There was a post-deadline move by the Sens as they picked up former first-round pick Brandon Gormley (1-13/10) from the Devils (for future considerations). The 25-year old was a free agent signing by New Jersey after Colorado cut him loose (acquiring him via trade from Phoenix who originally drafted him). Gormley‘s best years were with the Coyotes and he’s been spinning his tires ever since (just his AHL stats below):
2012-13 Portland 68-5-24-29 (0.42)
2013-14 Portland 54-7-29-36 (0.66)
2014-15 Portland 23-3-7-10 (0.43)
2015-16 San Antonio 39-4-2-6 (0.15)
2016-17 Albany 35-2-8-10 (0.28)
He’s done essentially nothing at the NHL level (58-2-3-5). So why the precipitous decline in the minors? It seems as though he was benefiting from teammates around him (a host of talent his rookie year, including some games from Oliver Ekman Larsson; a couple of veterans in his sophomore year including former NHLer Randy Jones; and a career year from Dylan Reese his final season with Phoenix). This year he slipped far down the depth charts on the Devils, with five blueliners ahead of him in scoring and saddled with the second worst plus/minus on the team. So what value does he have for the BSens? It means they can return Doornbosch to Wichita and can sit Guillaume Lepine–in essence, both ECHL defensemen they’re saddled with no longer need to be dressed. It’s a small positive, but Gormley does have some talent and the move might be the clean slate he needs to perform–time will tell.
Stefan Wolejszo has a piece about Sens analytics chief Tim Pattyson from a discussion panel a week ago. It’s well worth reading in full. The two things that stood out to me:
-the Sens employ three analysts (two more than I was expecting), although at least one (Tom Gillis) is purely for marketing (about which, ouch this year)
-“Pattyson also noted that when the team assesses players they take other things into account such as whether a player is streaky or a slow starter. There are also things that are not visible from the outside, like whether the player is dedicated to working out and eating properly.” These are interesting ideas and I wonder what, if anything, backs up their value as something to track
The legendary Andrew reappeared in WTYKY to discuss the Alex Burrows acquisition:
when character is your justification, you better make sure the player you are acquiring is actually worthy of such adulation.
He then details the many foibles of Burrows‘ career (all very public and well-known). While I certainly agree with Andrew’s point, I think the kind of character he’s talking about isn’t what Dorion is referring too–Andrew is talking about personal conduct (acting like a professional and good human being) and Dorion about playing desperate hockey and succeeding. I think there’s little evidence veteran players (no matter who they are) have Dorion’s kind of impact on younger players (reported evidence is, in my opinion, largely meaningless), but many coaches and GM’s believe that it does so we see trades like this all the time.
This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)
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