I'll probably get ripped for this, but I was hoping for even more from JT in Switzerland, I was hoping for more domination. Seguin is tearing it up in the same league. 28 points in 17 games.
I see Nino being more of a Shanahan-lite than an Okposo type. Nino's shot is legit and he runs over people. He doesn't drop the gloves really but today's game is different compared to hockey as early as ten years ago.
I see Nino being more of a Shanahan-lite than an Okposo type. Nino's shot is legit and he runs over people. He doesn't drop the gloves really but today's game is different compared to hockey as early as ten years ago.
I'll probably get ripped for this, but I was hoping for even more from JT in Switzerland, I was hoping for more domination. Seguin is tearing it up in the same league. 28 points in 17 games.
I see your point but I wouldn't worry about it whatsoever. tavares is on another level, he's having fun and staying in shape. I don't think he cares about goals and assists ay all.
I've seen 2-3 games, he looks great out there, even quicker than last year.
Datsyuk doesn't have the best stats but I've seen a couple of goals he's scored in the KHL, simply wow.
I see your point but I wouldn't worry about it whatsoever. tavares is on another level, he's having fun and staying in shape. I don't think he cares about goals and assists ay all.
I've seen 2-3 games, he looks great out there, even quicker than last year.
Datsyuk doesn't have the best stats but I've seen a couple of goals he's scored in the KHL, simply wow.
I'm glad to hear it, Tavares is my favorite player, and I want to see him keep progressing at the rate he has been the last few years.
I'm glad to hear it, Tavares is my favorite player, and I want to see him keep progressing at the rate he has been the last few years.
he has become my favorite player too. admittedly, I was nervous when he was drafted because most fans had very unrealistic expectations of him, and the team was beyond horrible, and he really needed time.
he's completely transformed his game since then and he is an elite player now. a lock for team canada and the olympics (if they go).
besides crosby, there is no other player I'd trade tavares for right now.
rare combination of untapped potential, leadership, work ethic & dedication, accountability and desire to win.
this guy continues to improve himself and switzerland is no exception. if there is an nhl season, I believe he will be much improved over last year.
he has become my favorite player too. admittedly, I was nervous when he was drafted because most fans had very unrealistic expectations of him, and the team was beyond horrible, and he really needed time.
he's completely transformed his game since then and he is an elite player now. a lock for team canada and the olympics (if they go).
besides crosby, there is no other player I'd trade tavares for right now.
rare combination of untapped potential, leadership, work ethic & dedication, accountability and desire to win.
this guy continues to improve himself and switzerland is no exception. if there is an nhl season, I believe he will be much improved over last year.
While there are obviously better players in this league than Tavares, I doubt I'd trade him for any of them. Crosby would be the only exception, but the injuries would eliminate that possibility. Either way, even if we could get Malkin for JT I would have to pass. Something about drafting and developing your own superstars just brings a lot more pride than signing or trading for them. I'd love to see JT spend his entire career here, and eventually see #91 get brought up to the rafters(knock on wood) in Brooklyn. Hopefully beside a few more Stanley Cup banners.
anyone think aquino gets a look at from an ahl team at the end of this year? guy is playing very well in czech league. I remeber when he was tearing up junior.
he has become my favorite player too. admittedly, I was nervous when he was drafted because most fans had very unrealistic expectations of him, and the team was beyond horrible, and he really needed time.
he's completely transformed his game since then and he is an elite player now. a lock for team canada and the olympics (if they go).
besides crosby, there is no other player I'd trade tavares for right now.
rare combination of untapped potential, leadership, work ethic & dedication, accountability and desire to win.
this guy continues to improve himself and switzerland is no exception. if there is an nhl season, I believe he will be much improved over last year.
Ugh, once again I will state about this trading JT thing in realistic terms. People said this a couple years ago, but I would NOT trade JT for Crosby because of his injury concerns but would pull the trigger on Malkin in a heartbeat. The guy just dominates the game and is absolutely elite. Yes, JT is awesome and so glad to have the guy but I would trade for Malkin in an instant. Fortunately JT's contract is great compared to Malkins.
anyone think aquino gets a look at from an ahl team at the end of this year? guy is playing very well in czech league. I remeber when he was tearing up junior.
Aquino? Czech league?
The former 5'10" 7th rounder Luciano Aquino is currently leading the EBEL (fun league with teams primarily from Austria, but also the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Croatia and Hungary) with 9-26-35 in 23 games. The scorer producing at the highest clip is Detroit prospect Jan Mursak with 31 points in 17 games.
All-in-all, the league itself is primarily at an ECHL level. Players such as Tony Romano and Justin Dibenedetto are playing pivotal scoring roles for their respective teams.
In short, I'd have to say that you're never really going to see a player in his mid-late twenties go from a league like this to an NHL club unless he's already had an extensive prior period as a prospect (who i.e. may never have bloomed) or is perhaps a very young fella from a lesser-known area (Hungary, Austria, Croatia) who is already very prominent and has a certain skillset. Even those types come once in a blue moon.
I personally saw Aquino play for Ingolstadt in the German DEL last season and can say that I saw nothing indicating that he'd be worth looking at for an NHL job. He was middle of the road in a league that can largely be considered comparable to the AHL. Even an expansion team looking to catch lightning in a bottle would be able to choose from a good 150 some players in Europe in his shoes who'd have the same chances/abilities as he does.
What will be interesting, however, is to see the fallout from NHL players returning from Europe when the NHL starts up again. Surely some will be talking and the question "So, did you play with any guys who could seriously help out here?" will be asked many times. Chances are that a shot will be given to a handful of guys (likely between 24-30 years of age) based almost solely on these types of recommendations.
If I had to gander though, the Isles won't likely be one of those teams.
PS) Another topic, but I am now clearly of the opinion that Detroit UFA signing Damien Brunner IS as NHL-capable as any non-drafted Europlayer has been in the past 10 years. The only other Euro-signing I believe could have a similar impact when things get up and running is perhaps the KHL-tested Roman Cervenka, although Brunner still tops the list as far as I'm concerned.
Good morning and Happy Thanksgiving to all. Arrived here in St. Catherines, Ontario last night.
As a teacher who lives alone, better to work than to be in an empty house. The timing of this trip
is perfect since Niagara is playing Belleville Friday and Sudbury Saturday so a chance to
see Strome, Theoret and Graham in person. I'll do my best to fill you in after the games
and it should be a great time with a chance to see live junior hockey. Enjoy the holiday with your
family and friends.
Good morning and Happy Thanksgiving to all. Arrived here in St. Catherines, Ontario last night.
As a teacher who lives alone, better to work than to be in an empty house. The timing of this trip
is perfect since Niagara is playing Belleville Friday and Sudbury Saturday so a chance to
see Strome, Theoret and Graham in person. I'll do my best to fill you in after the games
and it should be a great time with a chance to see live junior hockey. Enjoy the holiday with your
family and friends.
Rex (that is my real first name).
Happy Thanksgiving to you as well. That's awesome that you get a chance to see Strome live. Let me know how Hamilton looks as well if possible. Thanks and enjoy the holiday.
Happy Thanksgiving to you as well. That's awesome that you get a chance to see Strome live. Let me know how Hamilton looks as well if possible. Thanks and enjoy the holiday.
I used to be under the impression that Strome was drafted to become Tavares' RW, although last season I slowly started to realize that his game fits too perfectly as a center and that, IMO, switching him to the wing may not let us take full advantage of his potential.
This led me to think that, at some point, Brock Nelson would be either used as trade bait or groomed to be the 3rd line center. Now that Nelson's play and value has drastically skyrocketed to "blue-chip" status, I'm very curious to see how the Isles decide to handle the future of their 2nd line center spot.
At this point, I think Nelson's upside is way too big for him to be groomed as our 3rd line center of the future. I also think moving him to the wing makes even less sense than moving Strome there, mainly due to the size he brings from the center position, his ability in the face-off circle, and his 2-way play. IMO, it just wouldn't make sense.
I think this leaves 3 options:
A) trade Nelson
B) trade Strome
C) move Strome to JT's RW, groom Nelson to be the 2C
Personally, I just don't see Strome being traded barring someone ridiculous being put on the trade block, so that leaves options A and C.
I'm pretty confident that Nelson has a ton of value around the league, when you factor in his upside, the fact that he plays a premium position, the fact that he has pretty rare size for a guy who plays that position, and the fact that he is already pretty close to being NHL ready and should be a lock by the start of 2013-14. If the Islanders continue to fail at bringing in a veteran defenseman, even after the arena deal being confirmed, Nelson could surely go a long way in bringing back the kind of player we'd be looking for.
That said, the negatives of moving Nelson would be the amount of stock we'd be putting in guys like Nino, Strome and Bailey to become the players we expect them to become. With a top-6 of Tavares, Moulson, Strome, Okposo, Bailey and Niederreiter, that only really leaves us with Kabanov as a backup plan in case one of them fail. Not to mention Cizikas or Sundstrom as the backup plan options(outside of Nielsen, who's proven he isn't much of a 2nd line center) if Strome fails. Nelson at least provides some insurance in case one of these guys flop, which is very possible.
If we do keep him though, Strome would have to be moved to the wing. I just don't see any other way to make it work. I'm assuming Nino would be used on Nelson's wing since they've shown chemistry together at Bridgeport, while Bailey would slide down to the 3rd line with Nielsen and Grabner. It would be a very young lineup, but definitely one with a ton of potential. The only questionmark would be whether or not we could bring in the type of defenseman we need via the UFA market. If not, we would really only have our 1st rounder and a bunch of good, but not elite prospects to move for it. Can that get the type of player we'd need? Maybe. I just don't see any team trading us that kind of player without asking for one of the big name prospects.
I'm curious how everyone else feels this will play out. Obviously this is a "good" problem to have, but at the same time we need to be sure we make the right decision, whatever it may be. I can't be the only one that's thought about this.
What's the deal with Jason Clark? The Islanders sign him out of Wisconsin so he can get more playing time and he's only played two games this year? What am I missing?
Ugh, once again I will state about this trading JT thing in realistic terms. People said this a couple years ago, but I would NOT trade JT for Crosby because of his injury concerns but would pull the trigger on Malkin in a heartbeat. The guy just dominates the game and is absolutely elite. Yes, JT is awesome and so glad to have the guy but I would trade for Malkin in an instant. Fortunately JT's contract is great compared to Malkins.
I wouldn't trade JT & his age & contract for Malkin & his soon to be massive contract. plus he's already 26.
There's only 1 player you trade JT for & that's Steven Stamkos.
I wouldn't trade JT & his age & contract for Malkin & his soon to be massive contract. plus he's already 26.
There's only 1 player you trade JT for & that's Steven Stamkos.
...and even that's debatable in the sense that Tavares just has that x-factor that so few players do. He makes the players around him better, leads with his play, and wants to win more than anyone else. There are other players in the league who have some of those attributes, but not the physical skills to complete the package.
I wouldn't trade JT & his age & contract for Malkin & his soon to be massive contract. plus he's already 26.
There's only 1 player you trade JT for & that's Steven Stamkos.
Lol, now you are thinking like Charles Wang, yet he gets bashed for it. Obviously I included his salary concern but since this is a game of "what if" since no way is Tavares going anywhere...if a trade came along skill for skill, right now, Malkin is better than JT and that's all there is to it.
What's the deal with Jason Clark? The Islanders sign him out of Wisconsin so he can get more playing time and he's only played two games this year? What am I missing?
Your guess is as good as anyone's.
Again, that 2010 draft (after Kabanov) has been nothing short of completely inexplicable. I recently wrote that Clark looked good at the prospects camp in the summer, but he was then signed after just two (injury-plagued) NCAA seasons featuring 35 games and two assists and has only played one AHL game since. They don't even have him down in the ECHL playing games somewhere. He's doing nothing (well, prolly continued rehab for that hip problem).
I simply cannot understand what the heck is going on there.
And once again, there's likely much more to this story and nobody is mentioning a thing. There seems to be stuff like this every year in Islanderville.
One has to question the consistency behind signing policies that, for example, let a kid like Spurgeon walk, but sign a kid like Clark? It's surely hardly a financial issue.
