Pats Off Season - draft, trades, moves etc?

[chopper]

Hey guys got any thoughts regarding our off season. I guess the bantam draft is next on the agenda. I was only able to see the top ten but we draft #13. Does anyone know of a more detailed list of prospects?

Coaches and management seem to be very displeased about the lack of compete shown by a number of players. I'm betting those guys will be toiling for another team next year. There may not be a lot of movement but I'm kinda thinking there may be quite a few. In light of the rather weak playoff performance. I still think poor goaltending was the catalyst that got everything off the rails and it snowballed from there.

Our top returning forwards appear to be Klimchuk, Gay and Hunt. Stephenson remains a possibility but I'm thinking a deal gets done. There is a perceived lack of depth at talented forwards, so some could be moved to strengthen up our younger talent pool and support pieces. The eye may have to be on the future.

Weigh in guys and have some fun with this. Thoughts - Ideas?

[patsdude114]

Nikolas Koberstein will be getting dropped from our 50PL & moved into the college list at the start of next season. To bad too as he has the size and skill that we could of used to move forward. PLus he is part of that '96 group. I was looking at some stats and I seen the [C] around his name in the stat sheet as a committed player so I dug abit deeper and found this...



http://www.ajhl.ca/media-centre/news...ml?newsID=3940

[chopper]

The 96's are getting thin. I don't see Mumby coming back. He was scratched a lot down the stretch and three games in the playoffs I think. Brooks point totals dropped this year to 11pts from 12pts in his rookie year. I don't think he's shown enough to return.

I often thought we should have made a play for Michael Holub 6'1" - 190 lbs. He was drafted in the 3rd round as a power forward. Ty Mappin had more points than Brooks in his rookie year (17pts) and has a lot of upside. He never fit in with Constantine this season. Both Lethbridge and Saskatoon respectively got these guys very cheap. Kammerer is a 96 but I again am not convinced he will be asked back. 0 pts, small, and not a ton of upside. IMO We can't afford an 18 year old project. I could be wrong but I don't see it.

Many years ago we brought Ron Flockhart in from a Jr A team in Revelstoke BC. I think we need to beat the bushes and leagues coast to coast to perhaps find some pieces to help us in that age bracket. 96's are the back bone to WHL teams this year.

[RWAH]

I have two comments for next year.
We have too many (95s). ten in total and two are tenders.
We have only 4 tenders on the PPL and MacAuley will not be back as a (94) so we have only three. Two 19s and a 16. Chapman was the fourth best tender in his midget league this season but IMO to have him as a backup and play 15 to 18 games will not help develope him as much as playing midget as a starter and getting 30 or 40 or 50 games.
So once again, a few tweet trades, the loss of some mid to late round draft picks and the merry-go-round just keeps on spinning.

[chopper]

So once again, a few tweet trades, the loss of some mid to late round draft picks and the merry-go-round just keeps on spinning.

There are no truer words spoken and it's prophetic about the merry-go-round. We have tried so many ways to turn this ship around except the way the other winning franchises do. I have often wondered why we wouldn't use non returning assets to assemble as much 17 year old talent, and younger prospects as we possibly can. We could then supplement them with some older guys, and 20 year olds. Let them develop through a season and then hit the ground running with an abundance of high end talent the following season. As that group moves through their 18 and 19 seasons, you would have something special. I hope some lessons were learned last season and something different emerges. The concept of limping out into the regular season, waiting a month and then start adding 5-7 players between then and the deadline doesn't work. It hasn't in the past and didn't last year. We need to start think outside the box for a change. Hopefully they do.

[patsdude114]

I have two comments for next year.
We have too many (95s). ten in total and two are tenders.
We have only 4 tenders on the PPL and MacAuley will not be back as a (94) so we have only three. Two 19s and a 16. Chapman was the fourth best tender in his midget league this season but IMO to have him as a backup and play 15 to 18 games will not help develope him as much as playing midget as a starter and getting 30 or 40 or 50 games.
So once again, a few tweet trades, the loss of some mid to late round draft picks and the merry-go-round just keeps on spinning.

Why even bother trading for a 17 or 18yr old goalie when we know Wapple will be here for 2 more years. Chapman will be the backup at age 17 and be ready to play as a 18yr old (hopefully). Fuhr is nothing more then a backup goalie anyways so why not just use him as a 19yr old backup & save ourselves a draft pick for a fill in backup until Chapman is more developed?

I fully agree Chapman needs to stay in midget next season and play as many minutes as possible. At 16yrs old there is no need to have him on the roster as sitting on the bench will do him no good.

Krammerer better not return next season yes they drafted him as a project but that project failed terribly. If he would of put up 15-20pts then by all means bring him back to see if he could build on that.

[chopper]

I have mixed feelings regarding the backup goalie, but no way should we be giving up picks to get one. We have used 16 year olds in the past successfully, in fact we were using Schneider before we traded him. It now looks like he will be carrying the load for Med hat next season. It can be done on a good defensive team. If Chapman is not kept I think Fuhr should be given a decent shot at backup. That is provided he wants that role as a 19 year old. Maybe a 17 or 18 year old emerges from somewhere.

IMO the following look like pieces that will or should be moved. I think some of them could be used to get draft picks or upgrade our 96 talent. That is kind of a laugh since three of them are 96's.

MacAuley - obvious
Christopher (doesn't have the toughness to fill Stevensons role barely 5'10")
Brooks - hasn't progressed, fewer points than his rookie year
Mumby - limited progression. A bit undersized. Not strong
Kammerer - project that failed. Should have used Cole or Kroeker in his spot

A lot has to do with Stephenson and Klimchuk. I think Klimchuk will be back but I'm not sure about Stephenson. I think he will get a contract but they still have to find a place for him in the AHL. If he were returned to junior I think it's a toss up if they would keep him or trade him for assets. He was very poor in the playoffs so you don't know.

[patsdude114]

I have mixed feelings regarding the backup goalie, but no way should we be giving up picks to get one. We have used 16 year olds in the past successfully, in fact we were using Schneider before we traded him. It now looks like he will be carrying the load for Med hat next season. It can be done on a good defensive team. If Chapman is not kept I think Fuhr should be given a decent shot at backup. That is provided he wants that role as a 19 year old. Maybe a 17 or 18 year old emerges from somewhere.

The thing with Schneider though is they had every intention of having him play midget this season but due to Sacher leaving the team and Engel not working out they were forced to bring him in from midget.

IMO the following look like pieces that will or should be moved. I think some of them could be used to get draft picks or upgrade our 96 talent. That is kind of a laugh since three of them are 96's.

MacAuley - obvious
Christopher (doesn't have the toughness to fill Stevensons role barely 5'10")
Brooks - hasn't progressed, fewer points than his rookie year
Mumby - limited progression. A bit undersized. Not strong
Kammerer - project that failed. Should have used Cole or Kroeker in his spot.

No one takes a chance on MacAuley in the WHL, he will be flat out released soon (if he hasn't been already). He is not worth a 20yr old goalie spot on any team in this league, he will be back into his comfort zone in Jr. A where he will prob excel & be 1 of the best goalies in the SJHL (again). I doubt any team would even consider giving a 10th rd pick for him.

Brooks you may be able to get a 3rd or 4th for him at most but again he hasn't really progressed much and is very small, most small guys in this league have skill that separate them that make them become an asset to a team.

Mumby be lucky to get a 5th or 6th round pick for, very weak skater only play he excelled in was pinning a guy along the boards. Hes a very smart kid and has some good hockey sense just his skating really hurts him.

Krammerer I do believe/hope will be flat out released back into the euro draft. I doubt any team has any interest in him as he showed no offensive flare at all this year and his 3pts shows it.

Christoffer I do believe has alittle trade value to some team but I do think he will be with us at training camp to battle it out and maybe see if he can find his offensive game right away. He does have some skill and competes to his fullest every shift. He is a lesser version of Stevenson.
Stevenson scored
16goals as a 19yr old
15goals as a 18yr old

Christoffer scored
13goals as a 19yr old
11goals as a 18yr old
Now by no means would I think that Christoffer would put up 30goals as a 20yr old but in all honesty did anyone truly think Dyson would score 38times this past season? I highly doubt it. If Christoffer could score 20-25 that would be a good 20yr for most teams.

A lot has to do with Stephenson and Klimchuk. I think Klimchuk will be back but I'm not sure about Stephenson. I think he will get a contract but they still have to find a place for him in the AHL. If he were returned to junior I think it's a toss up if they would keep him or trade him for assets. He was very poor in the playoffs so you don't know.

I fully expect Klimchuk to be back as a 19yr old as well, the Flames will be picking in the top 3 (no less then 4th depending on who wins the draft lottery) whoever they select will leap Klimchuk on the depth chart unless its a defenseman they draft but defense wasn't the Flames problem this past season it was scoring goals. At 1 point this year they had 4goals in a span of 9 games.

As for Stephenson if/once he gets that contract from WSH he will not be back, this is the same team that kept Mitchell up as a 20yr old and by no means was his offensive game ready for pro hockey. The NHL has an agreement with the ECHL to fill in their rosters as well and guess what that becomes the CHL's quality 20yr olds, more then 1/2 the time the NHL don't care if its the best for that player or not they could careless if they ruin a player who will never see a NHL game. As long as they fill there commitments of getting players for the ECHL that's all that they care about.

[Some_Arrogant_Jerk]

Someone told me once that you cant spell scrappy without crappy. We could learn from that.

I think that even if put band aids on this spot and that spot, the constant is that we desperately need toughness AND size. No more mitchells or stevensons being the final fix. Unless we find the second coming of Rypien(RIP), we need(not just want) a large power forward or even just an enforcer that intimidates the other team. Especially if we don't want Steel to be the next victim of another team playing overly confident in a break from difficult matchups.

When we had Myles Stoesz, this team had a swagger that I havnt seen since. Those guys are good for team morale and confidence even if they don't QB the PP. Yeah I know its a league for wimps now where pathetic things like players get suspended for bullying happen, but if we have an honest to god physical threat on the team, not only will other teams dial it back but our players will be more confident knowing someone like that has their backs.

It worked for Brandon when they had that douchebag Ferland pile driving Weal, and it works for Medicine Hat now. You think their 5'8 runts would be fore checking like that if they didn't have Doty on the bench or big dmen like lewington? And do you think punks like hawryuk would make liberal headshots if they had to actually be accountable from those guys instead of a time out for a few minutes or couple games? He would curl up in the fetal position and probably quit hockey Pilton-style to throw lead rocks for some poopbutt Manitoba rink.

And its why Edmonton will go to the final pretty much untouched. Moroz is a player I want, but probably wont get. Even the soft Broncos have Lernout now that Nedomel isnt there now.

What I would like to see is a 20 year old picked up, and the three others likely in the running to fight for another spot. A new defenceman too to fill in for the Russian, and then I want to see them make a pitch for an established big penalty minute leader.

Better yet, I want them to travel back in time and get Teubert back. This team misses that presence.

[RWAH]

To trade you need another team wanting what you are offering so I don't see any trade for Kammerer, Mumby or Brooks unless we are talking about and to Lethbridge.
SAJ I fully agree every team needs toughness, enough to keep the other teams honest and enough to give your team swagger. Along those lines we listed a Robbie Fulton, 6' 5'' and 235 lbs and a 100 pim in Midget (big and an attitude) I thought we were moving that way, but he was dropped from our PPL???
On size both Smith and Schoiler are 6'2'' or more but again young, they will be impact player in a year or two