Ya thought of that after. Retarded rule.
Super Moderator
Ya thought of that after. Retarded rule.
Back-up Goalie
Maybe we trade Leon and Josh. Would be interesting to see what we could get.
All-Star
Agree.Originally Posted by Sttop
-Wapitikev
All-Star
If you don't trade McNeill and Ruopp then you don't trade Leon and Josh...unless you find yourself a seller at the Jan 2015 trade deadline...players of their calibre will bring a huge return no matter when they are moved, so waiting has no down-side. Plus, erasing a huge chunk of your offense doesn't exactly inspire confidence in your 18yo & 17yo (or maybe 16yo -- Weaver) goaltenders heading into the start of the season.
As far as Josh and Leon not playing here in the fall, they would either have to make their NHL squad or sit out/play in Europe if they didn't return to the Raiders...once a player has signed a WHL contract, they are prohibited from playing AHL until they finish their 19/20yo season...both are 19 this year.
I'd be interested to hear the name of a Euro league that Leon (or Josh) might play in where they will get top minutes as 19yos against elite talent in order to develop as their NHL teams (and agents) will want them to. If Europe was a valid option, then every agent and NHL team would be moving their 19yo drafted players there...Correct me if I'm wrong, but the list of drafted 19yos, let alone 1st round picks, who've fled to Europe instead of returning to the CHL after not making their NHL team is pretty darn short.
And no agent or NHL team is going to let 1st round picks sit out because they'd rather pout than play in PA...and both Leon and Josh are too smart to do that in any event.
-Wapitikev
Last edited by Wapitikev; 03-28-2014 at 12:31 AM.
All-Star
Heh.
Good one.
-Wapitikev
All-Star
Agree that Josh and Leon will be back...not so sure it will be that hard to choose our 20yos.
On the 20yo front, you don't keep Hart if you want Gardiner to buy-in, particularly considering Hart's market value. So that means keeping either Brooks or Danyluk instead.
The only real question in my mind is: do you keep Conroy or trade him and keep both Brooks and Danyluk because they work their behinds off? Leon might have something to say on that subject.
Agree that we won't suck with the top 9 forwards and the top 6 D-men you list, although I'd expect to get at least one new top 6 forward after selling 4 19yos, in addition to various draft picks, unless the talent pool for 20yos is really deep this fall.
List magic could easily add a #6 forward or even more easily bump some of the 10-13 spots off the bottom.
Andrlik may be hard pressed to survive the Import Draft.
Just based on experience and age I'd give Verrall or even Kipling (someone who can score in Jan and Feb...what a concept!) the edge over Paiver this season for the #7 spot...he's going to be a really good d-man but I can't see him cracking the lineup as a 16yo...there are likely other prospects with a better outside chance as well.
With another influx of 17yo and 18yo rookies, the team will get younger again this fall but:
- We will still score with the players you listed (even substituting Brooks and Danyluk for Hart and Conroy). Breakout seasons coming for Gennaro and Quinney.
- The D-corps is shaping up to be the deepest we've had in maybe a decade (looking far better than it did going into last season, losing Ruopp and but keeping Busenius and Johnston in the top 4). Stewart and Ghule will be fun to watch as they get better over the course of next season. Agree they could be the second pair by Christmas.
- We have three quality goalie prospects in our system (counting Weaver)...time to show some faith in two of them.
...now off to research how the prospects did this past season...
-Wapitikev
Last edited by Wapitikev; 03-28-2014 at 01:03 AM.
Head Coach
Nicolas Jensen played in Sweden as a 19 year old after 2 season in the ohl. It helped him. That might be a similar situation for draisatl.
4th Liner
Leon is too big, too strong, too good to return. Nashville, Florida, Buffalo, or God forbid Edmonton, will use his services next year. Or at least Europe if that's allowed. The team was built to win this year and take advantage of Draisaitl and Morrissey. Pretty lofty expectations to think we'll replace 7-10 players from this past roster and not miss a beat and get better. There was tons of different types of talented players on this squad. Expect to see all who move on or get traded to have career years next year. Question is who? And why?
Super Moderator
I think personally that Leon is gone. Last year only the 3rd overall pick didn't play in the NHL from picks 1-6. But the year before only 1st and 3rd overall played in the NHL. As for Morrissey it sounded to me like he said his goodbyes after last game
All-Star
He was saying goodbye to guys he won't see again...none of the 20yos and 4 of the 19yos won't be back and Leon might make the NHL...that's 25% of the team.
That doesn't mean Josh won't be back.
Truba is already there ahead of him and their AHL team has a number of quality Defence prospects ahead of Josh on the depth chart, 4 (half of their AHL roster) played at least 1 game for the big club this season (Postma played 4 of the last 5 of the season, 13 all-together). All those prospects are taller and heavier than Josh, so he'll need to add about 15 lbs of muscle to compete with the bigger forwards he will face at any higher level (which he certainly can do over the summer). Unless Winnipeg sells off a bunch of current D-men and prospects (or trades Josh's rights), we'll see him back here for one more season.
Sure, Leon is tall, strong and a good passer compared to WHL defensemen, but:
- his skating is not good enough for the NHL...the last 2 seasons he looks like he's dragging a piano in the second half...he has no explosive, breakout speed...yet.
- he may be strong enough to stay on the puck while being harassed by most WHL defensemen, but they are small and un-aggressive compared to the average NHLer. While this may be an argument for him NOT staying (he'll only get that experience at a higher level) a slower forward who is not used to being crushed at the blue line and against the boards by bigger defensemen is not going to properly develop in the NHL as a 19yo...more likely he'll get hurt.
- his shooting is still a work in progress...he has a ton of talent but is still working on his accuracy during split-second game-conditions.
...Leon should get a 10-game look by whoever drafts him but only a truly desperate team would risk rushing/ruining his development in those key areas by keeping him for the entire season. Sure there are some of those out there, but the odds of Leon not making the NHL this fall are better than making it, IMO.
-Wapitikev
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote