You know i got a lot of push back when the Devils traded for Timo Meier. Here we are a couple of years later and it looks like the Devils had a similar player to him in Zetterlund. They just didn't have the patience to develop him.

So the Devils gave up Musty, Zetterlund, promising dman and more for Timo Meier who they have to pay $8.8 mil per the next 7 or 8 years.

This guy gets it!
- Chunk

We're missing the voice of WIZdom lately.

I hope KD and the Hawks just make a trade when the right opportunity comes up, not just to shake things up because they have a lot of prospects. As fans, we don't know what trade talks have happened, but right now it feels like the team just needs to figure out what they have in the young players and where they fit in. I would hate to see them trade for a player then have a young player who fits that role just as well especially if they have to give up a young guy only to see him seize the opportunity elsewhere.

A bit too much panic from parts of the fanbase that lack patience. We don't currently have too many NHL ready prospects to make room for. We won't often get a great return for guys who are failing to pan out unless we luck into something.

We are at the quarter point of the season and yeah the standings suck, but the on ice product has been a fair bit better on the defensive end. I'd much rather see them defending well than scoring a bunch but also bleeding goals. I'm also glad to see that we currently have solid options in net rather than questions until the long term answer in goal is figured out. Think a year out from now, we probably have Nazar playing full time. Bedard will be one more year mature and closer to where he will be in his prime. Probably KK and Levshunov are probably that much closer to making the team out of camp. Not to mention that Kaiser/Allan will have more experience, EDM, Slaggert, just more guys closer to where the will be long term. Better days are coming boys.
- breadbag

I know they play different positions but I'm shocked how much more impact Domi had playing with total garbage here compared to TT and Bertuzzi.

Lol, Reichel certainly isn't the most dangerous player on the team. He's bum slaying and not even doing that particularly well. He scored on a 3 v 1. Awesome he scored but I've said multiple times he's dangerous with time and space. Problem is he's very bad when pressured and not good at supporting the play if he's not driving the transition. And he poop his pants before the Maroon goal all alone in front of the net but again all by himself with time and space looking like a hockey player for a few seconds.

Vlasic probably would have been fine if he just stayed in the NHL.

Crevier was on for a GA - coughed up the puck down low which cycled back high for the snipe in the middle of the ice.
- fattybeef

Glad you paid attention to the detail of the game. So, then I'm sure you noticed who was on the ice game tied 2-2 with 30 seconds left and the Hawks just hangin on in their zone? Yep, LR had Crevier out cuz he was their best Dman yesterday...... I thought the kid was having a fine game, poised and unhurried, good quick simple passes/plays, handled the puck with zero problems at the attack blueline a bunch of times, only saw him and Brodie get crossed up once in the high slot and it seemed LR thought as I did. 30 seconds left, Crevier on the ice!! His first NHL game this yr!! 6ft 7in right shot Dman!!!

Hope you're proud, Fatty. Been 2 weeks at least since I went to Natural Stat Trick rabbit hole and talkin to you sent me there.

Hawks had a 41.8 corsi. And a 39.7 xGF as a team. The best corsi of Dmen? Yep, Crevier with a 52.7 corsi in 17.29 TOI, more minutes than Allan's 16:52.

Corsi

Crevier, 52.7
Brodie, 51.3
Martinez, 35.4
Vlasic 37.5
Murphy, 37.2
Allan, 35.2

xGF%

Crevier, 62.9!!!
Brodie, 65.8!!
Martinez, 18.9
Vlasic, 43.2
Murphy, 41.1
Allan, 17.1

Yep, if you let your eye see it the Crevier-Brodie pairing was the team's best and Crevier was the better of the two. Crevier was the best Hawk Dman v PHI. And IMO Allan had his best period of the yr in the 1st but ended the worst game of his young NHL career.

Crevier did what he always does, except better and more poised. Sorry to tell you Fatty, RKF is developing Crevier nicely and your eye can see it. Same with Del Mastro, Vlasic, Kaiser and Phillips too........ These fringe 3rd pairing depth guys who can take NHL games and not hurt his club are valuable. And that they are all low rd picks makes it even better as the resources used to acquire them is minimal.

You're wrong, Crevier does not float and get lost. His fancies and the eye can see it.

And you're wrong on 22 yr old Reichel too. As usual, and the eye said this too of Reichel's fancies yesterday. His corsi was 41.3 but, as is usually the case with him, his xGF was 47.8. The eye says possession numbers are way below his xGF and the fancies say so too. The kid, despite a 40's corsi is dangerous cuz his xGF is high/er!!

Kid has been the most dangerous Hawk this season and he's at his floor with lotsa room, and runway, for growth.

I know they play different positions but I'm shocked how much more impact Domi had playing with total garbage here compared to TT and Bertuzzi.
- rpeters01

No, but TT and Bertuzzi are professional hockey players and players and part of the reason this thing looks nothing like last yrs daily Chinese fire drill. A reason the fancies and eye sees a much more structured team this yr that has kept them within a goal going into the 3rd 18 outa 19 times, or whatever that stat is that's thrown around.

Seems to me if LR can land on some combinations they will gel in some ways.

Good morning Folks!

Sorry to see the news about Zach as this site seems to get less relevant by the day. I tried to hold off posting as I wanted to see a larger sample size of games played, etc...

1. I was a huge defender of Richardson but it's time to fire him. I took our son to the game against Florida. If there was 1 player that Richardson having last change should have had Bedard avoid it was/is Bakrov. Instead LR put him again with Richardinson and Joey Anderson and to a surprise of no one....they were dominated up and down the ice.

The MOST important thing for this season is the continual development of 98. that is it. That is THE season. Davidson signed some veteran scoring depth and how many minutes all season has 98 skated with 86,59, and even 71? Not much. The kid is not playing well and part of that is on him, but being young and with a fragile confidence level I would love to know exactly what the F LR is thinking with these lines. Absolute Joke.

2. I am waiting for 59 to be put on IR with some sort of lower body injury. The dude just floats. Thats it. Rarely exerts himself at 100% and looks disinterested much of each game. No wonder he's on his 4th organization in 3 years? Again, to point 1 if 59 was exerting himself maybe LR puts him with 98 and here is your puck retriever etc. Still.....59 going at 75% is 100 times better than Joey Anderson going at 100% for Bedard.

3. I dont' know if this team is just way down but too many guys like 59 look slow and timid much of the games. They have their spurts where they dictate play but too many times when play is ratched up they are a step slow and hang on for dear life. How many points have they given away in the 3rd period where they can't hold a lead OR tie the game up late? They aren't getting smoked and more competitive but it would be nice to get over that hump a little.

Lastly....way way early but I really hope KD and some of these prospect hit. That Russian kid they passed on looked dangerous a lot on Saturday afternoon playing with some crap Flyers players. Hawks MUST find another premier young F to play with 98 to begin to see how high that ceiling is. Just hope 98 can weather this storm and not lose confidence. Kid looks beyond frustrating like a college kid skating with 2 50 yr old men in beer league who can't keep or understand what the talent is trying to do. That to me is what I see every time LR rolls 98 with these 3rd and 4th line players night in and night out.
- SteveRain

Very interesting post and I agree with much of it, RainMan. Thanks for it and good to see you posting.

You really hit the nail on the head saying Bedard is really all that matters, or at least matters most. The kid is regressing and no matter the reason that is distressing and his fault or not LR is ultimately the guy in charge of Bedard's "development".

Combine that with some damn crazy and frequently changed lines LR's bosses will at least start to wonder if LR is the guy. This could appear chaotic to LR's bosses and with prospect after prospect coming up every yr for awhile I'm guessing they wanna feel comfortable with who is in charge as they go thru stages of a complete rebuild.

I'm neutral on LR but can see if people wonder if LR is the guy.

You know i got a lot of push back when the Devils traded for Timo Meier. Here we are a couple of years later and it looks like the Devils had a similar player to him in Zetterlund. They just didn't have the patience to develop him.

So the Devils gave up Musty, Zetterlund, promising dman and more for Timo Meier who they have to pay $8.8 mil per the next 7 or 8 years.
- BetweenTheDots

And whether you agree with it or not, the Devils thought they had the chance to do damage in the playoffs when they got him, and Zetterlund was under 0.5PPG and trying to figure out his way in the NHL.

We can play the same game the other way. Vegas gave up Tuch, former first rounder Krebs and a first round pick that became Jiri Kulich. Vegas has a cup and Buffalo still sucks. Krebs is still woeful and Kulich is 20 - hopefully he turns into something. Tuch is a PPG player. I'd still take the Vegas end of that deal.

And whether you agree with it or not, the Devils thought they had the chance to do damage in the playoffs when they got him, and Zetterlund was under 0.5PPG and trying to figure out his way in the NHL.

We can play the same game the other way. Vegas gave up Tuch, former first rounder Krebs and a first round pick that became Jiri Kulich. Vegas has a cup and Buffalo still sucks. Krebs is still woeful and Kulich is 20 - hopefully he turns into something. Tuch is a PPG player. I'd still take the Vegas end of that deal.
- Chunk

Kulich has looked dangerous...... But, when the time comes I'd cough up for a Timo Meir. This is a big skilled guy who can skate and plays in the slots. A true power player and he has skilled feet and hands. Not many of them.

I know they play different positions but I'm shocked how much more impact Domi had playing with total garbage here compared to TT and Bertuzzi.
- rpeters01

Domi spent more time with Kane than any other player.

Glad you paid attention to the detail of the game. So, then I'm sure you noticed who was on the ice game tied 2-2 with 30 seconds left and the Hawks just hangin on in their zone? Yep, LR had Crevier out cuz he was their best Dman yesterday...... I thought the kid was having a fine game, poised and unhurried, good quick simple passes/plays, handled the puck with zero problems at the attack blueline a bunch of times, only saw him and Brodie get crossed up once in the high slot and it seemed LR thought as I did. 30 seconds left, Crevier on the ice!! His first NHL game this yr!! 6ft 7in right shot Dman!!!

Hope you're proud, Fatty. Been 2 weeks at least since I went to Natural Stat Trick rabbit hole and talkin to you sent me there.

Hawks had a 41.8 corsi. And a 39.7 xGF as a team. The best corsi of Dmen? Yep, Crevier with a 52.7 corsi in 17.29 TOI, more minutes than Allan's 16:52.

Corsi

Crevier, 52.7
Brodie, 51.3
Martinez, 35.4
Vlasic 37.5
Murphy, 37.2
Allan, 35.2

xGF%

Crevier, 62.9!!!
Brodie, 65.8!!
Martinez, 18.9
Vlasic, 43.2
Murphy, 41.1
Allan, 17.1

Yep, if you let your eye see it the Crevier-Brodie pairing was the team's best and Crevier was the better of the two. Crevier was the best Hawk Dman v PHI. And IMO Allan had his best period of the yr in the 1st but ended the worst game of his young NHL career.

Crevier did what he always does, except better and more poised. Sorry to tell you Fatty, RKF is developing Crevier nicely and your eye can see it. Same with Del Mastro, Vlasic, Kaiser and Phillips too........ These fringe 3rd pairing depth guys who can take NHL games and not hurt his club are valuable. And that they are all low rd picks makes it even better as the resources used to acquire them is minimal.

You're wrong, Crevier does not float and get lost. His fancies and the eye can see it.

And you're wrong on 22 yr old Reichel too. As usual, and the eye said this too of Reichel's fancies yesterday. His corsi was 41.3 but, as is usually the case with him, his xGF was 47.8. The eye says possession numbers are way below his xGF and the fancies say so too. The kid, despite a 40's corsi is dangerous cuz his xGF is high/er!!

Kid has been the most dangerous Hawk this season and he's at his floor with lotsa room, and runway, for growth.
- Mr Ricochet

Hi Rico. Looking at the advanced stats for a single game, while possibly interesting, is not really a predictive or descriptive use of the metrics. As the saying goes, anyone can have a good game. They are much more helpful looking at the entirety of a season or at least larger portions of it.

Reichel's xG numbers are pretty bad, only slightly better than last year. Crevier's were dog poop last year (worse than Reichel's). If he can string together 10-20 games like he did against the Flyers, then we can say something about his game.

I actually think your description is accurate. He has recently been the most dangerous Hawks on the ice - in both the offensive and defensive zones. Not necessarily the best thing to be.

You know i got a lot of push back when the Devils traded for Timo Meier. Here we are a couple of years later and it looks like the Devils had a similar player to him in Zetterlund. They just didn't have the patience to develop him.

So the Devils gave up Musty, Zetterlund, promising dman and more for Timo Meier who they have to pay $8.8 mil per the next 7 or 8 years.
- BetweenTheDots

Meier has been to a conference final and performed well in the playoffs.

They were pushing for a playoff spot and needed a forward with some size because Hughes, Hischier and Bratt are lil guys.

If they had competent coaching and if Hamilton was healthy maybe they do better. They have their guys and Hischier is already 26. They needed to try to get those younger players playoff exposure so they could get a few runs in before their core is on the wrong side of 30.

Most of these guys need a few shots in the playoffs. Not everyone gets it on their second try like Toews. Or ends up in 2 cup finals before 25 like Crosby. It's not like Meier hasn't worked out.

If there are unsold tickets, there is no income, so there is nothing to write off.
- LAHawk

I don't know, i kind of remember Kramer saying

https://media.tenor.com/a...aZ8AAAAe/kramer-write.png

TB over the Avs 5-1 after one. Hagel with 4 assists. Maybe Moore or Boisvert will have games like that in 3 to 5 years.

Hi Rico. Looking at the advanced stats for a single game, while possibly interesting, is not really a predictive or descriptive use of the metrics. As the saying goes, anyone can have a good game. They are much more helpful looking at the entirety of a season or at least larger portions of it.

Reichel's xG numbers are pretty bad, only slightly better than last year. Crevier's were dog poop last year (worse than Reichel's). If he can string together 10-20 games like he did against the Flyers, then we can say something about his game.

I actually think your description is accurate. He has recently been the most dangerous Hawks on the ice - in both the offensive and defensive zones. Not necessarily the best thing to be.
- Chunk

Fwiw the Reichel line since being put back together is the best line through the neutral zone hands down. Then again he's one of the best passers on the team. That's pretty good for a guy who doesn't know how to play hockey.

Fwiw the Reichel line since being put back together is the best line through the neutral zone hands down. Then again he's one of the best passers on the team. That's pretty good for a guy who doesn't know how to play hockey.
- BetweenTheDots

I’m not denying that part of his game. I’m just recognizing that he also needs to play the other 100 feet of ice, and he’s bad there.

Glad you paid attention to the detail of the game. So, then I'm sure you noticed who was on the ice game tied 2-2 with 30 seconds left and the Hawks just hangin on in their zone? Yep, LR had Crevier out cuz he was their best Dman yesterday...... I thought the kid was having a fine game, poised and unhurried, good quick simple passes/plays, handled the puck with zero problems at the attack blueline a bunch of times, only saw him and Brodie get crossed up once in the high slot and it seemed LR thought as I did. 30 seconds left, Crevier on the ice!! His first NHL game this yr!! 6ft 7in right shot Dman!!!

Hope you're proud, Fatty. Been 2 weeks at least since I went to Natural Stat Trick rabbit hole and talkin to you sent me there.

Hawks had a 41.8 corsi. And a 39.7 xGF as a team. The best corsi of Dmen? Yep, Crevier with a 52.7 corsi in 17.29 TOI, more minutes than Allan's 16:52.

Corsi

Crevier, 52.7
Brodie, 51.3
Martinez, 35.4
Vlasic 37.5
Murphy, 37.2
Allan, 35.2

xGF%

Crevier, 62.9!!!
Brodie, 65.8!!
Martinez, 18.9
Vlasic, 43.2
Murphy, 41.1
Allan, 17.1

Yep, if you let your eye see it the Crevier-Brodie pairing was the team's best and Crevier was the better of the two. Crevier was the best Hawk Dman v PHI. And IMO Allan had his best period of the yr in the 1st but ended the worst game of his young NHL career.

Crevier did what he always does, except better and more poised. Sorry to tell you Fatty, RKF is developing Crevier nicely and your eye can see it. Same with Del Mastro, Vlasic, Kaiser and Phillips too........ These fringe 3rd pairing depth guys who can take NHL games and not hurt his club are valuable. And that they are all low rd picks makes it even better as the resources used to acquire them is minimal.

You're wrong, Crevier does not float and get lost. His fancies and the eye can see it.

And you're wrong on 22 yr old Reichel too. As usual, and the eye said this too of Reichel's fancies yesterday. His corsi was 41.3 but, as is usually the case with him, his xGF was 47.8. The eye says possession numbers are way below his xGF and the fancies say so too. The kid, despite a 40's corsi is dangerous cuz his xGF is high/er!!

Kid has been the most dangerous Hawk this season and he's at his floor with lotsa room, and runway, for growth.
- Mr Ricochet

Never said Crevier looks lost. I said I don't think he has the foot speed to be a consistent contributor in the NHL. Neat he was good against the Flyers. Let's see what happens after 5 games. I think he's just a bigger Carl Dahlstrom.

Philips I think has the physical and technical tools but doesn't think the game well enough to be a regular.

And at this stage those guys are trade fodder anyway because they already have 3 young competent defenders + another two who should be difference makers in Rockford (at least one of them anyway) and Seth Jones until the end of time. That equals 6. May as well get value for them while you can because these fill ins are a dime a dozen.

Reichel's fancy stats are bad because that line does not defend well. They drop 4 players in front of the goal to protect the front of the net and have Reichel chase the puck around. Good for Luke for figuring out how to squeeze some production out of that line but in terms of "development" which is the buzzword here - not sure how that helps him be a better hockey player.

That will great bum slaying when they can get the puck out in transition and he can take advantage of slower skaters and less good players. He struggles mightily against faster and more competent teams because he doesn't have the time and space that he needs to operate. Those opportunities dry up against more competent competition. He's effective in Rockford because he's faster than everyone else. He was probably effective with AA because they would just skate super fast and bobs your uncle.

His fancies before they allegedly (frank)ed him up are the same as they are now but with a higher shooting percentage. You'd expect to see some kind of growth at this point.

I stood by my unpopular statement last year that Kurashev was not a top 6 player and that is proving to be an accurate assessment. Until Reichel can produce somewhere other than in translation and play off the puck instead of chasing it I'm not going to have a high opinion of him. Those shouldn't be controversial statements.

Domi spent more time with Kane than any other player.
- Chunk

Never mind

Never said Crevier looks lost. I said I don't think he has the foot speed to be a consistent contributor in the NHL. Neat he was good against the Flyers. Let's see what happens after 5 games. I think he's just a bigger Carl Dahlstrom.

Philips I think has the physical and technical tools but doesn't think the game well enough to be a regular.

And at this stage those guys are trade fodder anyway because they already have 3 young competent defenders + another two who should be difference makers in Rockford (at least one of them anyway) and Seth Jones until the end of time. That equals 6. May as well get value for them while you can because these fill ins are a dime a dozen.

Reichel's fancy stats are bad because that line does not defend well. They drop 4 players in front of the goal to protect the front of the net and have Reichel chase the puck around. Good for Luke for figuring out how to squeeze some production out of that line but in terms of "development" which is the buzzword here - not sure how that helps him be a better hockey player.

That will great bum slaying when they can get the puck out in transition and he can take advantage of slower skaters and less good players. He struggles mightily against faster and more competent teams because he doesn't have the time and space that he needs to operate. Those opportunities dry up against more competent competition. He's effective in Rockford because he's faster than everyone else. He was probably effective with AA because they would just skate super fast and bobs your uncle.

His fancies before they allegedly (frank)ed him up are the same as they are now but with a higher shooting percentage. You'd expect to see some kind of growth at this point.

I stood by my unpopular statement last year that Kurashev was not a top 6 player and that is proving to be an accurate assessment. Until Reichel can produce somewhere other than in translation and play off the puck instead of chasing it I'm not going to have a high opinion of him. Those shouldn't be controversial statements.
- fattybeef

I'm not sure anyone on here ever suggested Kurashev was a legit top 6 player on a decent team. I believe your assessment has always essentially been he's bad at hockey. The second part was the unpopular part.

Also, I think most here figured at some point he wasn't going to be part of the rebuild.

High opinion and so/so fancies or not, Reichel definitely looks like a better player than the one who provided absolutely nothing last season until he got called up again at the end. I'll take the improvement from a guy who does potentially factor into this rebuild.

WIth progress not being linear, letting him figure things out with the big club vs RFD should make you happy no?

Interesting breakdown from Pope regarding the Hawks issues with late leads and how/why they are giving up so much. Nothing earth-shattering and kinda common sense, but some good quotes from Martinez.

https://chicago.suntimes....-flyers-alec-martinez-nhl

I'm not sure anyone on here ever suggested Kurashev was a legit top 6 player on a decent team. I believe your assessment has always essentially been he's bad at hockey. The second part was the unpopular part.

Also, I think most here figured at some point he wasn't going to be part of the rebuild.

High opinion and so/so fancies or not, Reichel definitely looks like a better player than the one who provided absolutely nothing last season until he got called up again at the end. I'll take the improvement from a guy who does potentially factor into this rebuild.

WIth progress not being linear, letting him figure things out with the big club vs RFD should make you happy no?
- HawkintheD

I was hoping Kurashev was going to take another step in a positive direction but unfortunately that's not the case, just like Raddysh, although Raddysh looks to be productive for the Caps this year.

If you can't see the talent, not you, in Reichel than there really is no point in debating this. This is a kid you hold onto and see what becomes of him.

It's so weird how it seems like some expect young players to step on the ice and become seasoned pros.

I was hoping Kurashev was going to take another step in a positive direction but unfortunately that's not the case, just like Raddysh, although Raddysh looks to be productive for the Caps this year.

If you can't see the talent, not you, in Reichel than there really is no point in debating this. This is a kid you hold onto and see what becomes of him.

It's so weird how it seems like some expect young players to step on the ice and become seasoned pros.
- BetweenTheDots

Right? Bedard has been called generational or possibly generational. He was a guy that was tabbed to turn pro immediately yet there were obviously areas of his game that still needed work.

I was hoping Kurashev was going to take another step in a positive direction but unfortunately that's not the case, just like Raddysh, although Raddysh looks to be productive for the Caps this year.

If you can't see the talent, not you, in Reichel than there really is no point in debating this. This is a kid you hold onto and see what becomes of him.

It's so weird how it seems like some expect young players to step on the ice and become seasoned pros.
- BetweenTheDots

I didn't expect him to become a seasoned pro in his first year. However, I did expect to see progression. He played two years in the highest level German league and he's been in the US in either the AHL or NHL for three years. No one (not even Fatty) is saying he isn't dangerous with the puck on his blade. His problem is the rest of the time. Literally every metric says that he is pretty bad aside from when he has the puck.

You can get away with being below average without the puck if you are scoring a bunch. Reichel doesn't. He looks better right now because no one else on the team is scoring. That's good, I guess, but there hasn't been any growth to his game in three years. What does he do better now than he did when they gave him that first 11 games three years ago?

Right? Bedard has been called generational or possibly generational. He was a guy that was tabbed to turn pro immediately yet there were obviously areas of his game that still needed work.
- HawkintheD

And I'd say that he's improved some in those areas where he was lacking. Where have we seen the improvements in Reichel and Kurashev?

I still have no idea where the idea came from that Kurashev was good defensively...

I didn't expect him to become a seasoned pro in his first year. However, I did expect to see progression. He played two years in the highest level German league and he's been in the US in either the AHL or NHL for three years. No one (not even Fatty) is saying he isn't dangerous with the puck on his blade. His problem is the rest of the time. Literally every metric says that he is pretty bad aside from when he has the puck.

You can get away with being below average without the puck if you are scoring a bunch. Reichel doesn't. He looks better right now because no one else on the team is scoring. That's good, I guess, but there hasn't been any growth to his game in three years. What does he do better now than he did when they gave him that first 11 games three years ago?
- Chunk

But the metrics say he's better this year than last year. And as fatty says while bum slaying, only issue is he's with 2 bums Isn't that growth.

Right? Bedard has been called generational or possibly generational. He was a guy that was tabbed to turn pro immediately yet there were obviously areas of his game that still needed work.
- HawkintheD

I saw some news writer moron comparing Bedard to Yakupov, hahaha