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Post by Arnold Slick on May 21, 2014 13:13:27 GMT -4
I saw that Pens interviewed Rumble last night. Did anyone catch it? Did he say anything interesting? He seems to think Malatesta, Mcleod and Tkachev all have a good chance of being here which leaves only two holes to fill. _____ - Barbie - Tkachev Garland - _______ - Lalonde 3rd line would be a combination of Pugsley, Simpson, Olivier, Smith and Johnson. Defense would be something like this, very interchangeable: Mcleod-Malatesta Sweeney - Johnston Holwell-Klebanskyj The only thing set in stone is goaltending. Dubeau - Rioux If the two Americans do show up and are as good as advertised that certainly makes what was a questionanle defence corps look pretty darn solid! If Haas isn't coming back and McLeod/Malatesta report then I have to wonder if they might fill one of those holes at forward with a 20 year old. Not sure who might be available right now in terms of overage forwards. This certainly has the potential to be a very interesting season. I do get the sense that the direction the team takes will totally depend on who they can get to report. I'm actually quite confident they won't do anything foolish if they can't attract the players they want from south of the border.
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Post by WildcatMapleLeafs on May 21, 2014 13:38:32 GMT -4
I saw that Pens interviewed Rumble last night. Did anyone catch it? Did he say anything interesting? He seems to think Malatesta, Mcleod and Tkachev all have a good chance of being here which leaves only two holes to fill. _____ - Barbie - Tkachev Garland - _______ - Lalonde 3rd line would be a combination of Pugsley, Simpson, Olivier, Smith and Johnson. Defense would be something like this, very interchangeable: Mcleod-Malatesta Sweeney - Johnston Holwell-Klebanskyj The only thing set in stone is goaltending. Dubeau - Rioux McLeod is huge news. If he shows , he'd be one of the league's best defencemen. I do like Malatesta but I think you'll see him bottom pairing , I'd switch the D around a bit. McLeod - Johnston Sweeney - Holwell Malatesta - Klebanskyj I also think you'll see Simpson as second line centerman.
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Post by Captain Obvious on May 21, 2014 14:07:03 GMT -4
I saw that Pens interviewed Rumble last night. Did anyone catch it? Did he say anything interesting? He seems to think Malatesta, Mcleod and Tkachev all have a good chance of being here which leaves only two holes to fill. _____ - Barbie - Tkachev Garland - _______ - Lalonde 3rd line would be a combination of Pugsley, Simpson, Olivier, Smith and Johnson. Defense would be something like this, very interchangeable: Mcleod-Malatesta Sweeney - Johnston Holwell-Klebanskyj The only thing set in stone is goaltending. Dubeau - Rioux As nice as it would be for those 2 to show up, it still leaves decent sized holes plus relatively barren cupboards to fill them. Will be interesting to see the moves after them saying a few months back that they like the London Knights way or being strong every year...that means no load up next year and potentially selling high on 2-3 players to me...
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Post by Captain Obvious on May 21, 2014 14:09:52 GMT -4
He seems to think Malatesta, Mcleod and Tkachev all have a good chance of being here which leaves only two holes to fill. _____ - Barbie - Tkachev Garland - _______ - Lalonde 3rd line would be a combination of Pugsley, Simpson, Olivier, Smith and Johnson. Defense would be something like this, very interchangeable: Mcleod-Malatesta Sweeney - Johnston Holwell-Klebanskyj The only thing set in stone is goaltending. Dubeau - Rioux McLeod is huge news. If he shows , he'd be one of the league's best defencemen. I do like Malatesta but I think you'll see him bottom pairing , I'd switch the D around a bit. McLeod - Johnston Sweeney - Holwell Malatesta - Klebanskyj I also think you'll see Simpson as second line centerman. From what I have seen and heard he is a lot like Racine...MacLeod.
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Post by joehockey on May 21, 2014 14:37:58 GMT -4
I saw that Pens interviewed Rumble last night. Did anyone catch it? Did he say anything interesting? He seems to think Malatesta, Mcleod and Tkachev all have a good chance of being here which leaves only two holes to fill. _____ - Barbie - Tkachev Garland - _______ - Lalonde 3rd line would be a combination of Pugsley, Simpson, Olivier, Smith and Johnson. Defense would be something like this, very interchangeable: Mcleod-Malatesta Sweeney - Johnston Holwell-Klebanskyj The only thing set in stone is goaltending. Dubeau - Rioux Thanks man!
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Post by bmiller on May 21, 2014 15:02:01 GMT -4
Mcleod is not committed to BU?
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Post by jimmy on May 21, 2014 15:33:50 GMT -4
Mcleod is not committed to BU? He is, but there is nothing that stops him from changing his mind to play major junior instead at any time. The thinking is NHL draft results may influence his decision and cause him to choose the major junior route.
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Post by Captain Obvious on May 21, 2014 15:47:26 GMT -4
Mcleod is not committed to BU? Those things are not worth the paper they are written on. Players can de-commit and go to another school, or just bypass and go play in the QMJHL.
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Post by Score on May 21, 2014 16:11:04 GMT -4
Empty the cupboards more and add a 20 from the QMJHL
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Post by WildcatMapleLeafs on May 21, 2014 16:13:54 GMT -4
Empty the cupboards more and add a 20 from the QMJHL Or add a free agent like Caissy last year or one from Ontario. Or trade a late round pick like Campagna... There are cheap options when looking for 20s. Even if we gambled on a cheap one until Christmas and if we can't find a quality one til then , then trade.
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Post by turchi on May 21, 2014 16:41:07 GMT -4
What is the status of 1995-born D-man Gareth Nicholson? After he was traded from the CB Screaming Eagles last year, he was a regular in the lineup.
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Post by WildcatMapleLeafs on May 21, 2014 16:59:17 GMT -4
What is the status of 1995-born D-man Gareth Nicholson? After he was traded from the CB Screaming Eagles last year, he was a regular in the lineup. He was in and out. Used as a #7. Don't really see him being around next season.
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Post by wildcatinsider on May 22, 2014 6:27:04 GMT -4
McLeod is huge news. If he shows , he'd be one of the league's best defencemen. I do like Malatesta but I think you'll see him bottom pairing , I'd switch the D around a bit. McLeod - Johnston Sweeney - Holwell Malatesta - Klebanskyj I also think you'll see Simpson as second line centerman. From what I have seen and heard he is a lot like Racine...MacLeod. BB, here is the truth..MacLeod is NOT coming..He and Eichel have signed their LOI (Letter of Intent) with Boston University along with their USNDT teammate Brandon Fortunato. Furthermore, Jack and Jonathan just picked their room, yes they will be roommates, close buddies for a while now. Here are the reasons why: 1). NHL teams no longer feel CHL is best for players like these two, rather NCAA is a better developmental path because these 18/19 year olds will be playing against smarter, older, stronger players then they have been...some up up to 24 years old (ex. UNION, '2014 National Champs had six 24yr olds and six 23year olds on the team). 2). The strength and conditioning at these Universities facilities are superior to the home gym at our rink. The endowments of these schools are huge and the money spent on the hockey teams is considerably more then the money spent by the QMJHL owners on their "hobbies". 3). Choose to play at home in a world class sports city, the hub of the universe, Boston around family and friends treated like a king, now that they are USNDT celebrities, or go play in Moncton? ..although a nice place its certainly NOT the world class lifestyle J-Mac is use to.. Malatesta is a different story, confident to be drafted by a USHL team because his junior team just won the USA hockey Tier 3 National Championship, he was mystified when no team picked him. He did however spend the weekend at the Montreal Meltdown playing for a US team coached by Rumble, yes our head coach! You see he is kicking the proverbial Wildcat tires as an option to play next year but apparently the "deal" offered isn't compelling enough...so when your choice is between the unknown about QMJHL team and the existing team (Jr Bruins), well... even though QMJHL is best for this player, he stays where he is...
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Post by Captain Obvious on May 22, 2014 7:12:24 GMT -4
Empty the cupboards more and add a 20 from the QMJHL Or add a free agent like Caissy last year or one from Ontario. Or trade a late round pick like Campagna... There are cheap options when looking for 20s. Even if we gambled on a cheap one until Christmas and if we can't find a quality one til then , then trade. It depends what the team plans to do. Next year is a very pivotal year, they have a solid core, but it's mostly guys in their last year. Loading up means you trade away 2015 and 2016 1st rounders plus the top 3-4 young players available, so next year you start a rebuild with very few assets. Standing pat is nearly as bad, you have a decent team that can contend for the(weak) division but may lose in round 1 due to big holes up front and on defense. Selling might be the best long term plan, but no indication they want to do that, plus some core players probably have no trade clauses(Barbashev and Tkachev) unless its Quebec? I think the ideal situation is to package Dubeau and Barbashev to Quebec for a boatload including Booth Donaghey and a pile of futures...but I can't see that happening.
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Post by Captain Obvious on May 22, 2014 7:21:17 GMT -4
From what I have seen and heard he is a lot like Racine...MacLeod. BB, here is the truth..MacLeod is NOT coming..He and Eichel have signed their LOI (Letter of Intent) with Boston University along with their USNDT teammate Brandon Fortunato. Furthermore, Jack and Jonathan just picked their room, yes they will be roommates, close buddies for a while now. Here are the reasons why: 1). NHL teams no longer feel CHL is best for players like these two, rather NCAA is a better developmental path because these 18/19 year olds will be playing against smarter, older, stronger players then they have been...some up up to 24 years old (ex. UNION, '2014 National Champs had six 24yr olds and six 23year olds on the team). 2). The strength and conditioning at these Universities facilities are superior to the home gym at our rink. The endowments of these schools are huge and the money spent on the hockey teams is considerably more then the money spent by the QMJHL owners on their "hobbies". 3). Choose to play at home in a world class sports city, the hub of the universe, Boston around family and friends treated like a king, now that they are USNDT celebrities, or go play in Moncton? ..although a nice place its certainly NOT the world class lifestyle J-Mac is use to.. Malatesta is a different story, confident to be drafted by a USHL team because his junior team just won the USA hockey Tier 3 National Championship, he was mystified when no team picked him. He did however spend the weekend at the Montreal Meltdown playing for a US team coached by Rumble, yes our head coach! You see he is kicking the proverbial Wildcat tires as an option to play next year but apparently the "deal" offered isn't compelling enough...so when your choice is between the unknown about QMJHL team and the existing team (Jr Bruins), well... even though QMJHL is best for this player, he stays where he is... I'm not saying MacLeod is coming because I have no inside info other than what Rumble told everybody, BUT NHL teams still see the CHL as the best option for players that are close to NHL ready. US guys taken in the first 2-3 rounds of the NHL draft that are physically mature, teams usually push the CHL to them, there are tons of examples throughout the CHL like McCarron Stolarz etc NHL teams see the long grind and daily schedule and travel of the CHL as a better place to prepare for the pros than a 5-6 month NCAA schedule with only 60% of the games and less travel.
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