Buyers or Sellers?

[Bighat]

He has a back injury but do back this weekend.

[sbtatter]

He has a back injury but do back this weekend.

He was on a roll, see if he jumps right back in the saddle

[Some_Arrogant_Jerk]

you want support for Steel that will come from the 16s, and 17s and the 2014 draft. buying now is adding 19s and 20s who will not be here when Steel is here but we will give up that support to buy this season

When I say that, I refer to the leaders on next year's team when Steel is eligible. Mainly Burroughs and Klimchuk. Its about starting a routine of success, and as was touched on with leier and the culture change, right now this is a wide open conference is an opportunity to achieve success.

As far as buying and selling, I only want some mild reinforcement for this team. Barring any cant refuse offers, some depth reinforcement is sufficient.

[chopper]

Hi guys..new here but long long time supporter and seasons ticket holder. What an outstanding thread and comments. Both knowledgeable and insightful. I've been waffling over buy/sell and probably will for a while. I think I fall into the category of massaging the lineup with smart trades. 120 goals for/130 against tells me we have to get much better defensively in the 2nd half. We have to buy wisely. With Williams at -14 I don't see how we can keep him. Hand -7 has decent size (only 185 lbs) but he is so often injured that he can't be counted on down the stretch. They are both 18 so a lot of teams might be enticed to give up a 19 for an 18, Two rugged d-men would go a long way.

We have the worst PK in the league, McCoy is a penalty killer. He is also like -14 on even strength shifts. He was on the ice for both even strength goals Kelowna scored on us in the second period of that game. In my mind his skating isn't up to par and he should be moved. Brooks could also be used as trade bait. I too would like Souto but I'm sure Kamloops wants a bidding war for him. Maxwell out of Lethbridge might be an option. He is a great skater, kills penalties and has 23 points I believe. He is worth looking at.

I think there are a few roster players and even a few list players we could work with to get what we need. However we just can't give up any more draft picks. Some crafty fine tuning would make a world of difference.

[patsdude114]

Welcome to the site chopper hope you enjoy it here & bring your insight with the team & league

I agree with your comments about the players you mentioned but with that said its hard to give teams the players who are playing like arse for you, we don't them but yet neither do other teams. Hand has been nothing but injury prone here but tell me what team is gonna want to take a chance on a player like that now after seeing it back to back years now?

As for Brooks he has little potential he hasn't improved much at all since last season he's too small for someone to think he deserves a chaange of scenery. As for Williams he plays too many minutes that's the biggest problem with him, he does a lot of good things out there, he is a good skating Dman. The biggest knock on him last year was he wasn't strong enough, this year I have lost track of penalties he has taken which was 2mins for being stronger then the other guy. He has never been a defensive specialist while growing up, he needs to be with a more defensive minded Dman which we lack.

Goaltending has been an issue again down the xmas stretch, MacAuley hasn't looked the same like he did in November. But again that can also fall back abit onto the defense.

[RWAH]

Chopper Welcome aboard. look forward to your posts. I think its consensus that we need some smart trades that will upgrade the D. (a 200+lb , 17 yr old Dman that can play top 4 minutes ) that will cost more than McCoy or Brooks or Hand or Williams.
I would go a step further than not trading any picks. IMO we need to recoup 2 picks in 2014 and in the (1st, 2nd or 3rd) rounds. As we sit we get one pick between (1 and 21 Portland forfeited), one pick between 22 and 43 then one between 89 and 109 and lastly one each round after 132.
On our goal tending McAuley has been slipping. Coach Cameron on the Sports Cage on Thursday agreed but thought it was a case of physical and mental fatigue. I am sure if it continues Schneider will see more and more game time
Once again welcome aboard and if you can recruit any others "the more the merrier"

[chopper]

That's very kind Patsdude114! You are spot on about organizations taking what we don't want. Lang has to become more like McCrimmon..LOL. Williams has always had a hard time with his pins, and often gets flagged for holding or hooking. He is similar to Burroughs but he overcomes his physical shortcomings with his skating and decision making. He is also a plus d-man.

If we sell it leaves a somewhat negative message with the coach and remaining players. It's hard to ask a coach to win but take his assets away. Players who have been selling out will wonder "why". If we don't do anything we are a 78-82 point team and scratching to get 7th or 8th spot and looking at an early exit. Simply because the depth is not there, particularly defence and goaltending. We also perpetuate the cycle of getting nothing for our assets while we are going nowhere. I am all for buying if we can pull off a couple larcenous trades.

You are right about MacAuley. He started poor and then hit a groove for a bit. He has now reverted back to a lot of his old ways. You will only go as far as your goaltending will take you in the playoffs. Schneider will be great but needs seasoning. MacAuley was at one point 8th in the league but has now slipped to 20th. If this continues he will be on the second page. You can't win in the playoffs with 20th ranked tending. I am concerned about hat he can do in those circumstances.

We can score somewhat but; We have a last ranked PK, we give up too many goals, play too soft defensively and take too many penalties. Not a good combination. If we can't do anything about the goaltending situation we will have to address the others. The coach can deal with the PK and the discipline. The GM will have to deal with acquiring some defensive help. We need two big physical d-men. I don't know where we will get them or how we will get them. Regardless of the means we really need them. Time for some Lang magic or is that only McCrimmon magic..LOL

[chopper]

Thank you RWAH. Yes there are many dynamics involved. The team is in a really strange place. They are on the higher side of average but that can go the other way quickly. Unless we think we can win two rounds of playoffs we may have to revisit our situation. In order to win those two rounds we will need defensive help. How do we get that? If we don't have the depth and goaltending to win a conference, do we take a step back and reset? We want to ensure that when Steel is 18 and 19 that we have a couple more like him on the roster, and enough depth to win a championship. That may require a little pain now. We don't want to pay the organizational price we paid not moving Eberle and Tuebert, and the accompanying backlash. I don't think one round is good enough to stand pat. Like I said I am really conflicted as to what to do but it's either buy or sell. I don't think stand pat will work.

[patsdude114]

I really don't think we will stand pat but I also don't think we will be buyers or sellers. I do think Stephenson will be dealt though, there just isn't enough to go on that he will be back as a 20yr old. Yes he has no contract right now which does favour in a return but that's nothing for a contract to be handed to him after the season's end. I think he is moved for a 17yr old roster player & a quality prospect with a pick & there will be some sort of compensation added in incase by some mircle he is returned as a 20yr old.

I also believe that either 1 of Leier or Stevenson will be moved (not both) we will also grab a younger roster player in the deal (in either this move or the Stephenson 1 there will be a Dman coming to us).

I do believe that we will make tweeks but wil still be competive to make the playoffs & Steel will get a taste of WHL playoffs to further his development before next season. I'm going to have to go to roddy's blog & listen to his sports cage show on thursday now it has me curious now......

[chopper]

I agree that Stephenson will likely get a contract by seasons end. I think Leier and Stevenson will earn free agent ones as well. In reality our 20 year olds are three month players is all.

IMO moving Stephenson and Leier puts us pretty close to being sellers. While those two would bring a big bounty, it seems that Stevenson is the one most generally coveted by many teams GM's. If we were to move Stephenson and Leier it would be in the team's best interest to move Dyson as well.

Sometimes people forget that if three major deals were made we would get back: two pretty good overagers, at least two good young roster players, and undoubtedly a few high placed draft picks. I think with reassignments, trades, and list revamping we could make the room for any new roster players acquired.

The lower placed teams could be king makers to a point. The fly in the ointments is whether or not teams like P.A. or Red Deer are going to be sellers. Red Deer has unloaded Dumba already so there seems to be an answer there. P.A. has dropped like a stone. Jobs may on the line there so they might be buyers, which will up the value of assets other teams have. Kamloops, Lethbridge, MJ, Saskatoon, and PG seem to be the teams that could be most enticed to deal. If P.A. were to join the sellers group, they have a lot of assets much like the Pats do.