Scout
10-10-2007, 07:10 PM
Courtesy Aaln Caldwell:
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Overage picture
More movement on the overage front yesterday as the Giants have released agitator forward Mike Wuchterl. Expect more movement today and tomorrow as teams try to settle on their three players by tomorrow's deadline.
Chilliwack, Edmonton, Kamloops, Kootenay, Lethbridge, Moose Jaw, Portland, Prince Albert, Prince George, Seattle, Spokane, Swift Current, and Tri-City are all at three O/A's already. Calgary, Medicine Hat, Red Deer, Regina, and Vancouver are all at just two and could add another one if they wanted to. Regina is probably going to hold their spot for the possible return of Myles Stoesz from the pros, while Red Deer will probably wait and see if either Brett Sutter or Kirill Starkov make their way back from the pros too. Medicine Hat also has a ton of 87's away at AHL/ECHL camps so they may want to wait and hope for an unexpected return (Gord Baldwin? David Schlemko?) as well. That may only leave Calgary and Vancouver as possible destinations for surplus players.
Four teams - Brandon, Everett, Kelowna, and Saskatoon - have too many players and need to make some moves. Everett will probably get some extra time to make their decision since one of their players, David Reekie, is currently on the 60 day injured list with mononucleosis. They will be allowed to wait until he comes off the injured list to declare their three. This is actually a case where getting mono might be one of the best things that ever happened to Reekie's career since this buys him another three or four weeks, by which time another team in the league may have finally realized they need a goaltending upgrade and may be willing to trade for him when Everett finally makes him available. Either that or if things don't turn around in Everett in the next few weeks, the Tips may decide that Leland Irving and his .876 sv% is the one to be dealt, and Reekie sticks as the Tips' #1 goalie. Of course that would mean that one of Gendur, Sonne, or Crowley would have to go too though.
In Brandon, it seems likely that defenceman Mark Louis is going to be the odd man out there, and wouldn't he be the kind of workhorse blueline help that Vancouver is looking for? In Kelowna, it's probably going to be the end for Lyon Messier, seeing as how he has been in the stands for the last three games since the Rockets acquired Brady Leavold. I'm not sure that anyone in the league is going to be interested in Messier so he'll probably end up in Jr A somewhere. I suppose that if there were a trade partner out there willing to pay a decent price, that the Rockets might part with Kris Westblom instead though.
Saskatoon has to pare two players from their group of five but the decision has probably already been made there since Curtis Patterson and Michael Kaye were the two odd men out on Monday. In Patterson's case, newly-acquired John Flatters was already wearing Patterson's #5 so that's a really obvious sign of the end for him. Lorne Molleken has been unhappy with Kaye's performance so far this year as well.
In Kaye's case, there's probably a decent chance that he lands somewhere else in the league, although I don't see either Calgary or Vancouver being interested. Patterson is probably destined for the SJHL.
I'm not sure if Calgary will even pick up another overager at this point. Things are obviously going well with only one 20 year old (Ryan Gillen) playing right now (Dan Mercer hasn't played all year due to injury) and Adam Ross was released because the 17 year old forwards like Ian Schultz (5 pts in 8 games) and Brandon Kozun (5 pts in 9 games) were outplaying him, so if the Hitties were to bring in another overage forward it would have to be a top-line type player and that kind of move is more likely made closer to the trade deadline?
More stuff later....
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Overage picture
More movement on the overage front yesterday as the Giants have released agitator forward Mike Wuchterl. Expect more movement today and tomorrow as teams try to settle on their three players by tomorrow's deadline.
Chilliwack, Edmonton, Kamloops, Kootenay, Lethbridge, Moose Jaw, Portland, Prince Albert, Prince George, Seattle, Spokane, Swift Current, and Tri-City are all at three O/A's already. Calgary, Medicine Hat, Red Deer, Regina, and Vancouver are all at just two and could add another one if they wanted to. Regina is probably going to hold their spot for the possible return of Myles Stoesz from the pros, while Red Deer will probably wait and see if either Brett Sutter or Kirill Starkov make their way back from the pros too. Medicine Hat also has a ton of 87's away at AHL/ECHL camps so they may want to wait and hope for an unexpected return (Gord Baldwin? David Schlemko?) as well. That may only leave Calgary and Vancouver as possible destinations for surplus players.
Four teams - Brandon, Everett, Kelowna, and Saskatoon - have too many players and need to make some moves. Everett will probably get some extra time to make their decision since one of their players, David Reekie, is currently on the 60 day injured list with mononucleosis. They will be allowed to wait until he comes off the injured list to declare their three. This is actually a case where getting mono might be one of the best things that ever happened to Reekie's career since this buys him another three or four weeks, by which time another team in the league may have finally realized they need a goaltending upgrade and may be willing to trade for him when Everett finally makes him available. Either that or if things don't turn around in Everett in the next few weeks, the Tips may decide that Leland Irving and his .876 sv% is the one to be dealt, and Reekie sticks as the Tips' #1 goalie. Of course that would mean that one of Gendur, Sonne, or Crowley would have to go too though.
In Brandon, it seems likely that defenceman Mark Louis is going to be the odd man out there, and wouldn't he be the kind of workhorse blueline help that Vancouver is looking for? In Kelowna, it's probably going to be the end for Lyon Messier, seeing as how he has been in the stands for the last three games since the Rockets acquired Brady Leavold. I'm not sure that anyone in the league is going to be interested in Messier so he'll probably end up in Jr A somewhere. I suppose that if there were a trade partner out there willing to pay a decent price, that the Rockets might part with Kris Westblom instead though.
Saskatoon has to pare two players from their group of five but the decision has probably already been made there since Curtis Patterson and Michael Kaye were the two odd men out on Monday. In Patterson's case, newly-acquired John Flatters was already wearing Patterson's #5 so that's a really obvious sign of the end for him. Lorne Molleken has been unhappy with Kaye's performance so far this year as well.
In Kaye's case, there's probably a decent chance that he lands somewhere else in the league, although I don't see either Calgary or Vancouver being interested. Patterson is probably destined for the SJHL.
I'm not sure if Calgary will even pick up another overager at this point. Things are obviously going well with only one 20 year old (Ryan Gillen) playing right now (Dan Mercer hasn't played all year due to injury) and Adam Ross was released because the 17 year old forwards like Ian Schultz (5 pts in 8 games) and Brandon Kozun (5 pts in 9 games) were outplaying him, so if the Hitties were to bring in another overage forward it would have to be a top-line type player and that kind of move is more likely made closer to the trade deadline?
More stuff later....