NFT: NHL/PA agree to RTP Protocols for Edmonton and Toronto

As we Rangers fans know many big names come to NY and struggle to perform to their previous standard. Panarin has flourished. He has 95 points in 69 games(32g/63a/+36) and his impact has gone beyond that. He's currently 4th in the league in scoring and no one is close in plus/minus(nearest is 10 behind).

Watching him night in and night out as a Ranger I'm just blown away not just by his scoring abilities but his hockey sense. I've never seen a guy so regularly just take the puck away from other players. He'll pluck it out of the air with ridiculous hand eye or just somehow adjust his position blind and just be there and the puck is his. It's tremendously fun to watch and must scare the bejesus out of defensemen. Because once he has it he's so dangerous with it.

So excited to see him play his prime years on Broadway. We're entering a NY Ranger championship window imo and I truly believe with Mika, Breadman, Fox and Igor leading a young and very talented team I see a Cup in the near future.

Well deserved - ( New Window )

But his numbers are just as impressive as Sorokin's - 117 games, .935 sv%, 1.68 GAA. 117 isn't a tiny sample, either.

Stepan improved his skating and others have as well. There are some really coveted skating coaches out there and players pay big money to work with them. I doubt they do so if there weren't techniques, striding etc that can be adjusted to improves results.

They do have some good prospects, but it will likely take a few years for all those guys to come together to make a formidable defense. Hopefully Panarin and Zibanejad are still playing at the same level by then.

You could say the same about players in all sports. Take pitchers in baseball for instance. There are some pitching gurus who are highly sought after for their ability to wring a little more out of a pitcher's arm, even guys who have been pros for a while.

In comment 14933006 BrettNYG10 said:

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pj, I had a slightly off-topic question for you. I meant to ask it on one of the Lias threads a few weeks ago - I always see people talk about improving a prospect's skating and how that's fixable. I've always thought this was a bit silly/hopeful - players typically have had excellent training and are on the ice non-stop for years by the time they're drafted. It's not like me going from playing once or twice a week to skating five times a week with professional coaches. I can't really recall a guy meaningfully improving his skating after being drafted. Where do you fall - do you think it's something that can be meaningfully improved after being drafted or is it kind of set in stone?

Not sure. I think maybe it depends on what coaching they've received. So many hockey players are so bad fundamentally (at the youth levels). I bring my youngest to a figure skating coach in the off-season for private lessons (not this year of course) and the figure skating instructor every year tells me "I'm amazed at how bad fundamentally hockey players are at skating".

And to me it's obvious. We have 50 - 60 min practices two or three times a week (usually twice) and we spend 10 minutes in the beginning of each practices on skating, we have 15-16 skaters and none gets individual attention (and even if they wanted it I have no clue how to coach them, lol). So most kids who don't pick up strides, knee bend, arm stride, posture, etc - they're not going to.

So, I do think if your technique is bad you can improve it with proper coaching - though it's hard to break habits as you say at that age.

But in the end I'm not sure really, and I also question how these guys can ascend to these elite levels being "bad skaters". So what are you really saying? They don't do tight turns like Sidney Crosby or have a first step like Connor McDavid? Don't have straight line speed like Bure? No one does. Brendan Gallagher has built a nice career out of being a "bad skater". I guess what I'm saying is even if someone isn't an elite skater, I think they could still thrive in the NHL with other strong attributes.

But it also may explain (along with size) why Gallagher (for example) fell to the 5th round. I don't think Lias Andersson's skating has anything to do with his current situation.

Miller and Lundkvist will be here soon enough. Trouba(despite over the top criticism based more on his contract than his performance), Fox and Lindgren are all keepers defensively. Though he's a liability in his own end DeAngelo can score and produce on the PP. So we're 4 out of six already. And there are some other young prospects that are in the pipeline as well.

The back end will be ready to hoist sooner than you think, say two years imo.

Some guys are never going to be elite skaters, but with better training they can at least be average skaters rather than lousy skaters. Stepan is a good example here - he was a total snowshoes guy his first couple of seasons but improved to the point that it wasn't a liability anymore, though it still wasn't a strength.

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But in the end I'm not sure really, and I also question how these guys can ascend to these elite levels being "bad skaters".

This is a good point too. I played with a bunch of guys this week on an ACHA D3 team and was blown away at how good they are.

I know Barbara Underhill is a famous coach, to Greg's point. Boyle had that great year after training with her, but I thought most of it was just because his S% was much higher. I remember him looking a bit faster after that off-season, but I could be imagining things.

I also think there's just so much more to skating than speed. I thought Hayes was a great skater even though he wasn't all that fast.

In comment 14933026 Greg from LI said:

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You could say the same about players in all sports. Take pitchers in baseball for instance. There are some pitching gurus who are highly sought after for their ability to wring a little more out of a pitcher's arm, even guys who have been pros for a while.

Do you find see meaningful differences in players performances after an off-season with them?

I did think Trouba was a disappointment, not because of a lack of scoring but because I thought he'd be better in his own end. And, yes, his contract certainly factors in.

Miller is the wild card IMO. From what I've read, he's still pretty raw and learning how to play the position, but his physical gifts are rare and his upside is phenomenal. If he can reach the upper end of his potential, he could be special.

Charlie Morton went from a 30something journeyman to an All-Star when he went to the Astros and they totally overhauled his approach. They've been notorious for working magic with pitchers in recent years. Gerritt Cole was always supposed to dominate but only did sporadically in Pittsburgh, became arguably the best in baseball with Houston. Justin Verlander had a great career in Detroit, then went to Houston and has pitched the best seasons of his career in his late 30s.

I mean, some of this is apples and oranges - in pitching it's often more about approach and game plan more than physical changes. Still, the greater point about top-level athletes benefiting from better coaching remains. Same thing in golf - even one of the greatest ever in Tiger Woods changed coaches after a couple of down years in 2003-4 and then had a few monster years with his new coach.

I've generally always been skeptical of that, which is why I asked. Thanks.

signed for another year in Sweden. That's the right move for him IMO.

Will be a fantastic talent when he gets to the US.

In comment 14933074 pjcas18 said:

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signed for another year in Sweden. That's the right move for him IMO. Will be a fantastic talent when he gets to the US.

Sorry, Lundkvist.

In comment 14933034 BrettNYG10 said:

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Quote: But in the end I'm not sure really, and I also question how these guys can ascend to these elite levels being "bad skaters". This is a good point too. I played with a bunch of guys this week on an ACHA D3 team and was blown away at how good they are. I know Barbara Underhill is a famous coach, to Greg's point. Boyle had that great year after training with her, but I thought most of it was just because his S% was much higher. I remember him looking a bit faster after that off-season, but I could be imagining things. I also think there's just so much more to skating than speed. I thought Hayes was a great skater even though he wasn't all that fast.

It's definitely not just speed IMO that defines a skater or better yet a hockey player. Jonathan Drouin won fastest skater at least once and he's absolutely electric with the puck on his stick (at times) and he still rushes the puck into the zone 1 on 4 and turns it over night after night.

Why? IMO it's because of Hockey IQ.

So hard to define, so elusive, but IMO the key difference maker in a hockey player. More than skating. Your skating has to hit a bar to make it to the NHL, but once you've done that IMO hockey IQ is a big part of the difference.

Connor McDavid has both. Sidney Crosby, doesn't have the that kind of speed, but his hockey IQ is off the charts and he's at as elite a skater in terms of edge work I have ever seen.

And I use clips of Crosby to teach my kids about tight turns, edge work, eagle/mohawk turns, angles, puck protection.

I define Hockey IQ like the supreme court described obscenity "I know it when I see it". Only a handful of players in Crosby's class. Datsyuk, Gaudreau (though his size limits him IMO), McDavid, and maybe Bergeron, can't really say anyone else belongs in that group from this era (yet).

It's why Chris Kreider is merely good, not great, despite having physical gifts to die for - huge, powerful, and blindingly fast, but he just doesn't have top-shelf hockey IQ.

In comment 14933203 Greg from LI said:

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It's why Chris Kreider is merely good, not great, despite having physical gifts to die for - huge, powerful, and blindingly fast, but he just doesn't have top-shelf hockey IQ.

Great example, such a frustrating player, but this year I thought he took some strides, maybe riding Mika's coat tails a little. Bigger players sometimes take longer to develop. Kind of like John LeClair for example, but that's who I always thought Kreider would become, John LeClair 2.0. Lindros kind of helped LeClair but that was more two-way than some people want to admit.

these are exhbitions, but so what, what else are you going to do on a Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in late July.

For the summer I didnt want to use days during summer but looks like im putting in for vacation 3-7 so i can see the isles at noon. Cant wait 🤞🏻

In comment 14933244 KDubbs said:

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For the summer I didnt want to use days during summer but looks like im putting in for vacation 3-7 so i can see the isles at noon. Cant wait 🤞🏻

Are the isles confirmed the noon game each day?

In comment 14933258 JayBinQueens said:

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In comment 14933244 KDubbs said: Quote: For the summer I didnt want to use days during summer but looks like im putting in for vacation 3-7 so i can see the isles at noon. Cant wait 🤞🏻 Are the isles confirmed the noon game each day?

Yup games 2 and 3 are at noon. Game 1 is at 4 on saturday aug 1. The schedule pjcas posted straight from nhl.com

In comment 14933260 KDubbs said:

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In comment 14933258 JayBinQueens said: Quote: In comment 14933244 KDubbs said: Quote: For the summer I didnt want to use days during summer but looks like im putting in for vacation 3-7 so i can see the isles at noon. Cant wait 🤞🏻 Are the isles confirmed the noon game each day? Yup games 2 and 3 are at noon. Game 1 is at 4 on saturday aug 1. The schedule pjcas posted straight from nhl.com

Ah, hadn't digested that yet. It completely upset w that. Florida always has low attendance and it's not like the Isles are a national draw so noon makes sense. Happy with the 4pm game on Saturday

In comment 14933203 Greg from LI said:

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It's why Chris Kreider is merely good, not great, despite having physical gifts to die for - huge, powerful, and blindingly fast, but he just doesn't have top-shelf hockey IQ.

I also don't think Kreider has great hands, either.