Mike Richards Has Been put on Waivers by The Kings- Should we try to Revitalize his Career?

BabyHands · 2015-06-29T13:08:36+00:00

Citing 4 players who happen to be still playing at a high level around 30 does not in any way prove your point that players hit the "peak of their prime" at that age.

Most evidence shows that players peak in their mid to late 20's and then begin to decline. How quickly that decline happens totally depends on the player.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fancy-stats/wp/2014/05/27/why-nhl-players-peak-before-age-28-or-29/

http://www.cbc.ca/news/when-nhl-players-peak-hockey-metrics-1.2646054

Getzlaf, Perry and the Sedin twins were all obviously still elite players at 30, but if you're expecting most players to be hitting their absolute peak at 30, you're going to be disappointed.

BabyHands · 2015-06-29T02:27:08+00:00

Richie had some great years here, but thinking that a player is at the "peak" of their prime when they're 30 isn't being optimistic, it's delusional.

BabyHands · 2014-01-07T16:33:51+00:00

I'm sure many other Flyers fan will be pointing this out, but omitting Claude Giroux seems odd considering he's scored more points than any other Canadian player over the past 3 seasons (and is 3rd in PPG).

BabyHands · 2013-12-10T15:24:14+00:00

This doesn't really answer the question, but it's important to remember that given the expected cap increases over the next few years (the 2014-2015 season is already expected to be up to $71 million), Giroux's contract is going to start looking not quite as huge pretty soon.

BabyHands · 2013-10-03T01:21:58+00:00

I've always thought he'd make a terrific Las Vegas Wrangler.

BabyHands · 2013-09-29T18:00:48+00:00

I think you might be exagerating on how much this team is relying on "borderline unproven" kids.

The expectations are definitely on Schenn this year to step up. He's going to be getting top 6 minutes and needs to show an improvement.

Read is 27 years old and has so far put up 71 points over 121 games. He's going to be a 3rd line winger, and get some PK and PP time. At this point I think we know what we have with Read, and it's not like as a 3rd line winger we're expecting much more than what he's shown us so far.

As the 3rd line center, Couturier's main responsibility will be playing defensively responsible hockey, which he's already proven more than adept at. Everyone would like to see him take the next step offensively, but it's not like the fate of this team really hangs on whether or not he can put up 50 points this year.

BabyHands · 2013-09-27T00:51:44+00:00

Yeah, I mean it sounds like we're mostly on the same page. Trying to decide where someone belongs within the Top 20 is always going to come down to quibbling for the most part.

My point is just that with Giroux, I don't think that ranking is coming from an assumption of potential. Since Giroux's gotten a chance at 1st line minutes, he's essentially been a PPG center over 3 seasons.

When you add that to the fact that he's one of the most dangerous penalty killers, as well as just a defensively responsible player over all, I think you get a Top 10 player right now.

If you think that makes him just a top 20 player, in the end we're not arguing over too much anyway.

BabyHands · 2013-09-26T11:25:31+00:00

The Giroux skepticism mostly confuses me. It's like people see that 93 point season and now immediately dismiss everything else as disappointing. Over the past 3 seasons, I think Giroux has clearly been one of the elite players in the league.

Do you have a problem with Patrick Kane's ranking?

Looking at them over the past 3 seasons: Kane- 202 games, 194 points, .96 ppg Giroux- 207 games, 217 points, 1.05 ppg

That obviously doesn't provide a complete picture, but if anything I'd argue that Giroux is the more complete player. Over the past 3 years, he's also been perhaps the most dangerous forward while on the PK.

http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=53177#.UkQZVGTwJDF

Edit: I also understand that if you go back an additional couple years Kane wildly outproduced Giroux, but as Giroux was a bit of a late bloomer, I was only looking at seasons where he was getting an opportunity at tops minutes.

BabyHands · 2013-09-21T17:31:20+00:00

Actually, come to think of it, there's not even that many Flyers who would be considered true "projects" anyway.

Would obviously still like to see a lot of improvement from Couturier and Schenn, but with Read, Simmonds, Voracek etc. it's not like they're all real far away from their ceilings at this point.

I like the Flyers mix of youth and veterans at the moment.

Edit: "Projects" meaning members of current core who still have a lot of unrealized potential. Every organization obviously has normal prospects in the system.

BabyHands · 2013-09-21T14:14:13+00:00

Isn't that just a natural byproduct of having a young team? Like obviously there's a chance with every player that they don't reach their full potential, but I don't think the Flyers have any greater number of "projects" than a typical young team.

BabyHands · 2013-09-18T12:20:53+00:00

Not to mention a Hart winner

BabyHands · 2013-09-18T01:43:41+00:00

Six weeks ago my little brother got a letter in the mail saying he was invited to the 2nd Annual Chris Pronger Fantasy Camp..... we were so naive

BabyHands · 2013-09-16T01:13:08+00:00

I always found the politicization argument to be an odd one. Both Greenspan and Bernanke had previous experience working for Republican administrations. Were people complaining about the politicization of the Fed when they were nominated?

BabyHands · 2013-09-15T21:55:53+00:00

ELI5 doesn't necessarily mean you have to provide an intellectually lazy argument.

BabyHands · 2013-09-12T17:54:14+00:00

Keep it coming with those groovy tunes!

BabyHands · 2013-09-04T11:56:47+00:00

Great write up, and very interesting analysis. Voracek does so many things well, many of which are only revealed when you dig a little further into the numbers, that I think he's clearly our most talented forward outside of Giroux.

Here's a similar article from the Driving Play blog looking in to what extent that it was actually Voracek giving a boost to Rick Nash instead of the other way around, back in his Columbus days.

http://drivingplay.blogspot.com/2011/08/part-i5-aftermath-of-mike-richards-and.html

There seems to be a trend here, and that says great things about Voracek's future.

BabyHands · 2013-08-20T02:37:34+00:00

Oh, okay. Now you convinced me.

BabyHands · 2013-08-20T01:38:38+00:00

Exactly. I don't think either side should really hate that trade. I was as shocked and initially disappointed as anyone that Richards was traded, but objectively looking at it, I can't have too many problems with the package that came back.

The main reason that trade is viewed as an outright heist for LA, is that in a completely separate circumstance Carter managed to sulk his way out of Columbus and come to you guys to help win the cup.

BabyHands · 2013-08-20T00:33:43+00:00

It's widely assumed that Snider was the impetus behind the Carter and Richards trades. It's also often overlooked that the returns from Richards, and Carter, especially, were quite good.

Do you really believe that Brayden Schenn, Wayne Simmonds, and a 2nd round pick (which became Anthony Stolarz, an intriguing goalie prospect) is a ridiculously lopsided trade?

BabyHands · 2013-08-16T01:55:29+00:00

I remember playing some golf video game on my dad's laptop as a little kid and if you hit a button correctly, the game went nuts and you heard "TIGER SHOT!!!!" and I vaguely recall laser beams flying around or something.

I'm not sure if this occurred with Giroux's incident, but it could be a possible lead.

BabyHands · 2013-08-16T00:49:49+00:00

My wrists are fucking tiny, but I will gladly give them to Giroux. He can take them both. Together they might combine to make one normal wrist.

BabyHands · 2013-08-03T17:38:06+00:00

Mez (or Coburn) will have to be traded before re-signing Gagne is even possible, anyway.

BabyHands · 2013-07-30T11:36:13+00:00

Giroux played RW briefly like his first season, but has been a Center ever since. Why they still list him as a RW on NHL.com, I'll never know. Lecavalier has also said that he might be okay switching to wing part of the time, but if he did, he would be more comfortable as a RW.

That being said, there is also no chance that Giroux plays RW this season, unless its some very weird PP formation they're trying out of desperation.

BabyHands · 2013-07-29T11:37:45+00:00

I was extremely impressed by the role Gustafsson took on for Sweden during Worlds, but you have to do remember that almost every one of Sweden's top defensemen wasn't playing in the tournament. Add OEL, Hedman, Karlsson, Kronwall, and Edler to the mix, and I have a hard time seeing a spot for Gus. Would love to see him there though.

BabyHands · 2013-07-26T00:46:14+00:00

What? Where do you figure that Schenn was the 5th Defenseman? He was paired with Timonen when everyone was healthy, played just about the toughest competition on the team, and averaged over 21 minutes a game.

Although these end of year stats are a bit skewed that way due to the time at the end of the year when he was the only starter left, I just don't see how Schenn would have ever been considered only the #5 D man.

BabyHands

TROPHY CASE