2021-2022 NHL Thread
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bustaheims
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I was just about to pose the question about when he gets sent down to some Habs fans I'm friends with.
Honestly, having watched him play a fair amount, it's not a surprise. Kid has skills, no question. NHL shot and is highly competitive. I just don't know if he processes the game fast enough/reads the play well enough at the NHL level yet. He tries a lot of things that would have been successful against USHL and NCAA defence and goalies (and a good portion of AHL d and goalies, too - though, he hasn't spent much time against them) that have little to not chance of becoming anything more than wasted opportunities at the NHL level.
Honestly, having watched him play a fair amount, it's not a surprise. Kid has skills, no question. NHL shot and is highly competitive. I just don't know if he processes the game fast enough/reads the play well enough at the NHL level yet. He tries a lot of things that would have been successful against USHL and NCAA defence and goalies (and a good portion of AHL d and goalies, too - though, he hasn't spent much time against them) that have little to not chance of becoming anything more than wasted opportunities at the NHL level.
Zee said:
https://twitter.com/3rdPeriodSuits/status/1455216642758254594
Heroic Shrimp
New member
https://twitter.com/3rdperiodsuits/status/1455245412089143300CarltonTheBear said:
Heroic Shrimp
New member
https://twitter.com/jtoonkel/status/1455224988131381250
Ugh.
Ugh.
herman
Well-known member
Cole Caufield is a good prospect and I hope he gets an opportunity to succeed. It clearly won't be with this current iteration of the habs in what's going to be a stealth tank year.
https://twitter.com/JohnLuTSNMtl/status/1455212150310555648
Caufield's game is as an opportunistic finisher; he's small but shifty, and has a hell of a release. What his game is currently lacking (and this is the case for most players, but especially Montreal right now) is getting the puck to the OZ and keeping it there. Who in that lineup above is going to be carrying the puck in with control to set up Caulfield for success? Drouin perhaps but he's not a natural centre. Suzuki sort of, but he's by default going to be the Tyler Bozak of this team and fed to the wolves. Both of those options compound other (defensive) weaknesses. Dvorak is more of a safety with finish.
It's a similar situation to Nick Robertson who profiles similarly. The difference is, when he's back from injury and develops more balance to his game in the AHL, Robertson will be lining up across from Nylander or Marner or, at worst, Jason Spezza.
https://twitter.com/JohnLuTSNMtl/status/1455212150310555648
Caufield's game is as an opportunistic finisher; he's small but shifty, and has a hell of a release. What his game is currently lacking (and this is the case for most players, but especially Montreal right now) is getting the puck to the OZ and keeping it there. Who in that lineup above is going to be carrying the puck in with control to set up Caulfield for success? Drouin perhaps but he's not a natural centre. Suzuki sort of, but he's by default going to be the Tyler Bozak of this team and fed to the wolves. Both of those options compound other (defensive) weaknesses. Dvorak is more of a safety with finish.
It's a similar situation to Nick Robertson who profiles similarly. The difference is, when he's back from injury and develops more balance to his game in the AHL, Robertson will be lining up across from Nylander or Marner or, at worst, Jason Spezza.
OldTimeHockey
Active member
Joe S. said:
Seems like the Blackhawks have everything going right for them currently. Stand up organization.
L K
Active member
Vegas obviously benefits greatly from acquiring Eichel but what they heck are they giving up for him?
If/when Pacioretty, Stone, Tuch return they are right up against the cap. If Patrick comes back they go over the cap even with a 12 forward, 6 defenseman lineup.
Eichel will be on LTIR most of the year but if the supposed timeline is accurate it would be on ice training in 6 weeks and potentially joining practice in 8 weeks. So let's just say 3 months recovery. They would have to unload salary on top of giving up assets.
If/when Pacioretty, Stone, Tuch return they are right up against the cap. If Patrick comes back they go over the cap even with a 12 forward, 6 defenseman lineup.
Eichel will be on LTIR most of the year but if the supposed timeline is accurate it would be on ice training in 6 weeks and potentially joining practice in 8 weeks. So let's just say 3 months recovery. They would have to unload salary on top of giving up assets.
L K said:
It'll eat into their depth but I think they have enough expendable salaries to move. Tuch is probably a guy Buffalo will demand in return since he's young-ish and signed for 4 more seasons after this one. Rielly Smith would also probably be a cap causality here. He's still playing big minutes for Vegas but his production is dropping over the last couple years and he's a UFA at the end of the season so he's someone Buffalo can flip at the deadline. Unless they get a 3rd party team like Arizona to eat some of the deal they'll probably need to cut a little more, so add Janmark into the deal as well as he's another pending UFA Buffalo can flip at the deadline. Obviously Buffalo would want a 1st and/or a top prospect as well but that at least solves the cap issues. On a somewhat related note to this it's still hilarious to me that after getting rid of Fleury's contract Vegas decided to blow $5mil in cap space on Evgeny Dadonov after his disastrous season with Ottawa. I'd have tried to include him in this deal if I was Vegas but I'm guessing Buffalo is on his 10-team no trade list.
That would leave Vegas with a top-6 (when healthy) consisting of: Eichel, Stone, Pacioretty, Karlsson, Stephenson, and Marchessault. Behind that they still have some good young-ish players like Patrick, Roy, and Howden (assuming they aren't dealt). As well as NHLers like Dadonov/Carrier. They also keep their entire defence in tact and still have Lehner in net. Not a bad group (of course if healthy).
Kin
New member
CarltonTheBear said:
But I think that's sort of the question LK is asking. Who is a "top prospect" that Vegas can include in the deal? Krebs? He's the only guy in their organization drafted in the top 20. A first rounder of theirs also would figure to be 20-32.
Tuch, Smith, Janmark, Krebs and a 1st would be, I think, considerably worse than anyone thought Buffalo would do for Eichel and quite a bit less than they were supposedly holding out for.
bustaheims
Active member
Nik said:
Yeah. If Vegas expects them to take on that much risk in terms of the full return - who knows what they might get for Janmark and Smith at the deadline (we're likely talking mid-round picks if they're even moved - Buffalo also takes on the risk of injuries destroying their trade value) - they need to add a fair amount of value to that deal.
bustaheims said:
I feel like this is partially on them for not dealing him earlier. At this point in time with how they handled his injury situation and everything his value is only going to go lower the longer they hold off. Also even when healthy when a disgruntled star like Eichel is traded they rarely ever get "full" value, it's usually a 4 quarters for a dollar type thing.
This package here gives them more or less the equivalent of three 1st round draft picks (the actual 1st, Krebs a recent 1st round pick who is progressing well, and Tuch who I think on the market now would return a 1st round pick), plus maybe eventually a 2nd rounder and a 5th rounder for Smith and Janmark respectively at the deadline. I mean sure it's not great but it's not like there's a line of teams outside Buffalo's office trying to offer more.
It also really needs to be stressed that any team acquiring him is taking a pretty massive risk too not exactly knowing what kind of player they're going to get in a post-surgery Eichel.