First look at Training Camp

[Deer]

If you guys end up not having room for a guy like say Brenton, I wonder what the going rate would be for his services? Could play a useful role on a younger team like my Eagles perhaps.

[curtis]

There is no doubt Brenton is a useful player. If he doesn't play for us, it says more about our depth than it does about Brenton. He could blossom into a 20+ goal scorer with a bit more luck finishing around the net. He's pretty dangerous on the PK, too.

[SteveUL]

deer said:

If you guys end up not having room for a guy like say Brenton, I wonder what the going rate would be for his services? Could play a useful role on a younger team like my Eagles perhaps.

We need a veteran Dman ... what do you have in a size 20 ?

[overtime]

I would not be so quick to have Brenton on the move. He is really good frinds with Flynn's family.If he is moved it would only be because it would be better for Brenton.I really think he'l stay because Flynn knows what kind of kid he is.

[SteveUL]

overtime said:

I would not be so quick to have Brenton on the move. He is really good frinds with Flynn's family.If he is moved it would only be because it would be better for Brenton.I really think he'l stay because Flynn knows what kind of kid he is.

If not Brenton ... then who ?

[IslandersHKY]

steveul said:

There is really no room up front to add extra guys unless they are cutting a few returning players ... we have pretty much made a commitment to 5 new forwards ... Brown/MacAusland/Bezak/Brannon/Sill ... and are only losing 2 forwards from last year ... Gaudet and probably Lincourt. Looking at some simple line combinations it will be tough to find good icetime for everybody ....

Marquardt (20) - Mangan (20) - Bezak (18)
Cameron (18) - Labelle (18) - Eagles (19)
Lessard (18) - Sill (19) - Brannon (18)
MacAusland (16) - Brown (16) - Watson (18)
Brenton (18) - Morehouse (20) - MacLelland (19)
LePage (19)

It will tough to cut a guy like Lamoureux (18) ... great size and very good skater and he reportedly brings toughness. Many are high on Stephens (17) although I'm not sold on him. Add those two above and suddenly you have 6 lines (18) of forwards ... when 14 is probably all you want. I just don't see Stephens or any other rookie besides Lamoureux making the final cut. They would probably like to sign Stephens and keep him for next year as we will be lacking 17 yr old forwards this year ... maybe the Beavers could work out something to let him play in Moncton.

Lepage is an easy cut at 19 (possibly tradeable for an 8th) ...

I'd hate to see Brenton go but he doesn't score enough ... he has fantastic speed and is a good PK guy and I fear he'll turn into an offensive threat somewhere else ... he was only 17 last year.

The Wildcats are high on Maclelland and are considering him as captain material next season. Is Sill better than him now ? These guys are sort of the same player and I wonder if we need two.

Morehouse is the logical captain for this year but where do you insert him in the lineup to give him regular icetime ? Who do you bump out of the top 3 lines that I show above ?

Its possible that we could deal Lincourt (or Mangan or Marquardt) and Brenton for a 20 YO dman ... Andricopolous maybe ... but the team we trade with would need to have an open 20 YO slot or a Dman they'd like to move to add a forward.

On D ... there are a few more open slots ...

Only Pianosi (18), Barberio (17) and Baca (18) are locks ... then we have returning Tolles (19) and Goyens (19) ... Gomes has shown skill but is 19 ... Dimitruk's (17) decision will have an impact on whether or not we add another younger guy or an older guy. We haven't seen enough of Eastman yet ... Little (18) is not impressive but doesn't look bad either ... and I've been impressed with a few others like Cody Wilson (very agressive). We'll probably keep 8 Dmen so it could look like this ...

Pianosi - Baca
Barberio - Goyens
Tolles - Gomes
Little - Demitruk

If Demitruk declines then you look at adding 2 guys like Little or Eastman or Wilson ... not many dmen have really stood out. If you can swing a deal for a 20 YO Dman then adding a couple of younger Dmen as your spares is more preferable.

Bottom line is there is next to zero room on forward and Lamoureux is the only guy I see having a shot at making the team ... and he has to drop the gloves if he wants it.

Great analysis Steve.

What I'm wondering is if Moncton wants to continue building with that kind of forward depth maybe moving Eagles could be a good option as he would generate a good return.

A player like Eagles could have great value to a contending team looking to add a potential 30 goal 19 yr old with great speed.

That kind of trade could help Moncton get maybe an 18 or 19 yr old upgrade on defense plus it would allow for more ice time for Brannon, Waston, and others to develop.

The other move could be to move Lessard as the money that you have invested in MacAusland & Brown plus their potential is likely going to warrant more than just 4th line ice time. He is the kind of player that you probably should have moved at the draft for a 4th or 5th round pick.


My suggestion on forward would be the following:

Marquardt (20) - Mangan (20) - Bezak (18)
Cameron (18) - Labelle (18) - Watson/Brannon (18)
MacAusland (16) - Sill (19) - Brannon/Watson (18)
MacLelland (19) - Brown (16) - Brenton (19)

Plus two younger extras which sounds like it could be:
1. For fighting - maybe Lamoureux (18)
2. For future potential - is this Stephens (17)

[Sébastien]

Well, I got to see the two scrimmages on tuesday, and wishing I could go today, but here are thoughts.

As far as goaltending goes, after the 1st game, I though Cooling was the one who played best. He got 11 shots in the 3rd period as team white was pooring it on, but he still played great. However, he had a very difficult time IMO during the 2nd game. He was flopping around too much and it looks like he still needs some work. I agree that him playing with the Beavers and being so close to the organization would help him a lot. By the way, is he really 6'4''? He seems minimum 2 inches shorter then that.

If I were to make the cuts right now, the two that I would chose would probably be Babiak and the one out of Dupuis and Bolduc that does not have red and white equipment (I can't remember which ). Babiak did let in 3 goals in his half of the second game after being solid in the 1st one, but he really did not have a chance and made many terrific saves. The other one had a little more trouble finding the puck in close I found, but also made a couple of very nice saves.

As far as defence goes, I have to agree with pretty much everyone that I was rather impressed with Gomes' play. What impresses me most is his first pass on the breakout. Tape to tape almost everytime. He doesn't seem to be offensive minded at all, but what he does, he does it pretty good.

Tolles has surprised me as to how quick he is on the ice. A spot will probably be decided between him and Gomes. Gomes is better in his own zone, while Tolles seems to have more offensive upside.

Cody Wilson will be gone in my opinion. He didn't stop turning the puck over and over. If people here had difficulty with Welton... I can't see he would make the team. Had a couple of flashes here and there, but waits way too long with the puck and tries the extra move.

Brousseau actually impressed me. He wasn't very good, but he did a lot better then I expected him to. But, he is simply outsized, and skated and outmatched.

Martin Baca is going to be one mean player and could bring a lot of emotion on the ice. Should be one fun player to watch. Will have to be more careful with his positioning though. Isn't overly fast.

Kelan Herr, I can't see him sticking on defense. If we didn't have so much depth, I wouldn't mind seeing him as a 13th forward though. He can bust through that offensive zone and go right in front of the net when he wants to.

I found Paul Dimitruk was ok. Like Steve, I hate the visor, lol. But he does have a lot of skill, but it needs to be refined. He's got the tool, just need to make the toolbox better. If he decides to stay, I see him make the team and go in and out of the lineup, and then becoming permanent as the season goes on. Bobby Little was very efficient, although I wouldn't mind seeing him use his size more.

As for the forwards, I missed McAusland's goal in the 1st scrimmage, but the kid impressed me. He obviously has good hands, but he's also a competitor. He's in front the of the net battling anytime he doesn't have the puck, his defensive zone coverage is good and he's able to slow down the play. However, you could see his size was a factor as he tends to get knocked off the puck more easily in the corners. But as long as he has some open ice, he's fine.

Brown did not impress me. Looks very slow out there, which means he didn't get the puck very often.

During the first scrimmage, I told the buddy I was with that Lamoureux was suposed to be a tough kid, but that so far I hadn't noticed him. Maybe 5 seconds after I said that, I saw a player pick up his speed and nail a guy against the boards. It was Lamoureux. From that point on for the rest of the game, he was everywhere and hitting everything. His only problem is he needs speed to be effective, as he's not the bulkiest there. He needs to work on his acceleration and first step to get the speed he needs more quickly. I still think he will make the team.

Watson was easily the best player out there. Always a threat and you could see during the shootout and his penalty shot that he knows how to score, although he missed the net on his 2nd opportunity (the goalie was completely lost). Will make the camp and will have to at least beat Brenton and Lepage to make the team.

Zach Sill really impressed me. I know many people see Gaudet, but I see a quicker Gaudet with hands. His offensive upside is bigger then I ever thought it would be. Will be a great 3rd line center.

Brad Smith had his flashes. If he was 17 or even 18, probably would be there opening night, but as of now, I can't see it happening.

Stephens was dangerous when he had the puck. Will make the camp, and then will have to show more.

[curtis]

Hockeyfan99, do you really only see Lessard worth a 4th or 5th round pick? I thought by the end of the season, he was the best of our young forwards at both ends of the ice. He looked lost early on, which may be why some are down on him, but by the end of the season he was killing penalties and I thought was competing well on every shift.

I wouldn't say he is untouchable, but I would expect an equivalently young d-man in return if he were to be traded.

[SteveUL]

curtis said:

Hockeyfan99, do you really only see Lessard worth a 4th or 5th round pick? I thought by the end of the season, he was the best of our young forwards at both ends of the ice. He looked lost early on, which may be why some are down on him, but by the end of the season he was killing penalties and I thought was competing well on every shift.

I wouldn't say he is untouchable, but I would expect an equivalently young d-man in return if he were to be traded.

Plus ... we lacked size last year and are looking to be bigger this year ... deleting Lessard wouldn't help that. Lessard had an excellent 17 yr old season ... was one of our better players down the stretch.

[Sébastien]

I agree, I absolutely loved Lessard's game right from the exhibition games on, and he just got better. If he gets stronger and faster, he'll be really good.

I remember during an exhbition game against the Sea Dogs when the team was mostly rookies, Lessard was on the power play on the half boards and was directing all the traffic and team movement from the spot, no matter if he had the puck or not.

He's a keeper. No way he gets traded.

[SteveUL]

hockeyfan99 said:

steveul said:

There is really no room up front to add extra guys unless they are cutting a few returning players ... we have pretty much made a commitment to 5 new forwards ... Brown/MacAusland/Bezak/Brannon/Sill ... and are only losing 2 forwards from last year ... Gaudet and probably Lincourt. Looking at some simple line combinations it will be tough to find good icetime for everybody ....

Marquardt (20) - Mangan (20) - Bezak (18)
Cameron (18) - Labelle (18) - Eagles (19)
Lessard (18) - Sill (19) - Brannon (18)
MacAusland (16) - Brown (16) - Watson (18)
Brenton (18) - Morehouse (20) - MacLelland (19)
LePage (19)

It will tough to cut a guy like Lamoureux (18) ... great size and very good skater and he reportedly brings toughness. Many are high on Stephens (17) although I'm not sold on him. Add those two above and suddenly you have 6 lines (18) of forwards ... when 14 is probably all you want. I just don't see Stephens or any other rookie besides Lamoureux making the final cut. They would probably like to sign Stephens and keep him for next year as we will be lacking 17 yr old forwards this year ... maybe the Beavers could work out something to let him play in Moncton.

Lepage is an easy cut at 19 (possibly tradeable for an 8th) ...

I'd hate to see Brenton go but he doesn't score enough ... he has fantastic speed and is a good PK guy and I fear he'll turn into an offensive threat somewhere else ... he was only 17 last year.

The Wildcats are high on Maclelland and are considering him as captain material next season. Is Sill better than him now ? These guys are sort of the same player and I wonder if we need two.

Morehouse is the logical captain for this year but where do you insert him in the lineup to give him regular icetime ? Who do you bump out of the top 3 lines that I show above ?

Its possible that we could deal Lincourt (or Mangan or Marquardt) and Brenton for a 20 YO dman ... Andricopolous maybe ... but the team we trade with would need to have an open 20 YO slot or a Dman they'd like to move to add a forward.

On D ... there are a few more open slots ...

Only Pianosi (18), Barberio (17) and Baca (18) are locks ... then we have returning Tolles (19) and Goyens (19) ... Gomes has shown skill but is 19 ... Dimitruk's (17) decision will have an impact on whether or not we add another younger guy or an older guy. We haven't seen enough of Eastman yet ... Little (18) is not impressive but doesn't look bad either ... and I've been impressed with a few others like Cody Wilson (very agressive). We'll probably keep 8 Dmen so it could look like this ...

Pianosi - Baca
Barberio - Goyens
Tolles - Gomes
Little - Demitruk

If Demitruk declines then you look at adding 2 guys like Little or Eastman or Wilson ... not many dmen have really stood out. If you can swing a deal for a 20 YO Dman then adding a couple of younger Dmen as your spares is more preferable.

Bottom line is there is next to zero room on forward and Lamoureux is the only guy I see having a shot at making the team ... and he has to drop the gloves if he wants it.

Great analysis Steve.

What I'm wondering is if Moncton wants to continue building with that kind of forward depth maybe moving Eagles could be a good option as he would generate a good return.

A player like Eagles could have great value to a contending team looking to add a potential 30 goal 19 yr old with great speed.

That kind of trade could help Moncton get maybe an 18 or 19 yr old upgrade on defense plus it would allow for more ice time for Brannon, Waston, and others to develop.

The other move could be to move Lessard as the money that you have invested in MacAusland & Brown plus their potential is likely going to warrant more than just 4th line ice time. He is the kind of player that you probably should have moved at the draft for a 4th or 5th round pick.


My suggestion on forward would be the following:

Marquardt (20) - Mangan (20) - Bezak (18)
Cameron (18) - Labelle (18) - Watson/Brannon (18)
MacAusland (16) - Sill (19) - Brannon/Watson (18)
MacLelland (19) - Brown (16) - Brenton (19)

Plus two younger extras which sounds like it could be:
1. For fighting - maybe Lamoureux (18)
2. For future potential - is this Stephens (17)

Eagles could be traded without missing him too much ... and he'd certainly draw some interest and probably get a decent return ... I don't like the idea of giving up on a 3rd year player but somebody has to go.

As I said above ... Lessard gives us size we lack in other places and he had a strong finish to his 17 yr old season ... I don't see him as expendable. If it means losing him ... I'd bail on Stephens.

Brenton is only 18 ... you show him as 19 ... and so I am worried that now that he is 18 he will start to put together the things he was unable to do last year as a rookie 17 yr old ... we've seen that many times before where a player starts to show some finish in his 2nd year. I'd hate to trade him away and miss out on that ... his speed is way above average and he is a good PK guy.

You also show Morehouse as not being part of the equation while most see him as being Captain ... including Flynn. But that creates a problem as I stated in my first post. If we add a 20 YO Dman he will likely be out anyway ... tough call.

There are no easy answers ... and the sting of losing a returning player can be tempered by getting a nice return in a trade.

[IslandersHKY]

curtis said:

Hockeyfan99, do you really only see Lessard worth a 4th or 5th round pick? I thought by the end of the season, he was the best of our young forwards at both ends of the ice. He looked lost early on, which may be why some are down on him, but by the end of the season he was killing penalties and I thought was competing well on every shift.

I wouldn't say he is untouchable, but I would expect an equivalently young d-man in return if he were to be traded.

I didn't have an opportunity to watch Lessard regularly last season like you did so I may not fully appreciate what he may be able to bring over the next few seasons.

But IMO last year he looked like an average 17 yr old rookie. To me he looked like he is a good player but likely a solid 3rd liner this season and at most a potential 6th forward next season. He was a 4th round pick 2 yrs ago and had 8 goals and 16 pts last season, plus trading him now is lower value because teams have mostly filled up their rosters and know that Moncton is looking to move depth. So to me I can see a team using a 4th or 5th round pick on him, you might have gotten a late 3rd or a 19 yr old depth defenseman (eg. Boutin) at the draft but I can't see any higher.

I also don't understand the comment about size because Lessard is only 6'1 - 180 so he is slightly above average not a big player. The additions of Brennon and Sill are similar size.

Don't misunderstand me I am not in any way knocking Lessard or Eagles by suggesting they could be trade options. In fact it is the opposite. I see these as two players who would have some interest from other teams and generate an actual return vs moving other guys like Lapage who it is simply a matter of finding a team interested and giving him an opportunity elsewhere if possible.

It really comes down to the Wildcat's plans for the season. With no moves the Wildcats have a pretty deep group of forwards and may be good enough to challenge for 3rd-5th. But there is no much opportunity to develop MacAusland, Brown, Waston and Brennon.

Or if a couple of moves were made like trading Eagles and Lessard at worst it means the Wildcats are still competitive and likely battle for 5th/6th but provide Watson, Brennon, MacAusland and Brown a lot more development opportunity and if they perform well could keep them in the race for home ice anyway.

[jimmy]

steveul said:

curtis said:

Hockeyfan99, do you really only see Lessard worth a 4th or 5th round pick? I thought by the end of the season, he was the best of our young forwards at both ends of the ice. He looked lost early on, which may be why some are down on him, but by the end of the season he was killing penalties and I thought was competing well on every shift.

I wouldn't say he is untouchable, but I would expect an equivalently young d-man in return if he were to be traded.

Plus ... we lacked size last year and are looking to be bigger this year ... deleting Lessard wouldn't help that. Lessard had an excellent 17 yr old season ... was one of our better players down the stretch.

Lessard played better in the second half last year, but I don't know if I would go so far as to say he was one of our better players down the stretch. He has good size, and we are looking to get bigger, Sill and Brannon will help in that department, which may make Lessard more expendable than he other wise would have been.

[IslandersHKY]

steveul said:

Eagles could be traded without missing him too much ... and he'd certainly draw some interest and probably get a decent return ... I don't like the idea of giving up on a 3rd year player but somebody has to go.

As I said above ... Lessard gives us size we lack in other places and he had a strong finish to his 17 yr old season ... I don't see him as expendable. If it means losing him ... I'd bail on Stephens.

Brenton is only 18 ... you show him as 19 ... and so I am worried that now that he is 18 he will start to put together the things he was unable to do last year as a rookie 17 yr old ... we've seen that many times before where a player starts to show some finish in his 2nd year. I'd hate to trade him away and miss out on that ... his speed is way above average and he is a good PK guy.

You also show Morehouse as not being part of the equation while most see him as being Captain ... including Flynn. But that creates a problem as I stated in my first post. If we add a 20 YO Dman he will likely be out anyway ... tough call.

There are no easy answers ... and the sting of losing a returning player can be tempered by getting a nice return in a trade.

Steve I am not sure if this was your intention but your post appears to point out a lot of "flaws" with my opinion but yet you offer no suggested solutions.

The challenge with the Eagles is that there is lots of depth but not as much top end offensive talent so someone has to be moved.

IMO Lessard, Sill and Brennon will not be content playing anything less than 3rd line this season. But at the same time
given their potential and Moncton's investment MacAusland, Brown and Watson should not be 4th liners all season. Someone has to be moved.


As well Steve in your lineup you had the following guys on the outside.

Brenton (18) - Morehouse (20) - MacLelland (19)

IMO I agree that Brenton should be kept (his age was a typo). And moving Eagle and Lessard would provide him an opportunity. MacLelland is a guestion mark. No sense keeping him if he isn't going to get dressed reguarly and as a 19 yr old it is questionable but I always liked his style and work ethic and thought he would be a great player to have to support the younger players anyway.

As for Morehouse I have never been a fan of at all which is why I also didn't include in my lineup, and especially as a 20 yr old he doesn't have the skill IMO. But if Moncton fans think he should be on the team then again someone has to move and so which player or 2 from the top 3 lines are you suggesting is moved?

[curtis]

I would take Lessard over Brenton any day, and that's not a knock on Brenton. I think Lessard is a 2nd line type player this year.