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NHL Thoughts : Drivel Intensified

October 25, 2017, 10:40 AM ET [45 Comments]
Adam French
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For the two readers, I apologize for the lack of content. I got bogged down in an article that I am still trying to figure out why the heck I’m writing it. I’ve passed the Event Horizon on it though, so I need to finish it. It has pushed everything back.


Kadvolution : Nazem Kadri has been one of the most intriguing cases of how a player can evolve. When Brian Burke made Kadri famous with that hilarious sound bite with Bryan Murray of the Senators; he was a boom/bust prospect if there ever was one. Highly skilled, but immature. His closest comparison was Mike Ribeiro. Which is…well…you know. Not just because of his style of play, but also the diving and petulant revenge penalties that so angered his coaches. He had some of the best hands in the draft, was terrible defensively and needed to improve his shot to meet his potential. His early time with the Leafs was looked at with great scrutiny. He was yo-yoed between the AHL and NHL. Benched when he made it, put on the wing, constantly criticized. It looked like the next Jiri Tlusty and the classic “Leafs can’t develop players” curse. Fast forward to today after the long and patient route taken with Kadri and what you see is a player not projected at all. Kadri has arguably the second or third best shot on a Leafs squad riddled with talented forwards. Kadri is the best defensive centre on the team and matches against the opponent’s top lines whenever he can. He has also curbed his enthusiasm for stupid dangles leading to horrendous giveaways.

From a one dimensional dangling playmaker to a two-way shooting centre is just insane to me. It’s not even a case of simply developing into his potential, it’s changing the entire play style and then thriving with it. One of the only examples I can think of that has done something similar would be Scott Stevens who transitioned his game from being an offensive defender driving the play to a defense first responsible player. With a 32 goal year last season and now 4 goals in 9 games, it’s looking less and less like a fluke. He’s not exactly a Selke level player, but I think he’s knocking into that range these days. His reputation will probably never shed his early bad habits, but his play on the ice sure has. A lot of people will probably credit Mike Babcock with this transformation, but I would like to credit Kadri. His perserverance has been outstanding. Ron Wilson seemingly tried to destroy him, Dallas Eakins wanted him to be a winger and Randy Carlyle was busy trying to figure out the toaster. This is on him and he evolved without ever getting the easy way out (see Bozak). I would post my favourite MyHockeybuzz blog about Kadri by Manics, but I think that would get me banned.


Calder Race Emerges : I joked a while ago that the Calder was already won by Boston Bruins talented young defender Charlie McAvoy. However that might have been a tad early…at 3 games played. I still think he has the inside track, but there are certainly new contenders.


Clayton Keller – Terrible first name aside (sorry to all you Clayton’s out there), Keller has shown the most offensive instincts out of all the rookies this year. His 6 goals and 10 points lead all rookies in both categories. He’s also essentially the only Coyote that is playing these days. The 7th overall pick of 2016 is just another of a great draft class that are already putting on shows this early in their careers. The only thing that might slow him down in the voting is his +/-, which is a real thing to those that vote. As distasteful as we all might find that. At -8 and the way the Coyotes are playing, I don’t see it going up. Maybe he can reach Yakupov levels of minuses?


Nico Hischier – I’m honestly surprised at how well Hischier has played. I knew he was good and going to be an impact player, I just didn’t expect it to be this soon. With 7 points in 8 games, he’s already having a huge impact for the shocking Devils. Playing centre at such a young age is always tough, but the 1st overall pick of 2017 is showing he can play it. It will be interesting to see if he can sustain his play over the year and more importantly, if the Devils can sustain their exciting start. Nobody really pegged them as the offensive juggernaut they’ve started out as.


Adrian Kempe – What a few games this kid has had. Holy smokes. Singlehandedly topping the Sens (with the help of Condon to be fair), looking great against the Leafs and smoking the Habs. Doing it all at 5 vs 5 no less. Kempe has 5 goals and 7 points thus far and seems to be heating up and being given more room to play. I don’t think his scoring is going to be this sustainable going forward, but you never know. The Kings losing Carter has given him a chance to show what he’s made of. With Pearson struggling, he might start to eat some of his minutes too.


At the end of the day, my money is still on Professor X to win the Calder.


Tampa Bay Strikening : Should we just hand them the Cup now? Probably not, but it feels like it right? I think we can all put aside the ludicrous notion that Steven Stamkos was “done.” He has almost as many Power Play Points as he does freaking games played. He and Kucherov are the most exciting duo in a long time. I don’t really count Crosby/Malkin as a duo since they only play together on the PP and when things are desperate. The 7 defense thing seems to be working wonders. Vasilevskiy looks poised to contend for the Vezina. The top-6 is unstoppable. Kucherov is well on his way to winning the Rocket. My goodness this team is just sick right now. Add to this that they still have some strong prospects to make trades with at the deadline and you have a really dangerous combination.


Oil Spill : Watching the Oilers last night was painful. I’d imagine it was even more so if you’re a diehard fan of them. After years of complaining that they can’t defend and their goalies suck; who would have guessed that a team with Connor McDavid would be the worst in the NHL at putting the puck in the back of the net? Kucherov is going to pass their team in goals scored in a game or two. 15. I know Draisaitl being out hurt, but seriously? How? Lucic looks like he’s skating in more molasses than usual. Why they expected Caggiula to be a top-9 scorer is beyond me. Strome looks like a bust. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has shown some smart defensive play, but this is a guy who NEEDS to score. He’s paid to score and be a 2nd line centre, not be a marginal two-way third liner. Aside from McDavid and Talbot, nobody seems to want to show up on a nightly basis. I think the only thing that’s really that positive outside of those two is that Nurse looks like he’s finally trending in the right direction. I really liked his game last night despite a few hiccups. Certainly looked better than Klefbom who does not look like he did last year. Missing Draisaitl and Sekera were and are pretty large loses. Their second best forward and second best defender, but it doesn’t explain why the entire team is in disarray. When a 19 year old smurf is needed to be an offensive catalyst on a team who probably makes the Western Conference Finals with better officiating, you know you’re in trouble. I don’t think a coaching change is warranted at this point, especially since they’ve had the carousel going ‘round and ‘round for years.


Thanks for reading.
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