Quote:
Originally Posted by Sore Loser
In all likelihood, Rattie won't make the Blues next year. Looking at your lineup, you have no reason to bring him up at this point, as he's a player that has to play in an offensive role to be successful. So, unless he cracks your top-4 wingers next year, he'll be back in Portland for what should be a dominating year. My assumption is that he and Brenden Leipsic will combine for a solid duo, but the team is definitely heading for rebuild mode, which might mean a trade in Rattie's future.
The team will be losing Sven Bartschi, Brad Ross, Oliver Gabriel, Marcel Noebels, and Cam Reid up front. On defense, they're losing captain William Wrenn, draft picks Troy Rutkowski, Joe Morrow, and goaltender Mac Carruth. For those keeping score, that's two thirds of the top line, the entire second line, their top-three defensemen, and their starting goaltender.
The best thing for Rattie to do next year is to simply continue to improve while playing his game. My guess is that the league will see a pretty substantial drop in scoring next year (I could be wrong, of course), and that Rattie's point total will probably sag a little bit with the loss of linemate Bartschi. If that's the case, the important thing will be whether or not he continues to improve as an overall player.
I'll do my best to drop in with periodic updates for you guys, though my schedule will be very tight with the glut of top prospects coming out of the WHL next year. If anyone has any questions/comments for me, feel free to shoot me a PM, and I'll gladly respond or post on the board.
Cheers 
PS - congrats on the building season and the playoff run. Hopefully the Jackets will provide some competition at some point in the distant future. |
Thanks for the insight, sir... and we will definitely be asking questions about Rattie's development.