16 Thoughts - Three Man Weave
I haven't wrote one of these in a minute
Welcome back to 16 Thoughts, a series somewhat like Elliotte Friedman’s 32 Thoughts but cut in half due to only talking about Carolina Hurricanes prospects.
You know, I always enjoyed basketball as a kid. I sucked, do not get me wrong, but it was fun to just play pickup with friends, even if I stunk. Learning about the three man weave was one of the things I vividly remember, because it was the one thing I could actually do. I couldn’t dribble (and still can’t now) but I can move the rock. The Chicago Wolves are currently getting insane production from three young guys, who can move the puck cleanly and efficiently but who can also finish when needed. There’s also a 4th guy, Ryan Suzuki, who would be talked about here but since he’s not a prospect anymore, I’ll spend more time talking about the other 3. But seriously, shoutout Suzuki for being the glue that holds the Wolves top line together. With that explanation (which the relation to the three man weave being incredibly weak) out of the way, let’s get to thinking.
Also, Three Man Weave by Injury Reserve is a spectacular song.
1. Felix Unger Sorum (20) has been superb this year. There’s many examples I could use but I really like the OT goal he had against Colorado before the All Star Break.
Felix loves to pass, he’s extremely unselfish with the puck. But sometimes, he needs to do this. Just be individualistic and selfish and just take over. Takes it from his own end, uses Juuso Valimaki as a screen to open up space, and then just RIPS it. His shot is underrated and he should really use it more. But man, from 20 points last year to 39 as of the All Star Break is great. (He’s up to 41 points now)
2. Bradly Nadeau (20) has been the Wolves best offensive player, flat out. Any time he steps on the ice, he’s a threat. Like Spiros Anastas said, he’s become a much more complete player. The development it takes to go from a “power play merchant” last year to a top unit penalty killer who has completely flipped his plus/minus is great.
3. I explained it further on Twitter but +/- has to be used WITH context. Without context, it’s a stat that people can point to and make assumptions that might just be wrong. In regards to Nadeau, this is a big indicator of the strides he’s made defensively from last year. He’s more active with his stick in the defensive zone and has been pretty solid on the penalty kill. So, when someone has been playing with the same relative players on a line over the past year and finds a way to flip their +/- by over 40, it’s a good indicator of defensive development.
4. Justin Robidas (22) has been the Wolves best all around player, flat out. Nadeau has been better offensively but Robidas has been the better all around player. This is a player who just succeeds everywhere he goes. Whether it’s junior (winning the QMJHL and the CHL Cup), whether it’s being near a point per game player as a 20 year old in the ECHL before, or whether it’s in the AHL, where he has 97 points in 110 games. He’s going to be a good bottom 6 forward in the NHL for a long time.
5. Did I mention these guys first for a reason? Maybe. When speaking about the deadline, at least Nadeau and Felix are the two guys I see the most involved in any sort of mock trade and it’s fair. Those are the forwards with the most value as of right now. Defensively, it’s probably Legault. Maybe Kurban Limatov (18) has some good value but he’s just a D+1 right now.
5. Speaking of Big Kurb, what an electric hockey player. He’s actively leading or joining the rush, he’s jumping up at the right time, he’s making the offense look easy. I’d say he’s one of my favorite prospects to watch right now.
6. His defensive partner, Timur Kol (19), has continued his great season. But I want to absolutely stress just how ridiculous his usage is. I made a graphic during Alexander Nikishin’s last KHL season because he was getting 25 minutes or more almost every single night. I think I might repurpose that same graphic for Kol, who is averaging 25:04 TOI a night. That’s about 1:50 more than the next closest player. (Update: hey look he got KHL time. It was barely any, but it counts!)
7. It’s been nice to see a handful of prospects start rolling again. First, Stanislav Yarovoy (22) has had a really, really nice string of games over the past month or so. Much more involved offensively, even in limited roles some times. It’s cool to see the flair in his game shine through from time to time.
8. Oskar Vuollet (20) has enjoyed a similar stretch of games, not to the same extent of points but has had some good production. I still have questions about his game translating but this stretch has been really nice.
9. I’ve found myself watching the QMJHL much more and Ivan Ryabkin (18) has made the experience one to behold. I don’t want to say good or bad because it’s been about as bipolar as you can imagine. One night, he has 4 points (3 primary) and looks incredible. On other nights, he’s taking some less than stellar penalties and struggling. It’s been more good nights than bad though. For fun, if we look at his points per game (sitting at a 2.0 with 20 points in 10 games), that’s good enough for 1st in the league. (Small sample size is small, so this is nothing more than a fun fact but it’s still cool).
10. Viggo Nordlund (19) is chugging along just fine in the HockeyAllsvenskan. Currently sitting in 4th in U20 points, he’s been inconsistent for the most part of this year. But it’s a big jump from the U20 league so I’m not too concerned with it.
11. It’s awesome to finally see Alexander Siryatsky (19) back on the ice, even better to see him not miss a single beat. 14 minutes of ice time in his first game back while also getting a little bit of penalty killing time is awesome to see from a young defenseman in a senior league. I’m super high on him and it’s for a good reason, promise.
12. Speaking of defenseman that I’m super high on returning from injury, Charles Alexis Legault (22) returned to action on Thursday for the Chicago Wolves and didn’t look out of place at all. Picked up a primary assist on a great activation from his zone after noticing a defenseman out of place. Was really solid defensively and was physical.
13. The last thought, brought to you by enough caffeine to take down a water buffalo, congratulations to Gleb Trikozov (21) on the birth of his first child! New born dad strength on ice is one hell of a thing.