Post by IslandersHKY on Aug 15, 2007 7:32:02 GMT -4
Like last year just for fun and discussion I thought I would post my thought on what I am hoping to see from each individual player.
Disclaimer
These individual predictions are based on my forecasted line combinations and assuming 70 games played. Obviously some players will suffer injuries, some will exceed expectations and some won’t but right now here is what I am hoping for.
Potential Line Combinations
Kana (17) - Morrison (20) - Latal (19)
Walker (20) - Doyle (17) - Locke (19)
Cliche (18) - Lachaine (19) - McKinely(18) / MacLean (16)
MacLean/McKinley - Street (16) - Main (19)
Lessard (19) - Southorn (17)
Gervais (19) - Clow (17)
Swit (20) - Malouin (17)
Owens (18) / Deighan (17)
Brett Morrison (40 goals - 100 pts)
Morrison quickly became one of my alltime favourite rocket players last year. He is solid is both ends and will be one of (if not the) best 20 yr old this season. Getting drafted by Anaheim worries me but in all honesty I really feel that returning for one more season as a top player and the focal point for the Rocket’s offense would be best for his development but we will see.
Geoff Walker (40 goals - 90 pts)
A gifted scorer who I thought showed a lot of development last season. Right now the only thing that I think is holding him back from being a top player is his conditioning which hopefully will improve for the upcoming year with the motivation of potentially playing pro in the future.
Martin Latal (30 goals - 75 pts)
Overall a pretty good rookie season last year. Understandably he took some time to adjust but in the second half he was an impact player averaging about a point a game. This kid has loads of speed but his skill needs to catch up, with a little work and added strength he could become a real force.
Chris Doyle (30 goals - 60 pts)
Despite starting off with a tough injury, Doyle had a tremendous first season. He is a great all around player and really showed his potential for the future. Tough to predict how much his numbers will improve over last year but there is not doubt that he will be a top player for us and has shown a goal scorers touch.
Chad Locke (20 goals - 50 pts)
Locke had a disappointing season last year but did play very well at the end. I think last year it was a slow start from not enough offseason work/focus and hopefully that will be corrected this year where he should start to produce up to his scoring line potential.
Jan Kana (20 goals - 50 pts)
Very tough to predict a 17 yr old rookie Euro’s production. Personally I find some comfort in the fact that he has had success at the World under 18 level and the one thing that comes clear from his scouting report is that he has some grit which is needed. Plus historically every 2nd Euro works out for the Rocket (eg. Hruska, Trukhno & Latal vs Perrson, Skyorkh, Cmorej).
Matt Lachaine (15 goals - 40 pts)
Lachaine continues to be a personal favourite of mine although his offensive numbers haven’t quite been what I was hoping for. Regardless he will continue to play big minutes as a key contributor to this team.
Maxime Cliche (15 goals - 30 pts)
Right from draft day most knew that Cliche who has great potential would be a long term development project and at 18 this is the make or break year. Personally I like his combination of size and pucks skills although understandably his skating has held him back. For that reason depending on his improvement over the offseason I think Cliche has the potential to work his way on to the second line but equally possible could end up being demoted off the regular roster. Conservatively I am suggesting that he will continue to show some improvement and contribute as a solid 3rd line forward this season. Hopefully developing into a solid scoring forward at 19.
Lucas McKinley (10 goals - 20 pts)
McKinley was the real surprise for me last season and I really like what he brings. I am glad that he stayed with the team last season and worked his way into the lineup as I think he can be a real solid checking line forward over the next 2 seasons.
Brandon MacLean (8 goals - 20 pts)
Hopefully we won’t be judging all future rookies against Doyle’s performance. Depending on how his skating looks and how he performs I think he will get some good ice time likely splitting time with McKinely and maybe even Cliche between the 3rd and 4th line.
Brandon Street (5 goals - 15 pts)
Personally I’m excited about Street’s potential as some scouting services had him listed as a first round pick. Obviously it will be tough for him to get ice time behind Morrison, Doyle & Lachaine but in the future the Rocket could be pretty solid at centre with a Doyle/Street combo.
Pierre-Luc Lessard (18 goals - 60 pts)
I thought Lessard’s play was excellent for all of last season although his production tailed off a little in the second half. This season he will be the go-to guy with top powerplay time which should lead to a solid increase in production.
Jordon Southorn (8 goals - 35 pts)
I don’t want to put too much pressure on Southorn as he still has a lot of development ahead of him but I was extremely impressed with his play last season so much so I think we will see similar production from Southorn this season as we did from Gragnani in his sophomore season when he finished with 10 goals & 39 pts.
Benoit Gervais (6 goals - 30 pts)
Gervais was a tremendous addition to the team last season although his contributions are more defensively than offensively. However, in half a season with the Rocket he scored 4 goals and 15 pts.
Jason Swit (6 goals - 30 pts)
I know Swit may not have been the impact player that myself and most were hoping for, however, unlike Lomano I think Swit will provide solid defensive play, leadership and work ethic which is exactly what the Rocket’s defense needs to support our young prospects.
Allen Clow (2 goals - 20 pts)
Tough to estimate production but Clow is a smooth skating offensive defensemen with 1st round talent so I will just throw out the above rough prediction as I think he will fit in nicely to the Q’s style and have a solid rookie season.
Danick Malouin (2 goals - 10 pts)
I quickly became a fan of Malouin last season and am really looking forward to what he can contribute this season and especially in the future. I see Malouin in a similar mold to Gervais as a future top 4 defensemen but his greatest contribution will be his allaround defensive play.
The total of those predictions would be 276 which is basically the same as last season’s 278 and would rank the Rocket with average offense in comparision to the rest of the league.
Disclaimer
These individual predictions are based on my forecasted line combinations and assuming 70 games played. Obviously some players will suffer injuries, some will exceed expectations and some won’t but right now here is what I am hoping for.
Potential Line Combinations
Kana (17) - Morrison (20) - Latal (19)
Walker (20) - Doyle (17) - Locke (19)
Cliche (18) - Lachaine (19) - McKinely(18) / MacLean (16)
MacLean/McKinley - Street (16) - Main (19)
Lessard (19) - Southorn (17)
Gervais (19) - Clow (17)
Swit (20) - Malouin (17)
Owens (18) / Deighan (17)
Brett Morrison (40 goals - 100 pts)
Morrison quickly became one of my alltime favourite rocket players last year. He is solid is both ends and will be one of (if not the) best 20 yr old this season. Getting drafted by Anaheim worries me but in all honesty I really feel that returning for one more season as a top player and the focal point for the Rocket’s offense would be best for his development but we will see.
Geoff Walker (40 goals - 90 pts)
A gifted scorer who I thought showed a lot of development last season. Right now the only thing that I think is holding him back from being a top player is his conditioning which hopefully will improve for the upcoming year with the motivation of potentially playing pro in the future.
Martin Latal (30 goals - 75 pts)
Overall a pretty good rookie season last year. Understandably he took some time to adjust but in the second half he was an impact player averaging about a point a game. This kid has loads of speed but his skill needs to catch up, with a little work and added strength he could become a real force.
Chris Doyle (30 goals - 60 pts)
Despite starting off with a tough injury, Doyle had a tremendous first season. He is a great all around player and really showed his potential for the future. Tough to predict how much his numbers will improve over last year but there is not doubt that he will be a top player for us and has shown a goal scorers touch.
Chad Locke (20 goals - 50 pts)
Locke had a disappointing season last year but did play very well at the end. I think last year it was a slow start from not enough offseason work/focus and hopefully that will be corrected this year where he should start to produce up to his scoring line potential.
Jan Kana (20 goals - 50 pts)
Very tough to predict a 17 yr old rookie Euro’s production. Personally I find some comfort in the fact that he has had success at the World under 18 level and the one thing that comes clear from his scouting report is that he has some grit which is needed. Plus historically every 2nd Euro works out for the Rocket (eg. Hruska, Trukhno & Latal vs Perrson, Skyorkh, Cmorej).
Matt Lachaine (15 goals - 40 pts)
Lachaine continues to be a personal favourite of mine although his offensive numbers haven’t quite been what I was hoping for. Regardless he will continue to play big minutes as a key contributor to this team.
Maxime Cliche (15 goals - 30 pts)
Right from draft day most knew that Cliche who has great potential would be a long term development project and at 18 this is the make or break year. Personally I like his combination of size and pucks skills although understandably his skating has held him back. For that reason depending on his improvement over the offseason I think Cliche has the potential to work his way on to the second line but equally possible could end up being demoted off the regular roster. Conservatively I am suggesting that he will continue to show some improvement and contribute as a solid 3rd line forward this season. Hopefully developing into a solid scoring forward at 19.
Lucas McKinley (10 goals - 20 pts)
McKinley was the real surprise for me last season and I really like what he brings. I am glad that he stayed with the team last season and worked his way into the lineup as I think he can be a real solid checking line forward over the next 2 seasons.
Brandon MacLean (8 goals - 20 pts)
Hopefully we won’t be judging all future rookies against Doyle’s performance. Depending on how his skating looks and how he performs I think he will get some good ice time likely splitting time with McKinely and maybe even Cliche between the 3rd and 4th line.
Brandon Street (5 goals - 15 pts)
Personally I’m excited about Street’s potential as some scouting services had him listed as a first round pick. Obviously it will be tough for him to get ice time behind Morrison, Doyle & Lachaine but in the future the Rocket could be pretty solid at centre with a Doyle/Street combo.
Pierre-Luc Lessard (18 goals - 60 pts)
I thought Lessard’s play was excellent for all of last season although his production tailed off a little in the second half. This season he will be the go-to guy with top powerplay time which should lead to a solid increase in production.
Jordon Southorn (8 goals - 35 pts)
I don’t want to put too much pressure on Southorn as he still has a lot of development ahead of him but I was extremely impressed with his play last season so much so I think we will see similar production from Southorn this season as we did from Gragnani in his sophomore season when he finished with 10 goals & 39 pts.
Benoit Gervais (6 goals - 30 pts)
Gervais was a tremendous addition to the team last season although his contributions are more defensively than offensively. However, in half a season with the Rocket he scored 4 goals and 15 pts.
Jason Swit (6 goals - 30 pts)
I know Swit may not have been the impact player that myself and most were hoping for, however, unlike Lomano I think Swit will provide solid defensive play, leadership and work ethic which is exactly what the Rocket’s defense needs to support our young prospects.
Allen Clow (2 goals - 20 pts)
Tough to estimate production but Clow is a smooth skating offensive defensemen with 1st round talent so I will just throw out the above rough prediction as I think he will fit in nicely to the Q’s style and have a solid rookie season.
Danick Malouin (2 goals - 10 pts)
I quickly became a fan of Malouin last season and am really looking forward to what he can contribute this season and especially in the future. I see Malouin in a similar mold to Gervais as a future top 4 defensemen but his greatest contribution will be his allaround defensive play.
The total of those predictions would be 276 which is basically the same as last season’s 278 and would rank the Rocket with average offense in comparision to the rest of the league.
