Cats Must Make Trades

[rowcfanatic]

Regardless of whether Cats decide to "Go for it" this year or not, in my opinion they must still make at least one, and probably 2 Trades, just based on number of players available next year. We are now using 23 players. Next year,we will lose the 3 20's, and assuming that we also lose Riopel &Barberio & drop Lane, we will have 17 returnees. There are 5 already drafted players who have a good chance to make team next year-Downe,O'Brien, Noseworthy, Tremblay and D'Aoust which would give us22 players, 23 with a Euro draft. We have 10 draft picks in the first 5 rounds in 2009. Even if half of these are ready to make team, we will have 28 players. Therefore, we must trade some of our players or draft picks to make room for new players. Upgrading one 20 year-old via a draft pick would be a good move, unless Lahey shows he can be a top 2 line player this year. Acquiring a 19 year-old is possible, but would present a problem with the nummber of 20's next year, as we already have 3 19's who should be good enough to keep-Lessard, Cameron and Brannon .So a top notch 17 or 18 year old is the next alternative, but this will be expensive and almost impossible to get a rebuilding team to trade, but we could offer multiple top 5 draft picks to make it possible.
Anyone we get must be top quality, as team chemistry will suffer unless player is so good that players will accept him. If anyone can come up with a different scenario, I'd be relieved as my scenario scares me. Glad I'm not Flynn.

[wild1]

It is not certain that Riopel won't be back, in fact I would say atleast 50% chance or better that he is back and Barberio for sure will back next year as a 19 yr old, he is not ready for the NHL yet and so expect him back. I do agree that they need to make a couple trades, upgrade the 20 situation and maybe deal away a guy like Boyle who will not be back as a 20 with the Cats next year. I would not mind if they went after a guy like Logan MacMillan provided they don't give up a 1st rd pick or any of their stud young players, they could package Boyle, Stephens, and some lower mid rd picks or a 2nd rounder along with some prosepcts along the lines of: Tremblay, Lariviere, Querry, Martin, Bell, or Cadet but, I would not trade any of our top talent, that being said Hali would probaly want a truckload for him so, I can't see the Cats making any deals for the top end talent and therfore probaly just tinker a bit and try to improve a little.

[forrest]

No matter how you look at it... it's one of those problems that GM like to have. I think we can make a couple trades this year to get stronger without having to sacrifice next year. The thing is, with the player depth and quantity of draft picks Moncton has, there will most likely be some talent going away from Moncton in a trade. As long as the fans are willing to accept that.

I wouldn't mind Moncton trading their 1st round pick which is going to be almost the same as a high 2nd round pick anyway along with one good prospect(even Tremblay) if they decide to go for it this year. They would still have Baie Comeau's pick. IMO, the options are: no trades; or a a trade that will make a difference. I don't want Flynn to make moves unless they can have a significant impact...

[Captain Obvious]

Oct 29, 2008 10:43:59 GMT -4 rowcfanatic said:

Regardless of whether Cats decide to "Go for it" this year or not, in my opinion they must still make at least one, and probably 2 Trades, just based on number of players available next year. We are now using 23 players. Next year,we will lose the 3 20's, and assuming that we also lose Riopel &Barberio & drop Lane, we will have 17 returnees. There are 5 already drafted players who have a good chance to make team next year-Downe,O'Brien, Noseworthy, Tremblay and D'Aoust which would give us22 players, 23 with a Euro draft. We have 10 draft picks in the first 5 rounds in 2009. Even if half of these are ready to make team, we will have 28 players. Therefore, we must trade some of our players or draft picks to make room for new players. Upgrading one 20 year-old via a draft pick would be a good move, unless Lahey shows he can be a top 2 line player this year. Acquiring a 19 year-old is possible, but would present a problem with the nummber of 20's next year, as we already have 3 19's who should be good enough to keep-Lessard, Cameron and Brannon .So a top notch 17 or 18 year old is the next alternative, but this will be expensive and almost impossible to get a rebuilding team to trade, but we could offer multiple top 5 draft picks to make it possible.
Anyone we get must be top quality, as team chemistry will suffer unless player is so good that players will accept him. If anyone can come up with a different scenario, I'd be relieved as my scenario scares me. Glad I'm not Flynn.

First of all, Barberio is not going anywhere next year he is only 18.

Second, it's very early in the year to make calls on next year, we have no idea what the current roster players and prospects will do over the season in terms of development.

Third, having 28 Q calibre players is not a bad thing, this year Downe could have cracked the roster but he is playing a ton in MAAA and should step in next year. Having guys play another year MAAA is not a bad thing(especially the picks after the top 3 rounds)

Also a few of those picks may end up traded for 2010 picks, maybe a 20 year old or an upgrade on the Euro draft pick.

[wild1]

I don't think the Cats will be trading a 1st rd pick but you never know, I spoke with Danny Flynn earlier this year about draft picks and he did mention that since the draft is in Moncton this year, they would actually like to have 3-first rounders, so it may be that they will trade for another pick at the draft. Of course that was at the very start of the season and who could have predicted this kind of start for the Cats, so maybe their philosophy on trades has changed since then. As for impact tades, I would not mind if they dealt McAusland in a deal that brought back a good player 18 or younger. I wonder if the Cats could get a guy like Nicholas Deschamps from the Sags? He has been underachieving a bit this year and maybe they would look to deal him for a player with potential like McAusland and say a player like Boyle and another prospect(Querry).

[qfan]

Why would you want to trade MacAusland??? He is only 17YO and doing great. You are talking just to talk. At 19YO he will be one of the better players in the Q. He also has a chance of being here at 20 as a Superstar. Trading him is not a good idea.

I've said many times so far, but I believe the cats are lining up for a few seasons. Don't expect them to trade their future away.

In regards to the 3 first rounds picks. Flynn will probably trade up some picks to make that happen. He doesn't need to sell players away.

Riopel will probably signed with an NHL team after this season, but chances would be that they would assign him to the Q for his 20YO season. He will play truckloads in the Q compared to back up in the AHL. It would be better for his developpement to stay here as a 20YO.

[overtime]

One thing in the wildcats favor would be pressure from the player agents to push for a trade to Moncton as a trade spot for their development.It seems very clear to most people by now that this coaching staff has everyone for the most part playing to their potential and buying in to the team concept. This team has no "ME " players .It would be very important that any players that may be brought in understand there is no room for selfish me only type guys.Danny has done a great job so far.If the right deal comes along great ,if not it still should be fun to watch 4 lines wear other teams down. Sill,Brannon and Lessard or MacAusland drive other teams nuts.These guys don"t seem to care who gets the job done as long as the team wins. Most nights it is different guys that seem hot that night.Keep up the good work.

[hockey1981]

I think the Cats will try and get a "depth D" and also might be interested in upgrading on Lahey.

Time will tell what will happen for sure.

[curtis]

Oct 29, 2008 15:56:10 GMT -4 monster78 said:

IMO I believe Moncton won't make any big deals. If you look at the draft there first rounders should be a lock for next year which will fill 2 of the 20 year olds they are loosing. With the likes of O'Brian (sp) and Downe these are good prospects that can step in. With the rest of there picks
they can send back to MAAA or JR to develop and continue to get better. Also next year we should have another Euro coming in.

If i were to make a deal this season i might look at moving Randy Cameron as of right now (i believe that lessard and brannon are playing better Rio will be back). If you trade Cameron to a team that doesn't have the financial backing to pay a good euro maybe get a euro pick along with an 18 year old goal scoring center. Also package Biduke and maybe Boyle (at xmas) and bring in a 20 year old D.

Barbario will be back next year as Tampa isn't sold on his skating yet and will probably be a 20 year old stud defenceman ... remember NHL teams unless there in the high first round don't like rushing defenceman to pro.

For the first time in a while the cats have great depth in the organization. Look at the team last season I remember watching a game on Telus they played in Halifax they were forced to play players such as Gomes (traded twice not in the league) Wilson (sent to MJAHL healthy scratch in playoffs not in the league) Eastman (couldn't make it as a 20 now in the OHL on Barie who is tied for 7th in their confernce) Herr (in MJAHL) Labelle (ended the season last year with 9 pts in 48 games not sure where he is now) Bezak (released playing in Europe not sure of stats) Brenton (MTL with 5 pts this season as a 19 year old) ... I am not crapping on these guys and some might have more pts if they were still here but that is 6 guys that couldn't make the team this season before the season even started (including getting traded from a last place team)

I think the Cat's have done a tremendous job of re-building not only the team but the farm system as well and for the for see able should be a solid team that keeps adding one or two pieces a season.

That being said I would like to see the Cats add an A+ goal scored and a Top 3 Offencesive D (one being a 20) without depleting their draft picks or more than one talented forward from this years team.

The guys on the team that are locks not to be traded in my opinion
Defence
Barbario, Gormley, Savard and Jodion
Forward
Stephans, Famin, Brannon, Bissonette, Petterson, Sill, MacAusland, Roski
Goalis
LDB

At christmas maybe's if the right deal came along and the Cats plan on making the run next year
Eagles, Cameron, Lessard (depending on which on they pick to be a 20), Brown (13th on team in pts not great for the first rounder of 07), Boyle and Dymtrik, Lahey and Biduke, Lane (problem with Lane is you lose your toughness and he would need to be traded to the other division if he is put on waivers Halifax will pick him up and let him run wild against us with us having no one to stand up to him)

Two quick thoughts on this:

1. You don't trade your captain on a young team (Eagles).

2. Brown's offense may be lower than expected, but he doesn't play on the PP. He is also on the top PK as a 17 yo, I'm not sure what more we could expect from him. Trading him would be silly.....almost as silly as someone suggesting we "dump" MacAusland.

[Blackcat]

I gotta say monster78 that I was following what you were saying until you expressed your disappointment in Brown. This kid is as a complete two way player as you will see in this league. He was a big part of the reason I knew that Flynn knew what he was doing last year feeding this kid ice time, watch him PK, watch him take face offs, watch him forecheck, watch him backcheck, watch him make the pass that sets up the goal, and have you seen him score in several different ways?? I have....... and I go to all the home games.

[Captain Obvious]

Oct 29, 2008 21:45:46 GMT -4 Blackcat said:

I gotta say monster78 that I was following what you were saying until you expressed your disappointment in Brown. This kid is as a complete two way player as you will see in this league. He was a big part of the reason I knew that Flynn knew what he was doing last year feeding this kid ice time, watch him PK, watch him take face offs, watch him forecheck, watch him backcheck, watch him make the pass that sets up the goal, and have you seen him score in several different ways?? I have....... and I go to all the home games.

I have to agree on Brown. There is no way in hell I even think of trading him unless it's an offer you can't refuse. He's had an up and down start but he is a character kid with talent, when all is said and done he'll have his 40-50 points.

Same for MacAusland, different type of player but he's also a guy that will be a 1st liner in a year or two. He is already a solid contributer on PK and chips in points.

The key for the Cats is not to stray from keeping their young future core players...LBD Gormley Brown Bissonnette MacAusland. The BC 1st rounder is also a great asset if it's top 5.

[lalalaprise]

Moncton is in the rare situation in the CHL of being able to compete in successive years.

If Moncton doesnt make a single deal you should still be pretty strong in the playoffs.

You can trade some B level assets like 2nd rd picks/3rd rd picks or a prospect like Olivier Daoust and add a small piece to this year that could end up returning next year (19 year old, returning at 20).

In my opinion...youll probably see Moncton go out and add a 19 year old who will likely return as a 20. Helps now and next year and you wont have to mess with your core of young players.

[Captain Obvious]

Oct 29, 2008 23:09:48 GMT -4 lalalaprise said:

Moncton is in the rare situation in the CHL of being able to compete in successive years.

If Moncton doesnt make a single deal you should still be pretty strong in the playoffs.

You can trade some B level assets like 2nd rd picks/3rd rd picks or a prospect like Olivier Daoust and add a small piece to this year that could end up returning next year (19 year old, returning at 20).

In my opinion...youll probably see Moncton go out and add a 19 year old who will likely return as a 20. Helps now and next year and you wont have to mess with your core of young players.

The only thing about adding a 19 year old is, are Riopel Cameron Lessard Brannon coming back next year?

I think the cheapest upgrade is getting a good but not great offensive d-man to play on the PP and take some of the pressure off Gormley(though he's played great lately). I was thinking Mallette for a 3rd rounder or something in that range...or Leahy plus a 4th, he seems to be a decent player and would add something to the trade.

[lalalaprise]

Oct 29, 2008 23:16:27 GMT -4 Captain Obvious said:

Oct 29, 2008 23:09:48 GMT -4 lalalaprise said:

Moncton is in the rare situation in the CHL of being able to compete in successive years.

If Moncton doesnt make a single deal you should still be pretty strong in the playoffs.

You can trade some B level assets like 2nd rd picks/3rd rd picks or a prospect like Olivier Daoust and add a small piece to this year that could end up returning next year (19 year old, returning at 20).

In my opinion...youll probably see Moncton go out and add a 19 year old who will likely return as a 20. Helps now and next year and you wont have to mess with your core of young players.

The only thing about adding a 19 year old is, are Riopel Cameron Lessard Brannon coming back next year?

I think the cheapest upgrade is getting a good but not great offensive d-man to play on the PP and take some of the pressure off Gormley(though he's played great lately). I was thinking Mallette for a 3rd rounder or something in that range...or Leahy plus a 4th, he seems to be a decent player and would add something to the trade.

It would for sure have to be an upper echelon type of 19 year old who likely wont go pro. A kid like McNicholl or Pistilli...

[Blackcat]

Pistilli aint goin nowhere