What are your thoughts on JT moving to RW and Josh Bailey centering??? Everyone complains how JT has no wingers and I dont want to give up on Bailey without trying something new. We have Ryan Strome in the minors and it wont hurt to give it a shot. Its not like were exactly lighting up the lamp and competing for the Presidents Trophy with the lines we have.
Thoughts??
It's been a while since someone suggested moving JT to the wing. A legit 1st line center in the NHL is probably the most premium commodity around. We are lucky to have one and you want to move him to the wing in order to put Bailey there who seriously couldn't hold JT's jock?
JT is a true center and will probably play that position his entire career. The only time I could see him playing wing is in the All Star game or international tourneys. Even in the WC's with all that talent, they keep him at center so that should tell you something.
What are your thoughts on JT moving to RW and Josh Bailey centering??? Everyone complains how JT has no wingers and I dont want to give up on Bailey without trying something new. We have Ryan Strome in the minors and it wont hurt to give it a shot. Its not like were exactly lighting up the lamp and competing for the Presidents Trophy with the lines we have.
Thoughts??
Terrible idea. Tavares is an unquestionable 1st line center. Josh Bailey is a questionable third line center. If anyone gets shifted its Bailey.
Toronto isn't competing for the Presiden't trophy either, are they considering moving Kessel to center or splitting up him and Lupul on anything but odd ball in game shifts?
It's been a while since someone suggested moving JT to the wing. A legit 1st line center in the NHL is probably the most premium commodity around. We are lucky to have one and you want to move him to the wing in order to put Bailey there who seriously couldn't hold JT's jock?
JT is a true center and will probably play that position his entire career. The only time I could see him playing wing is in the All Star game or international tourneys. Even in the WC's with all that talent, they keep him at center so that should tell you something.
I just want to see something with Bailey, he has no one good to play with and it would kill me if we give up on him without exhausting some creative ideas. Maybe he is rushed to early, maybe he really is a bust but I figure since we have him this year and next lets try something before Strome comes along.
Like I said on my checking line blog I want Capauno to get more creative for just one game.
I just want to see something with Bailey, he has no one good to play with and it would kill me if we give up on him without exhausting some creative ideas. Maybe he is rushed to early, maybe he really is a bust but I figure since we have him this year and next lets try something before Strome comes along.
Like I said on my checking line blog I want Capauno to get more creative for just one game.
If you want to get creative, it's not by moving Tavares to wing. He's our most productive player. He looks dangerous every game. Strome could end up as our second line center, but he might end up as a playmaking wing with a world of talent. It's not worth trying to figure out how to fit Bailey or him in at this time. Strome will fit himself in later. Bailey is more useful than many people think.
We don't have the center depth to move Bailey off of wing. Unless we're adding a legitimate center with size, I wouldn't bother.
Rolston-Nielsen-Parenteau is now our worst line. If you want the coach to get creative, have him convince the GM that we need a better mix of more talented players so he can put together 4 legitimate lines. Have him convince the GM that we need more size on defense. Have the coach convince himself that his lines for the first 30+ games were ****** at 5-on-5 hockey. Finally, have the coach realize that Rolston-Nielsen-Parenteau isn't a line capable of being a checking line.
As of this exact moment, a trade is the best route for improving this team. Anything short of that is juggling with too many bad balls. Previously, we were using our feet to juggle. Now, we're using our hands, but we're still touching those bad balls too much. We need to stop playing with our old balls and get a few shiny new ones. Quality balls, not balls that some other GM no longer wishes to play with. Otherwise, we'll just be waiting on lottery balls to get us fresh new talented balls that have potential but not much hair on them.
Bailey does not belong on line 1. There is no rationale for promoting him. Double shift Tavares on line 3 and move Bailey to wing? That's how winners do it. Nino is gonna be on line 2 before Bailey will, and Nino is horrible right now. I think Bailey will be on line 4 in no time given how much we screwed him up mentally to be honest, so don't put him on line 1.
Bailey does not belong on line 1. There is no rationale for promoting him. Double shift Tavares on line 3 and move Bailey to wing? That's how winners do it. Nino is gonna be on line 2 before Bailey will, and Nino is horrible right now. I think Bailey will be on line 4 in no time given how much we screwed him up mentally to be honest, so don't put him on line 1.
Bailey does not belong on line 1. There is no rationale for promoting him. Double shift Tavares on line 3 and move Bailey to wing? That's how winners do it. Nino is gonna be on line 2 before Bailey will, and Nino is horrible right now. I think Bailey will be on line 4 in no time given how much we screwed him up mentally to be honest, so don't put him on line 1.
Just my take.
Bailey was doubleshifting when Reasoner got hurt the last game, but I agree that he's not a first line player and shouldn't play there.
I'm not worried about Bailey, he's playing pretty good hockey since Comeau left.
It's the utter lack of talent on this team that is debilitating.
Nino, Pandolfo, Reasoner, Wallace, Comeau, Haley
111 games - TWO GOALS
Rolston has 4 goals playing some pretty big minutes and the PP.
Nielsen's been terrible, Grabner has been terrible, whomever DOESN'T play with Tavares can't score.
Truth is, Bailey would play GREAT with Tavares - but that doesn't help the team at all...since anyone you move OFF that line can't do anything on any other line.
Seriously, Nielson's been terrible but Bailey has been OK? I watch Bailey on TV and his shot selection, passing and puck carrying are horrid. His defense, thank God, is good most nights, but past the red line, he's been about where Eric Cairns would be if he played center. Seeing him LIVE a few nights ago......ugh, the kid needs an Okposo benching.
Meanwhile, Nielson is solid in three zones and is still scoring.
Trust me, I WANT Bailey to thrive, but I'm not gonna sweep the problem under the rug or make proclamations to bolster my view.
Bailey is anything but OK out there. His offensive game has been putrid and I worry his psyche is shot. He needs time off.
Thankfully Snow has players to step in for him.....err.....*$&%!
I wholeheartedly agree with you on the rest. Snow's UFA/trades this summer have been pathetic. And IMHO they hurt the current squad moreso than any other factor.
Seriously, Nielson's been terrible but Bailey has been OK? I watch Bailey on TV and his shot selection, passing and puck carrying are horrid. His defense, thank God, is good most nights, but past the red line, he's been about where Eric Cairns would be if he played center. Seeing him LIVE a few nights ago......ugh, the kid needs an Okposo benching.
Meanwhile, Nielson is solid in three zones and is still scoring.
Trust me, I WANT Bailey to thrive, but I'm not gonna sweep the problem under the rug or make proclamations to bolster my view.
Bailey is anything but OK out there. His offensive game has been putrid and I worry his psyche is shot. He needs time off.
Thankfully Snow has players to step in for him.....err.....*$&%!
I wholeheartedly agree with you on the rest. Snow's UFA/trades this summer have been pathetic. And IMHO they hurt the current squad moreso than any other factor.
Nielsen has been terrible. He and Grabs were supposed to give us a second line. grabs was supposed to score 40-50 goals. Nielsen and Grabs were supposed to have 20 shorthanded goals. They have ONE. Grabs is a -14, Nielsen plays PP, PK and hasn't exactly elevated his play as we hoped/expected. Nielsen's a guy who'll ask for/expect $3Mill per year next year?
They have both been a HUGE disappointment and the biggest reason why the team has underachieved this year.
Bailey plays half the minutes, with far worse linemates and has half the points. I think Bailey's a better offensive player than Nielsen and can hold his own defensively. I see Bailey as a guy who will get better but Nielsen likely will not.
I don't mean to dump on Nielsen because I like him as a player. But he's a 3rd line player at best. In that role, he's undersized, but he's fine. He's passable. He's maybe a $2M player, tops.
But as a 2nd line centre where you need scoring - huge disappointment, mis-cast. This isn't Nielsen's fault, it's the NYI fault for not seeing it and addressing it.
I think Bailey's a good hockey player. I see a smart player who's good in all zones, still makes mistakes, still makes poor decisions with the puck, but he's not someone I'd give up on. He DEFINITELY shows the scars of a player who's had no NHL success, no support, hasn't developed in his role or position or become the type of player he or the team envisioned when he was put on the team at 18. Not sure if those scars will heal. My hunch tells me he'll flourish in another organization one day. Like Dan Cleary.
As of this exact moment, a trade is the best route for improving this team. Anything short of that is juggling with too many bad balls. Previously, we were using our feet to juggle. Now, we're using our hands, but we're still touching those bad balls too much. We need to stop playing with our old balls and get a few shiny new ones. Quality balls, not balls that some other GM no longer wishes to play with. Otherwise, we'll just be waiting on lottery balls to get us fresh new talented balls that have potential but not much hair on them.
Now, we're using our hands, but we're still touching those bad balls too much. We need to stop playing with our old balls and get a few shiny new ones. Quality balls, not balls that some other GM no longer wishes to play with. Otherwise, we'll just be waiting on lottery balls to get us fresh new talented balls that have potential but not much hair on them.
,
Mitch
I think we all would agree that we need hairy balls, we have too many balls that can't grow hair yet or ones that are clean shaven and used up (see Reasoner, Staios and Rolston)
At least our lines look better than what they have been
Your lines here:
We can get a true check center via trade or free agency, but something tells me that second line power forward will be drafted by us (maybe already)
Is Anders Lee that? Could El Nino be that?
I think we all would agree that we need hairy balls, we have too many balls that can't grow hair yet or ones that are clean shaven and used up (see Reasoner, Staios and Rolston)
At least our lines look better than what they have been
Your lines here:
We can get a true check center via trade or free agency, but something tells me that second line power forward will be drafted by us (maybe already)
Is Anders Lee that? Could El Nino be that?
I didn't even mention the graying hair on a couple of our balls, good point!
There's also Kabanov and Petrov. I'm glad that we have multiple opportunities for one of these guys to pan out. Quite frankly, I'm hoping that it's Kabanov who puts it all together. I'm excited about the fact that we have both size and skill on the horizon at forward.
Some mix of all of our prospects are going to pan out to make this team much better eventually. I'm just hoping we can accelerate the slow, slow rebuild and give some of these guys more time to develop with greater help once they get here.
We have a lot of intriguing prospects. As long as we don't **** up all of their rides here, we'll eventually have a much more complete team. I'm kind of sick of waiting at this point.
If we're only allowed minimal additions, which seems most likely, I'd focus on the below. I'd try to add Jarret Stoll as our checker. We'll try to retain Nielsen at a decent, but not outrageous salary increase. Move Nielsen to the wing and try a full year of Martin with Grabner and Bailey. We'd compete a bit better against more sizable lineups with this:
Moulson-JT-KO
Grabner-Bailey-Martin
Ullstrom-Stoll-Nielsen
Wallace-Reasoner-Haley (We could easily upgrade here. I'm just not choosing to focus on it.)
We've got a ton of expiring contracts on defense, so that will probably be our focus by default. I've been wasting a ton of time today, so please search my barrage of recent posts to find my ideas on the defense.
Our guys don't suck. This is the way I see it. Reasoner had a great year last year for him, so did Grabs..Nielsen etc etc.. This CAN'T be happening to so many players at the same time..it's something else. I guarantee you that if we traded any of these guys, they'd be doing much better on another team. This is the failure of the coach, plain and simple. I don't think Cappy knows how to teach consistency and how to bring a persons game up to the next level. Tavares is a natural talent and can do that himself, but that is a gift and that is why he was chosen number 1. You cannot compare...Okposo had his horrible slump...but that is only one player that...because Cappy benched him..he came to himself again.. Cappy needs to do this to the rest of the team..not just one individual. Rolston has looked better the past 2 games and had a lot of chances..close calls too.. I see him scoring at least a goal in the next 2-3 games if this keeps up..they gotta go in at some point..just like with JT
,
