will we miss Keith Aulie now, and for years to come?
i know we drafted a few Defensemen and we have several prospects already. with the exception of Holzer who do we have in the system that can take the place of Aulie?
did anyone see something special in Carter Ashton? is he good enough to make us forget Aulie?
i thought KA looked good with Dion. we really didn't see him out of camp last season. i wonder if given the chance he could have played better (like schenn) in a Carlyle system.
i know we drafted a few Defensemen and we have several prospects already. with the exception of Holzer who do we have in the system that can take the place of Aulie?
did anyone see something special in Carter Ashton? is he good enough to make us forget Aulie?
i thought KA looked good with Dion. we really didn't see him out of camp last season. i wonder if given the chance he could have played better (like schenn) in a Carlyle system.
what do you think?
ashton is young... his type takes time... but has the tools and skillset
a) I don't think we lost anything special in Aulie, even if Ashton hasn't impressed.
b) We didn't lose a really functional piece of the team in Schenn either.
c) Ashton is still an asset that can be moved for something else, so he's not the end of the asset chain.
d) We still have Holzer, Komisarek is still kicking around, Granberg is a defensive defenseman, and Tom Nilsson is a physical defenseman.
e) I'd rather have a blueline full of these smart mobile defensemen like Rielly, Gardiner, Percy, Finn than cavemen any day.
f) If worst case scenario happens and we get outmuscled back there, we can probably pick up a Matt Greene, Adam McQuaid, Douglas Murray type easily enough.
Wasn't a big fan of the deal at the time or after seeing Ashton in a Leafs uniform.
It could still work out for us but I really think the Leafs lost out on a future Hal Gill type but who actually has a meanstreak.
Before everybody criticizes Gill remember he went on to be a good shutdown dman which included being one of the leagues top penalty killers for quite a few years after leaving Toronto.
No, not really.... Aulie's a decent defenceman... but nothing really special. Ya it'd be nice to have a guy like him competing with Holzer for the #7 spot, but it's also nice to have a guy like Ashton competing for a 3rd line spot.
You can make the case that we'd need Aulie more than Ashton right now, but that can be corrected easily enough.
Don't forget we kept solid d-men in the pressbox and/or Komisarek regularly. We had too many on the roster, aside from Holzer/Percy/Blacker etc.. who can and may still contribute.
i know we drafted a few Defensemen and we have several prospects already. with the exception of Holzer who do we have in the system that can take the place of Aulie?
did anyone see something special in Carter Ashton? is he good enough to make us forget Aulie?
i thought KA looked good with Dion. we really didn't see him out of camp last season. i wonder if given the chance he could have played better (like schenn) in a Carlyle system.
I don't miss Aulie per se, but other than Dion, there is no other as nasty and ready to stand up and fight anyone to back up his teammates. Thats something that was missing down the stretch, and seemed like a contributing factor in during the collapse. I don't know Holzer well, does he stand up for his teammates well in scums and such?
While Aulie himself won't be missed, his great attitude on the ice will be surely missed, at least until others step up in that regard. (I'm basically talking about Franson here, this guy is a kitten)
I seen Aulie play with Norfolk in the AHL playoffs quite a bit, and I thought he had regressed. Wasn't as imposing physically as I expected, and made a few fumbles. He was on a great team too, but he seemed a bit off to me.
