NHL Trade Deadline - Post-Game thoughts

[AtlantaWhaler]

2024 draft gonna be fun. 9 picks in the first 4 rounds. Can pretty much zone out from there. I guess we could trade back in on the later rounds but meh

I personally zone out after round 2. Honestly, if I were a GM, I'd be slinging 3rd-7th round picks everywhere. I've always believed those picks are vastly overrated.

 

[herzausstein]

I personally zone out after round 2. Honestly, if I were a GM, I'd be slinging 3rd-7th round picks everywhere. I've always believed those picks are vastly overrated.

We have had several 4th round gems
Carrier, arvidsson, saros, Craig smith, ekholm, tootoo. Not a bad thing to have in a few in there.

 

[glenngineer]

We have had several 4th round gems
Carrier, arvidsson, saros, Craig smith, ekholm, tootoo. Not a bad thing to have in a few in there.

Erat, Hornqvist and Rinne in rounds 6 & 7 weren't terrible either.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

We have had several 4th round gems
Carrier, arvidsson, saros, Craig smith, ekholm, tootoo. Not a bad thing to have in a few in there.

Erat, Hornqvist and Rinne in rounds 6 & 7 weren't terrible either.

There's definitely chances for hidden gems...they're just few and far between. That said, I love where the Preds are at right now. Good farm, tons of upcoming picks, and currently playing well in the big league.

 

[glenngineer]

There's definitely chances for hidden gems...they're just few and far between. That said, I love where the Preds are at right now. Good farm, tons of upcoming picks, and currently playing well in the big league.

Have to ask, where do you or anyone else think we've done better at drafting and developing, the first round or outside the first round? While it may not be a fair comparison since we've had what, 6 times the number of picks outside the first round, our first-round history isn't stellar. It's not bad by any means but hasn't yielded much, if any elite-level talent.

 

[PredsV82]

I personally zone out after round 2. Honestly, if I were a GM, I'd be slinging 3rd-7th round picks everywhere. I've always believed those picks are vastly overrated.

And yet we have had some of the best players in franchise history from the late rounds including all three of our excellent goalies

 

[herzausstein]

In terms of elite level talent, im not sure what anyone would consider "elite" but my opinion

Elite
Weber - 2nd
Rinne - 8th
Josi - 2nd
Saros - 4th

Not quite elite but still very good
Erat - 7th
Ardvark - 4th
Hartnell - 1st
Hamhuis - 1st
Radulov - 1st
Hornqvist - 7th
Ellis - 1st
Suter - 1st

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

In terms of elite level talent, im not sure what anyone would consider "elite" but my opinion

Elite
Weber - 2nd
Rinne - 8th
Josi - 2nd
Saros - 4th

Not quite elite but still very good
Erat - 7th
Ardvark - 4th
Hartnell - 1st
Hamhuis - 1st
Radulov - 1st
Hornqvist - 7th
Ellis - 1st
Suter - 1st

This list is definitely missing some (Ek, Tootoo, Arvi) but ultimately illustrates what I'm getting at. Sure, there are some excellent picks in 4th+, but the chances are extremely slim.

 

[predfan24]

In terms of elite level talent, im not sure what anyone would consider "elite" but my opinion

Elite
Weber - 2nd
Rinne - 8th
Josi - 2nd
Saros - 4th

Not quite elite but still very good
Erat - 7th
Ardvark - 4th
Hartnell - 1st
Hamhuis - 1st
Radulov - 1st
Hornqvist - 7th
Ellis - 1st
Suter - 1st

I'd put Suter in the elite category. He was a franchise d-man in his prime. I don't know if Radulov was ever going to be "elite", but I think he was well on his way to becoming a star forward if he didn't bolt for Russia. He had a 26 goal 58 point season as a 21 year old after obliterating major junior and showing he was too good for the AHL in 11 games. This was during a time period when Trotz and Poile usually had prospects simmer for a bit with Milwakkue. He destroyed the KHL in his prime. I wouldn't have been surprised if he would have been a PPG+ guy in the NHL during his prime. Even after he came back to the NHL and was in his 30s he had back to to back 70 point seasons with the Stars.

 

[PredsV82]

In terms of elite level talent, im not sure what anyone would consider "elite" but my opinion

Elite
Weber - 2nd
Rinne - 8th
Josi - 2nd
Saros - 4th

Not quite elite but still very good
Erat - 7th
Ardvark - 4th
Hartnell - 1st
Hamhuis - 1st
Radulov - 1st
Hornqvist - 7th
Ellis - 1st
Suter - 1st

Skrastins was a 9th rounder.

This list is definitely missing some (Ek, Tootoo, Arvi) but ultimately illustrates what I'm getting at. Sure, there are some excellent picks in 4th+, but the chances are extremely slim.

But not so slim as to throw away those picks for nothing.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

But not so slim as to throw away those picks for nothing.

Nah, wouldn't throw them away for nothing, just think later round picks are over-valued.

Believe I read that about 30% players picked later than the third round (over the last 20 years) have played in at least 1 NHL game. Never mind performance or total number of games.

 

[Southstarpreds]

First major mistake of Trotz era , should of kept Trenin as a rental .

 

[Kat Predator]

First major mistake of Trotz era , should of kept Trenin as a rental .

In terms of hockey play, I don't see that the Trenin/Sissons/Glass line wasn't playing at a high level. Just before the TDL, they were clearly our 2nd best line IMHO. They were playing a strongly connected game.

But that line was blown up, obviously. And we can get that it was blown up for non-hockey reasons.

The resulting combination of Zucker/Sissons/Beauvillier looks like 3 guys who've never played together, because it is. Beauvillier may be an upgrade to Trenin some day, but his terrible pass in Minnesota was a decisively bad moment that gave the Wild life.

It's way too early to grade, but the TDL move hasn't been obviously and instantly good.

 

[Armourboy]

Can't say I agree with moving Trenin, 3rd round pick just wasn't worth messing with chemistry imo

 

[Scoresberg]

Been away for a few days, pretty much just now getting caught up on what has happened.

Obviously, the rebuild - if there ever even was one - is truly over. We are going for it, as I suspected.

But now, just winning a game or two is not going to cut it. You've laid your bed so now you have to sleep in it. When the playoffs roll around you need to get the job done.

Just a "learning experience" will not do jack for this team, over 2/3 of the roster won't be with the team in two to three years.

 

[herzausstein]

Moving trenin is likely in part to do with how negotiations went. They were difficult last time and they seemingly werent going well this time. Got a 3rd for him which looking at what we gave up for zucker and Beauvillier seems quite nice honestly. The team still has alot of grit and nastiness to it.

Issue is going to be can Beauvillier and Zucker mesh with Brunette's system and can Brunette get the lineup set in a manner that makes sense. He originally set them both up next to sissons so he only upset one line at a time. I think that is silly as you are going to end up upsetting more than one line at a time anyways when you shift one of them off the sissons line. Just dive in and set them where you think they should be.

 

[glenngineer]

The third-round pick wasn't the prize for Trenin, it was Jeremy Hanzel. We hopefully added another future piece to the blue line.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

The third-round pick wasn't the prize for Trenin, it was Jeremy Hanzel. We hopefully added another future piece to the blue line.

This. They obviously see some serious potential in Hanzel. It's somewhat rare that a player stays for an overage year in junior after having as strong a year as he did last year and getting drafted. I'm a little surprised our team didn't just draft him last year, maybe they thought he'd slide through and they could just sign him instead.

 

[Armourboy]

I don't really care what the prize was, if the goal is too win in the playoffs moving Trenin doesn't make a ton of sense chemistry wise. Do you want to win in the playoffs or do you want to rebuild? Trying to do both just leaves you junk at both. He was already a proven fit, if you can't resign him then so what? Nothing says you can or want either one of the new guys you brought in.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

I don't really care what the prize was, if the goal is too win in the playoffs moving Trenin doesn't make a ton of sense chemistry wise. Do you want to win in the playoffs or do you want to rebuild? Trying to do both just leaves you junk at both. He was already a proven fit, if you can't resign him then so what? Nothing says you can or want either one of the new guys you brought in.

Was he really that big of a deal to the team's chemistry? I honestly don't know. As a player, he was good, but nothing that showed me we need him around for a playoff run, especially as a UFA that is likely gone.

 

[Scoresberg]

The third-round pick wasn't the prize for Trenin, it was Jeremy Hanzel. We hopefully added another future piece to the blue line.

What are you seeing in him? Dude was drafted two years too late, and doesn't seem to be anything more than what we gave up in Sward.

 

[herzausstein]

The third-round pick wasn't the prize for Trenin, it was Jeremy Hanzel. We hopefully added another future piece to the blue line.

Hopefully he works out so we can have years of Hanzel and Gretyl jokes

What are you seeing in him? Dude was drafted two years too late, and doesn't seem to be anything more than what we gave up in Sward.

Im gonna have to go with the orgs scouts on this one. If they chose him over sward, they must see something in him they like over sward. Neither may end up being NHL players so it may not end up mattering much

 

[Legionnaire11]

Nah, wouldn't throw them away for nothing, just think later round picks are over-valued.

Believe I read that about 30% players picked later than the third round (over the last 20 years) have played in at least 1 NHL game. Never mind performance or total number of games.

Yeah, if you can get a decent NHL player even a reliable 4th liner for a late pick, it's not bad. Statistically, if you can get 100 games out of the average NHL pick it's a success.

Of course you're also throwing away that lottery ticket, because it could have been a Rinne or Datsyuk or whatever. Being a pro GM isn't easy, so much is at risk with every decision and you can't have hard rules like "trade very 4th round pick", you need to be able to adapt and change with each new scenario. What's best for one team won't be best for the next, and what's best one season won't be best for the next.

 

[glenngineer]

My comment about Hanzel was in reference to everyone saying we got a third for Trenin when in reality we got a 3rd and a decent prospect, nothing more nothing less than that.

Did I like the move, not particularly. Keeping Trenin would’ve bumped someone out of the lineup that doesn’t belong.

 

[Bringer of Jollity]

Been away for a few days, pretty much just now getting caught up on what has happened.

Obviously, the rebuild - if there ever even was one - is truly over. We are going for it, as I suspected.

But now, just winning a game or two is not going to cut it. You've laid your bed so now you have to sleep in it. When the playoffs roll around you need to get the job done.

Just a "learning experience" will not do jack for this team, over 2/3 of the roster won't be with the team in two to three years.

I don't think Trotz ever approached this as a binary rebuild/compete question. He's sought to overhaul the roster, which is partially done but still very much a work in progress, and he let the on-ice results dictate some of his moves here at the deadline. He ditched an expiring that wasn't going to re-sign and brought in some other expiring guys for cheap. Didn't sink major future assets at all, the kids are still cooking and in play, and he has flexibility moving forward.

We're also still a decidedly 4th best team in the division, and a fair cut from the top 3 teams, so I think anything more than a first round bounce is unrealistic.