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Willie Gallant

NHL Winning percentage .529 .509

Made Playoffs once once

Payoff series won zero zero

Lost PO series to inferior team once once

100-point seasons one one

BEST NUGGET

This is going to shake the “They broke up Tallon’s team!!” truthers to their core.

It should also change the ongoing narrative on the Gudbranson trade. It probably won’t, but it should.

It’s a trade that’s been boxed up as one of Florida’s analytics decisions. I’m sure it played a part, but the real reason the Panthers traded Gudbranson was money.

They weren’t prepared to invest significantly in Gudbranson and that decision wasn’t based on analytics. Tallon himself was trying to trade Gudbranson at the 2015 NHL draft, well before Florida became a “data team.”

At that draft, there was quite a bit of interest in Guddy, with both Calgary and Edmonton in on it.

Tallon offered Guddy to Edmonton for picks 16 and 33.

There was a back in forth. The Oilers said they’d consider it, but Tallon then took it to Calgary and asked Burke for 15 and 45. The Flames never countered, saying it was too much for Guddy, and then used those picks to get Hamilton instead.

The Oilers, obviously, opted for the Reinhart deal.

All of it was generated and orchestrated by Tallon.

BEST SUMMARY

I was in Tampa this week where Brayden Point has been centring the Lightning’s second line. Under Yzerman, he is the only first-year pro with AHL eligibility to start the season in the NHL.

He has 11 points in 28 and against Vancouver, he was awesome. He had five shots and was robbed by Miller a couple of times.

Point is 5-foot-9 and was drafted 79th overall in 2014. Great pick, right? Looks like an out-of-nowhere, third-round home run, right? Lottery ticket cashes?

I went back and looked at where the analytics team at Canucks Army had him ranked before the draft. There were five of them who did a top 20.

Four of them, all using data, had Point among their top 20 prospects.

There is another way of doing things in the NHL. Don’t be so sure analytics can’t work in hockey just as effectively as they do in baseball.

No one knows for sure.

What I do know, is you don’t have the answers, sway.