Bob Duff: Pope must be upwardly mobile Turning pro at the age of 23, left-winger David Pope will have to work fast to prove to the Detroit Red Wings that he's a legitimate NHL prospect.

Well written article by mlive.

Well written article by mlive.
- Gertner

Ansar does great work for HB.

Bob, I don't think you know what "gamble" means.

A good example of a gamble would be committing a significant amount of money or trading away valuable assets in exchange for a player (or players) with high ceilings but a real chance to bust out (raw but extremely talented prospect, all-star on the wrong side of 30, etc.) In other words? High risk, high reward.

David Pope is not a gamble.

In fact he is emblematic of Detroit's ultra-safe, ultra cautious approach to prospect management that has helped fuel the bullet train to mediocrity.

Don't get me wrong; I'm not opposed to signing him. Here's hoping he finds his way toward becoming a usable NHL player.

But let's call this what it is: no risk, low reward. An entry-level two-way contract to an overage college grad who gets a couple of years to see if he can catch on as a bottom sixer at the NHL level.

If he does, cool -- a role player who can be useful for a couple of years before maybe we flip him for a seventh.

If he doesn't, whatever. Someone else will take that job, whether that guy is already in the system (Turgeon?) or gets picked off waivers. And you're only out $140k (salary in the minors is 2 x $70k) for a guy who will probably be a pretty respectable minor leaguer at least.

At 23 years of age he is not a prospect. He is an AHLer.

Here is the complete list (barring one or two transcription errors) of every forward who played four seasons of NCAA hockey and at least one NHL game in 2017-18:

Kalle Kossila
Kevin Roy
Kenny Agostino
Travis Boyd
Austin Czarnik
Brian Gionta
Sean Kuraly
Brandon Tanev
Tim Schaller
Matt Hendricks
Kyle Criscuolo
Matt Moulson
Evan Rodrigues
Daniel O'Reagan
Lee Stempniak
Eric Robinson
Tanner Glass
Garnet Hathaway
Mark Jankowski
Nic Dowd
John Hayden
Tanner Kero
Dylan Sikura
Alexander Kerfoot
Dominic Toninato
Dominic Moore
Zach Hyman
Curtis McKenzie
David Booth
Luke Glendening
Luke Witkowski
Matthew Peca
Chris Kunitz
Vinni Lettieri
Cory Conacher
Drake Caggiula
Brad Malone
Chase Balisy
Connor Brickley
Wade Megan
Alex Iafallo
Justin Kloos
Kyle Rau
Daniel Carr
Brian Boyle
Conor Sheary
Bryan Rust
Carter Rowney
Brian Gibbons
Carl Hagelin
Nick Lappin
Zach Aston-Reese
Matt Read
Blake Pietila
Kevin Rooney
Tanner Fritz
Paul Carey
Ben Sexton
Steven Fogarty
Kevin Hayes
Jimmy Vesey
Boo Nieves
Alex Killorn

In other words, don't get your hopes up. That list is at least 85% guys that no one has ever heard of. The few genuine notables tend to check at least one of the following boxes: (1) not especially known for their offense, (2) role players who've found a niche on a good team, (3) had much better college stats than David Pope.

Also, I just re-skimmed the blog and noticed this:

At the same time, the club recognizes that Pope is a project and with his advanced age in terms of hockey prospect status, he’s a limited time offer, hence the two-year deal.

Duff, the team didn't choose to give him a 2-year deal because he's older. The Collective Bargaining Agreement requires all entry-level contracts offered to players 22-23 years of age to be exactly two years in length. It was literally the only term length they could possibly offer him due to league rules.

This is not a particularly new or obscure component of the CBA, and the fact that Bob clearly didn't know it reflects badly on him -- after all, he's a member of the PHWA and is paid to be an "expert" on such matters.

Also, I just re-skimmed the blog and noticed this:



Duff, the team didn't choose to give him a 2-year deal because he's older. The Collective Bargaining Agreement requires all entry-level contracts offered to players 22-23 years of age to be exactly two years in length. It was literally the only term length they could possibly offer him due to league rules.

This is not a particularly new or obscure component of the CBA, and the fact that Bob clearly didn't know it reflects badly on him -- after all, he's a member of the PHWA and is paid to be an "expert" on such matters.
- Sven22

Duff you have been exposed. Delete your account.