. etc. Edited January 9, 2019 by The 91 of Ryans Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LeftWinger 4,958 Report post Posted January 9, 2019 The Line of AA-Larkin-Hughes will make Larkin ELITE. Getting the Abby's, Helm's, Glendening's away from Larkin will make Larkin ELITE. Helm-AA-Glendening? WTF are you smoking, dude, your AA hate has gone way beyond my Hudler, Franzen hate... AA is the 1B best player on this team. Larkin and AA are the core to build around. Any and ALL other forwards are tradeable if comparing to these two. AA may never be the 2C, but he damn well is talented enough to be top 3 1st line winger. Thanks for the laugh though! Needed it! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kliq 3,755 Report post Posted January 9, 2019 On 1/8/2019 at 7:01 AM, krsmith17 said: Agreed. But I don't even necessarily think Larkin needs "elite" wingers like Ovechkin or Kane. I think even if he had legit "top line" wingers he could be a 90+ point two-way center. Which in my opinion would put him in the conversation of elite. If Mantha continues to grow into the player he's capable of... If Zadina hits his ceiling... If we draft in the top 3 in the next two years... Larkin could have some very good, maybe even elite wingers to play with... For sure, I'm just pointing out how much better he could be production wise if he had snipers like that. Lets hope Mantha/Zadina hit their ceilings, as that is huge for us in the development of this team.. 1 krsmith17 reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
toby91_ca 620 Report post Posted January 9, 2019 1 hour ago, LeftWinger said: The Line of AA-Larkin-Hughes will make Larkin ELITE. Perhaps it's just how I look at what makes a player "Elite", but I fundamentally have a problem with your statement. You're either elite or your not. If you need certain players to play with to boost your stats, then you are not elite in my mind. Doesn't mean Larkin won't get to elite status, but if he gets there in my mind, it will be regardless of who he plays with. 1 Neomaxizoomdweebie reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
krsmith17 7,191 Report post Posted January 9, 2019 8 minutes ago, toby91_ca said: Perhaps it's just how I look at what makes a player "Elite", but I fundamentally have a problem with your statement. You're either elite or your not. If you need certain players to play with to boost your stats, then you are not elite in my mind. Doesn't mean Larkin won't get to elite status, but if he gets there in my mind, it will be regardless of who he plays with. I agree to an extent. I agree that elite players are elite no matter who you play them with. Connor McDavid currently has 63 points in 42 games playing in between Zack Kassian and Jujhar Khaira (Who?)... I consider Larkin to be a very good top line center, but I wouldn't consider him elite. Not yet anyway. However, putting a couple competent wingers on his line could put him in the conversation in a few years. Players like Larkin are going to need some help to get there. If he does end up playing with two high end wingers over the next few seasons, and explodes offensively, I'm not going to discredit him, just because he finally has players to play with (not saying this is what you're saying). 1 kliq reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jonas Mahonas 1,872 Report post Posted January 9, 2019 AA now has 17 goals. Larkin has 18. They are the 2 best players on the team. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Neomaxizoomdweebie 3,083 Report post Posted January 9, 2019 1 hour ago, Jonas Mahonas said: AA now has 17 goals. Larkin has 18. They are the 2 best players on the team. NO Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
