Post by countryboy on Apr 26, 2013 23:50:27 GMT -4
On the desk by my computer, I've had this piece of paper sitting there for a while.
On it I jotted down what I thought looked like a framework for the 2013-14 season.
My intention was that it was the framework for a post to get some lineup thoughts for next season.
Then April 16 came along and put everything regarding future plans completely on hold.
Now for some hockey talk!
Up front, we return the following:
Provencher (20) - Laplante - Pepin
Marcotte - ________________ - Bursey
_________ - Ottereyes - ________
_________ - Yetman - ________
And on defence:
Graves - Oligny (20)
Cortese - Vance (20) - ?
Laliberte
And in Goal:
Bibeau
______
There are a few holes in our lineup to be filled. Right now, I'm looking at carrying 20 y/o's Provencher, Oligny and Vance. Vance's status is in question because of his pro contract. It is encouraging for us the fact that Dallas' AHL team is still playing but Vance hasn't joined them. So, it's not beyond the realm of possibility that he is returned to junior for a 20 y/o season. Some have suggested moving Provencher and upgrading that 20 y/o spot. At this point, I'd be willing to start with Provencher and see what he brings us.
Also in question is our European situation and whether or not Pavelka or Beran are used as Euro 20s. Right now, I suspect that each guy is an unlikely possibility. But, I'm sure that both will go on the Euro 20 special list and could be brought in if they were willing to come back to North America, say if Vance went pro, or we wanted to upgrade on Provencher with Beran.
We have a few 19 y/o's from last season (other than the Euros) who are unlikely to be back with us next season: Robichaud, McGrath, Nevins (though there might be a market for a guy like Nevins somewhere in the Q next season, depending on what kind of a premium teams put on toughness).
I didn't include Alex Chenier-Allard in any next season discussion. It was quite evident by his lack of playing time down the stretch that he fell out of favour with the coaching staff. We saw so little of him in the 2nd half it is hard to judge what kind of a contributor he might be as a 19 y/o. There's probably not much of a market to move him and we are probably very likely to lose him as a waiver pickup.
I think looking at the drafts, we're probably best served if we can pick some combination of 2 forwards and a defenceman. It would be great to pick up a higher end Euro forward who is able to play in that second line center spot. Then we could look at a combination of either a 16 y/o forward and a younger Euro d-man or a 16 y/o d-man and another Euro forward.
With young players up front, some guys we have in the system are draft picks from 2012 Alex Boily, Charles Lapointe, Neil Robinson and Morgan Messenger. Earlier this spring I started a thread listing stats for our prospects:
www.qmjhleast.proboards.com/thread/18446/prospect-stats
Looking at the stats, it looks like Boily and Lapointe might be long shots to be Q players at this point in their careers. We know that Robinson and Messenger are guys with a lean towards NCAA. Robinson, in particular is likely a real long shot. But, if we could get both in the fold, when combined with what we get in the Euro draft (providing we make a solid pick) things look fairly strong up front considering we are losing Duffy's and Currie's offense.
On the back end, the only real notable prospect we have is American Josh Couturier. But, he'd be an extreme long shot to come here. Something would have to happen to entice him to break his NCAA commitment and come here, along the lines of advice from an NHL team or the prospect that we might be part of a deep playoff run.
In goal, we do have 17 y/o Charles-Oliver Lajoie who looks to have had a decent midget season to potentially have the inside track on the backup job. It would be nice to pick a goalie relatively early in the draft to push Lajoie for the job. There has been lots of positive talk about 17 y/o Alex Kelly of the Cornwall Thunder coming out of their strong finish. But, realistically, we might have be prepared to make a move to line up backup goaltending. The thing about Lajoie is that as 17 y/o francophone, we probably have to make the decision on him really early with the CEGEP deadline.
It would be nice to mix in some toughness there too. Nevins, while not a true heavyweight, was a nice pickup and if there could be such a find a this year it would be great.
But, to have success and be in the top half of the standings, I feel we really need a few things to happen right:
Provencher needs to have a break out (and consistent) season as a 20 y/o. I don't necessarily mean he has to have the type of break out we saw from Josh Currie. But, I think we look to Provencher to score in the order of 30 goals and 65 points. Also, we need to see consistent growth from Marcotte.... like in the 35 goal, 70 point range.
With their strong playoff Matt Bursey and Deverick Ottereyes get consideration for fairly prominent roles on the team, but I don't really expect either to be major contributors in offense.
Overall, things look decent, but to be able to factor in Robinson, Messenger and a couple of decent Euros would be huge.
cb
On it I jotted down what I thought looked like a framework for the 2013-14 season.
My intention was that it was the framework for a post to get some lineup thoughts for next season.
Then April 16 came along and put everything regarding future plans completely on hold.
Now for some hockey talk!
Up front, we return the following:
Provencher (20) - Laplante - Pepin
Marcotte - ________________ - Bursey
_________ - Ottereyes - ________
_________ - Yetman - ________
And on defence:
Graves - Oligny (20)
Cortese - Vance (20) - ?
Laliberte
And in Goal:
Bibeau
______
There are a few holes in our lineup to be filled. Right now, I'm looking at carrying 20 y/o's Provencher, Oligny and Vance. Vance's status is in question because of his pro contract. It is encouraging for us the fact that Dallas' AHL team is still playing but Vance hasn't joined them. So, it's not beyond the realm of possibility that he is returned to junior for a 20 y/o season. Some have suggested moving Provencher and upgrading that 20 y/o spot. At this point, I'd be willing to start with Provencher and see what he brings us.
Also in question is our European situation and whether or not Pavelka or Beran are used as Euro 20s. Right now, I suspect that each guy is an unlikely possibility. But, I'm sure that both will go on the Euro 20 special list and could be brought in if they were willing to come back to North America, say if Vance went pro, or we wanted to upgrade on Provencher with Beran.
We have a few 19 y/o's from last season (other than the Euros) who are unlikely to be back with us next season: Robichaud, McGrath, Nevins (though there might be a market for a guy like Nevins somewhere in the Q next season, depending on what kind of a premium teams put on toughness).
I didn't include Alex Chenier-Allard in any next season discussion. It was quite evident by his lack of playing time down the stretch that he fell out of favour with the coaching staff. We saw so little of him in the 2nd half it is hard to judge what kind of a contributor he might be as a 19 y/o. There's probably not much of a market to move him and we are probably very likely to lose him as a waiver pickup.
I think looking at the drafts, we're probably best served if we can pick some combination of 2 forwards and a defenceman. It would be great to pick up a higher end Euro forward who is able to play in that second line center spot. Then we could look at a combination of either a 16 y/o forward and a younger Euro d-man or a 16 y/o d-man and another Euro forward.
With young players up front, some guys we have in the system are draft picks from 2012 Alex Boily, Charles Lapointe, Neil Robinson and Morgan Messenger. Earlier this spring I started a thread listing stats for our prospects:
www.qmjhleast.proboards.com/thread/18446/prospect-stats
Looking at the stats, it looks like Boily and Lapointe might be long shots to be Q players at this point in their careers. We know that Robinson and Messenger are guys with a lean towards NCAA. Robinson, in particular is likely a real long shot. But, if we could get both in the fold, when combined with what we get in the Euro draft (providing we make a solid pick) things look fairly strong up front considering we are losing Duffy's and Currie's offense.
On the back end, the only real notable prospect we have is American Josh Couturier. But, he'd be an extreme long shot to come here. Something would have to happen to entice him to break his NCAA commitment and come here, along the lines of advice from an NHL team or the prospect that we might be part of a deep playoff run.
In goal, we do have 17 y/o Charles-Oliver Lajoie who looks to have had a decent midget season to potentially have the inside track on the backup job. It would be nice to pick a goalie relatively early in the draft to push Lajoie for the job. There has been lots of positive talk about 17 y/o Alex Kelly of the Cornwall Thunder coming out of their strong finish. But, realistically, we might have be prepared to make a move to line up backup goaltending. The thing about Lajoie is that as 17 y/o francophone, we probably have to make the decision on him really early with the CEGEP deadline.
It would be nice to mix in some toughness there too. Nevins, while not a true heavyweight, was a nice pickup and if there could be such a find a this year it would be great.
But, to have success and be in the top half of the standings, I feel we really need a few things to happen right:
Provencher needs to have a break out (and consistent) season as a 20 y/o. I don't necessarily mean he has to have the type of break out we saw from Josh Currie. But, I think we look to Provencher to score in the order of 30 goals and 65 points. Also, we need to see consistent growth from Marcotte.... like in the 35 goal, 70 point range.
With their strong playoff Matt Bursey and Deverick Ottereyes get consideration for fairly prominent roles on the team, but I don't really expect either to be major contributors in offense.
Overall, things look decent, but to be able to factor in Robinson, Messenger and a couple of decent Euros would be huge.
cb