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bountyofbeads · 5 years

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/what-you-missed-while-not-watching-day-7-of-the-impeachment-inquiry-drama/2019/09/30/24a38cf0-e38c-11e9-a6e8-8759c5c7f608_story.html

Here’s a guide to standout moments from another newsy day in the impeachment drama engulfing the Trump presidency. This does not include Mike Pompeo flying to Italy with Nazi Sébastian Gorka flying aboard the taxpayer trip:🤢🤬🤬🤬

What you missed while not watching Day 7 of the impeachment inquiry drama

By Michael Scherr | Published September 30 at 8:15 PM | Washington Post | Posted September 30, 2019 |

Here’s a guide to standout moments from another newsy day in the drama engulfing the Trump presidency:

6:08 a.m. Seven days into the impeachment morass, former government officials have begun to speak up without hewing to partisan talking points. On Sunday, the new face was President Trump’s former homeland security adviser Thomas Bossert, who went on ABC News to say he was “deeply disturbed” by Trump’s call to Ukraine. He also said it was “far from proven” that Trump withheld foreign aid as part of an effort to dig up dirt on former vice president Joe Biden. Today the new voice is former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst, a veteran of the George W. Bush administration, who tries to drop some historical context on NPR listeners. “This is highly abnormal,” Herbst says of Trump’s July call with Ukraine.

6:12 a.m. Herbst also contradicts the Trump argument that Biden did something wrong by pushing to fire Viktor Shokin, a Ukrainian prosecutor who once investigated a company that employed Biden's son. Herbst says Shokin was an untrustworthy “corrupt prosecutor,” who the United States, the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development all wanted out of the job. Herbst also notes that the Shokin affidavit saying Biden’s concerns over his son’s company caused his firing was written to aid attorneys for Dmytro Firtash, an oligarch U.S. officials are seeking to extradite on a warrant of bribery. “The folks who are pushing this conspiracy theory are citing this as proof,” Herbst says of the affidavit. “And in fact it undermines their position.”

8:32 a.m. Kate Bedingfield, Biden’s deputy campaign manager, is asked a question that will not go away anytime soon. Does the former vice president have any regrets about not keeping son Hunter Biden from working for the Ukrainian firm while Biden oversaw Ukrainian policy at the White House? “No, because he didn’t do anything wrong,” Bedingfield says of the younger Biden on CNN’s “New Day.”

8:46 a.m. Former senator Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), who quit after undermining his reelection hopes by opposing Trump, calls on other Republican senators “to risk your careers in favor of your principles.” In a Washington Post opinion piece, he describes removing Trump from office through impeachment as a tough call, but argues that opposing Trump’s reelection is a moral necessity. “Trust me when I say that you can go elsewhere for a job,” he writes. “But you cannot go elsewhere for a soul.”

9:44 a.m. Attorneys for the whistleblower who launched this process share a letter sent Saturday to the Director of National Intelligence. “The purpose of this letter is to formally notify you of serious concerns we have regarding our client’s personal safety,” it reads. The concerns were created by Trump. “I want to know . . . who’s the person that gave the whistleblower the information, because that’s close to a spy,” the president said Thursday at an event in New York. “You know what we used to do in the old days when we were smart? Right? With spies and treason, right? We used to handle them a little differently than we do now.”

10:36 a.m. The president’s 2016 opponent Hillary Clinton takes a stab at Trump’s Twitter crown with a seven-word tweet devoid of context. “The president is a corrupt human tornado,” it reads. She premiered the meteorological epithet last week with CBS News.

11:07 a.m. Letters have become as hip as tweets. Republican Sens. Charles E. Grassley (Iowa) and Ron Johnson (Wis.), release a new missive, dated Friday. The senators ask Attorney General William P. Barr to reveal any Justice Department investigation into alleged efforts by Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign or her allies to get Ukrainians to help dig up dirt on Trump and his former campaign manager, Paul Manafort. “Ukrainian efforts, abetted by a U.S. political party, to interfere in the 2016 election should not be ignored,” the senators write. Ukrainian officials have denied any effort to help Clinton in the 2016 election.

11:18 a.m. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) goes on CNBC to confirm what his office has previously made clear. If the House impeaches Trump, the Senate must hold a trial under Senate rule and precedent. “I would have no choice but to take it up,” McConnell says. This will come as a disappointment to Diamond and Silk, who call themselves “Trump’s Most Loyal Supporters” on Twitter. A few hours ago, they called on the GOP to “enforce the rules to end the games,” by which they meant McConnell should ignore the rules and not take up impeachment.

11:21 a.m. Ukraine’s former top law enforcement official Yuri Lutsenko, who took over after Shokin was fired, recounts yet again the efforts by Trump to pressure him to investigate the Biden family. In an interview in Kiev with the Los Angeles Times, Lutsenko says he told Trump lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani there was no evidence that the former vice president or his son had broken Ukrainian laws. “I told him I could not start an investigation just for the interests of an American official,” he said. This restates comments he made to The Post last week. Earlier this year, Lutsenko told a conservative columnist for The Hill newspaper that he would be happy to share what he knew with Barr.

12:36 p.m. Trump’s Twitter tally today stands at 13 so far. He has denounced the “witch hunt,” called the whistleblower “Fake Whistleblower” and declared “the Bidens were corrupt!” He also raised the possibility that Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) should be arrested “for treason” for using words Trump never spoke to dramatize the president’s call to Ukraine. Trump tweets #fakewhistleblower in an effort to get the hashtag trending, but at the moment the top trending tags include #civilwarsignup and #civilwar2, both references to another tweet the president sent Sunday quoting a pastor warning of a “civil warlike fracture” if Trump is ever removed from office. Most of these tweets are not from Team Trump.

12:49 p.m. Another data point from the political twitter wars: Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) has about 25,700 retweets on his reaction to Trump’s civil war tweet, which reads, “@realDonaldTrump I have never imagined such a quote to be repeated by a President. This is beyond repugnant.” Trump’s original tweet, by contrast, only has 17,200 retweets.

2:39 p.m. In an Oval Office pool spray, Trump makes television of his morning tweets. “We’re trying to find out about a whistleblower,” Trump says. This may run counter to the whistleblower protections that are codified in law and rule. “In recognition of the importance of whistleblowing and whistleblowers to the effectiveness and efficiency of government, whistleblowing is protected by Federal laws, policies and regulations,” reads a Web page maintained by the Director of National Intelligence. “These protections ensure that lawful whistleblowers are protected from reprisal as a result of their Protected Disclosure.”

3:05 p.m. A national poll by Quinnipiac University finds that the share of American voters who support impeaching Trump has grown from 37 percent to 47 percent over one week. Among closely watched independents, the share opposing impeachment fell from 58 percent to 50 percent over the same period, while the share supporting impeachment rose from 34 percent to 42 percent. In a separate question, voters support the impeachment inquiry of Trump by a margin of 52 percent to 45 percent. That number closely tracks with Trump’s overall approval in the poll, with 53 percent disapproving of the way he is handling his job and 41 percent approving.

3:30 p.m. Schiff signs a fundraising text for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “Rest assured I won’t back down from holding the president accountable, and neither will my Democratic colleagues,” he writes. “That’s why I’m reaching out.” The ask is $5.

3:55 p.m. The House Intelligence, Oversight and Foreign Affairs committees release a subpoena demanding documents from Giuliani and three of his business associates. The documents concern 23 separate items, including communications about potential meetings with Barr or any of his associates.

4 p.m. CNN releases new national polling that closely tracks the Quinnipiac numbers. Young people are particularly drawn to the effort, with 65 percent younger than 35 saying they want to impeach and remove Trump from office, compared with 43 percent who felt that way in May.

4:07 p.m. The afternoon news dump begins. The Wall Street Journal reports that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo took part in the July phone call between Trump and the new president of Ukraine. The source is a senior State Department official.

4:19 p.m. The New York Times reports that Trump pushed Australia’s prime minister to help gather information that he hopes will discredit the investigation by former special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. The sources are two American officials with knowledge of the call. Australian officials tipped off the FBI in 2016 to alleged Russian overtures to a Trump campaign foreign policy adviser. The Russians were said to have boasted about having dirt on Clinton.

5:11 p.m. The Post reports that Barr has held private meetings overseas with foreign intelligence officials seeking their help in a Justice Department inquiry that Trump hopes will discredit U.S. intelligence analysis of Russian interference in the 2016 election. This includes overtures to British, Australian and Italian officials. The sources are people familiar with the matter.

What you missed while not watching Day 3 of President Trump’s impeachment drama

Acting director of national intelligence Joseph Maguire testifies before the House Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill on Thursday. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post)

By Michael Scherr | Published September 26, 2019 | Washington Post| Posted September 30, 2019 |

This is what you missed if you weren’t watching Day 3 of the impeachment inquiry into President Trump:

6:07 a.m. A weary nation awakens to find its combatants emerging from cable news makeup chairs, ready for battle. It’s been two days since Democrats announced they would pursue the impeachment of President Trump, and one day since the White House released call records showing Trump had urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to help find dirt on a political rival. Today, the acting director of national intelligence will testify, and there are already reports that the whistleblower complaint at the center of the Ukraine scandal has been declassified and will be released shortly. Here we go.

6:33 a.m. Impeachment is legally prescribed by the Constitution, but political in practice and therefore made for TV. The judges and jurors all hold elected office. They answer to the American voters, most of whom have better things to do right now, like make breakfast and get their kids out the door. Morning Joe talks about Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) saying Wednesday that the whistleblower allegations against Trump are “very troubling.” Fox and Friends plays clips of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) opposing President Bill Clinton’s impeachment in 1998. “It doesn’t matter about facts. It doesn’t matter about truth,” says Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) in an appearance on the show. He means that Democrats have no scruples.

8:03 a.m. Starting the day at his Fifth Avenue penthouse, Trump fires off a fusillade of tweets, landing faster than they can be read. He wants people to know what his pundit friends, family and Republican operatives think. All seem to agree it is perfectly fine for Trump to ask Ukraine’s leader to help the Justice Department and his personal attorney investigate a rival candidate for president, as the phone call summary revealed Wednesday. First daughter Ivanka Trump is proud of her president. Vice President Pence thinks Trump “has been completely vindicated.” Former daytime talk show host Geraldo Rivera suggests Trump’s reelection is now more likely. “STICK TOGETHER, PLAY THEIR GAME, AND FIGHT HARD REPUBLICANS. OUR COUNTRY IS AT STAKE!” reads one Trump tweet, which is later deleted.

8:41 a.m. The House Intelligence Committee drops the whistleblower repo rt. The complaint confirms, with detailed notation, the outlines of charges Democrats have leveled against Trump. The central allegation is that the president is “using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election.” In a new disclosure, the document describes a political effort by unnamed senior White House officials to “lock down” all records of the phone call between Trump and Ukraine’s president by moving paper records to a “codeword-level” computer system. It also describes separate alleged efforts by the Trump administration to get Ukraine to “play ball” in the spring. It provides a detailed analysis of the internal Ukrainian politics Trump has allegedly been trying to manipulate for months.

9:13 a.m. As everyone struggles to make sense of the document, Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) opens a hearing of the House Intelligence Committee. The witness is Joseph Maguire, the acting director of national intelligence, who previously decided not to give the whistleblower report to Congress, as the law seemingly requires, after consulting the White House and Justice Department. Schiff wears his serious face. He says the Trump call to Ukraine “read like a classic organized crime shakedown.” Then, instead of reading from the document, he decides to dramatize it with made up words from an imaginary mob boss. “I’m going to say this only seven times, so you better listen good,” Schiff says. “I want you to make up dirt on my political opponent understand.” This is, Schiff says, “the most consequential form of tragedy.”

9:22 a.m. The committee’s ranking Republican, Rep. Devin Nunes (Calif.), congratulates Democrats on the “rollout of their latest information warfare operation against the president.” He talks about the “Democrat’s mania to overturn the 2016 elections,” and uses the words “hoax,” “fake story,” “hysteria,” “frenzy,” “gambit,” “charade,” and “grotesque spectacle.” He also falsely asserts that former vice president Joe Biden “bragged that he extorted the Ukrainians into firing a prosecutor who happened to be investigating Biden’s own son.” Biden did push to fire a prosecutor who had previously investigated a firm on where his son, Hunter Biden, worked. But Biden and other Western officials said the prosecutor was not sufficiently pursuing corruption cases. The investigation into the firm was dormant at the time and Hunter Biden had not been accused of wrongdoing, according to former Ukrainian and U.S. officials.

9:29 a.m. Maguire describes his work history, taking note that he has 11 times sworn an oath to the Constitution. “No one can take an individual’s integrity away,” he says. “It can only be given away.” Then he explains two reasons that he did not give the whistleblower complaint to Congress, after consulting with the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel and the White House. First, he said he was advised by the Justice Department that it could contain privileged information about the internal workings of the executive branch. Second, there was a question of whether the complaint fell inside his purview because it concerned behavior by the president who is “outside the intelligence community.” At the same time, he is pleased that the information is now public. He says the whistleblower has behaved lawfully and “acted in good faith.”

9:44 a.m. For the next several hours, Maguire takes questions from members of Congress, most of which consist of efforts by Republicans or Democrats to score points for their teams.

11:18 a.m. Pelosi takes the stage at the Capitol building to announce that she is sad, prayerful and patriotic. She tries to put a headline on the now-released whistleblower report. “This is a coverup,” she says, in reference to the claim that White House officials tried to move information to a highly classified computer system. She also says the acting director of national intelligence “broke the law” by not immediately turning over the whistleblower complaint. Then she quotes Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Paine.

11:45 a.m. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) takes the same stage before the same flags with another patriotic message. “America is too great for a vision so small of just impeachment and investigation,” he says. He attacks Pelosi for opening an inquiry before the records of the call to the Ukrainian president were released. “Let’s be very clear — the president did not ask to investigate Joe Biden,” McCarthy says. This is not clear at all. In the call summary released by the White House, Trump tells Ukraine’s president, “There’s a lot of talk about Biden’s son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great.” When a reporter points this out, McCarthy stands his ground. “What you’re reading and what you’re trying to — my belief is you are misstating,” McCarthy says.

11:50 a.m. The Associated Press moves a story saying Vermont Gov. Phil Scott just declared himself the first Republican chief executive in the nation to support impeachment proceedings against Trump.

12:47 p.m. The Los Angeles Times publishes a story quoting from a private speech Trump gave this morning at a New York hotel. In an audio recording taken from the room, Trump calls reporters “scum” and attacks the unidentified whistleblower, suggesting that he has committed a crime historically punished by death. “I want to know who’s the person, who’s the person who gave the whistleblower the information? Because that’s close to a spy,” Trump says in the recording. “You know what we used to do in the old days when we were smart? Right? The spies and treason, we used to handle it a little differently than we do now.”

12:48 p.m. The cable networks start showing a hallway news conference by Schiff, just as Air Force One, carrying the president back from New York, makes its final approach at Joint Base Andrews. Trump immediately tweets, “Adam B. Schiff has no credibility. Another fantasy to hurt the Republican Party!” On television, Schiff says his team will keep working on Trump’s impeachment over the next two weeks, when the rest of Congress heads home for a recess.

12:52 p.m. A reporter at the Capitol asks Schiff about Trump’s four-minute-old, in-flight insult tweet. “I’m always flattered when I’m attacked by someone of the president’s character,” Schiff says, before ducking into an office.

1 p.m. With Schiff off television, Trump steps off the plane to address reporters. “Adam B. Schiff doesn’t talk about Joe Biden and his son walking away with millions of dollars from Ukraine, and then millions of dollars from China,” Trump says. This is an inaccurate statement. Hunter Biden did collect significant income from a Ukrainian company, but there is no evidence Joe Biden made money from either country, and Hunter Biden’s lawyer denies that he made any money from a China investment deal he advised. Trump says three times that his call with the Ukrainian president was “perfect.” “Absolutely perfect phone call,” he says.

1:54 p.m. The New York Times reports that the whistleblower is a CIA officer who was detailed to the White House.

2:21 p.m. The Washington Post updates its tally of House members who now support the opening of an impeachment inquiry. The new tally notches 219 Democrats and Rep. Justin Amash (I-Mich.), who announced this summer that he had left the Republican Party. A simple majority of 218 members is required to adopt articles of impeachment and prompt a Senate trial of the president.

3:35 p.m. Joe Biden’s presidential campaign releases a statement quoting the former vice president’s appearance the night before on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Biden said then that Trump’s efforts were “18 out of 10” on the outlandish scale. Kate Bedingfield, Biden’s deputy campaign manager, says Biden deserves indirect credit for Trump’s dealings with Ukraine. “It is all borne from his deep, fully substantiated fear that Joe Biden will beat him in November 2020,” she says.

3:44 p.m. CBS News announces that former secretary of state Hillary Clinton called Trump a “corrupt human tornado” in a new interview. She supports an impeachment inquiry.

4:28 p.m. Former director of national intelligence James R. Clapper Jr., a longtime critic of Trump, says on CNN that the president’s morning comments comparing the whistleblower to a treasonous spy is “witness retaliation.” “What’s really bad about it is this is going to have a very chilling effect on any other potential whistleblowers,” Clapper says.

7:02 p.m. The evening spin time begins. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), a candidate for president, appears on MSNBC to throw a bunch of punches. She calls Trump a “lawless president.” She calls the situation “outrageous.” She calls the White House “a racket.” She says there was a “coverup.” After a clip of Trump talking plays, she adds, “He sounds like a criminal.”

8:28 p.m. Former House speaker Newt Gingrich goes on Fox News to say that Democrats are making “a really bad decision” that will ultimately destroy Biden’s presidential campaign. Gingrich is qualified to make this claim because he lost his job running Congress after pushing the impeachment of President Clinton. What went wrong? “What happens is you get in a room, you are surrounded by your partisans, you only listen to yourself,” Gingrich tells Tucker Carlson and the primetime Fox audience.

9:01 p.m. Sean Hannity offers a coda on the day — a “Fox News Alert” — to say that everything that just happened didn’t matter. “The real story. The real corruption,” Hannity announces. “None of it, zero has to do with President Trump.” Stay tuned. He has a special report on Biden. We are just getting started.

What you missed while not watching Day 4 of President Trump’s impeachment drama

By Michael Scherr | Published September 27, 2019 | Washington Post | Posted September 30, 2019 |

Here’s a guide to standout moments from another newsy day in the drama engulfing the Trump presidency:

7:21 a.m. It’s Day 4 of the impeachment effort, and President Trump wants everyone to know he has done nothing wrong. His early tweets contain some typos, including a double preposition. “I had a simple and very nice call with with the new President of Ukraine, it could not have been better or more honorable, and the Fake News Media and Democrats, working as a team, have fraudulently made it look bad,” he writes. A White House spokesman, Hogan Gidley, goes on “Fox & Friends” to deny reporting from multiple news outlets that White House staff were alarmed by the call. “No one I’ve talked to is concerned at all about this,” Gidley says.

7:31 a.m. Trump’s chief adversary, House Speaker Nanci Pelosi (D-Calif.), makes her first public appearance of the day, arriving at an MSNBC set on a rooftop across from the U.S. Capitol. On “Morning Joe,” Day 4 is a special event. Rising sun. Brisk fall breeze. Pelosi has come with a glittery American flag brooch and talking points to hammer like a nail gun: “This is about national security.” “This is a sad time for our country.” “We have to be prayerful.” “He gave us no choice.” Attorney General William P. Barr has “gone rogue.” The bottom line: “The president of the United States used taxpayer dollars to shake down the leader of another country for his own political gain. The rest of it is ancillary.”

8:29 a.m. Trump calls on Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) to resign and “be investigated” for reading a fake transcript of the president’s call with Ukraine at a hearing yesterday. In Trump’s telling, Schiff was “supposedly reading the exact transcribed version” and “GOT CAUGHT.” Schiff, who as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee is emerging as a key point person in the impeachment drama, had actually been a bit more nuanced. He introduced the fabulism by calling it “the essence of what the president communicates.” The moment was nonetheless potentially misleading, especially because sound bites are regularly chopped without context on social media.

9:04 a.m. The White House releases a memo headlined, “The swamp is beyond parody, but the American people aren’t laughing.” The argument is that Democrats are spending their time on a “political circus” instead of “real, pressing concerns” such as strong border security, real gun safety, affordable prescription drug prices and a new North American trade deal. “You can’t make this stuff up,” the memo reads.

10:20 a.m. Not much happening at the moment. A good time to catch up on the stories you might have missed last night. A Washington Post deep dive into former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani’s efforts to cultivate “a bevy” of current and former prosecutors in Ukraine. A Post visual guide to everyone mentioned in the whistleblower report. The Atlantic’s captivating interview with Giuliani, which Elaina Plott conducted from the back of an Uber. “It is impossible that the whistleblower is a hero and I’m not,” Giuliani told Plott. “And I will be the hero! These morons. When this is over, I will be the hero.”

10:37 a.m. Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.), whose presidential campaign has been struggling to gain traction, calls for an investigation of the State Department’s apparent role in Giuliani’s meetings with Ukranian officials. She cites Giuliani’s appearance the night before on Fox News, in which he showed text messages he claimed to be from State Department officials urging him to reach out. Harris also addresses a tweet to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, telling him to “instruct State Department staff to preserve any communications involving” Giuliani.

10:50 a.m. CNN reports the White House had offered a statement confirming a central allegation of the whistleblower complaint: Records of Trump’s call with Ukraine were moved to a separate server inside the White House. National Security Council lawyers “directed that the classified document be handled appropriately,” the White House statement reads.

11:21 a.m. Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton takes a shot at Trump during an appearance at Georgetown University. “Now we know that in the course of his duties as president, he has endangered us all by putting his personal and political interests ahead of the interests of the American people,” she says.

11:30 a.m. Lara Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law and a senior adviser on his campaign, goes on Fox News to say Democrats are “unfortunately” tarnishing their name and overplaying their hand. “Just because it might not have been something every president would have said doesn’t make it an impeachable offense,” she says of the president’s phone call to Ukraine.

11:40 a.m. The Senate convenes for a pro forma session, which is like opening a store but locking the cash register. Nothing can really happen. Like members of the House, senators began a two-week break today. Schiff has said his staff will continue working during the break.

12:14 p.m. The Post reports that a group of lawmakers in Ukraine are seeking to launch a new probe into Burisma Holdings, the gas company where Joe Biden’s son Hunter served on the board during his father’s time as vice president. The younger Biden has not been accused of wrongdoing.

12:53 p.m. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) becomes the last Democratic candidate for president who has qualified for the October debate to announce that she supports impeachment proceedings against Trump. She had been attacked Thursday night on this point by the primary opponent running for her House seat. “This inquiry must be swift, thorough, and narrowly-focused,” Gabbard says in a statement shared by a campaign adviser. “It cannot be turned into a long, protracted partisan circus that will further divide our country and undermine our democracy.”

2:17 p.m. The House Appropriations and Budget committees announce sending a letter to the White House demanding documents and answers by next week regarding the Trump administration’s “involvement in the withholding of foreign aid, including nearly $400 million in crucial security assistance funding for Ukraine.”

2:30 p.m. The Associated Press alerts that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has previously committed to holding a trial of Trump if the House votes to impeach him. “If the House were to act, the Senate immediately goes into a trial,” McConnell told NPR in March. The regular rules for conducting an impeachment trial in the Senate are spelled out in the United States Senate Manual, and they include lots of specificity: When the House delivers the impeachment articles, the senate sergeant at arms must proclaim the following words, “All persons are commanded to keep silence, on pain of imprisonment, while the House of Representatives is exhibiting to the Senate of the United States articles of impeachment against” whoever is being impeached. The chief justice of the United States “shall preside,” and the doors to the chamber “shall be kept open,” unless directed otherwise for deliberation.

3:41 p.m. Trump previews how he hopes the impeachment fight will play out in the 2020 election if Biden becomes the Democratic nominee. He posts a 30-second campaign ad. “Biden promised Ukraine a billion dollars if they fired the prosecutor investigating his son’s company,” the narrator says, over ominous music. “But when President Trump asks Ukraine to investigate corruption, the Democrats want to impeach him.” Much of this is misleading. Biden threatened to withhold aid that had been promised to Ukraine if it did not fire the prosecutor; he did not promise to give $1 billion for doing so. The Ukranian prosecutor in question did not have an active investigation of the company where Biden’s son worked at the time. Biden’s son was never a subject of the investigation. The Democrat’s current impeachment investigation focuses on Trump’s specific request to the current Ukrainian president for aid in an investigation of Biden, his political rival. Such details might get lost in a war of sound bites and paid advertising.

4:03 p.m. The House Foreign Affairs, Intelligence and Oversight committees announce a new subpoena of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for documents related to the Ukraine investigation that were requested earlier this month and never delivered. The letter concludes by alleging that Pompeo’s continued refusal to provide the documents “impairs Congress’ ability to fulfill its Constitutional responsibilities to protect our national security and the integrity of our democracy.”

4:58 p.m. The Washington Post reports that Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal attorney who has been helping lead Ukraine outreach, is scheduled to make a paid appearance at a Kremlin backed conference in Armenia. Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to attend. Giuliani declined to say how much he will make. “I will try to not knowingly talk to a Russian until this is all over,” he says.

6:09 p.m. Giuliani tells reporters he will no longer attend the conference. “Just found out Putin was going and I don’t need to give the Swamp press more distractions,” he tells The Post in a text message.

6:10 p.m. Kurt Volker, Trump’s envoy to Ukraine, has resigned, reports the State Press, the student newspaper of Arizona State University. Volker is also the director of ASU’s McCain Institute for International Leadership. Giuliani had posted a reputed text message exchange with Volker on Thursday and boasted on television of their communications. House leaders announced Friday that they planned to interview Volker next week.

8:26 p.m. More comes out. The Washington Post reports that Trump told two Russian officials in a 2017 Oval Office meeting that he was unconcerned about Russian interference in the 2016 election. This assertion prompted alarm in the White House, leading officials to limit access to the remarks to an unusually small number of people. The source of this information is three former officials with knowledge of the matter.

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thrashermaxey · 6 years

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Ramblings: Koivu Injured; Boyle Traded; Updates on Byfuglien and Larkin; Cap Leagues – February 7

The Minnesota Wild announced that captain Mikko Koivu will miss the remainder of the season after tearing his ACL and meniscus in his right knee. He is set to have surgery on Friday and then we can probably expect some sort of time line.

Koivu has one year left on his current deal and will be heading into his age-36 season.

Until we know more about Koivu’s recovery, I won’t speculate there. Let’s just hope he can come back and be close to the player he’s been for the last several years.

As far as the rest of the team is concerned, I suspect this means Minnesota packs it in. They are currently in a wild card spot but there are seven teams within six points and they’re already without Mathew Dumba. This probably means Eric Staal is to be traded by the deadline, which is just a few weeks away. He is a pending UFA and can always re-sign him. I guess we’ll know more in the next couple weeks. If they go on a big win streak, it’ll make the decision tougher. If they start to lose ground, it makes it easier.

It should also mean a lot more minutes for Victor Rask. He’s averaging under 15 minutes a game so far with the Wild but with Koivu out and Staal potentially gone in the next couple weeks, we could be about 20 days away from Rask being on the top line and playing 19-20 minutes a night. Not that I’m a big Rask guy, but anyone earning those types of minutes playing with Jason Zucker and Mikael Granlund (or whomever), is worth the look. Just keep him in mind once the Staal trade chatter picks up.

Dylan Larkin was back in practice for the Red Wings just a few days after suffering that strain that took him out of the lineup for last Saturday’s game. He had been expected to miss up to two weeks, but it looks like he’ll be good to go for Thursday night’s contest against Vegas.

It took one game, but Jeff Skinner was back on Jack Eichel’s wing in practice on Wednesday. Quelle surprise.

Fantasy owners can expect Dustin Byfuglien back in the lineup Thursday night. I assume he’ll be back on the top PP unit as well, especially with the uncertainty around Josh Morrissey’s availability.

It also looks like the Flames should get Travis Hamonic back Thursday night. Whether that’s fantasy-relevant for you would depend on the size of your league, I suppose.

Nick Bjugstad was lined up on the top line for Pittsburgh in practice, alongside Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel. Did I mention that their game Thursday night is in Florida? Oh baby.

Nashville acquired New Jersey forward Brian Boyle on Wednesday in exchange for a second round pick in this year’s draft. The top-6 seems locked up (especially with Kyle Turris returning) and Boyle seems destined for the second power-play unit. A guy playing in the bottom-6 of almost any team isn’t usually worth much in fantasy, though Boyle will still be relevant in leagues that count hits. Overall, I don’t expect much change in his fantasy value.

The Predators also traded for Cody McLeod. Sure? To replace McLeod, the Rangers called up Vinny Lettieri.

An interesting tweet came across my timeline on Wednesday:

Past 10 NHL seasons: Tuukka Rask is first in save percentage, fourth in shutouts, seventh in wins.

Yet there is a crowd out there that still hates on this guy. I'll never understand it

— Matt Larkin (@THNMattLarkin) February 6, 2019

This is, in fact, true. There are 41 goalies with at least 200 starts since the start of the 2009-2010 season. Of those 41 goalies, Rask is first in save percentage at .922. John Gibson is the only other goalie with at least a .920. Rask has a career .924 save percentage in the playoffs, including a Cup Final run in 2013 when he posted a .940. So I ask: is Tuukka Rask a Hall of Famer?

Michael Dal Colle was on a line with Mathew Barzal in Islanders practice. As for how long that remains a thing, we’ll call it TBD.

An interesting wrinkle in for the Bruins in their 4-3 shootout loss against the Rangers on Wednesday: they broke up the top line, moving David Pastrnak to the second line with David Krejci and Peter Cehlarik, lining Danton Heinen with Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron. Jake DeBrusk was bumped to the fourth line. Each of Pastrnak, Bergeron, and Heinen scored in defeat.

The overtime in this game was particularly nuts. It was odd-man rush after odd-man rush, featuring a spectacular sprawling glove save from Jaroslav Halak to briefly preserve the chance at a second point.

Mika Zibanejad scored in the win, keeping his point-per-game pace this year with 53 in 53. That makes 11 goals and 23 points in 18 games since the holiday break.

In Bob Cole’s final home call on a Maple Leafs broadcast, we had a good ol’ fashioned Battle of Ontario shootout. The Leafs ended up with the 5-4 win thanks to a lot of wizardry from Mitch Marner (two assists), John Tavares (one goal, one assist) and Zach Hyman (one goal, one assist). Auston Matthews also tallied, giving him four goals in his last five games.

Magnus Paajarvi tallied a pair of goals, boosting his season total by 40 percent. Thomas Chabot also scored, his 20th career goal, and his 40th point of the season. He officially becomes the ninth defenceman in the NHL to hit 40 points this season, and Chabot has played just 45 games. I’ve repeated it often but he’ll be in the Norris conversation sooner rather than later.

The biggest news this week is probably going to be the signing of Auston Matthews, who signed a five-year deal with an AAV over $11.6-million. That might seem like a weird deal given that the Leafs would likely have wanted to keep him around for eight more years rather than five, unless he signs another extension down the road. But as Cam pointed out in his Ramblings yesterday, the team only bought one year of unrestricted free agency, which kept the cap hit down. If they buy more UFA years, that number of $11.6-million goes even higher, and this is a team that needs every bit of cap space they can manage for 2019-20. I wouldn’t expect guys like Matthew Tkachuk or Sebastian Aho to sign five-year deals.

Does this change the landscape for RFAs, and what is the impact for cap league owners? This started with William Nylander in the summer (and fall) and has continued with Matthews and will finish with Marner.

The thing is, Nylander wasn’t really out of line with his ask or with what he ended with. Though the AAV this year is wonky, Nylander effectively signed to carry an AAV of $6.96-million under a salary cap of $79.5-million. Back in the summer of 2016, Filip Forsberg signed for six years with an AAV of $6-million, Nathan MacKinnon signed for seven years with an AAV of $6.3-million, and Mark Scheifele signed for eight years with an AAV of $6.1-million. At time of signing, Forsberg had a career points/game mark of 0.73, with MacKinnon at 0.70, and Scheifele was at 0.64. Nylander, when he signed his, was at 0.73. Those guys signed deals when the cap was $73-million, which means those three guys signed for anywhere between 8.2 percent and 8.6 percent of the cap. Nylander’s deal was 8.8 percent of the $79.5M cap (though it’s a higher AAV this year because of signing bonuses, and it’ll be lower next year when the cap goes up). Now, it’s obvious he doesn’t have the same upside as MacKinnon, but at the time the contracts were signed, they had produced at a very similar rate. Nylander’s contract, then, isn’t an outlier. He asked to be paid like those in recent history with similar performance had. It may be a bit higher than we’d expect (this year doesn’t matter too much because the cap crunch doesn’t come until the season is over), but certainly not extreme.

As far as Matthews is concerned, we can debate length of the contract, the dollars, whatever, but if we just isolate the AAV, as Cam pointed out, he’s being paid a similar percentage to other top centres. The difference between Matthews and others is AM34 is coming out of his ELC. The only real comparable contracts we can point to recently are Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid, and Jack Eichel. When Draisaitl signed his deal, he was 11.3 percent of the cap. Eichel’s this year is 12.6 percent, while McDavid’s is at 15.7 percent. Matthews’s will be 14 percent next season, and as Cam pointed out, the team only bought one UFA year whereas Edmonton and Buffalo bought multiple UFA years. The difference being Eichel was a 0.85 points/game guy in his first three years, but Matthews is at 0.98 and looks to be one of the top-3 goal scorers in the league. In that sense, Matthews’s landing between Eichel and McDavid isn’t much of a stretch.

Finally, we have Marner on the horizon. If he maintains close to his current point pace, he’ll have over 220 career points through his first three seasons. Since the 2005 lockout, there are just eight players with at least 220 points through their first three seasons: Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Patrick Kane, Steven Stamkos, Connor McDavid, and Artemi Panarin. If you exclude Panarin because he came over to the NHL at such a late point in his career, you have seven players. Of those seven, six are future Hall of Famers with Nicklas Backstrom being the only question mark, and he’s largely been Ovechkin’s centre for all these years. We can talk about more goals and a different game all we want, but if Marner’s agent can point to Patrick Kane and say “my client’s first three seasons are similar to his first three seasons,” the guy is going to get paid, and paid handsomely.

(for what it’s worth, the first two seasons of Kane’s career saw a similar goal rate league-wide as Marner’s first two seasons)

I know there’s a lot of freaking out about how much players are making coming off their ELCs. This would change the landscape for cap league owners. The thing is, I’m not sure a lot has really changed. As I explained, Nylander’s AAV was in line with production from guys before him, Matthews is probably a bit high considering it’s only one UFA bought but he’s an exceptional talent, and Marner is producing at a level few players in his position have over the last 15 years. The circus (Nylander not signing before the seasons, Marner’s agent, etc) aside, there isn’t anything extreme here. It’s an exceptional circumstance where you have three players of this calibre all coming off ELCs within a year of each other. The Jets have something similar coming up with Kyle Connor, Patrik Laine, and Jacob Trouba, but even those names aren’t at the same impact level as the Matthews-Nylander-Marner triumvirate, and Trouba is not coming off an ELC.

All this is to say, I don’t think anything is considerably different but this is rather just a unique situation. Players are being paid more in raw dollars but as a percentage of the cap, it’s not all that different than what we’ve seen in recent history. All eyes are on Marner now, though. If he were to sign a five-year deal with a similar cap percentage to what Kane signed with back in 2010 (which was a five-year deal), he’d be expected to earn about $8.8-million per season. Depending on the length of the contract, it could change the landscape. On the other hand, it might not. We’ll see when he actually signs the deal.

What I will say is that one change to keep an eye on is the length of contracts coming out of ELCs. Nylander signed for six years and Marner for five. Maybe Matthews does the same. I wonder if we see the upper-tier of players coming out of ELCs signing short deals (five, maybe six at most) as opposed to eight. Teams are more hesitant to sign 29- or 30-year olds to long-term deals than they had been in the past, which is the age players coming off eight-year RFA deals typically land. Teams will be a lot less hesitant to sign 26- or 27-year olds to long-term deals, which is the age players would be coming off five-year RFA contracts. This allows the player some level of guarantee to sign two big contracts in their careers, as opposed to risking getting short-term deals as they approach 30 years old.

from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-koivu-injured-boyle-traded-updates-on-byfuglien-and-larkin-cap-leagues-february-7/

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thrashermaxey · 6 years

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Is the Sophomore Slump for Defensemen for Real?

Although there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to fantasy hockey, some recurring outcomes or tendencies can – and should – form at least part of the basis for evaluating players you might draft or those already on your teams.

Dobberites are familiar with the “fourth year rule,” where past data has suggested that a player is more likely to break out in his fourth full season at the NHL level versus his second, third, fifth etc. There’s also the so-called “rookie wall,” where a first-year player not used to the rigors of an 82-game campaign will often see his stats drop in the second half of his debut season.

Another observation which has received considerable fantasy attention/speculation of late is the defenseman sophomore slump, which supposedly suggests that rearguards who are productive as rookies tend to do worse in their second (i.e., sophomore) season. But is the defenseman sophomore slump for real? If so, are there common traits shared by those most negatively or non-negatively affected which would allow us to better predict who might be most vulnerable to sophomore slumping? These are questions I’m tackling this week in a special Cage Match.

Definitions and Line Drawing

Before we gather and dissect data, we first must decide (1) how we define a rookie defenseman, (2) how many points a rookie defenseman must score in order to be a candidate for a sophomore slump, and (3) how far back to go in examining data.

I think we should look at only d-men who were true rookies in their first season, meaning they could not have previously played in any regular season games. My reasoning is any regular season action provides invaluable experience which makes someone perform differently both as a rookie and sophomore than someone who’d never taken the regular season ice before his rookie campaign.

Additionally, I excluded anyone over age 26 in his first season, since they don’t qualify as NHL rookies. Beyond that, I omitted those who were rookies in 2003-04 because that meant they would’ve been two years older for their second season due to cancellation of the 2004-05 campaign. Similarly, I excluded anyone who was a rookie or sophomore in 2012-13 due to that season only having a total of 48 games.

I debated what to do about d-men who, for whatever reason, didn’t play 60+ games as a sophomore, since I didn’t want that to possibly throw off the data. Ultimately I decided to keep in those players since injuries or scratches are part of the game. But I did eliminate one player (Erik Johnson) who would’ve otherwise qualified but missed his entire second season due to injury.

In terms of a points threshold and range of years, I went about things backwards by first deciding how many defensemen I wanted to analyze. I figured a number less than 20 would provide too few data points, but anything more than 30 would make it too difficult for me to crunch numbers. With that in mind, I settled upon rookie defensemen who played from 1997-98 onward and posted 29+ points in their first year, since that yielded a total of 24 qualifiers.

Why go back to 1997-98, rather than more or fewer years? Two reasons – the early to mid-90s was a much higher scoring era that is not as ripe for comparison to today, plus 1997-98 was the first season that nhl.com tracked ice time data, which I think that is a useful component for analysis. And although drawing the line at 29+ points might be a bit low for shallow fantasy leagues, that’s still enough of an output to place a rookie d-man on most everyone’s fantasy radar.

Summary of Rookie Season Data

Five of the 24 were rookies from 1997-98 through 2001-02, while 11 played their first season between 2005-06 and 2011-12 and the remaining eight had their first season between 2010-11 and 2016-17. The age breakdown of the 24 during their rookie campaign was as follows: 18 years old (one), age 19 (six), 20 (six), 21 (two), 22 (four), 23 (two) 24 (one), 25 (one), and 26 (one).

Among the 24, the highest rookie point total was 49 (Dion Phaneuf in 2005-06). Only five others posted 40+ as a rookie, while among the remaining 18 there were nine who landed at 36-39 (none had exactly 35) and nine with 29-34. Eleven had a double-digit goal total as a rookie, yet only five averaged 2+ SOG per game in their first campaign. Power-play scoring was widely varied, from a low of three to a high of 33; but only six accumulated below ten power-play points, with an equal number tallying 20+ and the overall average number of rookie power-play points being 14.7.

In terms of rookie ice time, 14 averaged at least 20:00 per game, and only three averaged less than 2:00 per contest with the man advantage. Shorthanded duty was widely varied, with slightly more first-year d-men logging 2:00+ per game (a total of ten) versus those who saw less than 0:30 of penalty-killing duty per game (a total of eight). But as rookies, only four of the 24 saw less ice time per game with the man advantage than while shorthanded.

As far as their teams, the most goals scored by one of the squads in a player’s rookie season was 314 (2005-06 Senators), with the next highest being way down at 266 (2013-14 Ducks). The lowest total was 211 (2005-06 Blackhawks), with only four other teams being under 220.

Year-to-Year Comparisons

What follows are the relevant individual and team statistics for each of the 24 players as a rookie, and then in his second season. These will be in reverse chronological order, with the most recent qualifying rookies and sophomores listed first. Note that when I refer to a gain or drop in production (in bold after each table) it is based on an 82-game scoring pace for each season.

Zach Werenski (rookie in 2016-17 for Columbus)

Age

Games

Goals

Assists

PPPts

SOG per game

Team Goals

TOI per game

PPTOI per game

SH TOI per game

Rookie

2.41

251

20:54

2:47

0:45

Second Season

2.68

242

22:34

2:25

0:45

Result = drop in production of 10 points

Ivan Provorov (rookie in 2016-17 for Philadelphia)

Age

Games

Goals

Assists

PPPts

SOG per game

Team Goals

TOI per game

PPTOI per game

SH TOI per game

Rookie

1.96

219

21:58

1:41

2:49

Second Season

2.47

251

24:09

1:46

2:34

Result = gain in production of 8 points

Nikita Zaitsev (rookie in 2016-17 for Toronto)

Age

Games

Goals

Assists

PPPts

SOG per game

Team Goals

TOI per game

PPTOI per game

SH TOI per game

Rookie

1.29

251

22:01

2:00

1:43

Second Season

0.90

277

22:13

0:14

2:56

Result = drop in production of 19 points

Colton Parayko (rookie in 2015-16 for St. Louis)

Age

Games

Goals

Assists

PPPts

SOG per game

Team Goals

TOI per game

PPTOI per game

SH TOI per game

Rookie

2.08

224

19:23

1:37

0:58

Second Season

2.32

236

21:11

1:45

2:06

Result = gain in production of 3 points

Aaron Ekblad (rookie in 2014-15 for Florida)

Age

Games

Goals

Assists

PPPts

SOG per game

Team Goals

TOI per game

PPTOI per game

SH TOI per game

Rookie

2.10

239

21:48

2:48

0:25

Second Season

2.33

210

21:40

2:50

0:44

Result = drop in production by 1 points

John Klingberg (rookie in 2014-15 for Dallas)

Age

Games

Goals

Assists

PPPts

SOG per game

Team Goals

TOI per game

PPTOI per game

SH TOI per game

Rookie

1.50

261

21:50

2:56

0:09

Second Season

2.25

267

22:41

3:11

0:05

Result = gain in production by 12 points

Jacob Trouba (rookie in 2013-14 for Winnipeg)

Age

Games

Goals

Assists

PPPts

SOG per game

Team Goals

TOI per game

PPTOI per game

SH TOI per game

Rookie

1.86

227

22:26

1:58

2:55

Second Season

2.04

230

23:18

1:56

3:21

Result = drop in production by 9 points

Hampus Lindholm (rookie in 2013-14 for Anaheim)

Age

Games

Goals

Assists

PPPts

SOG per game

Team Goals

TOI per game

PPTOI per game

SH TOI per game

Rookie

1.48

266

19:25

2:05

0:24

Second Season

1.37

236

21:45

1:37

1:57

Result = gain in production of 4 points

Cam Fowler (rookie in 2010-11 for Anaheim)

Age

Games

Goals

Assists

PPPts

SOG

Team Goals

TOI per game

PPTOI per game

SH TOI per game

Rookie

1.62

239

22:07

3:37

0:22

Second Season

1.50

204

23:15

3:40

0:42

Result = drop in production by 14 points

Kevin Shattenkirk (rookie in 2010-11 for Colorado and St. Louis)

Age

Games

Goals

Assists

PPPts

SOG per game

Team Goals

TOI per game

PPTOI per game

SH TOI per game

Rookie Season (with Avs)

1.45

227

19:50

3:05

0:17

Rookie Season (with Blues)

1.57

240

19:50

2:42

0:36

Second Season

2.19

210

21:36

2:51

1:55

Result = drop in production by 6 points

Tyler Myers (rookie in 2009-10 with Buffalo)

Age

Games

Goals

Assists

PPPts

SOG per game

Team Goals

TOI per game

PPTOI per game

SH TOI per game

Rookie

1.30

235

23:44

2:58

3:04

Second Season

1.52

245

22:27

2:47

2:41

Result = drop in production by 11 points

Michael Del Zotto (rookie in 2009-10 with Rangers)

Age

Games

Goals

Assists

PPPts

SOG per game

Team Goals

TOI per game

PPTOI per game

SH TOI per game

Rookie

1.01

222

18:58

3:49

0:28

Second Season

1.18

233

19:29

3:45

0:31

Result = drop in production by 19 points

Toby Enstrom (rookie in 2007-08 with Atlanta, i.e., Winnipeg)

Age

Games

Goals

Assists

PPPts

SOG per game

Team Goals

TOI per game

PPTOI per game

SH TOI per game

Rookie

1.28

216

24:28

5:44

3:07

Second Season

1.04

257

23:31

3:18

3:23

Result = drop in production by 6 points

Dion Phaneuf (rookie in 2005-06 with Calgary)

Age

Games

Goals

Assists

PPPts

SOG per game

Team Goals

TOI per game

PPTOI per game

SH TOI per game

Rookie

2.95

218

21:43

5:19

2:12

Second Season

2.91

258

25:39

5:34

1:58

Result = gain in production of 3 points

Andrej Meszaros (rookie in 2005-06 with Ottawa)

Age

Games

Goals

Assists

PPPts

SOG per game

Team Goals

TOI per game

PPTOI per game

SH TOI per game

Rookie

1.67

314

18:10

2:40

2:20

Second Season

1.79

288

21:40

3:42

2:32

Result = drop in production by 4 points

Chris Campoli (rookie in 2005-06 with New York Islanders)

Age

Games

Goals

Assists

PPPts

SOG per game

Team Goals

TOI per game

PPTOI per game

SH TOI per game

Rookie

1.53

230

18:32

3:20

1:46

Second Season

0.80

248

14:49

1:58

0:36

Result = drop in production by 13 points

Keith Ballard (rookie in 2005-06 with Phoenix, i.e., Arizona)

Age

Games

Goals

Assists

PPPts

SOG per game

Team Goals

TOI per game

PPTOI per game

SH TOI per game

Rookie

1.24

246

19:58

2:37

3:23

Second Season

1.14

216

21:59

2:01

3:44

Result = drop in production by 7 points

Ryan Whitney (rookie in 2005-06 with Pittsburgh)

Age

Games

Goals

Assists

PPPts

SOG per game

Team Goals

TOI per game

PPTOI per game

SH TOI per game

Rookie

1.66

244

23:49

4:32

4:20

Second Season

1.59

277

23:56

5:59

2:16

Result = gain in production of 13 points

Brent Seabrook (rookie in 2005-06 with Chicago)

Age

Games

Goals

Assists

PPPts

SOG per game

Team Goals

TOI per game

PPTOI per game

SH TOI per game

Rookie

1.65

211

20:01

3:50

2:31

Second Season

1.77

201

20:46

2:06

3:32

Result = drop in production by 14 points

Lubomir Visnovsky (rookie in 2000-01 with Los Angeles)

Age

Games

Goals

Assists

PPPts

SOG per game

Team Goals

TOI per game

PPTOI per game

SH TOI per game

Rookie

1.29

252

16:58

2:38

0:12

Second Season

1.32

214

16:14

3:26

0:06

Result = drop in production by 15 points

Brad Stuart (rookie in 1999-00 with San Jose)

Age

Games

Goals

Assists

PPPts

SOG per game

Team Goals

TOI per game

PPTOI per game

SH TOI per game

Rookie

1.62

225

20:24

4:32

1:33

Second Season

1.54

217

20:05

4:54

2:03

Result = drop in production by 12 points

Brian Rafalski (rookie in 1999-00 with New Jersey)

Age

Games

Goals

Assists

PPPts

SOG per game

Team Goals

TOI per game

PPTOI per game

SH TOI per game

Rookie

1.70

251

18:50

2:10

0:16

Second Season

1.82

295

21:40

3:05

1:03

Result = gain in production of 19 points

Derek Morris (rookie in 1997-98 with Calgary)

Age

Games

Goals

Assists

PPPts

SOG per game

Team Goals

TOI per game

PPTOI per game

SH TOI per game

Rookie

1.46

217

19:22

2:54

1:39

Second Season

2.11

211

20:44

3:04

1:17

Result = gain in production of 10 points

Mattias Ohlund (rookie in 1997-98 with Vancouver)

Age

Games

Goals

Assists

PPPts

SOG per game

Team Goals

TOI per game

PPTOI per game

SH TOI per game

Rookie

2.23

224

22:42

3:23

2:44

Second Season

1.74

192

26:03

4:35

4:17

Result = gain in production of 7 points

Looking at the Data and the Apparent Effects of Different Factors

Overall Data

Among the 24 rookie rearguards, and based on per-game scoring, 15 fared worse as sophomores, while only nine fared better. Moreover, the reduction in scoring rate ranged from 19 points to just one point, with an average drop among the 15 of 10.66 points. Meanwhile, the highest scoring rate gain was 19 points, and the lowest three points, with the average gain being 8.77 points. Therefore, according to this data it is indeed more likely than not a defenseman will fare worse as a sophomore than as a freshman, and the drop is usually more than the increase in those who see scoring gains.

Rookie Age

Looking just at ages, among those who were either 18 or 19 as a rookie five of the six fared worse as a sophomore, and the one who fared better did so twenty seasons ago. Both the age 20 and 21 groups were a mixed bag, with half seeing their stats improve as a sophomore and half seeing a decline. Age 22 was the only group where more members (three) saw their scoring output increase than decrease (one). Among those 23 or older as rookies, a mere one of five produced better sophomore stats than his rookie output, and that too was quite a while ago (Brian Rafalski in 1999-00 and 2000-01).

If we’re to draw a conclusion, it’s that – on paper – the younger or older a rookie d-man is the more at risk he becomes for enduring a sophomore slump. But beyond that, even those in the age 20-22 group are roughly 50/50 bets to play better as sophomores versus doing worse. Of course there are other factors at play, so let’s look at those as well.

Team Scoring

There was an exact 50-50 split among players in terms of improved versus worse team scoring output from their rookie season to their sophomore campaign. Of the 12 players whose teams tallied more goals in their sophomore campaign than when they were rookies, only five had improved production. Moreover, nearly as many (four) players saw their scoring improve in their second season compared to when they were rookies despite playing for teams who tallied fewer goals as did (five) whose team saw its goal total improve. As such, whether a player is or is not vulnerable to a sophomore slump does not seem to be significantly based on the scoring of his team as a whole.

Shots on Goal per Game

In all, 13 of the 24 rearguards fired more pucks on net per game in their second season than they did as rookies, yet eight of the 13 saw their scoring drop notwithstanding the per game SOG increase. Among the five who topped two SOG per game as rookies, three fired fewer SOG per game as sophomores yet two of the three ended up scoring more as sophomores whereas only one of the two who topped two SOG per game as a rookie but saw his SOG per game increase season-to-season saw his production likewise increase.

If we look at just those rookies who fired 1.75 or fewer SOG per game then saw their SOG per game rate drop, we come up with a total of seven, of which five saw their scoring rate drop as a sophomore. So if there is a takeaway it’s not too surprisingly to be concerned about lower shooting defensemen whose shooting rate as a sophomore drops even further.

Ice Time

Of the 24, 11 saw their average PP Time per game drop as a sophomore, and ten of those 11 saw their scoring (or scoring rate) drop as a sophomore. In terms of overall ice time, fewer saw losses there, as only six took the ice for less average time per game, yet all six saw drops in scoring. Not surprisingly, therefore, ice time does appear to play a large part in determining whether a sophomore slump will or will not occur.

PP Scoring

As noted above, the average PPPt output of these players in their first season was 14.7, and among the 11 who bested that average, nine tallied fewer PPPts as a sophomore, with all but one also seeing his point total fall as well. Among d-men who saw scoring gains from their first to second year were those who had higher PP outputs, yet four of the nine who saw an increase didn’t tally more than ten PPPts as a sophomore, so a large PPPt output is not a prerequisite for scoring gains as a sophomore.

Conclusions

I’m sure there’s even more data that can be crunched, but at nearly 3000 words already I need to start to wrap up this column. I certainly welcome readers to share their own calculations and observations in the comments sections below.

In terms of what we learned, if you have to bet one way or the other on whether a first year d-man will see his scoring go down as a sophomore, the pure numbers suggest the safer wager is on a drop. But what about factors that will allow us to decide who will or won’t slump as a sophomore based on more specific – and measurable – information?

Unfortunately there apparently aren’t many data points which, going into a sophomore season, will allow poolies to make reliable predictions as to whether a specific d-man will fare better or worse in his second season. That’s because the major factors that seem to matter are ice time and PP scoring, which, although influenced to some degree by one’s rookie season and/or offseason transactions, will depend far more so on what unfolds during that second season itself. This all having been said, if you had to make some generalizations based on the data we saw here, you’d want to watch out for teen rookies or rookies who were older than 23, as they seem more vulnerable to slumping as sophomores. So too do those didn’t have many SOG to begin with.

What about 2018-19 Sophomore Defensemen?

What does all this mean for the two 29+ point true first year d-men from 2017-18, namely Charlie McAvoy and Will Butcher? McAvoy was a bit young and had low SOG totals despite a better than point per every other game average, while Butcher, although three years older, wasn’t a SOG machine despite likewise averaging more than a point per every other game.

Who were the past rookies with outputs most similar to these two? Not really anyone exactly, although for what it’s worth John Klingberg only fired 1.50 SOG despite better than point per every other game scoring and then broke out as a sophomore. But also there was Tyler Myers, who put up major points a rookie despite only firing 1.30 SOG per game and then never hit the 40-point mark again.

No one else both fired few SOG but scored 0.5 points per game or better; however, the ones who didn’t have more than 1.5+ SOG per game as a rookie and came closest to 0.5 points per game included one slumper (Nikita Zaitsev) and one gainer (Hampus Lindholm). Long story short, there’s no consensus on whether McAvoy or Butcher will endure a sophomore slump or not; however, with more d-men doing so than not, best to tread lightly when drafting either one for this season.

from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-home/cage-match/cage-match-is-the-sophomore-defenseman-slump-a-thing/

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thrashermaxey · 6 years

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Ramblings: Prospects on the bubble (Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis) and more (Sep 24)

The Fantasy Guide has been updated each of the last five consecutive days, with Sunday seeing two updates (I’m not marking inter-day updates in the date box, FYI).

Sunday I scrambled a morning Guide update because Ottawa cut Drake Batherson and Logan Brown. Just like that, it changes the way I see the year unfolding for the Sens roster. I still believe Batherson will be an NHLer by the end of the season, but obviously I needed to roll back the projected games (I had him for 62 and dropped him to 52 for now…perhaps lower as I see more from Chlapik). The big thing is the status of Filip Chlapik still being there. I wrestled with having a projection for him back in July and decided to give the nod to Batherson. But Chlapik is now in the Guide, and he has a pedigree of producing points. With the lack of depth at center, he could be one to watch although this team won’t be scoring a lot of goals so his short-term ceiling is limited.

I’m starting to develop an Atkinson-like man crush on St. Louis prospect Sammy Blais. I first took him seriously back in May when analyzing his situation, his numbers, what the organization says about him, for the Fantasy Prospects Report. I thought he had excellent sleeper potential, between scoring 26 goals as an AHL rookie in 2016-17 and then nearly a point-per-game there in 2017-18. I call him “Mike Hoffman” in terms of upside. But then the Blues went out and added a pile of proven NHL players and I shifted Blais off my radar for this year. But man, the guy keeps showing up on the score sheet and while I know it’s only preseason, it has to be making an impression on Coach Mike Yeo. Two more goals on Sunday for Blais, who keeps exceeding expectations and on a faster timeline. Just like Hoffman.

Blais played with Robert Thomas on Sunday and the two had chemistry – Thomas had three assists. I already have him penciled in for the nine-game trial and if he impresses and knocks a regular out of the lineup with his play, he’s in for the duration. With Robby Fabbri struggling with injuries again, Blais is starting to look even better.

As for Fabbri – his injury is not related to his knee, but rather conditioning. His back injury cropped up because he hasn’t played in over a year. Looks like easing him back into game action will take a while, and his already risky fantasy draft status is becoming even riskier.

Chicago is down to 16 forwards, so likely looking at three more camp cuts. Still battling: Alexandre Fortin, Andreas Martinsen and Victor Ejdsell – my picks for the final cuts – as well as Dylan Sikura, Matt Highmore, Dominik Kahun and David Kampf, who I think will make the team. One player who is turning heads in camp is Dominik Kahun, a Czech/German late-bloomer who was never drafted but was signed by Chicago after posting nearly a point-per-game in the German League and tallying five points in seven games for Team Germany in the Olympics. He probably won’t have a big, lasting fantasy impact this year, but he could be a Joonas Donskoi type who gets 35 points in his rookie season (I have him for 26). His linemates were Alex DeBrincat and Jonathan Toews in Sunday’s practice, so you know that Coach John Quenneville is taking his bid for a roster spot seriously.

Since I am on the topic of Chicago, fantasy owners are keeping a close eye on the defensemen situation. With both Connor Murphy and Gustav Forsling out with injuries, the team is looking at nine defensemen left in camp for the seven spots. You can count Erik Gustafsson as a shoe-in and frankly I think he is a nice little dark horse in deeper fantasy leagues. But what keeper owners are watching for is what happens to Henri Jokiharju and Adam Boqvist. With regards to Boqvist, I have been saying since May that this year’s draft class was heavy in talented defensemen and lighter in terms of forwards. And I was surprised when NHL teams picked forwards over defensemen anyway, reaching for forwards higher in the draft and letting good defensemen slip. So my attitude when it comes to blueliners from the 2018 class has been to boost their value-rating, but drop the forwards down a bit. Boqvist was drafted eighth overall, but in terms of future fantasy upside he’s probably Top 5. He’s been turning heads and in terms of pure talent he is an NHL player. But he’s so small that I still struggle to see him on Chicago this year. He can wait a year.

While Boqvist was drafted eighth overall this summer, Jokiharju was selected a year ago at 29th overall. He proceeded to embarrass the WHL with ridiculous numbers for a defenseman (71 points in 63 games, fifth among WHL rearguards). Jokiharju is making things difficult for Chicago to send him back there, and the fact that he has nothing more to learn at the junior level also plays in his favor. I’m thinking Joki makes the squad for at least the nine-game trial.

Mike Green is suffering from exhaustion caused by a virus, but is apparently over the worst of it. He’ll spend a few days battling the rest of it off and then another few days regaining his strength and conditioning. Still, it’s a better prognosis than what it looked like on Friday, so I am guessing he misses just the first two or three games of the season. That still means that Detroit will start with two rookie defensemen this year and then send one back after Green returns. The candidates – Dennis Cholowski, Filip Hronek, Joe Hicketts, Libor Sulak and Vili Saarijarvi. The player who turned heads last season in the AHL is Hronek. The player turning heads in training camp right now is Cholowski. So those are my two picks, with the two of them battling it out in the first few games of the season for the right to stay with the team upon Green’s return. I tend to think that, based on his pro season last year, Hronek ends up winning out. But Cholowski was taken 20th overall in 2016, 33 spots before Hronek, and has a higher ceiling.

In the game last night, Cholowski saw 21:45 to Hronek at 19:45 for ice time. More importantly, Cholowski saw 5:00 of PP time and Hronek 2:46. So you can see where Coach Jeff Blashill is leaning. I’m starting to want to slide Cholowski into the sneaky dark horse category, so Sammy Blais better move over and make room.

The Red Wings had the following line combinations in yesterday’s preseason tilt:

Tyler Bertuzzi – Dylan Larkin – Anthony Mantha

Michael Rasmussen – Andreas Athanasiou – Filip Zadina

You can get all the preseason stats and preseason line combos in the Frozen Tools section. If you haven’t seen the new-look Frozen Tools, go there now and get lost in the rabbit hole. The player profiles are getting ridiculous with how helpful they are for fantasy – now that they have Rob Vollman’s Player Usage Charts in the ‘advanced’ tab.

Filip Zadina had an assist and is starting to win me over in terms of sticking with the team. Joe Veleno had an assist as well and while he is impressing, I think he gets sent back down for one more year. Rasmussen I’m 50-50 on, still.

So far, no good. Mikko Koskinen gave up three goals on just 19 shots in his preseason debut – big deal it’s only preseason. But Sunday’s five-goal dud (21 shots) has me raising an eyebrow. Let’s give it one more game, but as a Cam Talbot owner I’m satisfied that his job is safe.

A good article here in the Athletic. It tells of the Columbus PP woes last year and how they were dead last with the man advantage in mid-December. After that, they were 11th. The reason was just from moving Alexander Wennberg to net-front, and taking Cam Atkinson from net-front to half-wall. With the team not trading Artemi Panarin (only my opinion), they could surprise this year in terms of the offense.

Don’t forget to put in your team/register at Dobbernomics.

The back story: I really loved the Small World game in 1999, for hockey/baseball/football where I would add players under a salary cap and their value would go up or down based on overall ownership in the game. Your team value would go up (or down) accordingly. I tried to beat my friends in both total team salary value, as well as total fantasy points. I looked around for it a few years ago and discovered that it had been sold to Roto Hog early last decade, and Roto Hog had tried to charge money for it…and so it fizzled and died. I wanted to bring this game back. Michael Hiridjee built the site from the ground up and we ran it the last two years. Each year, however, we barely got it ready in time for the season so we haven’t been able to properly market it. Two years ago, this was because it simply wasn’t ready until the last minute. Last year, it was because of my health and all the things that had to be delayed or pushed to the side as a result. This year? We’re rolling and we’re rolling early. I am eager to get 2000+ teams in there so that player values fluctuate nicely (the more who play and add/drop, the better). It’s a free game and it will always be free. I won’t make the same mistake that Roto Hog/Small World made. What do I get out of it? Besides getting this great game back online, you mean? I guess in the end I grow the Dobber brand and eventually that should help me sell a few more Guides. So if you’re looking for strings that are attached…that’s about it!

I’m doing my first draft of the season as I write this and it’s an interesting one that I would probably enjoy more if the draft moved quicker. Sorry for the plug, but it’s worth mentioning – this is Fantrax “best ball” and they opened up a “Beat Dobber” challenge. So 11 people have challenged me and we choose 20 players. At the end of the season, Fantrax takes the five best forwards, three best D and two best G and counts only those. It was $10 to play (I was comped), with the winner getting $100 and second getting $10. Each pick is on a two-hour clock, so there is no pressure, plus there is a “sleep” timer that runs from midnight to 9am. Problem is, a couple of people don’t check often enough nor put in the auto-draft, so the full two hours ticks by. Fifteen rounds in, it’s been three days. Hits, SHG, SOG and PPPts are categories along with the usual, and I used the Geek Draft Kit to rank the players. I picked third in the snake draft and nabbed Ovechkin. It swung back around to me and goalies were already taken (Vasilevskiy, Hellebuyck and Andersen). So I didn’t have a choice. My strategy is to get Tier 1 goalies if I fear that I won’t get one the next time it comes around to me. So my next two picks I took Sergei Bobrovsky and Braden Holtby. Geek told me that goalies are highly rated commodities so I made sure I got two of the better ones, later grabbing Varlamov as insurance.

With this type of league setup, it is best to take homerun swings in the later rounds and avoid the Band-Aid Boys. My later picks (14 and 15 so far) were Elias Pettersson and Alex DeBrincat. These guys need to crack my Top 5 forwards, so it’s a boom or bust kind of idea. Go for the high upside, forget about just being decent and putting up solid numbers. If they don’t have a shot at beating the best on my team, then I won’t bother. It means taking a Pettersson over a Dadonov, for example.

Announcement: Fantasy Hockey Geek, after over a year of work from three different programmers (good ones, too), can now finally sync with Yahoo. As of Saturday. This was so big that I rushed it to ‘live’ status rather than test it because I thought it would help users. Naturally, there are bugs and we are working on them. But I think more than half the leagues are syncing okay. I have heard about all the bugs, but I would love to hear from you if you synced it with Yahoo and it worked really well. Just trying to gauge the success rate so far. Thanks!

See you next Monday.

from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-prospects-on-the-bubble-detroit-chicago-st-louis-and-more-sep-24/

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thrashermaxey · 7 years

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Ramblings: Evander Kane Pops Four; Kuznetsov Injured; Forsberg Friday – March 17

While the Sabres wouldn’t commit to it, Jack Eichel looks ready to make his return to the lineup Saturday for their afternoon tilt against Chicago. He has missed 15 games with an ankle injury.

For those on their way to the head-to-head semi-finals, this is huge. The team has four games next week including the Rangers, Canadiens, and Coyotes. If he was on your roster and you’re out of H2H playoffs… better luck next year?

Kyle Okposo also skated having been sidelined with concussion issues but he’s further away from suiting up.

James Neal returned to the Golden Knights but did so on the top line with Jonathan Marchessault and William Karlsson. The coach wanted to leave the second line of Perron-Haula-Tatar together. I suspect that once Reilly Smith is ready to go, however, Tatar returns back to the third line and the top-six returns to the iteration we have seen the majority of the season.

TJ Oshie has now scored in back-to-back games with his first-period power-play tally against the Islanders last night. It’s the first time since games 2 and 3 of the season that he scored in consecutive contests. For perspective, he did it six times last season in just 68 games played, including a stretch where he scored in four straight. He needs one more power-play point to tie a career-high in this regard.

Jakub Vrana had his first multi-point night since November 22nd with a goal and an assist. He did that in under nine minutes of ice time. He has six points in his last eight games while averaging under 11 minutes a game. Maybe give him some more ice time?

For fun: since time on ice started being kept 20 years ago, there have been 65 forwards to play at least 75 games and amass at least 25 points while totalling under 1000 minutes (he won’t reach 1000). Vrana, should he play the balance of the season, would make 66. Should he get to 30 points somehow, he’d be just the 29th player to do so.

Evgeny Kuznetsov assisted on Oshie’s PP goal and it was his 70th point of the year.

Things took a turn for the worse for Kuznetsov, though. Very late in the second period he was on a partial breakaway and after a slash from Jordan Eberle and what looked like getting tangled in the goaltender’s stick, he went crashing into the boards. He stayed down for a few minutes and looked to be holding his left wrist skating off. He did not return and we won’t get an update until Saturday afternoon at the earliest.

In the short-term, the Caps left their second and third lines together and just moved Travis Boyd up to play with Ovechkin. I’m fairly certain that won’t be a long-term solution should they need one.

Tyler Seguin set a career-high in goals with 38 with his own first-period power-play marker against the Senators. Alexander Radulov had an assist on the goal and now each of Dallas’s Big Four has at least 20 power-play points.

It was a pretty tic-tac-goal, too:

Passing perfection leads to a @tseguinofficial goal. pic.twitter.com/q4Vqyi1VlM

— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) March 17, 2018

Mike Hoffman came up big for the Sens, assisting on Ottawa’s late third-period goal that would help push them to overtime (the Stars tied it up late) and then scoring the overtime winner. He had three shots total, giving him 225 on the year. He needs 18 more to set a career-best. The assist on the team’s second goal was his 50th point of the year.

Jamie Benn had a huge game for roto owners, racking two assists (one on the PP), five shots, a blocked shot, and a hit.

Erik Karlsson’s two assists puts him two points back of John Klingberg for the league lead among blue liners.

Evander Kane was a game-time decision for the Sharks. Luckily for them, he ended up in the lineup. Kane scored four of San Jose’s seven goals on the way to the win. He had seven shots total.

It was Kane’s first four-goal game of his career and the fourth in the NHL this season (Connor McDavid, Patrice Bergeron, Alex Ovechkin).

Oddly enough, on seven goals, Kane and Tomas Hertl (goal and assist) were the only players with multi-point games. Hertl needs one more tally to reach 20 on the season.

Mike Smith was pulled after the sixth goal.

Micheal Ferland had a solid night for himself with a goal, assists, one additional shot, two blocks, and three hits. That’s how you stuff the stat sheet.

Filip Forsberg had two goals on five shots to lead the Preds over the Avs and Forsberg has now reached 20 goals for the season.

PK Subban had a monster fantasy night with an assist, a plus-1 rating, five shots, one block, four penalty minutes, and two hits.

I know this is of interest to Dobber: the Professional Hockey Writers Association announced that after a vote of their members, they will be making ballots public. This is an effort to boost transparency.

Dobber already does this for his ballots, as do many others. But now we get to see which members voted for which players and that should help readers identify writers who, let’s say, lean favourably more towards certain teams.

It’s pretty cool to see Andreas Athanasiou having the season he’s having. He was a guy held down by the organization for a couple years and even when he was with the big club often found himself in the doghouse. He was jerked around at contract time and is making the team look foolish for doing so.

Here’s what’s impressive to me: he’s inside the top-30 forwards in individual shot attempts per 60 minutes this year at five-on-five, ahead of prolific shooters like Max Pacioretty and Nikita Kucherov. It’s at this point where it’s worth noting the Habs are seventh in the league in team shot attempts per 60 minutes and Tampa Bay is 11th. Detroit is a bottom-5 team in shot attempts, ranking just ahead of Vancouver. On a 15-minute basis, Pacioretty takes 6.9 percent of the team’s shots. Kucherov takes 6.8 percent. Athanasiou takes 7.8 percent.

Athanasiou is piling up the shots on a team that doesn’t pile up the shots.

I thought I would go through some other players doing the same, just to keep in mind for next season.

Tyler Toffoli

Despite a horrific streak from early January through late February that saw the sniper pocket just one goal, Toffoli has 23 tallies on the season, tying him for second-most of his career. He’s on pace for 27 goals and is doing so with a shooting percentage (10 percent) lower than his career average (11.6 percent). A big reason for that is shot volume. While we’re accustomed to Toffoli shooting a lot, he’s currently at a career-best 20.58 shot attempts per 60 minutes at five-on-five. He’s also taking 8.9 percent of the team’s shots per 15 minutes, which makes the numbers Pacioretty, Kucherov, and Athanasiou look like a pittance. He’s been a machine this year, but it’s as if Sutter is still behind the bench seeing as Toffoli is earning just 16 seconds more per game of five-on-five ice time than Trevor Lewis. C’est la vie.

Taylor Hall

I mean, what more needs to be said at this point. Hall is almost single-handedly dragging the Devils to a playoff spot and earning himself Hart Trophy conversation at the same time. It should come as no surprise, then, that he’s leading the Devils in market share of shot attempts. He’s currently taking 7.9 percent of the team’s shots per 15 minutes with Miles Wood not far behind at 7.3 percent.

Wood seems to have a pretty bright future. His on-ice speed is something to behold. I don’t want to put him in the Michael Grabner conversation, but it almost seems at times that the Devils have a set play when he’s on the ice and they’re in the defensive zone. The set play is “get the puck into the neutral zone and let Wood skate.” Not a bad plan.

The problem is I’m not sure how much consistent fantasy relevance he can have. The one spot this team is deep is left wing. Should they keep Patrick Maroon or Michael Grabner around in the offseason, and Marcus Johansson is healthy, Wood could be the team’s fourth-line left wing next year. Good for the team’s depth, bad for his fantasy value.

Jake Virtanen

Out of 331 forwards with at least 500 minutes of five-on-five ice time, Virtanen is in the top-50 of individual shot attempts per 60 minutes. Not as a percentage of his team, just overall in the league. That’s ahead of even Brock Boeser and Auston Matthews.

Now, I am absolutely not comparing Virtanen to Boeser or Matthews. All I’m saying is that following a season where he was stuck mostly in the AHL, he’s returned to being a pretty good shot-volume guy in a limited role as he showed in his rookie season. He’s even tied for the team lead in expected goals per 60 minutes with Daniel Sedin. Not bad!

When I asked fellow Dobber writer Cam Robinson for some thoughts on Virtanen, here’s what he had to say:

Virtanen got a look on the top line but they refuse to play him in Boeser’s usual spot on the PP despite him having a rocket for a shot. Travis Green just keeps throwing Sam Gagner out there and watching teams sag off him because he’s really not a threat at all in that area. The Canucks are a tire fire but they could be doing more to facilitate the team’s youngsters. This is the perfect time to wheel a guy like Virtanen out in all situations. Ah well, maybe they’ll score a goal again next season when Boeser rejoins the fold.

He would know better than I.

Jared McCann

The played acquired in the Erik Gudbranson trade is fifth among Panthers forwards in primary points per 60 minutes at five-on-five (1.25) behind Aleksander Barkov, Evgenii Dadonov, Nick Bjugstad, and Jonathan Huberdeau. Yes, McCann is well ahead of Vincent Trocheck (1.03) in this regard, and it’s despite McCann shooting just 4.9 percent at five-on-five. It’s been a revelatory season for the 21-year old centre.

He’s not been as prolific in his shot share of the team (6.6 percent) as some of the aforementioned players but he’s still shooting at a career-best rate by a wide margin and is settling in nicely into that third-line role for the team.

Of course, fantasy relevance is going to be hard to come by. He’s stuck behind Barkov and Trocheck for the next, oh, half-decade or so, and will likely not sniff the top PP unit in the meantime. Third-line players with minimal power-play time don’t often lead to a lot of fantasy production. He is, however, showing promise for deep league and dynasty owners, which gives hope he can be a Lars Eller-type player, posting 15-goal, 30-point seasons even in a minimal role.

Can I just repeat how enamoured I am with Tyler Toffoli? Is it getting a bit much? It’s getting a bit much. I’ll stop.

For now.

from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-evander-kane-pops-four-kuznetsov-injured-forsberg-friday-march-17/

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