Jeremy Laura: Wings vs Blue Jacks VI - Veleno’s time to shine? Roy wants to coach...

Interesting write up. I agree about Roy, i don't see Stevie giving up power to Roy. Roy at times can become high maintenance especially compared to Blashill, which might be hanging on. I say give Vrana the keys to the sports car and lets see if it comes back without any scratches.
Nothing wrong with dreaming of Werenski coming over but at what price? Do you give up a first for him, if it’s on the Table? Tough calls to make but the Wings are in good hands. The liane thing, I’m not a fan he’s another high maintenance non team guy. Let LA have him.

Thanks for teasing the Brain this morning.

I remember my impression at the time was that, all things considered, Patrick Roy was not a good coach. He's also -- stop me if you've heard this one -- kind of a d*ck.

In fairness to him, he did really establish and popularize the trend of pulling the goalie much earlier in the game, which I think was a long-overdue tactical innovation. So I'm grateful that, despite all odds, he did make a significant, positive, lasting impact on the game as a coach. Too bad he was not so good at most other coaching things.

Why do I think of Roy (as coach) as the José Mourinho of the NHL?

Interesting write up. I agree about Roy, i don't see Stevie giving up power to Roy. Roy at times can become high maintenance especially compared to Blashill, which might be hanging on. I say give Vrana the keys to the sports car and lets see if it comes back without any scratches.
Nothing wrong with dreaming of Werenski coming over but at what price? Do you give up a first for him, if it’s on the Table? Tough calls to make but the Wings are in good hands. The liane thing, I’m not a fan he’s another high maintenance non team guy. Let LA have him.

Thanks for teasing the Brain this morning.
- Tee56

Absolutely on Vrana. There’s nothing to be gained or lost at this point. The guys are having fun, the fans are enjoying it. Man, it is good to hear even just a few fans that don’t sound like an 80s sitcom (canned laughter). The Czech players are a bit similar to the Swedes. They really like playing together (Russians too). Completely oddbal, but Panik is Slovak. When I was a kid, the Czechs and Slovaks were from the same country. When the Soviet Union broke up, there was an international Czechoslovakian team playing. The group found out they were no longer the same country. What a bizarre time.

For Werenski, I love the kid. For sure I do. I like Chycrun just a little bit more (and just a little bit younger, not a ton). If the deal was there, it would be hard not to pull the trigger (even with a first). We don’t have the franchise center they want at this point. The core age, after Mantha was traded, I think got a little younger. You’re going to be looking at that 20-24 year old now instead of going up to 26 or (gulp) 27. A proven NHL defenseman who is still that young is worth a lot (my opinion). Drafting and developing D men is hard. That position sees huge changes from jr to pro. There are a lot of respected pros who think it takes 200-300 NHL games for a defenseman to really get a grasp on the position. So, if a prospect doesn’t click until 23, 24 or 25, that’s a long wait for them to be established. I hope McIsaac can have a healthy year. There was a lot of positive momentum about him when drafted. Acquiring a high end left D could set up a nice run for development. Seider with Werenski, Hronek with McIsaac, that could be an exciting top four. Sorry to drone on a bit. This is a favorite subject right now, for sure

I remember my impression at the time was that, all things considered, Patrick Roy was not a good coach. He's also -- stop me if you've heard this one -- kind of a d*ck.

In fairness to him, he did really establish and popularize the trend of pulling the goalie much earlier in the game, which I think was a long-overdue tactical innovation. So I'm grateful that, despite all odds, he did make a significant, positive, lasting impact on the game as a coach. Too bad he was not so good at most other coaching things.
- Sven22

I remember him pushing a partition over (where the play by play guys were standing) and being an absolute nightmare when he first came over. He made Tortorella’s worst behavior look like Mr Rogers. I think there are people who can never really chill out all the way. Bowman had some hilarious tantrums. But, it doesn’t seem to be a fit (in my mind). Just a fun bit of “what if”.

Pulling the goalie, yeah, he changed the strategy for the entire league. He was a big part of Colorado becoming what they are now. I think if you have a lethargic team without direction, Roy could be your guy. Lethargy isn’t (thank God) Detroit’s issue and that’s a huge plus

if veleno can turn into a second line C ill take that as a win. not sure if he has the offensive ability for that though

if veleno can turn into a second line C ill take that as a win. not sure if he has the offensive ability for that though
- wingz4life

I say this as both a compliment and a criticism -- if I had to give you my best guess at where I think he'll end up as an NHLer, I would say he's going to be Val Filppula 2.0.

Pretty good but not great in all areas, in his prime he can sorta be an okay 2C but you're probably always going to wish you had someone a little better.

Which is not bad value at all for a 30th overall pick! But maybe a little disappointing given how dominant he was in juniors.

if veleno can turn into a second line C ill take that as a win. not sure if he has the offensive ability for that though
- wingz4life

Veleno could definitely bring it in jr. Yzerman pushed he and Zadina in the same way. Get your defensive game together. Veleno, it sounds like, gave way on offense in Sweden to do what he was asked. Zadina really impressed me. If Veleno had similar growth I think the offense will come. If he could play top 6 center, big bonus for the rebuild

Hey all, there have been some tweets regarding the deals for ESPN and Turner Broadcasting. The original release on the ESPN deal (around April 1) showed a sliding scale of earnings from 220 - 440 million. Obviously it’s going to be based on subscriptions to some degree. The Turner deal is announcing a solid 220 million, locked in. The original releases have been deleted on the ESPN deal. The corporate line is saying that $660 million is the locked in revenue, come hell or high water. NBC is out (they took on WWE instead). The reports that the NHL has “tripled” its tv revenues feels very skewed. The is a huge switch from cable/dish subscription to streaming subscriptions. Disney Plus offers a package with Disney/Roku/ESPN for around $20 or less per month. Cable and Dish deals with sports packages can run around $100 all the way up to almost $300 per month (if you don’t complain). The simple math? If people cut their TV bill from $100 to $20, there’s a huge drop in incoming revenue. I’m working on the year end Forbes edition, and revenues for NHL teams were really bad. So far I’ve only found two teams whose total incoming revenue would have covered their salary cap. Tampa Bay posted an $11 million dollar loss after winning the cup.

I’m passionate about this issue, and sick to death of how hard it is to find the actual numbers. Yes, the NHL wants to gain consumer and investor confidence. But even if a total of 660 million was coming in that covered the US deals, TV and advertising have to add up to more than 2.5 billion to cover half of the current salary cap setup. (Tickets have to be 2.5 - 3 billion). It’s a bone of contention, because we usually hear, “well, numbers weren’t as strong as we’d hoped” etc. (see the Rogers broadcast deal. Was huge, but the league pays bills in American $ and the Canadian dollar had a lot of trouble. It cut a huge chunk out of the incoming money). For once it’d be nice to have some transparency and not have to dig through pages of financials.

A Vrana, Zadina and Veleno line is fast, but may be a bit soft. But, maybe the stick checking of the 200 ft players is all we need to be effective (just like Nick Lidstrom) .
I find Joe's appearance in the line-up as promising, but I dare not get my expectations up.
I would love that Stevie make a splash for a LD. But then again I have had my hopes dashed by my own high expectations. I just see a sensible stop-gap being implemented at the least. A signing of a guy like Hjalmarsson, could be a good stop-gap on a 2yr deal of about $3M. But if he could get a younger guy on a good contract by giving up a prospect and a pick, that would be great! Such as Schmidt for a late 2nd + Cholo.

Forwards
Vrana - Rasmussen - Filppula
Erne - Namestnikov - Zadina
Panik - Veleno - Gagner
Helm - Glendening - Svechnikov

Defense
Cholowski - Hronek
Staal - Stecher
DeKeyser - Lindstrom

Goalies
Bernier
Greiss

Columbus
Forwards
Robinson - Domi - Bjorkstrand
Foudy - Roslovic - Laine
Grigorenko - Texier - Atkinson
Gerbe - MacInnis - Matteau

Defense
Del Zotto - Jones
Gavrikov - Lehtonen
Bayreuther - Kukan

Goalies
Merzlikins
Kivlenieks

A Vrana, Zadina and Veleno line is fast, but may be a bit soft. But, maybe the stick checking of the 200 ft players is all we need to be effective (just like Nick Lidstrom) .
I find Joe's appearance in the line-up as promising, but I dare not get my expectations up.
I would love that Stevie make a splash for a LD. But then again I have had my hopes dashed by my own high expectations. I just see a sensible stop-gap being implemented at the least. A signing of a guy like Hjalmarsson, could be a good stop-gap on a 2yr deal of about $3M. But if he could get a younger guy on a good contract by giving up a prospect and a pick, that would be great! Such as Schmidt for a late 2nd + Cholo.
- HenryHockey

It’s funny, I think tight checking has replaced some of the “toughness” element. In my opinion you only make a splash if it is the right age range of your core. Hjalmarrson would be a very cool stop gap, for sure

Forwards
Vrana - Rasmussen - Filppula
Erne - Namestnikov - Zadina
Panik - Veleno - Gagner
Helm - Glendening - Svechnikov

Defense
Cholowski - Hronek
Staal - Stecher
DeKeyser - Lindstrom

Goalies
Bernier
Greiss

Columbus
Forwards
Robinson - Domi - Bjorkstrand
Foudy - Roslovic - Laine
Grigorenko - Texier - Atkinson
Gerbe - MacInnis - Matteau

Defense
Del Zotto - Jones
Gavrikov - Lehtonen
Bayreuther - Kukan

Goalies
Merzlikins
Kivlenieks
- HenryHockey

the Center depth on both these teams is a joke

the Center depth on both these teams is a joke
- wingz4life

Jackets are gonna be bad for a while.

If the Jackets look to trade Werenski, Yzerman needs to be all over that. I would include this years 1st no problem. If they wait until later next season or off-season, then i would not include the 2022 1st unless lottery protected.

Can't see the Jackets getting a proven 1st line center for Werenski. Only team i could see might deal one is Buffalo with Eichel and how long would Eichel play there before he asked to be traded. They likely would get back prospects, picks or a young player that isn't proven to be a top line center but still has potential...or they get one on the downside of his career with a big contract.

If the Jackets look to trade Werenski, Yzerman needs to be all over that. I would include this years 1st no problem. If they wait until later next season or off-season, then i would not include the 2022 1st unless lottery protected.

Can't see the Jackets getting a proven 1st line center for Werenski. Only team i could see might deal one is Buffalo with Eichel and how long would Eichel play there before he asked to be traded. They likely would get back prospects, picks or a young player that isn't proven to be a top line center but still has potential...or they get one on the downside of his career with a big contract.
- dcz28

If they trade werenski but keep Jones they're buffoons.

If they trade werenski but keep Jones they're buffoons.
- BINGO!

I think if they do trade Werenski it may indicate that Jones wants to test free agency

Did I hear right? Larry Murphy has a new baby?!!

Veleno looking pretty good

Hannah Diane Murphy, Murph is like 60 isn't he? Congrats regardless.

If they trade werenski but keep Jones they're buffoons.
- BINGO!

I think Jarmo is a really smart GM and if he were in a market that players wanted to be in (sorry CLB) he'd have no problem building a cup winner.

I have a feeling he trades Jones while he's overvalued.

Veleno looking pretty good
- Datsyuks_Dangle

As the game goes, he’s getting more and more confident. Tonight feels like cosmic payback for Dallas. We’re doing really well on SOG but no goals. Detroit hasn’t broken 30 shots in a while here. Let’s see what the third brings

I think Jarmo is a really smart GM and if he were in a market that players wanted to be in (sorry CLB) he'd have no problem building a cup winner.

I have a feeling he trades Jones while he's overvalued.
- lonnyBohonos

I think that’s dead on. It sucks for the team/fans. Just the bizarre reality. The Florida teams have trouble with revenues no matter how good the play. Toronto, in their rough years, were sold out and making great $. Market love