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Post by statsman18 on Sept 20, 2022 8:38:53 GMT -4
The off season is over, the roster is set and ready to go. Cam made some interesting moves this off season to get this roster where it is now. He had a good draft getting players Phillips and Peitzsche for this year. They also grabbed guys who look like good players in future years like Fontaine and Levesque. They traded away a player that was thought to be a key player in the future years in Gauthier. That was at the players wish but it still stings a little. The return was not great but it did add assets that can be of use in the next 2 seasons.
I kind of skipped on step. This year the euro draft was before the entry draft. They went out and in a somewhat surprising move grabbed a 19yo defencemen. Not so surprising a defencemen more the age. David Moravec in limited viewing looks to be a great fit for this team. Great skater, big and strong and once again from the limited viewing looks pretty good with the puck.
The next move was to bring in a a Ontario 19yo free agent who played in the same league as Boucher. Brody Fournier was the 3rd highest scorer in the league he played in and was the highest scoring 18yo by a large margin. Once again limited viewings but he doesn’t look flashy or even overly face just seem to be one of those guys who finds the score sheet.
The next moves we’re maybe the most surprising. Cam on the summer trade deadline traded Robert Orr to Gatineau for a couple of picks. The strong play of Logan Crosby (you know the kid Cam said Ali better be right on in the behind the scenes video of the 2021 draft) and adding Brody Fournier made it that this move was needed. Once again Cam added 2 extra assets that can be helpful for the next 2 seasons. Cam also made a little but good move for the team in adding local kid Jake Todd. He was a former U18 line mate of Peitzsche. The next move was cutting the probable captain Stephen Davis and only going with 1 20yo to start the season. The defence is pretty crowded with a lot of young kids who need the ice time, so this move was unfortunately necessary.
This is the 2022/23 Halifax Mooseheads roster
L’Heureux/ Cataford/ Dumais
Boucher/ Vidicek/ Fournier
Biasca/ Swan/ Crosby
Peitzsche/ Todd/ MacPhee/ Welsh
Whynot/ Moravec
Furlong/ MacKinnon
Schultz/ Phillips
Martin
Rousseau James
This team is poised to be the top of the Maritime Division, and it should be close. SJ and Charlottetown both will be looking to trade what the can at Christmas to help start rebuilds after all in years this year. Bathurst is under in management and should follow suit with SJ and PEI. However its not yet really known what direction they will take. My guess is with key assets in Kidney and Melanson to trade they will be forced to trade. CB is hopefully on the upswing from the basement but still have some rough times ahead. Moncton IMO is still a year away from being competitive, they’ll probably be 2nd in the division but the gap would be wide between them and Halifax.
The crazy thing is Halifax has 2 open 20yo spots. If L’Heureux stays with Nashville( I don’t see it happening) they might go and grab a guy to fill in on the 2nd line. Just throwing out a name but SJ does have 4 high quality guys left and one of Marshall or Burns might be cheapish. Cam has a lot of ammo to help make this team a contender the next 2 seasons. Halifax has 2023 1st 2nd and 2 3rd round picks, 2024 1st, 2 2nds ,3rd round picks, and their 1st 2nd and 3rd rounders in 2025. It should be a fun season to watch and if Cam plays his cards right it could be a multi year contending team. IMO this team could be back to back Mem Cup team. Not saying winning back to back but be there back to back.
Edit: I don’t know how I forgot this but in the last week The team basically going through a rebranding with new logo and jerseys. IMO it looks really sharp.
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Post by howitzer on Sept 20, 2022 15:28:17 GMT -4
That top line has the potential to be the best line in the Q.
The team needs L'Heureux to grow up and stay in the lineup this year. There is no Desnoyers around to cover for his bonehead plays that get him suspended.
If the team wants to make take a serious step, and be in the conversation as potential contenders, L'Heureux actually playing and not sitting in the press box for 5 games at a time, will be a massive part of that.
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Post by donviewdarts on Sept 20, 2022 16:41:19 GMT -4
Coach Favreau, in an interview on 95.7 this afternoon, commented on the fine young leadership corp he believes the Mooseheads have this season. While he said no decisions have been made re letters this season and stated that several Moose were under consideration, I found it interesting that only 3 players were specifically mentioned by name: Zachary L'Heureux, Markus Vidicek and Mathieu Cataford.
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Post by Citris on Sept 20, 2022 17:08:18 GMT -4
Coach Favreau, in an interview on 95.7 this afternoon, commented on the fine young leadership corp he believes the Mooseheads have this season. While he said no decisions have been made re letters this season and stated that several Moose were under consideration, I found it interesting that only 3 players were specifically mentioned by name: Zachary L'Heureux, Markus Vidicek and Mathieu Cataford. L'Heureux was an assistant last year, so that's not surprising. Vidicek is no surprise either, he's a workhorse, very much a guy you want your whole locker room looking to when it comes to how to play Q hockey. Cataford, that's surprising as a 17 year old, but it goes to show how highly they think of him.
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Post by MikeC on Sept 20, 2022 17:08:45 GMT -4
Re: The 2 open 20 year old spots.
It will be interesting to see what they do with those spots should:
A- the team gets off to a really slow start. How long will they wait to fill them. or B- the team is the front runner come the Xmas trading period. How much will they be willing the give up to add for a championship run, without ruining next season.
Anything between those extremes, and I could see them just letting it play out. Although adding one average 20 year old wouldn't surprise me.
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Post by yesisaiditfirst on Sept 20, 2022 17:38:30 GMT -4
Coach Favreau, in an interview on 95.7 this afternoon, commented on the fine young leadership corp he believes the Mooseheads have this season. While he said no decisions have been made re letters this season and stated that several Moose were under consideration, I found it interesting that only 3 players were specifically mentioned by name: Zachary L'Heureux, Markus Vidicek and Mathieu Cataford. read between the lines those 3 will be the captains - so that two in training as they mature going into next year. L'Heureux is defacto captain this year but won't still be here next year. Also ZL probably improves his game with that burden of formal leadership. The destructive part of his game should fade out. Vidicek is the all-purpose player. Shows up in big moments and takes every big faceoff draw. Maybe more a quiet leader. Watch how he steps up in road games especially. And Cataford. In the 10 seasons I have been a STH I haven't seen a player come on the scene and so quickly become the prototypical Q offensive threat as a 16 year old. (Ignore that Nate was 16 in my first year but we already knew he was elite b4 he played) - Cataford is something special. He was good enough to be top line in his first year on most teams in the Q.
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Post by canbeer on Sept 20, 2022 17:56:31 GMT -4
Re: The 2 open 20 year old spots. It will be interesting to see what they do with those spots should: A- the team gets off to a really slow start. How long will they wait to fill them. or B- the team is the front runner come the Xmas trading period. How much will they be willing the give up to add for a championship run, without ruining next season. Anything between those extremes, and I could see them just letting it play out. Although adding one average 20 year old wouldn't surprise me. Different starting points but I found Victo’s championship from a couple years ago interesting when thinking about the Moose this year. They weren’t the front runners but made one big move at Christmas for 19 year old Beaucage and then 3 more additions bring in three new 20 year olds. The 20s were all deals involving 2nd round and lower picks and they basically remade their team, specifically their forward group, for a whole lot less considering it was mostly 20s. The moose have built themselves a good team with a ton of room and flexibility to be great.
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Post by Reesor on Sept 20, 2022 19:15:35 GMT -4
Gatineau is set up for two Championship runs as well. Will be interesting to see how aggressive they are at the deadline. They're in a similar situation but are better right now. Quebec and Sherbrooke are the only other teams I see as definitely ahead of Halifax at this moment.
I see the Moose winning the division and being 2nd in the conference. Assuming they do their job in round one, that sets up a 2nd round with a team like Rimouski. Are they content rolling the dice with Rimouski? Or would the goal be to acquire players to be good enough to get into the semi finals and roll the dice with Sherbrooke/Gatineau? I guess the answer to that will ultimately determine what the Moose do going forward. Will they grab an impact 20yo or grab a middle-of-the-road 20yo with experience? Are they happy enough with the goaltending or will they nab an experienced backup for Rousseau? (Or someone that would act as a 1b?)
Regardless of what the Moose do, they have an exciting young team with a little bit of everything. Plenty of story lines to follow and plenty of reasons to go to the rink every night. Can't wait to get started. We'll see if Fiona has anything to say about our home opener.
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Post by Citris on Sept 20, 2022 19:22:01 GMT -4
It also would not be unheard of for the Mooseheads to sign a free agent out of the OHL, maybe a 20 who was a last cut.
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Post by statsman18 on Sept 21, 2022 9:55:38 GMT -4
It also would not be unheard of for the Mooseheads to sign a free agent out of the OHL, maybe a 20 who was a last cut. Unless it’s a top 6 guy I just don’t see that happening this year. In the pst when they grabbed a 20yo free agent it was usually a role guy, and those are usually they type of players available. I mean if they were going to go grab that type of guy might as well have kept Davis.
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Post by statsman18 on Sept 21, 2022 10:01:20 GMT -4
I don’t know if this is the best place to post this but I’ve been snooping around the Blue Jackets train camp stuff to see what might be said about Dumais. I came across this great article www.nhl.com/bluejackets/news/jordan-dumais-blue-jackets-traverse-city/c-335589464. The part I liked the most was the talk about him working on his skating all off season. He sounds like he’s ready to get going this year. Also it sounds like Columbus are taking notice. To add to the letters talk I find it very hard to imagine him with out an A on his chest this year too.
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Post by Citris on Sept 21, 2022 10:03:08 GMT -4
It also would not be unheard of for the Mooseheads to sign a free agent out of the OHL, maybe a 20 who was a last cut. Unless it’s a top 6 guy I just don’t see that happening this year. In the pst when they grabbed a 20yo free agent it was usually a role guy, and those are usually they type of players available. I mean if they were going to go grab that type of guy might as well have kept Davis. I suppose that's true. Tho not to harp on this but, if they sign a goalie, there could be a space.
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Post by blueeagle on Sept 21, 2022 10:10:12 GMT -4
Unless it’s a top 6 guy I just don’t see that happening this year. In the pst when they grabbed a 20yo free agent it was usually a role guy, and those are usually they type of players available. I mean if they were going to go grab that type of guy might as well have kept Davis. I suppose that's true. Tho not to harp on this but, if they sign a goalie, there could be a space. The goalie talk makes a lot of sense to me. Hard on James perhaps, but it's the biggest hole in your lineup if you want a decent run this year in my eyes. I saw you mentioned Hurtubise in the SJ thread. What about Lapenna? Could you see that being a fit? Islanders have a logjam of OAs and the price shouldn't be too steep as there should be a few 20yo goalies on the market. Maybe Islanders want to keep him for now and pump his value a bit but I can't really see it getting that high.
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Post by statsman18 on Sept 21, 2022 11:17:16 GMT -4
I suppose that's true. Tho not to harp on this but, if they sign a goalie, there could be a space. The goalie talk makes a lot of sense to me. Hard on James perhaps, but it's the biggest hole in your lineup if you want a decent run this year in my eyes. I saw you mentioned Hurtubise in the SJ thread. What about Lapenna? Could you see that being a fit? Islanders have a logjam of OAs and the price shouldn't be too steep as there should be a few 20yo goalies on the market. Maybe Islanders want to keep him for now and pump his value a bit but I can't really see it getting that high. Lapenna would be great but IMO PEI will be better off to hold him till Christmas because they will want to cash in on him. They don’t have many big ticket player to cash in on for rebuild/ retool whatever they want to call it. Hurtubise is basically in the same boat. SJ also need to cash in on some vets and Hurtubise is the only President Cup and Mem cup winner in the league. That might carry some weight to some GM’s in the league. As for Brady James getting flack, he brought it on himself. Statically speaking he was the worst goalie in the league. Then when you put the actual eye test to it he just let in to many weak goals. It’s really not fair to the rest of the team to keep him.
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Post by MooseMan on Sept 21, 2022 11:17:59 GMT -4
I suppose that's true. Tho not to harp on this but, if they sign a goalie, there could be a space. The goalie talk makes a lot of sense to me. Hard on James perhaps, but it's the biggest hole in your lineup if you want a decent run this year in my eyes. I saw you mentioned Hurtubise in the SJ thread. What about Lapenna? Could you see that being a fit? Islanders have a logjam of OAs and the price shouldn't be too steep as there should be a few 20yo goalies on the market. Maybe Islanders want to keep him for now and pump his value a bit but I can't really see it getting that high. They are going to give James a chance to start the season but if he doesnt start well he will be replaced. But I honetly think they would go with Milner before bringing in a 20 goalie. Unless they want to make a big run at it without spending I think this is an option.
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