Especially the front part of the offseason is spent speculating and dreaming about moves that could be made to improve the team from the outside. And no doubt, adding new players is a key tool for improving.
But with the way the league works with many players on long-term deals, much of the roster will return even in a year when management wants to shake things up. As such, significant potential for improvement exists from within the current roster.
Today’s Daily Cup of Joe takes a shot at identifying room for improvement for many of the returning players.
Sebastian Aho
He has made nice step-wise progress offensively in his first two years in the NHL. Aho is a good player who is only getting better. But I think he could continue from ongoing strength training. He does not need to morph into a power forward to be successful, but just like any young athlete his game will benefit if he uses his offseasons to become better physically for each next season.
Justin Faulk
Put simply, he needs to find another step or two of quickness/acceleration. The single thing that jumps out to me about Faulk’s game when he is struggling is that somewhere along the way he lost two-stride acceleration and quickness. The result too often is that Faulk allows too much time and space and opponents capitalize.
Scott Darling
Darling needs to do the work this summer to show up in training camp in the best shape of his life. The physical part of it should help, but maybe more significantly, being ready physically has the potential to boost his confidence which is in my opinion even more important.
Jeff Skinner
Jeff Skinner possesses a wealth of offensive ability and a tremendous ability to both create and finish his own offense. But the task of finding line mates that he meshes with such that he makes them better and vice versa has been more elusive in recent years. I think Jeff Skinner could benefit from doing some video working watching how a couple receive/finish type scorers are so effective playing without the puck. I also think he could benefit from watching a pure puck distributor or two to see how they play with the puck on their stick and generate scoring chances for line mates. The aim is for Skinner to make modest strides in terms of making his line mates better instead of being a one-man show.
Victor Rask
A bit like Justin Faulk, Rask could benefit from gaining even a modest amount of quickness and/or acceleration.
Brett Pesce
He had another solid year defensively in 2017-18 and produced at a reasonable level offensively despite not receiving power play ice time. Pesce has decent instincts offensively joining off the rush but sometimes struggles to receive and put the puck on net. As such, I think there are at least a few more goals to be had by Pesce if he can improve his finishing. So this summer’s homework is to spend some time working on receiving and shooting the puck and getting it on net.
Jaccob Slavin
My homework assignment for Jaccob Slavin would be to review tape on his penalty kill play. At a basic level, Slavin has a decent skill set for penalty kill duties, but it just did not work in 2017-18. He was on the ice for nearly every power play goal allowed. I would guess there is something to be learned from watching and evaluating penalty kill play.
What say you Canes fans?
1) In terms of making the 2018-19 NHL Playoffs, what do you think the split needs to be in terms of improving from within versus adding help from outside?
2) Do you agree with the work lists above?
3) What summer work items would you add for these or other returning players?
Go Canes!
Good topic Matt.
AHO—every athlete can benefit from additional strength. However I would argue that Aho doesn’t necessarily need to add much weight. Using other sports as examples, I think Aho might be hockey’s version of Ichiro or Jerry Rice. He has wiry strength, great vision, and plays bigger than his size. I am not saying Aho is as gifted—Ichiro and Rice are two of the best performers of the past generation. I do think Aho can be one of the best centers in hockey even if he never weighs more than 185. Fortunately, training for strength is more advanced and doesn’t just focus on muscle mass. The biggest issue for this season is for Aho to get goals in October.
Still don’t expect Skinner or Faulk to remain Canes, though all your points are spot on.
PESCE—I believe he can be a 35-40 point scorer. Let’s hope the coaching staff works with him.
SLAVIN—I expect he will do pretty much what you suggest. He is a player who seems to work for the best outcome.
3) MCGINN—practice using a goal three inches smaller. I believe McGinn has a 25- goal season in him.
The Slavin stat on PK goals is still so surprising to me. Would love to read about your review of what was happening.
This is one of many things that fall under the category of “I wish I could research ____, but I’m already in way over my head in terms of Canes time commitment.”
But from the point where I first noticed the odd trend, I did start watching a bit more closely. Two things…First, there is an element of bad luck in stats like this. Second is that I think Slavin’s strengths are defending one-on-one and in situations where he can attack the puck. That’s not generally what PK is once the team gains the zone. I think Slavin (and I saw this with Foegele too) has a tendency to try to defend players. That doesn’t work on PK. The puck moves too fast and you are outnumbered and need to cover areas first and players second. So finally getting to the point, I do not think Slavin has yet grasped how to read and defend passing lanes (puck never gets to the player to defend) versus trying to react quick enough to defend shooters (usually too late such that you mostly just become a screen).
Interesting, and that makes a lot of sense. I wonder if de Haan – Pesce could be given a try as the #1 PK unit. Would reduce ice time for Slavin a bit and perhaps keeps him fresh for heavy 5×5 time.
Other than Darling, I was wondering how much info is available about the players and their workout regimes this summer?
…ie. location (here in Raleigh) OR elsewhere, and what portion of their game (skill-set) they are working on, emphasis?
Have any of you heard much about that?
Slavin and Zykov have been joining in with Darling on some of his morning workouts at ROC according to Scott in his Q&A yesterday. And they are all starting to get ice time at RCI now as well. Ward has been with them as well.
Necas is spending 8 weeks working with his S&C coach this summer in the Czech Republic – plus ice time at his old rink. His S&C coach is the same guy who helped him add 45 pounds of muscle the past two years. Expect Necas to weigh in at 190-195. There was an interview with him a few weeks out.
Aho is back home in Finland and told Maniscalco last week he is working out and getting in ice time back home.
Skinner is playing in a charity table tennis tournament and was recently photographed ATVing on Santorini. 🙂 But he is looking buff in that picture and has clearly spent time in the weight room this summer.
That is all I have heard of.
Thanks for the update!
I agree that it would be interesting to know.
I do not think it is so much secret. I think it is more that most of this happens quietly and far from Raleigh when players are back at their offseason homes. We did get snippets of this last year with Hanifin working on his shot with a shooting coach, Teravainen working on strength training back home in Finland, etc.
Matt is making all of this waiting interesting and fun. And I appreciate it. I am going through hockey withdrawal. Matt’s efforts are keeping the pain at a minimum.
Truth be told, I am considering spending a little more this year on my STM. The movements made by management lately give me the assurance that this year’s Canes will be interesting and exciting.
But. I am growing concerned about Faulk and Skinner. Four years of Peters, and now being singled out publicly as locker room problems does not bode well for the future. Were they as bad as all that? Are they beyond recovery?
So what will it be? I know that Joe Sakic is laughing his posterior off at his coup with Matt Duchene. Is Pierre Dorian trying to imitate Sakic in how he is handling Karlsson? So far, not good. Is Karlsson causing problems just to cause problems, or is Pierre being foolish in holding out for too much? Artemi Panarin is driving the Blue Jackets crazy with his demands as well as his refusal to sign an extension. And then we have John Tavares. What happened there? I don’t think that it was as simple as everyone is saying. Why couldn’t Lou Lamoriello work his magic and keep Tavares in the fold?
Are we overplaying our hand with Skinny as well as Faulk? Can we or will we back up and accept less rather than lose each one getting nothing in return? Can we or will we back off and negotiate a renewal with Skinny? Can we find a home for Faulk if we can’t move him?
Is there a way for everybody to save face? Is anybody willing to consider this?
Back in the days of the original six teams, owners had a stranglehold on the players. Players were convinced that they all made the same amount of money ($7,500 per year) and if anybody raised a fuss, he was banished to the minor leagues forever.
Gordy Howe was asked what kind of signing bonus was he paid for signing with the Red Wings? He said, “$75 and a Red Wings jacket. And I had to hold out for the jacket.” Gordy had established himself as a star with the Red Wings and was growing dissatisfied with his pay by the time D-man Bobby Baun arrived with the Wings via trade. Howe asked him how much he was making. Baun told him. He was being paid considerably more than Howe was. Gordy stormed into the GM’s office and demanded an immediate raise. The GM said, “Okay. ” Things began to change after that.
The John Tavares incident marks a new change in the status quo. Players are beginning to test their power. The managers will have to adapt to the new environment. I hope that our guys can. I would hate to see us lose both Skinny and Faulk getting nothing in return.
This is much ado about NOTHING!
we are NOT in the dark ages…
I think the situation with Johnny and the Islanders is not about the money, more about him being tired of a subpar team that, by all accounts, is headed in the wrong direction.
The Islanders have the most expensive 4th line in the NHL apparently and have been signing junk players to inflated contracts this summer (if they make the playoffs they’ll prove a lot of pundits wrong).
Tavares is at a point where he wants some playoffs and hardware, and he clearly saw that wasn’t happening on the island, so he decided to go be a part of the Toronto hockey revival.
I think the Canes team may be a bit of a different situation. A team with clear upgrades on defense, some highly promising rookies coming in and supposedly looking to improve across the board may sound like a more attractive options to Skinny and Faulk .. I said “might”, no idea how effective an argument that is.
The Leafs wants Skinner or Faulk or both, especially on a one year contract. Due to their salary cap situation this is the year they could go all in and win the cup.
They’ll have some 8 or 9 mill in cap space after resigning Nylander and would definitely be looking at one-year rentals.
Faulk to Tor for some prospects (e.g. Sparks) might not be a bad idea. They are unlikely to be able to resign him even if he does rebound, making it possible Carolina could convince him to come back, or if his decline continues the Canes save a year of salary and get some compensation.
The Islanders have been an enigma for a while. Old owner was known to be very cheap. Not sure about new owners, but apparently the situation playing in Brooklyn is awful. They have a new rink coming, but it’s going to be a while. Tavares didn’t want to wait and I get that. The fact he gets to go to his favorite team growing up is a bonus. Then again, they always say you really can’t go home. We’ll see how that works out for him.
Neither Skinner nor Faulk is that kind of difference maker. Good teams lose players. As long as they can replace them the Canes will be OK. They’ve already replaced Faulk. I don’t think a defense first head coach will be all that upset at losing Skinner either. We’ll see if they can actually deal them in the next month or so. If they can’t training camp might be a bit more difficult on the culture side.
Back in the bad old days, when I spent a lot of time in bars arguing about politics and sports, we would hear about a new contract that a super star had just signed for millions of dollars. Inevitably, some genius would proclaim that the player wasn’t worth the millions he was to be paid. I would answer that the player was worth the money. Why else would the team’s owner pay it?
This would evoke the protest, “You know what I mean!” We were both correct, of course.
The arguments are still being forwarded. I no longer frequent bars. But I don’t need to. These arguments can be found on sports blogs all over the internet.
I just read one on Eklund’s Hockeybuzz.com. The genius writer protested that Tom Wilson isn’t worth the money that the Caps owner is willing to pay as well as the term. The genius writer used advanced stats to prove his point. But what was his point? That is THE question.
His point, I believe, is that in “today’s NHL” a player like Wilson has no value and that it is offensive for anyone to think otherwise.
Too bad. Too sad.
The Caps owner knows what side of the bread his butter is on. He has a long-standing order with his GM that he can trade anyone on the team except Alexander Ovechkin. Ovi is a very special player. He is the heart and soul of the Caps. All of the other teams know that if you want to stop the Caps, you must first stop Ovi. But as long as Wilson plays on the same line as Ovi, you must go through Wilson to stop Ovi. Not an easy task.
My writer-genius friend had so much fun proving to the world that Wilson isn’t worth the money by his standards, he missed the point.
The point is, what is it worth to the owner of the Caps to have a healthy Ovi? I am certain that the owner of the Caps believes that he made a wise investment. I agree with him.
I recently read on this site that Skinny would not be missed due to what the writer on this site believes are defensive shortcomings.
I have two things I would like to say to that.
1) On a team that presented all opponents with a defensive sieve all season long, how could a reasonable person single out one player for criticism? Skinner led the NHL in takeaways. Isn’t that defensive? Hmmm.
2) Any coach, no matter how defensively minded, would miss Skinner’s scoring. No reasonable person could possibly deny that.
First of all, I agree with you about Wilson. Not so much that Ovi needs protection, but the guy creates space. Wilson does need to tone it down a bit as if the bad hits keep coming the suspensions will get worse. An older and wiser Tom Wilson is a player every team would want, stats be damned.
Skinner’s defensive play has been an issue for his entire career, not just last season. Also, the takeaway stat is not much of a stat. Giveaways and takeaways are decided in a second in the middle of the game. They hand out the stats between periods. If you rewatch a game you will see a big difference. I once watched Joni Pitkanen for an entire game. I counted 10 giveaways. Home statistician counted 3. The NHL doesn’t do a good job even counting SOG. Most advanced stats groups rewatch games to get accurate information. Frankly, even good statistics are only an idicator of how a player plays. Video is the final judgement. Players have assignments and when they fail it’s there for everyone to see on video. Alexander Semin had good advanced possession statistics. You really think he was a good player his last couple years in the league?
Totally agree with you on Skinner.
As for Wilson, I think it’s much cheaper to hire a thug to beat the opponent’s star player up after the game. Tom’s antics and propensity for wreckless play and to downright injure opponents is taking the game of hockey from a skill and speed competition to thuggery. I personally am not a fan, but the league, the refs and the players have to take a stance on what is tolerated and what isn’t, and how that affects the game.
The thing about Rask that worries me more than anything is that I’d say he needs to work on his intensity and compete/drive w.e. you want to call it. To me he is as slow as he’s been every season – but at times in his career at that speed he’s looked like a capable top 6 center but when he’s not competing hard and battling he’s just floating around the perimeter doing absolutely nothing on offense it scares me.
I get that he’s responsible defensively and can take faceoffs adequately but I just feel like something is missing with him. I felt the exact same way about Hanifin when I watch him – big difference in that Hanifin was oozing skill but gosh the guy just looked stoned half the time.