Big oof roster

your not so high on Beaudin

I think he's a late bloomer and needs to grow into his body more so keep him in the AHL for another season. Carlsson looked really good with Murphy last season and one could argue was the Hawks best pairing. Kalynuk is promised a shot to play in the show.

Really interested to see how this goalie experiment works out

How are you certain Kalynuk was promised a shot...other than the standard...you'll try out with the rest of them? I don't think he makes the team. I'd personally also swap Suter and Nylander. Technically Nylander was a rookie last year. Allow him some more time in the bottom pair where he was actually more successful.

If we needed to retain on Maatta...I don't think the Devils want DeHaan.

Kalynuk was promised a shot to play as widely reported and why he signed with the Hawks. He had options to sign elsewhere; check out the The Athletic on it.

Suter IS a rookie, Nylander is not. Toews plays a better two way game then Dach, putting Nylander and Kane together would put to much defensive pressure on Dach.

Maybe they need to retain on De Haan but he's better then Maatta so not sure why you'd say "if we needed to retain on Maatta then we need to retain on De Haan"...the team is less significant, it's simply making the point that we should move him.

Suter is a rookie...yes. He's also 24...Nylander 22. Pius Suter was also the MVP of the swiss league. He's more ready than Nylander for competition. I'm not saying Nylander's a bad player. I'm saying he hasn't earned top 6 minutes...AND that he's actually played better with less ice time. Which allows him time to actually focus on his development during games.

I don't agree with you at all that DeHaan is better than Maatta. Maatta - played against harder competition...with worse line mates...with FAR less Ozone starts...and was a factor on the PK. Oh, and the intangible items too...doesn't get hurt like DeHaan and plays better in the playoffs. Maybe we can chalk up all the stats/metrics due to DeHaan's injury, but he gets hurt often. I don't think the NJD are trying to acquire him.

https://public.tableau.com/profile/bill.comeau#!/vizhome/SKATR2019-2020/SKATR

Let's be clear, Suter hasn't earned anything yet, and much less then Nylander, it would be silly to think otherwise. Also, I'm sure you're aware of the lower leagues to the NHL and the AHL is without question a tougher league then any European league and the Swiss league is not the best in Europe either. Comparably Nylander has four seasons under his belt as a AHL/NHL player playing against tougher competition. He has more experience then Suter and really shouldn't be a debate. Will Suter step onto NA ice for the first time and be another Kubalik; possibly but highly unlikely. Suter is probably a Kahun level player.

I think you have this mixed up. When De Haan wasn't hurt, Maatta played against easier competition on the 3rd line then De Haan who played against harder competition on the 2nd line. While I recognize Maatta played 2nd line when De Haan was hurt, as soon as De Haan came back, Maatta was back on the 3rd line again. Also, underlying stats are tough to measure when you have De Haan hurt most of the year and not a chance to develop chemistry with his pairing. Maatta only became a good player in the back 1/2 of the season once he found a good pairing with Koekko; prior to that he was not good. I think you'd be hard pressed to find professionals agree that Maatta is a better player.

We can agree to disagree on DeHaan. We're likely splitting hairs. We might have to do the same for Nylander. I don't dislike the kid and I do think the BUF fans were overblown about his lack of effort overall. I can even admit that my reaction to the trade (probably the most unhappy out of anyone) was overblown. https://www.capfriendly.com/forums/thread/250338

With that said, I do very much think that at least for the short term...he proven that he can NOT be a top 6 player in the NHL. Not only have other quality players decreased when Nylander's been introduced to their line...his own play has decreased when assigned a top 6 role. I'd prefer to give an older, more physically mature, and more mentally mature player the initial ice time and then we'll see.

As for the AHL thing. https://thehockeywriters.com/top-10-best-ice-hockey-leagues/

I get what you are saying about Nylander and true but the issue with Suter is he is a complete mystery never having played on NA ice. More often then not, the best kids out of Europe are playing on NA ice and to be 24 and never played here, well the odds are against you. Yes, there are needles in a haystack in Panarin or Kubalik but the large majority never make it while they can maintain successful careers in Europe. I hope Suter is another Kubalik, but watching a lot of his videos, I see more Kahun in him which is great, a good find by the European scouts and should make for a good 3rd maybe 2nd line winger.

Nylander on the other hand has without question more raw talent then Suter based on everything I've seen. The biggest issue is can Nylander put it all together and IMO get the smarts to react and predict plays faster...still a lot of hesitation to his game and wondering if he's just not all that bright. That said, both players are very different. Suter is a 200 ft player that isn't going to dazzle in any one area but is really well rounded (hence the Kahun comparison) whereas Nylander is all offensive playmaking.

I agree Nylander isn't ready for a top 6 role but we don't have anyone else unless we weaken the 3rd line. If we are trying to balance 3 lines with solid 2 assets on each line (Toews/Kubalik, Kane/Dach, Strome/Debrincat) and keeping with the theme of 3 roles on each line (2 way defense guy, playmaker and shooter), then the above makes sense and what I was going for.

I agree the AHL is not better then the top teams in the KHL as 2 maybe 3 of them could actually play in the NHL as a bottom 3rd team in the league. However, the bottom teams in the KHL are not good at all, very big disparity in that league. The SHL or Liiga were traditionally close to behind the KHL but Czech, Swiss and German leagues are getting better with the Swiss probably being the standout of those three.

That all said, while AHL teams as a whole may be a bit behind the SHL, Liiga, NLA; you will usually find 3 or 4 players in the AHL that are better then the top 3 or 4 players from those teams in those leagues given this is indeed a NHL development league with players with NHL careers ahead of them or back and forth. As an example, put Hagel on a European league and he'd be a stud; same can probably be said for Kurashev (who'd be playing in the Swiss league if that was the best league for him to enter the NHL).

It's an interesting debate and I know that Hockey Writers article is a couple years old (updated for 2020) but don't necessarily agree with the rankings. Here's a deeper analysis that is interesting as well.

https://hockey-graphs.com/2020/03/02/which-league-is-best/