Interesting training camp notes

[butch]

Might hit some traffic around DT Toronto, but it's pretty clear after that.

if he's smart he'd take hwy 17 east once he gets to north bay and avoid t-dot .

imagine the speed he'd get going down thibeault hill in north bay !

[Pengwin7]

I read that in MIN, C1 is Bjugstad (Kaprizov/Parise) and C2 is Bonino (MarJo/Fiala).
For those in FOW leagues, somebody is going to have to take a lot of draws.

Don't be surprised if Nick Bonino finishes top 10 in NHL FOW this year.
He was 52%+ on the dot each of last three seasons in NAS.

[hockeyrobot]

Yandle off the top PP, Duclair, Wennberg, and Ekblad taking the three other spots.
Kerfoot injured (Engvall promoted)
Sounds like Dobson/Green is the third pair on Long Island

YES!!!

I always found Yandle was just great value because he always fell and hasn't been the "sexy pick". Plus he's freaking hilarious.

[Pengwin7]

DAL - Pavelski is waiting on 'updates' from his physical. Doesn't sound good.

Snipping a bit from theathletic (which I do pay for, again now... a whole $1/month)

Jan 5, 2021

Joe Pavelski was back on the ice after being absent on Monday. General manager Jim Nill had said the team was just waiting to get some clearance on a few medical tests so clearly everything checked out. Pavelski looked great on the ice, skating and shooting well, getting his usual work in at the net front, claiming his spots in 5-on-5 and the power-play unit.

“Joe looks great. He put his time in before camp started,” head coach Rick Bowness said. “I know when they were getting together and skating, he was leading the group. I think Joe is far more comfortable at this training camp than he was last year (2019), which is understandable. We saw the importance of Joe in the bubble and that has carried over so far in this camp.”

Pavelski’s importance is going to be magnified this season, even beyond what was anticipated when he signed a three-year deal in Dallas in 2019. Without the right-handed Seguin, Pavelski’s going to be a big factor on faceoffs for the Stars. The other primary centers — Roope Hintz, Radek Faksa and Jason Dickinson — are all lefties. Making up for Seguin’s absence is going to be a group effort but Pavelski is at the front of that group in a number of areas.

...

Forwards

Jamie Benn — Roope Hintz — Denis Gurianov
Joel Kiviranta — Joe Pavelski — Alexander Radulov
Andrew Cogliano — Radek Faksa — Blake Comeau
Nick Caamano — Jason Dickinson — Jason Robertson
Justin Dowling

Defensive pairings

Esa Lindell — John Klingberg
Jamie Oleksiak — Miro Heiskanen
Andrej Sekera — Mark Pysyk
Jerad Rosburg — Taylor Fedun




^Take note in FOW leagues.
Everybody thought I was drafting Pavelski as my "homer" in PQMC last night... but I had him targeted for his FOW... and... he's wing-elig in Yahoo (as always!!!).
[I drafted Roope Hintz, wing-elig, also.]

[2014olympicgold]

I wouldn't be surprised if Yandle gets back on PP1. Ekblad can't really run a PP, unless somethings changed. Maybe they try and run a PP from a forward on the half boards, which is very one-dimensional when that happens, the QBForward tends to be very stationary, which is the modern day death of a PP.

[hockeyrobot]

Can I change my Dallas pick in the Wins pool?

[Pengwin7]

Ekblad can't really run a PP, unless somethings changed.

I disagree.
Ekblad can most definitely run a PP.

Q chose (!!!) in past years to have Yandle (LH) run the talented PP1 with Barkov/Hubs/Hoffman/Dadonov.
Meanwhile, Ekblad (RH) got to run the PP2 with the scraps of Vatrano/Trochek/xxxx/Connolly.

A lot of those guys are gone - which means positional sticks/shots have changed.
Matheson is gone too, so D-pairings need to be re-thought.

Pretty much any NHL D-man that can put up 20+ ESP, can run a PP... Ekblad DEFINITELY included.
Time to try some new things.


From DomL's Panther Preview on theathletic, re Ekblad:

The knock on Ekblad in prior seasons is that he just wasn’t very involved with the puck. He took a lot of point shots rather than move the puck around and he was below average at breaking the puck out. That latter point was still a struggle last season, but his game completely changed from the red line in. He became one of the best defensemen at entering the zone with control and completely changed his in-zone game to become an excellent passer. He has the results to show for it too. Over the previous three seasons, he had just 0.16 primary assists per 60. Last year it was 0.84, a mark that led the league among defensemen.

It’s an impressive glow-up and it led to the strongest expected goals rate since his rookie season and an elite 57 percent actual goals rate which was second on the team. The model needs to see him keep it up for another season, but with his pedigree, it seems like it’s a given that this year he becomes a bonafide No. 1 defenseman.

[2014olympicgold]

I disagree.
Ekblad can most definitely run a PP.

Q chose (!!!) in past years to have Yandle (LH) run the talented PP1 with Barkov/Hubs/Hoffman/Dadonov.
Meanwhile, Ekblad (RH) got to run the PP2 with the scraps of Vatrano/Trochek/xxxx/Connolly.

A lot of those guys are gone - which means positional sticks/shots have changed.
Matheson is gone too, so D-pairings need to be re-thought.

Pretty much any NHL D-man that can put up 20+ ESP, can run a PP... Ekblad DEFINITELY included.
Time to try some new things.

The last time I saw him running a PP directly he seemed like he couldn't mentally run it. He's not that mindset of move constantly, shot vs reload, puck retrieval, make a difficult pass to relieve pressure. It's been over a season since I really tried to watch him, but he didn't really seem to be able to run a PP. Things definitely change though.

I was thinking more can he run it successfully with Yandle behind him. If he was the only option, he wouldn't have that Dman behind him. However it really does change things with the LHD and RHD running things IF Ekblad can do enough.

Ekblad has a shot if he can manage to know when to blast it, or hold it. Could very well be successful, but with Yandle right behind he can't stumble (or the PP stumble in general for a more accurate statement)

I read your addition from the article you posted. He could very well manage it. We'll see.

[Eskimo Brother]

Peng I definitely liked the Hintz/Pavelski's adds. They're going to be solid (though likely not flashy).

I agree that Ekblad has the talent to run a PP and I'm all aboard the train that has him taking a big step forward this year offensively. However, he doesn't put up many peripherals, so that has to be accounted for in certain leagues.

[Pengwin7]

^Yeah, Ekblad has always had more of a cerebral game... and the peripherals aren't there. I don't touch him in fantasy for the same reasons.
But... I follow Ekblad really closely because his home rink (Belle River, ON) was the same one I grew up at... and that always means a lot to me.
Plus with the cerebral game... and he's a right-shot D-man. And that's my game.

Now... he's a giant... and an NHL #1 overall pick.
And I'm... a beer league hack.

But other than that... we're the SAME! LOL.

[Eskimo Brother]

Yeah, I remember watching a Barrie/London game years ago with Ekblad in it. He was 15 and just the most dominant (and maybe the biggest) kid on the ice. I've definitely had him a slight bit more on my radar than others since then.

[Eskimo Brother]

Rasmus Andersson running the top PP for the Flames with the usual suspects on F.

[tweetdrivr]

Habs PP1 thus far

Suzuki
Weber
Petry
Toffoli
Drouin

PP2
Kotkaniemi
Gallagher
Tatar
Anderson/Perry
Romanov/Mete

[Eskimo Brother]

Girgensons done for the year after groin surgery.

[lucafen4]

Devils #1 line over first few days of camp

Johnsson - Hughes - Palmeiri