Severely lacking in 1989 born

[bois]

I would expect Lessard to be playing pro next year.

I am unsure with Lafleur

I doubt strongly Latal would be here as a 20

The only "lock" overager for next year right now is Gervais

I have argued for 2 years we should have went for it last season and/or this.. next year doesn't look good at all

By the way our 3 18's are McKinley (may not even make the final roster), Gelinas (acquired for bandaid depth) and Cliche.. successful teams have better age distributions then this..just my opinion tho

Trade a kid and a draft pick, release Swit and get a top overager to round us out and make a damn run now

[Krang7]

I would love to see them take a run this season. To me in order to do this it's going to take adding a couple of players, a top-line FW and a #1 offensive defenceman. Obviously that's not going to happen until Christmas time, but if I'm Serge right now I'm doing my homework.

First step is to drop Swit, who's obviously a waste of a 20 spot if you're trying to contend. He may be a decent player but that's not what we need right now.

As far as top end FWs or D go, obviously one will have to be a 20 year old and the other likely a 19. There are a few good options out there.

I like the idea of getting Paris from Drummondville, a 19 year old defenceman from a team that is in rebuild mode. He wouldn't come cheap but he's exactly the type of player we need on defence, IMO.

Then a 20 year old scorer to play on one of the top 2 lines. I think Ouellet is probably still the best option for that as well. Again, playing on a team that is likely to be in rebuild mode he'll probably be expendable for the right price.

Seriously, none of this is likely but I'm tired of mediocrity and I think adding these two players would put us very close to Halifax, maybe even ahead.

[bois]

Why not do all our shopping at one stop? Paris and Cacciotti would be a nice fetch from Slummondville

I'd go as far as to send Malouin and MacLean or Street (even Courcelles.. why didnt he come to camp by the way?)

Paris would be back next year as well

[Krang7]

That could work as well. I like Cacciotti a lot.

I was wondering the same thing about Courcelles. A 6th round pick, you'd expect him to be here for sure...

[catnut]

I had read a comment by Flynn a while back about how he likes to see a junior team evolve and how he tries to build it age-wise for continued success.

He said he tries to have the following age distribution or come as close as possible to it.
20 - 3 (of course)
19 - 6
18 - 6
17 - 6
16 - 3

[IslandersHKY]

catnut said:

I had read a comment by Flynn a while back about how he likes to see a junior team evolve and how he tries to build it age-wise for continued success.

He said he tries to have the following age distribution or come as close as possible to it.
20 - 3 (of course)
19 - 6
18 - 6
17 - 6
16 - 3

Interesting except Moncton's roster looks like this:

20 - 4
19 - 7
18 - 11
17 - 2
16 - 2

Certainly not the make of a developing team.


On the topic I find it interesting to look at the age distribution as it is certainly an indicator but not everything.

When you look at PEI's 17 they are very high end: Doyle, Kana, Southorn those guys are exceptional players who will be impact players at 18. And others like Clow, Deighan, Malouin, Mosher are also highly skilled and could be above average 18 yr old next season.

When you have a group of 1990's like that I don't have a problem that the Rocket currently have fewer 1989's than a contending team normally would have because next season our 1990's could have just as much impact as most team's 1989's.

[bois]

hockeyfan99 said:

catnut said:

I had read a comment by Flynn a while back about how he likes to see a junior team evolve and how he tries to build it age-wise for continued success.

He said he tries to have the following age distribution or come as close as possible to it.
20 - 3 (of course)
19 - 6
18 - 6
17 - 6
16 - 3

Interesting except Moncton's roster looks like this:

20 - 4
19 - 7
18 - 11
17 - 2
16 - 2

Certainly not the make of a developing team.

It's actually your comments I was looking for when starting this thread as you are the eternal "next year" optimist.

Care to comment on how we could be a contender next season based on what we have right now? Or are you finally willing to consent that we must sacrifice some future and go for it now before it's too late?

[IslandersHKY]

bois said:

It's actually your comments I was looking for when starting this thread as you are the eternal "next year" optimist.

Care to comment on how we could be a contender next season based on what we have right now? Or are you finally willing to consent that we must sacrifice some future and go for it now before it's too late?

Not sure if I was supposed to take that as a shot but I did.

And for the record I would prefer to make this season our go for it year. Next season I don't think we will be lined up as well, especially with the situations in Bathurst & Lewiston.

I hate throwing players out but my preference would be exactly as discussed the ideal would be go big after Paris & Caccoitti (or an equivilent) for this season although the cost would likely be some quality prospects like Malouin, Street/MacLean & an 2nd, likely even Swit as a throw in.

I would hate to lose either Malouin & or Street/Maclean but to get quality players you need to give up quality prospects.

Having said that we are very early in the season so why not wait until if we really do have a contending team like we hope we might.

[bois]

Not a shot at all.. no need to take it that way

I agree we have a great group of 1990 born.. but we don't need 9-10 of them on the team

If we stay the course we will have a bad year next season.. then a very strong team then likely a team in complete rebuild for 2-3 more years (when those 90's graduate to pros).. I fear this team will be gone from C-Town by then if things don't change.. and I don't wanna see that happen