Tank Nation UNITE!!!

[Kin]

The push to get into the top five is so the team has a chance at drafting a better player than they would at 6-7-8. Looking at it in any other way is pretty odd in my opinion.

I really think that the sort of amped up rhetoric around the relative importance of picking 6th vs. 5th is about the sort of impatience I'm talking about and the fact that, as we're discussing, those top five are the ones who are seen as having the most star potential in the draft. I just remember virtually the same thing in 2008 where picking in the top 5 was seen to be of such crucial import that it sparked what ended up being a pretty terrible trade on the Leafs part. Realistically good players are going to be available at #6 and the difference won't be huge in terms of where the team is 3 or 4 years from now.

But I guess I could have also thrown in that I hope the Leafs draft #1 if that would have clarified things.

 

[ZBBM]

I knew that would be brought up, but that just tells you about how the Selke is misvoted.  Trophies aside, let's say Crouse has an upside that puts him among the best defensive forwards in the league -- great on FOs, on PK.  If we pick, say, 6/7/8 ... he could be the best choice.

If we're at 6/7/8 (particularly say 8 ) then I could stomach a Crouse selection. He might not be my personal pick there, but if Hunter & co. say so then I won't judge. It's only if we pick him over a Strome or Marner that I'd be livid. And while the Selke voting may be a bit off, almost all of the very best defensive forwards in the NHL still have very high offensive skills. Things like high hockey sense, elite skating, and puck moving abilities are transferable to both ends of the ice. Can you name the best defensive forwards who score under say 40 points? I'd still probably take Hossa/Toews/Kopitar/Bergeron over them even strictly in a defensive-manner.

At the very, very best, Crouse likely projects to a David Backes type player. 50-60 points, big, mean, and very good defensively. Backes has the advantage of being a centre though, which Crouse is not. I wonder if maybe that's something a NHL team tries to change, as centres obviously carry much more defensive responsibilities. And while that projection definitely sounds awesome, I'd say it's more likely he turns into a Daniel Winnik-type player than Backes. And that's obviously the rub.

Points taken, as is cw's.  I don't know anything about Crouse other than what I've just read here.  I just wanted to make the point that having a really good defensive forward might be more valuable to this club than, say, another skilled puck-moving defenseman.

 

[Redleaf]

The push to get into the top five is so the team has a chance at drafting a better player than they would at 6-7-8. Looking at it in any other way is pretty odd in my opinion.

I really think that the sort of amped up rhetoric around the relative importance of picking 6th vs. 5th is about the sort of impatience I'm talking about and the fact that, as we're discussing, those top five are the ones who are seen as having the most star potential in the draft. I just remember virtually the same thing in 2008 where picking in the top 5 was seen to be of such crucial import that it sparked what ended up being a pretty terrible trade on the Leafs part. Realistically good players are going to be available at #6 and the difference won't be huge in terms of where the team is 3 or 4 years from now.

But I guess I could have also thrown in that I hope the Leafs draft #1 if that would have clarified things.

Yes. That would have clarified your opinion. It's McDavid or bust. Get with the program.

 

[L K]

You know what I find funny.  Gauthier gets maligned as a somewhat not great 1st round player.  I'm really struggling to see what the big benefit of Crouse is over Gauthier.  I think they both max out as 3rd line players.  Gauthier a little more for his superior defense and faceoff prowess and Crouse for more of his physicality.

The thing is, Gauthier was a late round pick while Crouse is going to go in the top 10.  Again, stay away.

 

[L K]

The push to get into the top five is so the team has a chance at drafting a better player than they would at 6-7-8. Looking at it in any other way is pretty odd in my opinion.

I really think that the sort of amped up rhetoric around the relative importance of picking 6th vs. 5th is about the sort of impatience I'm talking about and the fact that, as we're discussing, those top five are the ones who are seen as having the most star potential in the draft. I just remember virtually the same thing in 2008 where picking in the top 5 was seen to be of such crucial import that it sparked what ended up being a pretty terrible trade on the Leafs part. Realistically good players are going to be available at #6 and the difference won't be huge in terms of where the team is 3 or 4 years from now.

But I guess I could have also thrown in that I hope the Leafs draft #1 if that would have clarified things.

They are no guarantees in the draft but there is, at least to me, a decent difference between the top 5 guys in the draft and the guys who are going to fall into the 5-12 range.  I think my preference for the Leafs drafting there is more that having better assets is the key to a successful rebuild.  One draft sure as hell isn't going to get the Leafs there but a drafting a team full of Kadri's isn't going to do it either.

 

[Kin]

They are no guarantees in the draft but there is, at least to me, a decent difference between the top 5 guys in the draft and the guys who are going to fall into the 5-12 range.  I think my preference for the Leafs drafting there is more that having better assets is the key to a successful rebuild.  One draft sure as hell isn't going to get the Leafs there but a drafting a team full of Kadri's isn't going to do it either.

Well, not to belabor the point but weren't people here at the time all upset with drafting Kadri because it meant the team missed out on drafting Brayden Schenn?

I think in any draft once you move out of what is really the elite, agreed upon tier there's not much to fuss over and, really, that's the top 3. ISS has Crouse really high. So does CSB(above Strome and Marner). So I'm not inclined to kill myself about the differences between picking 5th and 6th without being 100% that the difference will result in a different player being picked.

 

[bustaheims]

You know what I find funny.  Gauthier gets maligned as a somewhat not great 1st round player.  I'm really struggling to see what the big benefit of Crouse is over Gauthier.  I think they both max out as 3rd line players.  Gauthier a little more for his superior defense and faceoff prowess and Crouse for more of his physicality.

The thing is, Gauthier was a late round pick while Crouse is going to go in the top 10.  Again, stay away.

I was thinking the same thing. The write-ups about Crouse make him sound like a more physical, winger version of Gauthier - which is great and all, but, that's still late 1st round type skill level.

 

[Frank E]

You know what I find funny.  Gauthier gets maligned as a somewhat not great 1st round player.  I'm really struggling to see what the big benefit of Crouse is over Gauthier.  I think they both max out as 3rd line players.  Gauthier a little more for his superior defense and faceoff prowess and Crouse for more of his physicality.

The thing is, Gauthier was a late round pick while Crouse is going to go in the top 10.  Again, stay away.

I was thinking the same thing. The write-ups about Crouse make him sound like a more physical, winger version of Gauthier - which is great and all, but, that's still late 1st round type skill level.

If the "experts" have Crouse rated in the top 10, is it possible that y'all just haven't seen enough of his game?

I'm not advocating for taking him or anything, but have we already decided that he's a bad pick in that top 10?

 

[Redleaf]

You know what I find funny.  Gauthier gets maligned as a somewhat not great 1st round player.  I'm really struggling to see what the big benefit of Crouse is over Gauthier.  I think they both max out as 3rd line players.  Gauthier a little more for his superior defense and faceoff prowess and Crouse for more of his physicality.

The thing is, Gauthier was a late round pick while Crouse is going to go in the top 10.  Again, stay away.

I was thinking the same thing. The write-ups about Crouse make him sound like a more physical, winger version of Gauthier - which is great and all, but, that's still late 1st round type skill level.

If the "experts" have Crouse rated in the top 10, is it possible that y'all just haven't seen enough of his game?

I'm not advocating for taking him or anything, but have we already decided that he's a bad pick in that top 10?

I dont like his name. It just doesn't sit well with me. Whats a Crouse anyway?

 

[moon111]

You know what I find funny.  Gauthier gets maligned as a somewhat not great 1st round player.  I'm really struggling to see what the big benefit of Crouse is over Gauthier.  I think they both max out as 3rd line players.  Gauthier a little more for his superior defense and faceoff prowess and Crouse for more of his physicality.

The thing is, Gauthier was a late round pick while Crouse is going to go in the top 10.  Again, stay away.

I was thinking the same thing. The write-ups about Crouse make him sound like a more physical, winger version of Gauthier - which is great and all, but, that's still late 1st round type skill level.

If the "experts" have Crouse rated in the top 10, is it possible that y'all just haven't seen enough of his game?

I'm not advocating for taking him or anything, but have we already decided that he's a bad pick in that top 10?

I dont like his name. It just doesn't sit well with me. Whats a Crouse anyway?

A baby Leaf fan?

Source: https://instagram.com/lawcrouse/

 

[bustaheims]

If the "experts" have Crouse rated in the top 10, is it possible that y'all just haven't seen enough of his game?

I'm not advocating for taking him or anything, but have we already decided that he's a bad pick in that top 10?

It could be, but it could also be a situation similar to Luke Schenn, in that his advanced physical development make his play look better and is leading the scouts to feel his ceiling is higher than it really is.

 

[moon111]

Maybe some realize that even a player who can score like Kessel end up minus players because hitting, checking, defence, etcetera are actually valuable contributions? 

 

[ZBBM]

Idea: What if we ship the lot of them off to the high-energy particle physics supercollider in Switzerland, pack half of them into a capsule, half into another, fire each around the tunnel in opposite directions at incredible speed, and when they crash into each other halfway around see if it creates antimatter or dark energy or something like that? 

It's a twofer: Fast-tracks the rebuild, and advances basic knowledge about the cosmos.

 

[LuncheonMeat]

Idea: What if we ship the lot of them off to the high-energy particle physics supercollider in Switzerland, pack half of them into a capsule, half into another, fire each around the tunnel in opposite directions at incredible speed, and when they crash into each other halfway around see if it creates antimatter or dark energy or something like that? 

It's a twofer: Fast-tracks the rebuild, and advances basic knowledge about the cosmos.

Nice idea, but I'm betting you could only get them to coast. 

 

[ZBBM]

Idea: What if we ship the lot of them off to the high-energy particle physics supercollider in Switzerland, pack half of them into a capsule, half into another, fire each around the tunnel in opposite directions at incredible speed, and when they crash into each other halfway around see if it creates antimatter or dark energy or something like that? 

It's a twofer: Fast-tracks the rebuild, and advances basic knowledge about the cosmos.

Nice idea, but I'm betting you could only get them to coast. 

Dammit you're right. I hadn't figured their immense inertial mass into my calculations.

 

[Stickytape]

Looking forward, there are a lot of guaranteed points to go around in the basement over the next week and a half:

3/8: Carolina @ Edmonton
3/10: Columbus @ Carolina
3/11: Buffalo @ Toronto
3/13: Edmonton @ Columbus
3/15: Carolina @ Columbus
3/16: Toronto @ Edmonton
3/18: Columbus @ Edmonton

 

[LuncheonMeat]

Kadri sent home from the team meeting today.  Wonder if he was driving a tank?

 

[Strangelove]

Kadri sent home from the team meeting today.  Wonder if he was driving a tank?

I just miiiiiiight have seen him and Rielly at a certain club late last night. And they just might have been having a little too much fun.

 

[Jolly good show chaps]

Looking forward, there are a lot of guaranteed points to go around in the basement over the next week and a half:

3/8: Carolina @ Edmonton
3/10: Columbus @ Carolina
3/11: Buffalo @ Toronto
3/13: Edmonton @ Columbus
3/15: Carolina @ Columbus
3/16: Toronto @ Edmonton
3/18: Columbus @ Edmonton

Heres hoping for lots of overtime wins.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

Kadri sent home from the team meeting today.  Wonder if he was driving a tank?

Time change.