Ranking MBN, ASP and Finnie to the Current Roster

8 comments

1. I feel like you’ve got Berggren far too high in both scoring and playmaking, especially if its taking into account MBN and Finnie on the team. Even without them, Copp is a better goal scorer if he stays healthy.

2. Off that very, very, limited sample size of just camp and the preseason, I’d rank MBN above Kasper for scoring. Not just because he had more goals than Kasper but because it’s his default mode, similar to Cat. When MBN gets the puck on his stick, his instinct is to shoot. It’s also his instinct to find the areas to get into position to shoot.

   There seems to be a hate boner for Ras in this sub that seems somewhat undeserving imo that I can only attribute it to being because of his draft position. Even McLellan has given praise to the line with him and Appleton this preseason. I get people want him to score and hit more, but he was molded by Blash and Lelonde into a defensive forward, which has immense value, especially in the playoffs. If you had ranked the forwards by defensive play, he’d be in the top 5 on the team. The overall ranking for forwards for this preseason I’d put him above Compher and Berrgren.

3. Given the recent waiver of Gus and Holl I think Wings management agrees with you on their “last and laster” rankings in basically everything that matters for a defenseman.

4. Not sure where this finnie kid came from but I really like his game. He kind of reminds me oh Bertuzzi when he first joined our team.

5. > Sandin-Pellikka: It’s a tad optimistic but seriously, from what we saw, is ASP not the 5th best defenceman in his own zone on the team? He plays a gritty style and has no problem going at people to free up the puck. He can move the puck out of his own zone really well as well. I know it’s only preseason but ASP has played a ton of preseason minutes and I found him making better plays in his own end than any right side not named Seider.

   I think it’s about right Sandy/Pelly showed he’s probably the highest skill upside D man we have in our organization, and instantly stepped in being either 4th or 5th on our depth chart. The sky’s the limit with this kid. Haven’t seen his hands or vision on a D man this dynamic since Karlsson/Makar/Hughes. This kid is good. We haven’t had a D man who can move the puck as well as this kid in a decade.

   Also I think Kane is way under-ranked in your rankings for checking and intangibles for what he brings to the team and the organization. After Larkin I don’t think anyone else brings as much intangibles, and that’s an ‘if’ for if Kane is even behind Larkin on there.

6. Bergren is useless.  

7. I would disagree a smidige with some of the points here.

   Personally I’m admittedly super biased in favor of MBN (being Norwegian myself), but I’d put him higher on each stat against Finnie. And that’s not just me putting down Finnie, I love that kid! I’m just looking at the things you say and ultimately I don’t disagree, but my point becomes “and what did it lead to”.

   You can have the best hockey IQ and play making ability in the world, but if it doesn’t lead to more results than the next guy, then it shouldn’t hold as much weight either.

   MBN had an amazing preseason, but he also hit more, had more takeaways, won more battles, had less goals against while on ice, and put up more assists than Finnie. So in my (biased) book, he should rank above Finnie in playmaking and intangibles as well. at least for now, because these should be stats we watch closely and rank as they get more and more playtime.

   There’s also something to be said about level of competition; Finnie best game was against the worst team and their prospects of last year. MBN’s best game was versus a playoff team icing mostly their regular lineup.

   Again, I expect these opinions to shift as the season goes on, but MBN is doing all the right things for now, and he spent just as much time on the top line as Finnie did, the difference is Finnie’s production dipped far more significantly than MBN.

   Again, I got no problem brushing my opinion aside as biased gobbeltygook 😂 I’m just trying to share what I see with as little bias as possible. I thought Finnie was far superior to MBN in the first game, but I thought MBN was way better for the rest of them. He was noticeable in almost every game he played, Finnie simply was not.

   As for ASP. I think it’s wild that you put Chiarot over him in defensive ability. How quickly we forget the Toronto game in Sweden where him and Petry could’ve been replaced by cardboard cutouts and we’d probably have a more solid defense 😂.

   I think Chiarot is carried heavily by being in a line with Seider, because the stars when those two have been on the ice has slowly improved. So the question becomes: did Chiarot just get a ultra rare second wind, improving his ability at the age of 32-34? Or did the highly touted young star in the middle of his development elevate the line he’s playing on?

   I’d be willing to bet against Chiarot being a unicorn and instead credit Seider with that line’s success. When Seider was with Edvinsson, Ed’s stats was elevated while Chiarots sank. So anyone playing with Mo has a better record than when not. I’d say that’s proof enough.

   I’d put ASP higher than Chiarot on pretty much everything, maybe except aggression.

8. I really appreciated this thought and work that went into all of this.

   But to me, ranking Kane as the 10th forward— behind Soderblom, Copp, Finnie, and Appleton— is craziness to me!

   Yeah his checking is not his game. But Kane to is the definition of intangibles. Dude is 36 years old, had a major hip surgery that really no NHLer has successfully came back from, but still put up 106 points in 122 games. Dudes IQ, and intangible, is off the charts.