hf101

9 minutes ago, badgerbk said:

Wisconsin hockey fan - the Flyers got a steal in getting Wyatt Kalynuk in the 7th round in 2017. Defenseman that has some special skating and passing skills. He is fantastic on the power play and as a distributor - controls play while on the ice. Has a nice hard wrist shot from the point that is almost always on net. Through six games he has 4 goals and 5 assists for the Badgers. Really fun player to watch. He still needs to improve his strength but he is a difference maker with the puck. At worst, I think the Flyers will have a nice QB for their power play in the future but he could be much more than that.

Nice first post and we look forward to more. 

I think the key is they are having fun.   Williams has led this team with a new identity in Raleigh.  

These win celebrations are are all apart of an infectious enthusiasm.

3 hours ago, ClusterChuck said:

I wasn't sure if I wanted to start a new forum but I guess I just missed the group

But.... this is the best forum. 

2 minutes ago, Hockey-78 said:

Why thank you!

Aiming to raise the level of hockey IQ in discussions but if voltage works for you then that's what you're gonna get...

Stolarz cleared waivers.  Carter Hart should get his first NHL pro start tonight.

Harmonic suffered a facial fracture with that last uppercut.  A tough price to pay for sticking up for your teammate.

11 hours ago, IllaZilla said:

You forgot the mediocre drafting. One of the Athletic articles had the Wild farm system like 18th or thereabouts, but the only reason they were that high was because of the promise of Kaprizov. Without him, the article states the Wild would have been much lower. 

And with him they are still much lower.  I just read through Corey Pronman''s latest ranking of NHL teams by their U23 core.  This includes both roster players and prospects. Minnesota finished dead last behind Pittsburgh.  Edmonton was #1 and Flyers #15.

Quote

31. Minnesota Wild

 

U23 Core: Kirill Kaprizov, Luke Kunin, Joel Eriksson Ek, Jordan Greenway, Ivan Lodnia, Jack McBain, Mason Shaw, Gustav Olofsson, Andrei Svetlakov, Filip Johansson

 

That former great young Wild core of Mikael Granlund, Charlie Coyle, Jonas Brodin, Jason Zucker and Mathew Dumba have grown up into their mid 20s. Since then, they’ve made some first-round picks, traded some other picks in an attempt to win and traded Alex Tuch. Kaprizov is a big piece (when he does come over to North America) and I think the Wild have a few decent NHLers in this group, but I don’t see many other impact guys.

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https://theathletic.com/528780/2018/09/18/pronman-ranking-nhl-teams-by-their-u23-core/

I thought I'd post this for reference in the hockey history forum. 

3 hours ago, FD19372 said:

HF,

 

I don't know if you signed me up to a league, but I would like to participate.

Yes, @FD19372 you are signed up as on of the 13 this far for the Conn Smythe League. We will be getting the invites out this weekend.  

We still need one more manager for the Conn Smythe League. 

Please use this topic for any questions or concerns related to playing Pick'em.

The Flames shipped Dougie Hamilton, Micheal Ferland and the rights to Harvard hotshot Adam Fox to Carolina for Noah Hanifin and Elias Lindholm earlier this summer and now they've signed Hanifin to a 6 year deal with a 4.95M AAV.  (modified NTC in 5 and 6th years)  The trade allows the Flames to move Giordano back to the right side and pair with Brodie where he had played his best hockey a few years ago.  Hanifin is expected to play on the 2nd line with Travis Harmonic giving them a very good top two lines.

I think they got younger and faster with the move this summer.  It will be interesting to see if they have Lindholm playing alongside Gaudreau and Monahan.

5 minutes ago, IllaZilla said:

The Wild are not a bad team, but I think what needs to be answered is why do they disappear in the Playoffs every year? Where are their leaders? Where is that player that will single-handedly pick up the team and carry it across the finish line? I think until those questions are answered, the Wild are going to be a team that has a great regular season but melts in the pressure cooker of the Playoffs...

Injuries play a key roll in playoff success. The Wild haven't been a healthy team the last three years come playoff time.  The two years prior to that they enjoyed a decent playoff run.   Like it or not Zach Parise has been the major factor for the team's success and failures.  Without a healthy Parise in the playoffs, the Wild have exited quickly.   If you look at any of those teams that have won the Cup in the last decade, remove their star player's contributions and there is no-way their respective teams win a cup.

To win a cup these days a team needs a healthy line-up, they need speed, size, and scoring from all 4 lines.  And let us not forget the defense needs to block a lot of shots and superior goaltending.

6 minutes ago, CreaseAndAssist said:

 

Daily league, but its still weekly head to head matchups right?  Otherwise, it'd be mega complicated to have a different fantasy team to go against each day I would think.  I'm in if its still week to week head to head...otherwise, nah.  

Yes, it is the same standard weekly head to head matchups with daily roster scoring.  Rosters can be set in advance but it is best to check it daily.

25 minutes ago, bbgarnett said:

Hey, one of the noobies here but I might be interested in joining and trying to win my way up from the low tiered league(s) up to the tops especially if we can get some of the other Wild Members on board it would be awesome. I've been playing Fantasy sports on Yahoo  including Hockey/Baseball/Football and one or two years of Basketball since 2000/2001, while that probably doesn't mean much as you guy's have probably been playing just as long as me or longer and been in much more competitive leagues but at least it shows I'd stick with it and not just give up halfway through or even forget that I had a team period which ends up happening a lot in public leagues and even in the competitive ones too.

Great.  Maybe I will be in the same league as you this year, as my team didn't meet expectations last year.  

I do hope more from the Wild forum will join this year also.

1 hour ago, IllaZilla said:

 

Unless you're a Wild prospect...

With Fenton in charge, I forsee this approach being used for the Wild as well.  Nashville hasn't been a team to rush their prospects into the NHL either.

12 minutes ago, Alexandron said:

I never understood for decades why we need to sign every year lots of free agent signings? I just understand maybe 1. They usually mainly old-ish, not productive , not flexible, not perspective used material stuff to work with.

I've seen this for years with the Flyers also and Ron Hextall has shed some light on the reasonings for this.

These type of FA signings provide several things.  One they provide depth in the organization (NHL and AHL).  When teams rely too heavily on their unproven rookies at the NHL level they open themselves up for circumstances where they might need to make lopsided trades cover for the lack of depth in cases of key injuries.

The bottom tier signings are often for that 7th d-man and 13th forward who do a lot of bench warming.  But you need these guys to be there as you don't ever want your rookies sitting.  They are better off getting top minutes in the AHL than 6-7 min in the NHL.

They also provide competition.  At least for the Flyers if a rookie beats out a veteran for a roster spot in camp and is "ready" for a long season in the NHL the newly acquired FA will find himself waived and on the AHL roster.  IE  the situation with Matt Read last season.  Just because a prospect is termed valued doesn't mean a roster spot is handed to them.  

The AHL needs these veterans too to provide leadership for the franchise's prospects.

This will be worn this season by Humbolts new starting goaltender.

46 minutes ago, Puck_Pun said:

 

Does it count if it's just posting in the Coyotes forum asking if it's been moved to Seattle yet

of course...   but I think Seatle will get an expansion team.

6 hours ago, Alexandron said:

We have a good news. If you look for a main hockeyforums.net page, then you will be able to find that we have got a solid first place (with 2700 posts)in a last couple months among fan posts at our Central Division. Second place is for Chicago there with 1653 posts. To reach Flyers fans with their more than 164000 posts, probably, is impossible in a nearest future, but to beat a second team there( Penguins fans with their more than 13000 posts) we have a real chance in a couple years. Our leaders so far are CreaseandAssist (aka LIG); rottenrefs(commonly named Rotty) and   IllaZilla(aka KissArmyman). 

The most active fans it seems are among the teams from Atlantic Division.

You do know there are bonus points for also posting in the less active forums... 

35 minutes ago, rottenrefs said:

I don't totally disagree but not every hockey player with certain talents need to learn how to be accomplished 2-way players.

Accomplished 2-way players sure have main roles on the PK and traditionally the third and fourth lines however forwards on the top two lines have to be defensively responsible to limit their own turnovers and to forecheck pucks away and create a turnover on their shift.  

The NHL game is changing to four defensively responsible scoring lines these days.  Teams that can consistently do this are going to win.  The Penguins were able to accomplish this in their two cup wins, and the Capitals were able to do that better than the Penguins this season.  https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/may/3/capitals-enjoy-variety-scoring-while-penguins-lowe/

Sokolov is going to get there, he may need a full AHL season or 2, but he is only 20. 

3 minutes ago, rottenrefs said:

It's disturbing the Wild aren't bright enough to take a player like Sokolov (L) and put him with a couple forwards noted for their 2-way play. Guys like Koivu and Coyle for instance. Maybe there's a language barrier there and the kid wouldn't be able to understand Mikko telling him to back off offensively.

Sokolov needs to demonstrate that he is "NHL ready" first.  I don't see what is disturbing about that at all.  

15 minutes ago, IllaZilla said:

 

I've often felt that the Wild don't trust the Iowa coaching staff to develop players, or to develop them the way the prent club feels they should develop, i.e. Mikko Koivu clones. I think the parent club places too much emphasis on two way play. That's why I'm not holding my breath for that Russian kid, Sokolov or whatever his name is. Unless he's able to score at an ungodly rate, I don't see him making the big club because he isn't also a lock-down forward...

That then is something Fenton needs to FIX ASAP.  The Iowa Wild need to be an extension of the Wild's coaching staff.  Players within the AHL need to be trained so that a call-up to their NHL team is a seamless transition.   And I don't think there can ever be too much emphasis on two-way play.  Turnovers are game killers.  Look what happened with Yakapov since his #1 pick in the 2012 NHL draft.  He never got it w/r to the defensive side to his game and NO NHL GM wants him.

Sokolov has shown improvement in his Defensive game in the last 3 years in the OHL.  Starting the year in the AHL is the perfect place for him.

9 minutes ago, Alexandron said:

Sokolov is going to play in that team too

Yes.  there is more on him here

Quote

“(Sokolov)’s got an incredible ability to score goals,” Bombardir said Wednesday. “It’s uncanny.”

It’s why the Wild remain interested in Sokolov and helping him develop despite defensive issues and fitness deficiencies. Both aspects of Sokolov, Bombardir and Lalonde said this week at development camp, will need to improve as Sokolov plays in the AHL this season.

Sokolov, from Omsk, Russia, has scored 128 goals and has 220 points over the past three seasons in the OHL.

As impressive as his goal numbers are, his plus-minus numbers are equally as bad. He finished with a minus-40 in 2015-16, a minus-32 the next year, and he improved that number to plus-3 this past season in which he split time with the Sudbury Wolves and Barrie Colts.

“In the past two years, I have been trying to work very hard,” Sokolov told The Athletic. “It’s not good enough right now, I know. But I am trying to do better.”

Bombardir said he has already seen improvement since he first started watching Sokolov, Minnesota’s seventh-round pick in 2016. He has seen Sokolov improve at retreating back to the defensive zone hard and then defending, something Sokolov’s Sudbury coach instilled in him. Bombardir added that Sokolov needs more work on nuances such as finding spots in the defensive zone.

Sokolov agreed. He said that sometimes he needs to stop on the ice instead of circling. The problems, he said, remain in his head.

“With some more structure at the pro level, hopefully he picks up on it,” Bombardir said. “He’s willing to do it. He really is. You just have to keep him on it because that’s how coaches trust their players — you have to be able to defend someway somehow. I know it’s a cliche, but it’s hard for a coach to put a player out there who can’t defend.”

It’s also hard for coaches to put players on the ice who aren’t in shape. He’s listed at 6-foot-1, 210 pounds on the Wild development camp roster. But that’s one of the lower numbers at which Sokolov has been listed. The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler wrote this past October that Sokolov’s weight has been listed at 230 pounds before.

One development camp, Sokolov did not skate. The Wild had him working on strength training and conditioning instead.

He’s listening and trying to follow through on all of the eating, drinking and exercise advice he has received this week, he said.

Bombardir said Sokolov still needs to get in better shape, lose “a little bit” of weight and get stronger. Without those elements, the transition to the AHL this next season could prove difficult.

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