UNH 2020 Off-Season Thread: That Rinky-Shrinky Thang And Other Lively Banter :D

[Scott]

Calling Scott, please come back to your thread. We swept the mighty Osprey this weekend!

Looks like a lot fires got lit under a lot of butts yesterday afternoon. 'Bout time!!

[Dan]

Would Crookshank even make it on their 2nd line?

Crookshank could play top-six and, likely top-three, on any team in the country. He has that level of scoring ability and talent. There are plenty of guys playing significant roles at UNH simply because they're the best option(s) - but he isn't one of them. Put him with some of the playmakers were used to at UNH and he'd be capable of monster production and Hobey consideration...

His numbers are modest because he's not a guy who can truly create for himself and he doesn't have an elite playmaker to help him create space or feed him pucks...

[HockeyRef]

Crookshank could play top-six and, likely top-three, on any team in the country. He has that level of scoring ability and talent. There are plenty of guys playing significant roles at UNH simply because they're the best option(s) - but he isn't one of them. Put him with some of the playmakers were used to at UNH and he'd be capable of monster production and Hobey consideration...

His numbers are modest because he's not a guy who can truly create for himself and he doesn't have an elite playmaker to help him create space or feed him pucks...

What do you think Dan...he gets picked up by the Sens at season's end? (kind of rhymes)

[Dan]

What do you think Dan...he gets picked up by the Sens at season's end? (kind of rhymes)

Yes, I think the time is now for him and the Senators' organization to see if there is a fit and if he can become an NHL player. This weekend aside, I'm not sure what he would be coming back for, and a struggling Ottawa organization is a good place (re: opportunity) to make a professional name for himself...

Unless he and his advisors view Ottawa as a bad landing spot and decide he should return with an eye on the FA route; I think he leaves UNH this season. I'm not a big NHL follower, but I'm not aware of any reason why they would feel that way.

I've been wrong before...

[NCAA watcher]

His numbers are modest because he's not a guy who can truly create for himself and he doesn't have an elite playmaker to help him create space or feed him pucks...

I think he create pretty well for himself. The issue I'd say is that the other teams can focus on him because there's fewer other threats on the team.


BTW, while I think he goes after the season, I just looked it up and Anthony Wyse -- the "will he be a big free agent after his junior year" -- is still unsigned.

So, does the team like the 2-1 win or the 7-6 win better? Do they see themselves as a grind it out sort of club, or do they realize they need a bit more offense and try to open it up a bit more?

[Chuck Murray]

I think he create pretty well for himself. The issue I'd say is that the other teams can focus on him because there's fewer other threats on the team.

BTW, while I think he goes after the season, I just looked it up and Anthony Wyse -- the "will he be a big free agent after his junior year" -- is still unsigned.

So, does the team like the 2-1 win or the 7-6 win better? Do they see themselves as a grind it out sort of club, or do they realize they need a bit more offense and try to open it up a bit more?

Crookshank should have a legit shot with Ottawa next season, so I expect him to go. Whether he's good enough to make it into their top six forwards, and if not, whether he can fill a checking line role while his game develops, those are the big Q's. That's the problem Poturalski faced in the Carolina organization, which we can now see (with the benefit of hindsight) was chock full of talented (and younger) guys up front. He didn't have role player capability in the interim, so his game wasn't rounded enough for him to get his big break there. Now he's a few years older, starting over in Anaheim, which is another struggling organization (a little better, not by much, than Ottawa), and still stuck with their AHL affiliate.

There is definitely a "right place/right time" element of luck involved in getting your break, but once you get it, you've got to take advantage of it. And sometimes the break(s) can be extremely brief windows, and folks in the organization can make quick judgments if they deem you're not up for it. That's what happened to Haydar, and is happening now to Poturalski. Players like Mark Mowers and Jason Krog could fill checking line roles, so they stuck around in the NHL longer without being top six guys. The best example there is Dan Winnik, who hung around forever with a string of teams as a role player type.

Crookshank looks like he can kill a penalty, and if he can do a decent job playing a defensive role, all the better. He's a better skater than Haydar and Poturalski, so that bodes well for his chances.

Wyse is a big kid who really wasn't a great skater or puck carrier. I consider him a step below Eric Knodel of recent vintage, and Knodel has spent most of his post-UNH time playing in the 'Coast (ECHL) with a few short stretches in the AHL. I don't think we can expect Wyse to be much different - he can probably play regularly in the 'Coast, but the AHL seems a stretch.

Gildon presumably will be starting the AHL season in Syracuse for the Florida organization. He and Crookshank should get some NHL time relatively early in their careers with their respective organizations, but early impressions could hold the key on whether they stick around long-term or not.

I'm going to bail on your last question - only because it's good to see they are capable of winning a close tight-checking game and a high scoring affair as well. The first game also showed the necessary discipline to make a one goal lead stick, while the second one showed an ability to climb out from a deep deficit in a short time. Suspect the latter is more to do with the level of their competition - again, the concept of Bazin-coached team gacking up a 3 goal lead in the 3rd period is a fresh one - but you can only play who is in front of you. And overcoming 3 goal deficits late in games is still a rare thing, regardless of whom the opposition might be. If pressed to pick one, I like the 2-1 win better, because that's a post-season type game they won.

Are there more games coming up this weekend?

[HockeyRef]

Angus Crookshank is HE's co POW. No surprise here!!

[Snively65]

Crookshank should have a legit shot with Ottawa next season, so I expect him to go. Whether he's good enough to make it into their top six forwards, and if not, whether he can fill a checking line role while his game develops, those are the big Q's. That's the problem Poturalski faced in the Carolina organization, which we can now see (with the benefit of hindsight) was chock full of talented (and younger) guys up front. He didn't have role player capability in the interim, so his game wasn't rounded enough for him to get his big break there. Now he's a few years older, starting over in Anaheim, which is another struggling organization (a little better, not by much, than Ottawa), and still stuck with their AHL affiliate.

There is definitely a "right place/right time" element of luck involved in getting your break, but once you get it, you've got to take advantage of it. And sometimes the break(s) can be extremely brief windows, and folks in the organization can make quick judgments if they deem you're not up for it. That's what happened to Haydar, and is happening now to Poturalski. Players like Mark Mowers and Jason Krog could fill checking line roles, so they stuck around in the NHL longer without being top six guys. The best example there is Dan Winnik, who hung around forever with a string of teams as a role player type.

Crookshank looks like he can kill a penalty, and if he can do a decent job playing a defensive role, all the better. He's a better skater than Haydar and Poturalski, so that bodes well for his chances.

Wyse is a big kid who really wasn't a great skater or puck carrier. I consider him a step below Eric Knodel of recent vintage, and Knodel has spent most of his post-UNH time playing in the 'Coast (ECHL) with a few short stretches in the AHL. I don't think we can expect Wyse to be much different - he can probably play regularly in the 'Coast, but the AHL seems a stretch.

Gildon presumably will be starting the AHL season in Syracuse for the Florida organization. He and Crookshank should get some NHL time relatively early in their careers with their respective organizations, but early impressions could hold the key on whether they stick around long-term or not.

I'm going to bail on your last question - only because it's good to see they are capable of winning a close tight-checking game and a high scoring affair as well. The first game also showed the necessary discipline to make a one goal lead stick, while the second one showed an ability to climb out from a deep deficit in a short time. Suspect the latter is more to do with the level of their competition - again, the concept of Bazin-coached team gacking up a 3 goal lead in the 3rd period is a fresh one - but you can only play who is in front of you. And overcoming 3 goal deficits late in games is still a rare thing, regardless of whom the opposition might be. If pressed to pick one, I like the 2-1 win better, because that's a post-season type game they won.

Are there more games coming up this weekend?

And, JvR has stuck around for a while, closing in soon on 500 NHL career points.

I guess that we will learn tomorrow what the HEA brain trust has in store for us with a schedule this coming weekend. Sounds like the UMass-NU game on the schedule for tomorrow night is off?

[HockeyRef]

I'm guessing UVM or BU?

[NCAA watcher]

Twitter

Worth noting, SportsLive has BU Men’s Hockey vs. UNH on its schedule for 7 p.m. on Tuesday. No official announcement from the league though, so take it with a grain of salt. <a href="https://t.co/5us5tJaokQ">pic.twitter.com/5us5tJaokQ</a></p>&mdash; Patrick Donnelly (@PatDonn12) <a href="https://twitter.com/PatDonn12/status/1358463168255787010?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 7, 2021</a>

[Chuck Murray]

And, JvR has stuck around for a while, closing in soon on 500 NHL career points.

JvR was the 2nd overall pick in the NHL draft, so there was never a real question of him making the NHL. Kids picked that high never want for an extended shot. Not to say JvR is anything approaching a bust, and he's clearly thriving at the moment in an organization that did give up on him several years ago, traded him out, and then re-signed him back as a UFA. He's now surrounded by a more talented core, and is playing an entirely different role than I suspect any of us envisioned from a kid who didn't spend a ton of time in the "dirty" areas as he's doing now. And kudos to him for adjusting his game.

I should have been clearer perhaps, but the rest of the discussion was centered on UNH kids who were low-round draft picks (Crookshank) or undrafted, and their NHL prospects. A whole different world for sure, no guarantee, and whereas Stutzle will likely be a fixture in Ottawa (or like JvR, elsewhere in the NHL at some point), the likes of Crookshank, Gildon, and others I cited had/have no such guarantee. Once you get below elite level NHL talent ... as you know, there is a deep reservoir of talent, only a fraction of which we ever see in D-1 hockey. Parts become interchangeable, and intangibles rise to the top. Do we know this kid? Can he fill a role on the PK? Can he play the physical game? Can we trust him on a checking line? The answers vary not only based on the player, but also upon who is making that value assessment at the club(s) looking at him.

Crookshank may well turn into Warren Foegele at the NHL level ... or he could turn into some AHL/ECHL lifer we've never heard of, it will be up to him to make that impression, show flexibility, and a willingness to work on the weaker parts of his game. And if the organization he's with at the time values him, he's got a second-line NHL ceiling, but more probably is a 3rd liner on a decent NHL team that's going to have to work harder on his defensive game to make an impression that he's worthy of that slot, as opposed to a bigger more physical kid who might not be as skilled, but is seen by a coach as more trustworthy (see Winnik, Daniel).

Obviously, time will tell. Ditto for Gildon. We'll see ...

[Dan]

I think he create pretty well for himself. The issue I'd say is that the other teams can focus on him because there's fewer other threats on the team.

There is certainly truth to that. While I don't view Crookshank as a creator in the typical sense, he is able to create for himself when he has room to use his speed and get up ice. I think both the focus he draws from opponents and the lack of a true playmaker who can get him the puck with space to use that speed holds him back. Additionally, he deserves credit for his ability to create as a direct result of his effort and motor. He works HARD to try to score goals and that's not a bad quality in its own right...

To Chuck's point, I do think his foot speed, the aggressive nature in which he forechecks and chases/battles for pucks, and his ability to protect the puck in the offensive zone give him the tools he needs to carve out a Foegele-esque role at the next level (if he is unable to earn a top-six role). Skating often makes the difference, and I do believe he can skate enough to stick...

[Scott]

I'm guessing UVM or BU?

It's NU....at the Whitt on Friday at 7PM, at Matthews on Saturday at 6PM (NESN+)

[HockeyRef]

It's NU....at the Whitt on Friday at 7PM, at Matthews on Saturday at 6PM (NESN+)

...and, they are letting in a limited amount of students in Friday night!

[ClOuD 9]

...and, they are letting in a limited amount of students in Friday night!

Hope a pep band is included in that. If you're looking to create atmosphere the two nuclei are the cowbell and the band, everything (or everyone) follows.