But the point is a good one, Canada needs role players more than they need skill players.
Agreed with Corey Perry.
As far as defensive versatility, neither Kane nor Perry really excel in that area, and both have started killing penalties for the first time in their NHL career this season. However, Perry does bring a bit more snarl in his game than Kane.
Kane's been very impressive this season. He's top 10 in the league in scoring and is quickly on his way to becoming one of the superstars in the league.
McDonagh is much closer to Brad Stuart than he is Jeff Beukeboom. He's mobile and likes to throw the body, but he's not necessarily a crease-clearer like Beuke was.
I'll be shocked if he turns into a 1st pairing guy at this point. He was projected to be one when he was drafted, but he never developed his offensive game the way scouts had hoped he would. Still, he has a good shot and can be an option on the 2nd PP unit and will most likely be a 2nd pairing guy.
I mean, I dunno what to tell people who say "I've watched him and he looks like a 1st pairing guy." That's just ridiculous. I guess I attribute that to the fact we haven't had a true first pairing guy in the lineup in quite some time. Staal is getting closer, but he needs more seasoning.
I wouldn't be surprised to see Stepan spend another year at school. He's just not developed enough physically to step into the AHL, and he doesn't seem like the type to go play one year in the CHL.
that's really cool to hear i'm excited to get McD in our lineup, he sounds like a hard hitting dman that is what we need, i think the big question is how do we get rid of a large contract dman.
I'm excited to stepan to join the team, they say he is a year away, but maybe, if he is already ahead of the curve he may just surprise and open a lot of eyes i training camp in september
On defense we have an absolute logjam of ready players: Sangs, Heineken, Sauer, Potter and McD are thought to be ready by the Rangers to be at least 6-7 defensemen. That's 5 players, almost a full lineup. (The Rangers better get Heineken a spot on the team quick or else he'll never re-sign with them.)
At center, the Rangers already have 4 centers: Drury, Dubi, AA and Boyle, and now they will have Step be ready in about a year. Something will have to give. Either a trade or shifting of one player to the wing.
Back to thinking about defense: The Rangers will definitely need to pull a couple trades. Rosie has just two years left and will get a total of $8, which isn't horrible. Someone should want him for a playoff run as a 4-5 veteran defenseman.
Redden has too many years at too much money. Maybe if the Rangers threw in a prospect like Sauer, maybe both Sauer and Potter, someone would take him off our hands.
Then let Sangs, Heineken and McD battle it out for the final two spots on the roster. If for some reason, we can't get two of them to do their job for a dozen minutes a game, we can always acquire a veteran #6 defenseman real cheap.
It's a great problem to have (this stable of young d-men).
I'd love to save those chips for a good deal rather than to unload one of the albatrosses but I guess we'll have to see what Glenny-Boy does with them.
On defense we have an absolute logjam of ready players: Sangs, Heineken, Sauer, Potter and McD are thought to be ready by the Rangers to be at least 6-7 defensemen. That's 5 players, almost a full lineup. (The Rangers better get Heineken a spot on the team quick or else he'll never re-sign with them.)
At center, the Rangers already have 4 centers: Drury, Dubi, AA and Boyle, and now they will have Step be ready in about a year. Something will have to give. Either a trade or shifting of one player to the wing.
Back to thinking about defense: The Rangers will definitely need to pull a couple trades. Rosie has just two years left and will get a total of $8, which isn't horrible. Someone should want him for a playoff run as a 4-5 veteran defenseman.
Redden has too many years at too much money. Maybe if the Rangers threw in a prospect like Sauer, maybe both Sauer and Potter, someone would take him off our hands.
Then let Sangs, Heineken and McD battle it out for the final two spots on the roster. If for some reason, we can't get two of them to do their job for a dozen minutes a game, we can always acquire a veteran #6 defenseman real cheap.
Rozy is making $7 million combined in the final 2 years of his contract
On defense we have an absolute logjam of ready players: Sangs, Heineken, Sauer, Potter and McD are thought to be ready by the Rangers to be at least 6-7 defensemen. That's 5 players, almost a full lineup. (The Rangers better get Heineken a spot on the team quick or else he'll never re-sign with them.)
At center, the Rangers already have 4 centers: Drury, Dubi, AA and Boyle, and now they will have Step be ready in about a year. Something will have to give. Either a trade or shifting of one player to the wing.
Back to thinking about defense: The Rangers will definitely need to pull a couple trades. Rosie has just two years left and will get a total of $8, which isn't horrible. Someone should want him for a playoff run as a 4-5 veteran defenseman.
Redden has too many years at too much money. Maybe if the Rangers threw in a prospect like Sauer, maybe both Sauer and Potter, someone would take him off our hands.
Then let Sangs, Heineken and McD battle it out for the final two spots on the roster. If for some reason, we can't get two of them to do their job for a dozen minutes a game, we can always acquire a veteran #6 defenseman real cheap.
ready means ready to join the organization aka play at least a year in hartford. there is no way in **** that mcd is gonna be on the big club next season.
I'm very hesitant to say anyone playing in the NCAA is "ready" for the NHL. Stepan's performance in the WJC makes me a little more accepting of the idea that he's ready, but idk about McD. It's still not the same as playing juniors IMO.
On defense we have an absolute logjam of ready players: Sangs, Heineken, Sauer, Potter and McD are thought to be ready by the Rangers to be at least 6-7 defensemen. That's 5 players, almost a full lineup. (The Rangers better get Heineken a spot on the team quick or else he'll never re-sign with them.)
At center, the Rangers already have 4 centers: Drury, Dubi, AA and Boyle, and now they will have Step be ready in about a year. Something will have to give. Either a trade or shifting of one player to the wing.
Back to thinking about defense: The Rangers will definitely need to pull a couple trades. Rosie has just two years left and will get a total of $8, which isn't horrible. Someone should want him for a playoff run as a 4-5 veteran defenseman.
Redden has too many years at too much money. Maybe if the Rangers threw in a prospect like Sauer, maybe both Sauer and Potter, someone would take him off our hands.
Then let Sangs, Heineken and McD battle it out for the final two spots on the roster. If for some reason, we can't get two of them to do their job for a dozen minutes a game, we can always acquire a veteran #6 defenseman real cheap.
Potter is a career AHLer, and you get the sense that Sauer is not long for the organization... legitimate value, but I can see Slats just releasing him when his contract expires. Heikkinen is interesting. Unlike Pikkarainen or Denisov (Belarussian Olympian, btw), he seems to have a mind for the pro game. I'm interested in seeing what Valentenko has...
Anyhow, Sanguinetti, Valentenko, Sauer--those are the guys on the cusp... we have McDonagh and Kundratek in between, like 2 years away... then there's Gaulton, Klassen and Maggio, none of whom I thought were legit prospects, but they're having good CHL seasons. As far as guys like Dowzak and Potter, even Sauer, I think it'll be a case like Baranka or Liffiton.
Does anyone else think it's absolutely ludicrous that (according to the article) some people were worried that Stepan would leave Wisconsin mid-season to go join a Junior team.... Is that even possible????
I read that and was really scratching my head.... What type of leader would just quit his team mid-season and leave college mid semester????
Does anyone else think it's absolutely ludicrous that (according to the article) some people were worried that Stepan would leave Wisconsin mid-season to go join a Junior team.... Is that even possible????
I read that and was really scratching my head.... What type of leader would just quit his team mid-season and leave college mid semester????
None of that made any sense to me.
I agree makes no sence. Next year is another story.
I'm very hesitant to say anyone playing in the NCAA is "ready" for the NHL. Stepan's performance in the WJC makes me a little more accepting of the idea that he's ready, but idk about McD. It's still not the same as playing juniors IMO.
I think the CHL is pretty overrated. A player from the NCAA can very well be NHL ready, an advantage is for example that he plays against older competition on average than in juniors. The biggest concern could be the few games in the NCAA. Going from a ~40 game schedule to the 82+ game schedule is quite a difference.
In the end you never really know whether a prospect is ready or not anyway. There are enough examples in pretty much any league, where you thought a prospect was ready, and his game just couldn't translate to the NHL.
I think the CHL is pretty overrated. A player from the NCAA can very well be NHL ready, in fact he plays against older competition on average. The only concern could be the few games in the NCAA. Going from a ~40 game schedule to the 82+ game schedule is quite a difference.
Just because the competition is older doesn't mean it's better.
The learning curve from the NCAA to the NHL is just bigger IMO. You rarely see a guy come straight out of the NCAA to the NHL and have an amazing rookie year without a good amount of growing pains.
Does anyone else think it's absolutely ludicrous that (according to the article) some people were worried that Stepan would leave Wisconsin mid-season to go join a Junior team.... Is that even possible????
I read that and was really scratching my head.... What type of leader would just quit his team mid-season and leave college mid semester????
None of that made any sense to me.
Agreed, and I had never heard of these rumors before this article. What junior team drafted Stepan?
Which team has the cap space, and the need for a 5M dollar second-pairing dman?
I'm sure there are a handful of teams out there that would be willing to absorb the $5mil cap number and then $4.1 and $3 mil for the last two years respectively. A frontloaded contract like this is actually the perfect contract for a team near the cap floor like Phoenix, Nashville, or Post-Kovalchuk Atlanta to absorb because they get the extra cap hit without paying the entire cap hit or more per year.
There are also teams like St. Louis, Tampa Bay, or Columbus that have the cap space to take Roszival if the return to the Rangers is right (or minimal) for them.
McDonagh is much closer to Brad Stuart than he is Jeff Beukeboom. He's mobile and likes to throw the body, but he's not necessarily a crease-clearer like Beuke was.
I'll be shocked if he turns into a 1st pairing guy at this point. He was projected to be one when he was drafted, but he never developed his offensive game the way scouts had hoped he would.
Whenever I see the debate about 1st pairing defensemen on hfboards it seems to be discussed that playing a 2-way game and having offensive ability is a mandate for becoming a first pairing defenseman.... I never understood that.... What if the guy develops into a top notch defensive defenseman who moves the puck well through the defensive & neutral zone but just doesn't have the knack for the game in the offensive zone?
I would take two defensive-minded shut down defenseman on my first pairing any day if they were good at their jobs.... I can recall countless times where we played Ottawa and our announcers would (at times) label Phillips and Volchenkov (sp?) as one of the best shut-down defensive pairings in the game and I don't think anyone could argue they weren't first pairing material.... Phillips routinely only puts up points in the late teens to 20's.... Volchenkov puts up points in the teens.....
While having a d-man play a 2-way game is ideal, I don't think having above average offensive ability should be the mandate for becoming a first pairing d-man.... Their job should be to play defense first, and if a player is exceptional at that, that's good enough for a first pairing role for me.... The fact that other teams have 1st pairing d-men who do put up exceptional offensive numbers, that's just icing on the cake IMHO.... Offense can make you a first pairing d-man (see Mike Green) but it isn't a mandate in my eyes. If you would never see anyone argue that an elite forward isn't a first line guy because he doesn't play defense, by that logic we shouldn't see people say a d-man can't be a 1st pairing d-man because he's not good at offense.
If Ryan McD can play a similar game to Staal (when he's on his game) in a few years, that would be a very nasty/effective defensive pairing if those 2 played together and had chemistry.
Perhaps McD could be paired with Staal and we could have a legit shut down D-pairing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wolfgaze
Whenever I see the debate about 1st pairing defensemen on hfboards it seems to be discussed that playing a 2-way game and having offensive ability is a mandate for becoming a first pairing defenseman.... I never understood that.... What if the guy develops into a top notch defensive defenseman who moves the puck well through the defensive & neutral zone but just doesn't have the knack for the game in the offensive zone?
I would take two defensive-minded shut down defenseman on my first pairing any day if they were good at their jobs.... I can recall countless times where we played Ottawa and our announcers would (at times) label Phillips and Volchenkov (sp?) as one of the best shut-down defensive pairings in the game and I don't think anyone could argue they weren't first pairing material.... Phillips routinely only puts up points in the late teens to 20's.... Volchenkov puts up points in the teens.....
While having a d-man play a 2-way game is ideal, I don't think having above average offensive ability should be the mandate for becoming a first pairing d-man.... Their job should be to play defense first, and if a player is exceptional at that, that's good enough for a first pairing role for me.... The fact that other teams have 1st pairing d-men who do put up exceptional offensive numbers, that's just icing on the cake IMHO.... Offense can make you a first pairing d-man (see Mike Green) but it isn't a mandate in my eyes. If you would never see anyone argue that an elite forward isn't a first line guy because he doesn't play defense, by that logic we shouldn't see people say a d-man can't be a 1st pairing d-man because he's not good at offense.
If Ryan McD can play a similar game to Staal (when he's on his game) in a few years, that would be a very nasty/effective defensive pairing if those 2 played together and had chemistry.
I agree 100%.
Staal-McD, if they both progress as we hope, would be a sweet #1 D pairing. They're both capable of moving the puck up, and play a tough physical game in their own zone. Sounds awesome to me.
