I pray Lee does surprisingly well for us. To the point where he takes the number 6/7 spot. Depending if Gervais comes back. We all also know Clark has a high chance of not returning. And depending how Commodore does he might get resigned. Not sure what to do with MAB. Ohlund most likely is done or LTIR for awhile.
Hedman - Aulie
Brewer - Commodore
Mikkellson - Gervais
Lee
God if that is the defense we go into next season with I will shoot myself in the face.
Thankfully I think yzerman is a lot smarter than that.
has Aulie looked better than Lee? just wondering ... huge fan of Aulie
Hard to say...he doesn't get as much minutes as Lee. They're still looking at him as a work in progress and will probably see time in the AHL for the playoffs.
Compared to the rest of the defense Aulie hasn't been bad. That's not saying much, but I think his game has picked up a bit while Lee's play has regressed in their brief time here. Aulie will be better off in Norfolk, but for now I have no issue with him getting more NHL games under his belt to understand our system and the way we play.
Whilst he is soft, Mikkelson has been good for us. Bargain that we got him for Blair Jones! Aulie has been a bit ineffective so far. Seems nervous in our system but can lay out the odd explosive hit which is good to see.
Give him a play off run with Norfolk and a training camp in Tampa and he will excel next year.
The only trade I feel like we lost was the Downie trade... everything else I think was a win.
It only feels that way because we haven't done anything yet with the pick (trade / draft). Losing Downie still hurts a little but let's wait and see Yzerman has in mind with the pick.
It only feels that way because we haven't done anything yet with the pick (trade / draft). Losing Downie still hurts a little but let's wait and see Yzerman has in mind with the pick.
I know what you're saying, but a player like Downie isn't one you replace with a draft pick. He's a skilled player with a ton of grit and a great teammate. We probably got fair value for him as far as production, but we lose on the intangibles.
In defense of Aulie and to avoid the idea that I blindly hate the kid, I just see someone nervous trying really hard to fit in and playing shaky because of it, chasing forwards around the boards rather than backing off and making the forward work, etc. Lots of great tools, just a really raw player. I think the blueline also looking not-so-good in Toronto last year made him look pretty good.
In defense of Aulie and to avoid the idea that I blindly hate the kid, I just see someone nervous trying really hard to fit in and playing shaky because of it, chasing forwards around the boards rather than backing off and making the forward work, etc. Lots of great tools, just a really raw player. I think the blueline also looking not-so-good in Toronto last year made him look pretty good.
Aulie played big minutes and played really well last year in Toronto during the stretch where we were playing great hockey, so I wouldn't quite say that our poor blueline last year just made him good as everyone started playing well towards the end.
I think he's just a victim of the sophomore slump. Came off a great rookie season and you could definitely tell with his time in Toronto this season that he was always trying to do too much in both zones. He tried to pinch and contribute offensively, and that's just not his game. Once he learns his role he'll be a real good shutdown D man IMO.
