Do we re-sign him or no? If not for his last 10 or so games I would've easily said hell no but he's certainly making a case lately that he deserves a chance next year. The thought of signing Erik irks me a bit not because of his horrid performance through his first 15 or so games with us, but rather because signing him means that's one less roster spot for guys like Coyle, Zucker and Phillips to compete for next year. He truly is a shootout specialist but is that, along with his recent performance, reason enough to keep him?
i say we sign him, from what hes shown lately its seems he can be a solid contributor he just needs to be confident in his game and get normal playing time. low risk high reward type of deal so why not? if he doesn't produce trade him or give him away for future considerations
No question you re sign him..If for no other reason, than he'll get you an extra 6-8 points just in Shootouts alone. I know he doesn't want to be a 1 trick pony but dam he sure is good in the SO. But i also think he's got some talent. If he has a full year here i really think he can help. Very good move CF! Alot of people thought Slats got the best of GMCF when this trade was 1st made.. I say no way. Wellman will never play a regular shift in the NHL and EC has a nice upside and he's still fairly young.
I'd bet he gets a one year deal at or about what he makes now. It does seem like Yeo has had a positive effect on him since the "sit down".
BTW, he is now tied with Crosby and Kessel for the most GDG in the SO amongst current skaters and is 3rd in total goals at 29...that's a 55% overall success rate which is third highest for guys with more than 10 attempts.
We can sign EC for the 13th forward slot, but that means not signing anyone else for the 13th forward slot (I'm looking at you Veilleux fans). Honestly I'm not that worried about who we carry as an expected healthy scratch. At this point, I might prefer the 7th round pick though.
We can sign EC for the 13th forward slot, but that means not signing anyone else for the 13th forward slot (I'm looking at you Veilleux fans).
i think Squidz hit it - you can sign one of EC or SV. If you re-sign both of them and also Lats, you're left with two spots in the top 13 - one for FBJ and one for a kid or Kassian if they want him around for spot duty. Also, if you're looking at EC for the actual 13th spot - he's not going to do much in shootouts if he's sitting in the press box as the 13th guy.
Personally, I'd like to see at least one non-FBJ prospect make the top 12 when camp breaks.
Of course, in reality, Butch and Lats will probably last a month and we'll then be looking at the kids and Peters/Ortmeyer anyway...
*this guy likes Ortmeyer a lot better than the ginger
As for Christensen, I could go either way. I'd lean no, though. Not sure he's the type of player I want somewhere in the bottom six if this team is going to be competing for a playoff spot. I'd prefer someone who has a bit of grit and not completely disinterested in the defensive zone. Though, hard to discount the (basically) free points in shootouts...
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After Meaningless Win - 3/29/12 - Game 77 | SoH-"Who knows, that could have cost us a Cup tonight." | Dooohkay
I don't think I'm forgetting anyone (and this assumes we have exactly one [1] of Lats/Butch).
I don't think it's a good idea to look at either of Butch or Lats as someone we can pencil in from the start of next year. We need to look at them as potential midseason pickups imo.
And the difference between 4th line Christensen and 2nd line Christensen is night and day.
I don't think it's a good idea to look at either of Butch or Lats as someone we can pencil in from the start of next year. We need to look at them as potential midseason pickups imo.
And the difference between 4th line Christensen and 2nd line Christensen is night and day.
Here's the problem with Christensen. Assuming they keep one (or both) of Bouchard and Latendresse, EC will be moved down the lineup into a depth role, where he sucks, and then he'll "lose his confidence" and spend the next six weeks trying to find it.
He's the kind of guy you have to cater to in your lineup. I'm guessing that's why he never sticks around for more than a year with any team. I'm sure Torts wasn't going to be super patient trying to let a 15-20 goal scorer "find his game" on the top line with Gaborik.
Great guy for the kind of team that doesn't intend to go anywhere. He'll get you some wins for cheap and then you shuffle him out when he goes cold.
But to rely on him in the top six if you've got players that can give you more on a reliable basis...that's just foolish.
That 4th line is disgusting. Far better option for the bottom 6:
Bulmer-Brodziak-Clutterbuck
Johnson-Powe-Kassian
Here's a better way to look at things, if we consider Christensen a 13th forward and don't slot in Lats/Butch:
Seto-Koivu-Heatley
[Rookie or FA]-Cullen-Granlund
Bulmer/Larsson-Brodziak-Clutterbuck
Johnson-Powe-Kassian
Christensen
Essentially, that's taking our current lineup and adding in a 2nd line, shifting everyone else down.
The issue with that is that one of the selling points for keeping Christensen around is his shootout skills. You can't be in the shootout if you are the 13th forward and sitting in the J.S.M.P.B. Night after night, so I think if we sign him we have to slot him somewhere and slot him somewhere where he will be able to be productive. He does nothing as a 4th liner because he is not a grinder. He's top 6 or bust, in my opinion.
But you are right, your bottom 6 looks a lot better than mine.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jarick
Here's the problem with Christensen. Assuming they keep one (or both) of Bouchard and Latendresse, EC will be moved down the lineup into a depth role, where he sucks, and then he'll "lose his confidence" and spend the next six weeks trying to find it.
He's the kind of guy you have to cater to in your lineup. I'm guessing that's why he never sticks around for more than a year with any team. I'm sure Torts wasn't going to be super patient trying to let a 15-20 goal scorer "find his game" on the top line with Gaborik.
Great guy for the kind of team that doesn't intend to go anywhere. He'll get you some wins for cheap and then you shuffle him out when he goes cold.
But to rely on him in the top six if you've got players that can give you more on a reliable basis...that's just foolish.
So then I think we need to look at moving someone else down into the depth role if Christensen comes back and we later on get Butch or Lats back. Christensen can play center, so while it is not a very palatable option, the option is there to move Cullen down to third line. Might even be a wakeup call to Cullen that he needs to produce beyond November.
The issue with that is that one of the selling points for keeping Christensen around is his shootout skills. You can't be in the shootout if you are the 13th forward and sitting in the J.S.M.P.B. Night after night, so I think if we sign him we have to slot him somewhere and slot him somewhere where he will be able to be productive. He does nothing as a 4th liner because he is not a grinder. He's top 6 or bust, in my opinion.
But you are right, your bottom 6 looks a lot better than mine.
I think the issue is that we have different priorities in building a team. You're looking at Christensen and saying "how can we get the most out of him" while I'm looking at the available lineup pieces and saying "where can we get the most value, both for this year and going forward?" I'm also putting a lot more weight on a Lats/Butch return. Remember, even if Lats/Butch aren't available at the start of the season, one is likely to appear a month or two in. Then what do we do with your lineup? The logical move is to put Christensen in the press box. If we're already planning on him ending up there eventually, should we really be tailoring our lineup around him? In my setup, Christensen technically has the chance to compete against rookies for that last roster spot. I just assume he'll lose out.
I think we can all agree we don't want to sign EC before 7/1. If we manage to pick up a forward in free agency, EC is certainly squeezed out of the lineup. Given that we wouldn't sign him prior to 7/1, is it ensured he'll even be available?
Christensen sucks. Veilleux sucks. Ortmeyer sucks. Peters sucks. Powe sucks. Johnson was semi-good for the first 20 games, now he sucks.
None of these guys are top-9 material on a decent team, and none would be on the 4th line for a playoff team, except for maybe Powe. They are bodies, and that's it.
Christensen only saving grace is his shootout skills. He'll have 5-10 good games, and 10-30 invisible game. Not somebody to rely on in the top-6. During injuries next year, I rather give guys like Phillips or Coyle shots in the top-6 instead of Christensen.
You want to sign Christensen as "13th-man shoot-out specialist"? Well, that would first require Yeo to predict which games will be going to shoot-out, and then slot him into a roster spot, where he will be inferior to pretty much everybody or take away a chance from one of the prospects who are actually in the Wild's long-term plan.
Christensen sucks. Veilleux sucks. Ortmeyer sucks. Peters sucks. Powe sucks. Johnson was semi-good for the first 20 games, now he sucks.
None of these guys are top-9 material on a decent team, and none would be on the 4th line for a playoff team, except for maybe Powe. They are bodies, and that's it.
Christensen only saving grace is his shootout skills. He'll have 5-10 good games, and 10-30 invisible game. Not somebody to rely on in the top-6. During injuries next year, I rather give guys like Phillips or Coyle shots in the top-6 instead of Christensen.
You want to sign Christensen as "13th-man shoot-out specialist"? Well, that would first require Yeo to predict which games will be going to shoot-out, and then slot him into a roster spot, where he will be inferior to pretty much everybody or take away a chance from one of the prospects who are actually in the Wild's long-term plan.
Christensen is a depth forward. A literal 13th forward in the "swapping tough guy" sense. Kassian isn't going to play every game. Is there any reason to suit Kassian up when we're playing against Montreal? No, so you put EC in instead. It's not a "13th forward for shootout specialist" mentality, it's a "depth forward who you consider for situational use and emergency injury replacement."
But EC isn't a guy you can just plug into the lineup on the 4th line. You have to put him in the top six on a regular basis so he can get his confidence going and then wait six weeks to reap the rewards.
