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Post by jimmy on Sept 22, 2008 12:55:49 GMT -4
If we ever get everyone back healthy at the same time, Flynn is going to have some tough choices to make re: ice time ... Several players have stepped up offensively to start the season - Stephens, Brannon, MacAusland, Famin, Lessard ... Eagles is obviously going to be one of the top guys ... Sill, Brown, Biduke and Cameron need to be integrated - makes for a pretty strong top nine if everyone gets healthy, with one of these guys getting bumped to the 4th line ... unfortunately their won't be PP time for all either.
Any thoughts on who gets bumped to the 4th line? Potential lines? Got to admit, it is a good problem to have ...
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Post by Sébastien on Sept 22, 2008 13:01:38 GMT -4
If we ever get everyone back healthy at the same time, Flynn is going to have some tough choices to make re: ice time ... Several players have stepped up offensively to start the season - Stephens, Brannon, MacAusland, Famin, Lessard ... Eagles is obviously going to be one of the top guys ... Sill, Brown, Biduke and Cameron need to be integrated - makes for a pretty strong top nine if everyone gets healthy, with one of these guys getting bumped to the 4th line ... unfortunately their won't be PP time for all either. Any thoughts on who gets bumped to the 4th line? Potential lines? Got to admit, it is a good problem to have ... I am not a fan of the "good problem to have" philosophy myself. Whenever I see this kind of situation developping, I always become slightly weary. There is a lot of potential for locker room problems when this arises. That being said, this will be where we'll be able to evaluate the level of leadership in this team. A team with good leaders will be able to make the players who do end up losing some ice time that it's for the best of the team, that nothing is written in stone and that if you continue playing hard and get results, you will get your icetime back. I think if there's one thing Flynn has shown us since he's been here is that you will get rewarded for your hard work (even though it frustrated some people IE Brenton). Considering that we have a lot of picks for the next draft, that we have good depth and things are looking very good for the long term, I wouldn't be surprised to see some 19 year olds being traded at Christmas if there's a good offer on the table for them. We'll see how the season develops, but it's clear that something's gotta give before next training camp opens, before it starts with an overabundance of good players.
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Post by Captain Obvious on Sept 22, 2008 13:03:13 GMT -4
If we ever get everyone back healthy at the same time, Flynn is going to have some tough choices to make re: ice time ... Several players have stepped up offensively to start the season - Stephens, Brannon, MacAusland, Famin, Lessard ... Eagles is obviously going to be one of the top guys ... Sill, Brown, Biduke and Cameron need to be integrated - makes for a pretty strong top nine if everyone gets healthy, with one of these guys getting bumped to the 4th line ... unfortunately their won't be PP time for all either. Any thoughts on who gets bumped to the 4th line? Potential lines? Got to admit, it is a good problem to have ... Given that you can almost count on 80-100 man games for injuries, I don't see it as a big problem. If we had to decide right now it would probably be Stephens, MacAusland or Brown...a tough choice. In terms of the PP, I think a guy like Cameron can get in the mix on the point, so you can play 7 forwards and 3 d-men on your top 2 PP's. Eagles-Famin-Bidduke Cameron-Barberio/Voynov MacAusland Stephens Lessard Gormley Jodoin/Barberio Brown Brannon Bissonnette and Sill can also play PP...maybe 3 units playing 40 seconds each ;D
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Post by Captain Obvious on Sept 22, 2008 13:11:31 GMT -4
If we ever get everyone back healthy at the same time, Flynn is going to have some tough choices to make re: ice time ... Several players have stepped up offensively to start the season - Stephens, Brannon, MacAusland, Famin, Lessard ... Eagles is obviously going to be one of the top guys ... Sill, Brown, Biduke and Cameron need to be integrated - makes for a pretty strong top nine if everyone gets healthy, with one of these guys getting bumped to the 4th line ... unfortunately their won't be PP time for all either. Any thoughts on who gets bumped to the 4th line? Potential lines? Got to admit, it is a good problem to have ... I am not a fan of the "good problem to have" philosophy myself. Whenever I see this kind of situation developping, I always become slightly weary. There is a lot of potential for locker room problems when this arises. That being said, this will be where we'll be able to evaluate the level of leadership in this team. A team with good leaders will be able to make the players who do end up losing some ice time that it's for the best of the team, that nothing is written in stone and that if you continue playing hard and get results, you will get your icetime back. I think if there's one thing Flynn has shown us since he's been here is that you will get rewarded for your hard work (even though it frustrated some people IE Brenton). Considering that we have a lot of picks for the next draft, that we have good depth and things are looking very good for the long term, I wouldn't be surprised to see some 19 year olds being traded at Christmas if there's a good offer on the table for them. We'll see how the season develops, but it's clear that something's gotta give before next training camp opens, before it starts with an overabundance of good players. Trading 19 year olds at midseason will depend on where the team is in the standings. It's not a "must do" at this point because the team has a lot of depth built up in picks/prospects. Kids like Noseworthy(looked solid on Sunday) Daoust Cadet Downe look like they should be ready to step in and contribute next year. Having depth up front is definitely not a bad thing considering scoring up front was seen as the big question mark in the off season. If Brannon Lessard Famin MacAusland and Stephens can keep producing at 50-60% of their current pace that's still more than I expected...plus Cameron and Biduke showed up in shape and ready to contribute more. In a "best case scenario" this year's team is among the top 5-6 in the league with a top goalie, mobile defense and a deep offense without stars. Then next year that team only loses a few players, makes a couple of deals and is among the 2-3 top teams in 09-10.
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Post by Sébastien on Sept 22, 2008 13:57:53 GMT -4
Trading 19 year olds at midseason will depend on where the team is in the standings. It's not a "must do" at this point because the team has a lot of depth built up in picks/prospects. Kids like Noseworthy(looked solid on Sunday) Daoust Cadet Downe look like they should be ready to step in and contribute next year. Having depth up front is definitely not a bad thing considering scoring up front was seen as the big question mark in the off season. If Brannon Lessard Famin MacAusland and Stephens can keep producing at 50-60% of their current pace that's still more than I expected...plus Cameron and Biduke showed up in shape and ready to contribute more. In a "best case scenario" this year's team is among the top 5-6 in the league with a top goalie, mobile defense and a deep offense without stars. Then next year that team only loses a few players, makes a couple of deals and is among the 2-3 top teams in 09-10. I agree, and not only do I see a top 5-8 finish in the league as a "best case scenario", but that's what I would expect from this team. I don't expect them to keep up with Saint-John, Québec and Shawinigan, not really Rimouski either. However, I see them being right in the thick of things with Cape-Breton, Montréal, Drummondville, etc. That being said, I do not see the trading-off of 19 year olds as a "must". Like I said, the offers have to be good and it will depend on how the team is doing.
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Post by Captain Obvious on Sept 22, 2008 14:08:56 GMT -4
Trading 19 year olds at midseason will depend on where the team is in the standings. It's not a "must do" at this point because the team has a lot of depth built up in picks/prospects. Kids like Noseworthy(looked solid on Sunday) Daoust Cadet Downe look like they should be ready to step in and contribute next year. Having depth up front is definitely not a bad thing considering scoring up front was seen as the big question mark in the off season. If Brannon Lessard Famin MacAusland and Stephens can keep producing at 50-60% of their current pace that's still more than I expected...plus Cameron and Biduke showed up in shape and ready to contribute more. In a "best case scenario" this year's team is among the top 5-6 in the league with a top goalie, mobile defense and a deep offense without stars. Then next year that team only loses a few players, makes a couple of deals and is among the 2-3 top teams in 09-10. I agree, and not only do I see a top 5-8 finish in the league as a "best case scenario", but that's what I would expect from this team. I don't expect them to keep up with Saint-John, Québec and Shawinigan, not really Rimouski either. However, I see them being right in the thick of things with Cape-Breton, Montréal, Drummondville, etc. That being said, I do not see the trading-off of 19 year olds as a "must". Like I said, the offers have to be good and it will depend on how the team is doing. Say a Brannon or Lessard can get you a 2nd rounder, what you have to ask yourself is if that pick is worth more than the contribution and potentially longer playoff run with that player. Boyle is in the same boat, but could be expendable if Voynov shows as Jodoin is as good or better. Cameron is a different situation, it depends on how he is contributing but also if Detroit is going to sign him or not. Rio to me is the one veteran that you can't trade. LBD is 16 and not ready to take over plus Vye would be a huge dropoff. Plus, at this point he has a more than 50% chance of returning as a 20 giving time for LBD to develop as #1 at 18.
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Post by jimmy on Sept 22, 2008 14:10:11 GMT -4
Trading 19 year olds at midseason will depend on where the team is in the standings. It's not a "must do" at this point because the team has a lot of depth built up in picks/prospects. Kids like Noseworthy(looked solid on Sunday) Daoust Cadet Downe look like they should be ready to step in and contribute next year. Having depth up front is definitely not a bad thing considering scoring up front was seen as the big question mark in the off season. If Brannon Lessard Famin MacAusland and Stephens can keep producing at 50-60% of their current pace that's still more than I expected...plus Cameron and Biduke showed up in shape and ready to contribute more. In a "best case scenario" this year's team is among the top 5-6 in the league with a top goalie, mobile defense and a deep offense without stars. Then next year that team only loses a few players, makes a couple of deals and is among the 2-3 top teams in 09-10. I agree, and not only do I see a top 5-8 finish in the league as a "best case scenario", but that's what I would expect from this team. I don't expect them to keep up with Saint-John, Québec and Shawinigan, not really Rimouski either. However, I see them being right in the thick of things with Cape-Breton, Montréal, Drummondville, etc. That being said, I do not see the trading-off of 19 year olds as a "must". Like I said, the offers have to be good and it will depend on how the team is doing. Regarding dealing the 19 year olds, there are a couple of scenarios which could play out where it would happen ... 1) If we are playing well by mid-season, we could attempt to add a star player at mid-season, using as bait our 1st round pick, a young prospect, and one of this year's 19 year olds as a future at the draft ... a package along the lines of Downe, a 1st, and Cameron at the draft could probably get us a pretty good player at Xmas if Cameron has a good first half. 2) If we are not doing so well at mid-season, I could see us moving a couple of 19 year olds (who won't be back as 20s next year - we can only keep three of Rio, Lessard, Brannon, Cameron, and Boyle, so two guys are going to be the odd men out) to free up ice time for younger guys who may be just as good as they are right now (i.e. Stephens, Brown, MacAusland up front, Jodoin on the back end)
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Post by Sébastien on Sept 22, 2008 14:19:17 GMT -4
Say a Brannon or Lessard can get you a 2nd rounder, what you have to ask yourself is if that pick is worth more than the contribution and potentially longer playoff run with that player. Boyle is in the same boat, but could be expendable if Voynov shows as Jodoin is as good or better. Cameron is a different situation, it depends on how he is contributing but also if Detroit is going to sign him or not. Rio to me is the one veteran that you can't trade. LBD is 16 and not ready to take over plus Vye would be a huge dropoff. Plus, at this point he has a more than 50% chance of returning as a 20 giving time for LBD to develop as #1 at 18. I completely agree as far as Riopel goes. I would not want to see him traded, unless the offer quite litteraly made me fall on the floor. Also, although I do admire Boyle, I think that if Voynov shows and someone comes along with a decent offer for Boyle, you take it. As for Lessard and Brannon, it depends. If someone asks a 2nd round pick... although it would be a good trade IMO, it depends how they're offensively producing at Christmas. If they're doing pretty much the same as last year, I say go ahead (one of them at least). However if they're doing anything close to what they're presently doing, I would suggest we keep them to go further in the playoffs this year. It's almost kind of moot talking about trades as of right now (starting to wonder why I brought it up in the first place), and all we can do right now is speak in generalities, which is the same as we always do during the off-season really.
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Post by Sébastien on Sept 22, 2008 14:22:03 GMT -4
Regarding dealing the 19 year olds, there are a couple of scenarios which could play out where it would happen ... 1) If we are playing well by mid-season, we could attempt to add a star player at mid-season, using as bait our 1st round pick, a young prospect, and one of this year's 19 year olds as a future at the draft ... a package along the lines of Downe, a 1st, and Cameron at the draft could probably get us a pretty good player at Xmas if Cameron has a good first half. 2) If we are not doing so well at mid-season, I could see us moving a couple of 19 year olds (who won't be back as 20s next year - we can only keep three of Rio, Lessard, Brannon, Cameron, and Boyle, so two guys are going to be the odd men out) to free up ice time for younger guys who may be just as good as they are right now (i.e. Stephens, Brown, MacAusland up front, Jodoin on the back end) Always depending on the situation come Christmas time, but I would not be against making a trade to make the team better now if the situation warrants it. I don't want to see the Wildcats pay through the nose for a hyped-up star player, but a Lincourt-type trade would not bother me.
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Post by jimmy on Sept 22, 2008 14:23:29 GMT -4
If Voynov shows up, and if Voynov is all he is cracked up to be, maybe we flip him for a couple of big assets ... for example, Riki would appear to need a d-man, and their current euros do not appear to be high end ... maybe something like Voynov to Riki for a 19 year old forward at the draft (Cormier/Caron/Cornet) and their 2010 1st (which could be quite high if they sell the farm to go for it this year and decide to rebuild next year) ...
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Post by jimmy on Sept 22, 2008 14:27:15 GMT -4
Regarding dealing the 19 year olds, there are a couple of scenarios which could play out where it would happen ... 1) If we are playing well by mid-season, we could attempt to add a star player at mid-season, using as bait our 1st round pick, a young prospect, and one of this year's 19 year olds as a future at the draft ... a package along the lines of Downe, a 1st, and Cameron at the draft could probably get us a pretty good player at Xmas if Cameron has a good first half. 2) If we are not doing so well at mid-season, I could see us moving a couple of 19 year olds (who won't be back as 20s next year - we can only keep three of Rio, Lessard, Brannon, Cameron, and Boyle, so two guys are going to be the odd men out) to free up ice time for younger guys who may be just as good as they are right now (i.e. Stephens, Brown, MacAusland up front, Jodoin on the back end) Always depending on the situation come Christmas time, but I would not be against making a trade to make the team better now if the situation warrants it. I don't want to see the Wildcats pay through the nose for a hyped-up star player, but a Lincourt-type trade would not bother me. A Lincourt type trade? Surely you are kidding, that was one of the biggest wastes of assets we have made in recent years - a couple of good picks for a guy who turned out to be thoroughly useless ... The way I see it, we have plenty of depth ... if you look up front, we have 10 guys who all range from decent to good ... but none of them are great (at least yet) ... if we are going to add, IMO, we need to package 2 or 3 assets and get an impact guy up front - I don't see the need to add an 11th or 12th decent to good type forward.
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Post by Sébastien on Sept 22, 2008 14:31:58 GMT -4
Although I was never a huge fan of Lincourt, and believing that we overpaid for him (like Goyens), he did play very well in the playoffs that season, where as many of the players simply seemed to disapear (IE Marquardt).
I don't necessarily mean getting a player like Lincourt, but simply getting something we lack. If it's offense, get a pure offensive guy. Same for defense, grit, etc. I would be looking more towards complementing the team then radically adding to it. And I trust that we wouldn't have to suffer the same "bang for buck" (or lack there of) with Flynn at the helm then what we got with Torchetti. ;D
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Post by wild1 on Sept 22, 2008 14:40:28 GMT -4
One guy I would love to see the Cats get is, Maxime Macenaur (sp?) from R-N. I wonder if Cameron or Lessard along with Cadet, Lariviere, and maybe a second or third rounder would get it done?
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Post by Captain Obvious on Sept 22, 2008 14:59:23 GMT -4
One guy I would love to see the Cats get is, Maxime Macenaur (sp?) from R-N. I wonder if Cameron or Lessard along with Cadet, Lariviere, and maybe a second or third rounder would get it done? The problem with a guy like that is he is 19 and probably going pro next year, same boat as Cameron. It would be a small increase this year but a sizeable loss of assets next year. The one big need on this team is star power, there is not a Radulov or Yandle, but a lot of solid to good players(at least from what is on the sidelines and what some have shown so far). That star power could come from the development of guys like Gormley, Bissonnette, Brown, MacAusland or Famin next year or the one after or 10-11.
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Post by SteveUL on Sept 22, 2008 15:45:18 GMT -4
If we suddenly have too many players ... I'd rather deal away Biduke to make room ... and look at cutting a guy like Tremblay who hasn't impressed.
Biduke has been a disappointment for me so far this year ... I think the decision to not have a 20 YO battle in training camp was a poor one ... as he hasn't shown enough effort for my liking. I don't expect much in a trade ... maybe not even tradeable ... but what he brings seems to be redundant this year ... and we don't even have Sill, Brown and Cameron in the mix yet. Not physical enough ... not giving a strong effort ... only pretends to drop the gloves when the situation arises ... he lacks heart. I find he has quickly become expendable.
Tremblay has shown to be soft ... the least impressive of all of the rookies we have kept. Petterson, Bissonette, Roski have all shown better and earned additional icetime. Tremblay isn't earning anything.
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