McKeens mid season rankings

[seattleblue]

they finally just noticed he wasn't on the bench

Fischer just manhandled Jiricek on the 3 on 3 and took possession away

Did that play say more about Fischer or Jiricek?

better play by Fischer than "poor" play by Jiricek. rugged separation. but indicative of how Jiricek is so offense oriented he will sometimes force offense even if it costs him defensively. it was 3-on-3 and Jiricek can do that play he did in the WJC where he scored that world class goal in OT but he can also get separated through inappropriate aggression with the puck. wonder if bluesfan1978 saw that play the same way

Good to know. I wonder with Jiricek if the high-end offensive plays like the aforementioned WJC goal won’t carryover to the NHL with bigger/stronger dmen and overall tighter defense. It all comes down to how good is he and we won’t know until we do.

100%. By far the best thing about this prospect is that he is able to skate and think attack at an elite level. He really wants to do it in way where he's always going to want to do it. I 100% trust that our staff selected a player they hope becomes this irresistible force offensively. WJC goal = tantalizing showcase of the high end part of his ability.

I can't say this enough but his physical game this year is what stands out to me the most. He lines up hits. It's more than just hit out of moment of opportunity. He lags the rope, lets the forward work himself to the spot on the boards and then he slams. He plots it openly. He has knocked so many players to the ice now. Open ice hits, board hits. So this suggests a player capable of still directing specific focus to an area needing attention. Love to see that.

What current weight is he playing at Seattle? I thought he was on the lighter side around 180 or so to start the season? What you are describing makes me think he is hitting like a heavyweight. Which sounds great!

I don't know exactly what he weighs today but he is a heavyweight relative to the competition at this point since he's 19 in a 16-20 league. what I am trying to get at is the conscious intent. it's almost like how Nathan Villeneuve knocked him out almost a year ago today, he may have looked at that and thought 'I need to be that guy'

[aslord]

with the Rangers, Hawks and 3 Canadian teams all around the same position as the Blues currently, they are absolutely going to get shafted in the lottery

I'm kind of focused on six teams. most people focus on raw points but I look at wins minus regulation losses because I know how hard that is to claw back.

We have Vancouver at -13, they are gone.

Then us and NYR (falling like a rock) at -6
Calgary and Chicago both -4
Winnipeg -3

in 7th place is tonight's opponent Nashville at +2

now to the point of your post, the worst case result. the worst shafting they can get is the 8th pick as long as Nashville and everybody with a better record stays somewhat bouyant near .500 and the Blues don't start stringing wins together. It would be ideal if they are -8 going into the break and even better if NYR won its remaining pre-break game to be -5.

Blues look like they will go into the lottery with somewhere between second and sixth best odds as things stand without major trajectory changes. so the "shafting" then becomes anywhere from the 4th to 8th pick in concrete results

I think you missed my point entirely. With VAN/CAL/WIN/CHI and NYR as the 5 teams currently in our range, there's no way in hell the lottery isn't rigged toward their favor. The Blues could have the worst record overall at the end and absolutely end up with NYR getting the first pick and Chicago second.

[The Average Gatsby]

with the Rangers, Hawks and 3 Canadian teams all around the same position as the Blues currently, they are absolutely going to get shafted in the lottery

I'm kind of focused on six teams. most people focus on raw points but I look at wins minus regulation losses because I know how hard that is to claw back.

We have Vancouver at -13, they are gone.

Then us and NYR (falling like a rock) at -6
Calgary and Chicago both -4
Winnipeg -3

in 7th place is tonight's opponent Nashville at +2

now to the point of your post, the worst case result. the worst shafting they can get is the 8th pick as long as Nashville and everybody with a better record stays somewhat bouyant near .500 and the Blues don't start stringing wins together. It would be ideal if they are -8 going into the break and even better if NYR won its remaining pre-break game to be -5.

Blues look like they will go into the lottery with somewhere between second and sixth best odds as things stand without major trajectory changes. so the "shafting" then becomes anywhere from the 4th to 8th pick in concrete results

I think you missed my point entirely. With VAN/CAL/WIN/CHI and NYR as the 5 teams currently in our range, there's no way in hell the lottery isn't rigged toward their favor. The Blues could have the worst record overall at the end and absolutely end up with NYR getting the first pick and Chicago second.

To be fair, this exact scenario could happen to any team that finishes last. There is a lottery after all.

[MandatoryDenial]

I think you missed my point entirely. With VAN/CAL/WIN/CHI and NYR as the 5 teams currently in our range, there's no way in hell the lottery isn't rigged toward their favor. The Blues could have the worst record overall at the end and absolutely end up with NYR getting the first pick and Chicago second.

If what your suggesting is true, then Doug Armstrong is definitely to blame for this. I remember he was a champion of the idea of a lottery for the first overall in fact he came to the media and gave a full fledged endorsement of it. If he would allow the process to become corrupted so that his organization would be robbed of a pick in favor of bigger markets then he would absolutely need to answer for this and I will go so far as to say it would be incumbent on him as the GM to make certain there was transparency in the picking of the balls as they are drawn. He is charged after all with looking out for the franchise's best interest as both a GM and a President of Hockey Operations.

[zuck698]

Looking at the strength of schedule hear on out, Calgary has the toughest by far of the current tankers at number 3. They will have a ton of losses already baked in. Blues are 21st and Rangers 23. Didn't even look at the Canucks, as with the lead they have and the way they are playing, they are probably the favorites. Wonder if this will have any bearing on Army's approach to the deadline? Sell quicker? It would make sense to do so in one regard, but you still don't want to take less on a trade for draft pick purposes. Thoughts?

[TruBlueFan_1970]

Looking at the strength of schedule hear on out, Calgary has the toughest by far of the current tankers at number 3. They will have a ton of losses already baked in. Blues are 21st and Rangers 23. Didn't even look at the Canucks, as with the lead they have and the way they are playing, they are probably the favorites. Wonder if this will have any bearing on Army's approach to the deadline? Sell quicker? It would make sense to do so in one regard, but you still don't want to take less on a trade for draft pick purposes. Thoughts?

Looks like we could finish anywhere from 1-6, but realistically, I think you are right. We are probably looking at finishing in the 4-6 slot depending on how we play.
32 - VAN - traded away Hughes, playing horribly, and seem like they may never win a game again.
31 - NYR - Panarin gone, more to go. Guessing they limp in
30 - CGY - They have limped along but at least try to compete. Might depend on if they dump Kadri as reported
29 - STL - This is my guess for where we finish
28 - CHI - I think they are trying to build and crashed when Bedard got hurt. They win enough to finish 5th
27 - WPG - They are a mess but have been climbing. Enough talent to move up to 6th worst

Wildcards - NJ & SJ - Both currently sit 9 points ahead of Blues and were in a playoff spot for a long stretch. Both have lost 3 in a row. Both will probably continue to fall back in the standings. Will they fall far enough to push us out of top 6?? My guess is no.

Finally, wherever we finish, we can only move down two spots based on lottery winners. So, if I'm even remotely right, we would pick 4, 5, or 6. Worst I think we could pick is 8th if we finish 6th and both lotto balls are won by teams above us in the standings. Best is obviously 1 or 2 if they win the lottery.

[zuck698]

Looking at the strength of schedule hear on out, Calgary has the toughest by far of the current tankers at number 3. They will have a ton of losses already baked in. Blues are 21st and Rangers 23. Didn't even look at the Canucks, as with the lead they have and the way they are playing, they are probably the favorites. Wonder if this will have any bearing on Army's approach to the deadline? Sell quicker? It would make sense to do so in one regard, but you still don't want to take less on a trade for draft pick purposes. Thoughts?

Looks like we could finish anywhere from 1-6, but realistically, I think you are right. We are probably looking at finishing in the 4-6 slot depending on how we play.
32 - VAN - traded away Hughes, playing horribly, and seem like they may never win a game again.
31 - NYR - Panarin gone, more to go. Guessing they limp in
30 - CGY - They have limped along but at least try to compete. Might depend on if they dump Kadri as reported
29 - STL - This is my guess for where we finish
28 - CHI - I think they are trying to build and crashed when Bedard got hurt. They win enough to finish 5th
27 - WPG - They are a mess but have been climbing. Enough talent to move up to 6th worst

Wildcards - NJ & SJ - Both currently sit 9 points ahead of Blues and were in a playoff spot for a long stretch. Both have lost 3 in a row. Both will probably continue to fall back in the standings. Will they fall far enough to push us out of top 6?? My guess is no.

Finally, wherever we finish, we can only move down two spots based on lottery winners. So, if I'm even remotely right, worst we would pick 4, 5, or 6. Worst I think we could pick is 8th if we finish 6th and both lotto balls are won by teams above us in the standings.

Your list looks legit. If I was betting, I would switch Calagary with the Rangers. Especially if Kadri and/or Weegar go. Like you said, we will leave the draft with the best pick in many years. I wish we would just rest Holly and Tommer the rest of the year. It wouldn't hurt them any, and it would certainly help increase our STINK! If that is even possible this year. I hear there is a big time fighter, with skill, available at the top.