lot of fans say that up and coming talented forwards will make us better but is it really true?
As it stands Ribeiro, Ryder, Markov, Bouillon will be looking for raise next season, so all I see our prospect doing down the road is perezhogin replacing Zednik, and Plekanec replacing Koivu/Ribeiro, while Higgins is either third liner or second, but from their potentials I just don't see how we'll dramatically improve down the road with these guys, Ya I would be very optimistic if we had ovechkin but we don't have that, so in all I see things staying around same if we don't see dramatic trades coming!!
lot of fans say that up and coming talented forwards will make us better but is it really true?
As it stands Ribeiro, Ryder, Markov, Bouillon will be looking for raise next season, so all I see our prospect doing down the road is perezhogin replacing Zednik, and Plekanec replacing Koivu/Ribeiro, while Higgins is either third liner or second, but from their potentials I just don't see how we'll dramatically improve down the road with these guys, Ya I would be very optimistic if we had ovechkin but we don't have that, so in all I see things staying around same if we don't see dramatic trades coming!!
Well then, go cheer for the Isles and be happy to have Milbury as your GM. He is a guys who trades a lot.
lot of fans say that up and coming talented forwards will make us better but is it really true?
As it stands Ribeiro, Ryder, Markov, Bouillon will be looking for raise next season, so all I see our prospect doing down the road is perezhogin replacing Zednik, and Plekanec replacing Koivu/Ribeiro, while Higgins is either third liner or second, but from their potentials I just don't see how we'll dramatically improve down the road with these guys, Ya I would be very optimistic if we had ovechkin but we don't have that, so in all I see things staying around same if we don't see dramatic trades coming!!
It's a legitimate concern.
Gainey said he is going to build from within and create a real team chemistry, then add pieces later. I think we have to wait and endure the band-aids. It would be nice if some of our lower-level picks panned out.....the O'Byrnes and Archers and Korneevs.
Well then, go cheer for the Isles and be happy to have Milbury as your GM. He is a guys who trades a lot.
Gainey is not going to trade all that much.
imaging islanders with chara, spezza, Bertuzzi, Luongo, Jokinen, Heatly they would be better then sens I can tell you that for sure, I don['t see us in same situation because Lungo 4th pick, Heatly would be second pick, Spezza was second pick for them so ya Islanders would be force but they had to endure bad season for many years to get their hands on this guys but they decided to screw everythingup, as for habs only Price is the highest pick, and i'm sure he's not better then luongo potential wise.
lot of fans say that up and coming talented forwards will make us better but is it really true?
As it stands Ribeiro, Ryder, Markov, Bouillon will be looking for raise next season, so all I see our prospect doing down the road is perezhogin replacing Zednik, and Plekanec replacing Koivu/Ribeiro, while Higgins is either third liner or second, but from their potentials I just don't see how we'll dramatically improve down the road with these guys, Ya I would be very optimistic if we had ovechkin but we don't have that, so in all I see things staying around same if we don't see dramatic trades coming!!
Good point. I see our improvement coming more from the additions of guys like Chipchura, Latendresse, and Lapierre, a bit further on down the road. And somebody on D, but I guess that will have to be the one FA area to address, since there is really no hope for that on the horizon. The Perezhogin/Higgins/Plekanec improvements have allowed us to jettison our past Perreault/Dowd/Ward/Hossa/Juneau/Dackell etc elements without flinching. If they end up allowing us to replace Zednik/Ribeiro types (perhaps in a trade to address that D gap), all the better.
Our current youngsters sure aren't on Ovechkin's or Phaneuf's level, but hey they're very good B+ grade rookies.. Perez could eventually be a 1st line player, Plekanec a 2nd line center producing around 50 points while playing 2 way and Higgins I could see develop into a Jason Blake/Chris Drury type of guy, if he can just finish a bit more...
Then you have the other obvious in Chipchura, Latendresse and maybe Kostytsin, and you have some guys with good potential like Mathieu Aubin, Juraj Mikus, etc.
lot of fans say that up and coming talented forwards will make us better but is it really true?
As it stands Ribeiro, Ryder, Markov, Bouillon will be looking for raise next season, so all I see our prospect doing down the road is perezhogin replacing Zednik, and Plekanec replacing Koivu/Ribeiro, while Higgins is either third liner or second, but from their potentials I just don't see how we'll dramatically improve down the road with these guys, Ya I would be very optimistic if we had ovechkin but we don't have that, so in all I see things staying around same if we don't see dramatic trades coming!!
Are you really going to start one of these a week?
What you have to consider is that, although the cap has made it that much easier to acquire top end talent, it has also forced GMs to get the most value out of their assets. While we don't possess that many top prospects, we have a VERY solid core group of guys. the fact that these guys are all young, talented and for the most part defensively reponsible bodes very well for our future, and makes acquiring topend talent easier in the process.
consider the recent hab teams: Andre Savard took this team with nothing, no prospects no talent no depth...nothing. what he had to do was slowly build up a talent pool while aqcuiring depth vis-a-vis free agency and trades. the result was an expensive, untalented team. Now that Gainey can build his depth within, minimizing his expenses with young guys from our organization, each offseason Gainey can address our need for premier players.
Superstars are attainable in todays NHL... but without the right mix of players already in your org., there's no point
What you have to consider is that, although the cap has made it that much easier to acquire top end talent, it has also forced GMs to get the most value out of their assets. While we don't possess that many top prospects, we have a VERY solid core group of guys. the fact that these guys are all young, talented and for the most part defensively reponsible bodes very well for our future, and makes acquiring topend talent easier in the process.
consider the recent hab teams: Andre Savard took this team with nothing, no prospects no talent no depth...nothing. what he had to do was slowly build up a talent pool while aqcuiring depth vis-a-vis free agency and trades. the result was an expensive, untalented team. Now that Gainey can build his depth within, minimizing his expenses with young guys from our organization, each offseason Gainey can address our need for premier players.
Superstars are attainable in todays NHL... but without the right mix of players already in your org., there's no point
Well put.
I think it's obvious that we don't have all the pieces to the puzzle in the organization right now, but it seems there always top-end guys floating around that can be had. Savard and now Gainey are doing a great job of building up the core. It's easy to add one or two elite guys, it's difficult to have a solid 20 guys on top of that.
Let's be realistic and not over-rate our prospects.. starting with Plekanec, Higgins and Perezhogin.
Out of the 3, Perezhogin is the only one potential 1st/2nd liner. He has great offensive upside and I could easily picture him replacing guys like Zednik down the road, no doubt.
Some of you guys tend to over-rate Plekanec. He is good, but not that good.. What makes him good is that he's one hard worker. Type of player that will not just float on the ice without giving some effort. He's fast, sound defensively and can play on the PK. However, he has limited offensive skills and won't be able to rack up points constantly. He will never be able to replace players like Koivu. I see him as a potential 3rd line centre for us (maybe 2nd, but questionnable), someone that will be able to put on some points from time to time.
Higgins.. kind of like Plekanec, I see him as a good 3rd liner, 2nd at best (ideally, he should not). I can picture him getting 40 to 50 points a season.. but not above 50. He most probably won't ever be a Chris Drury type of players. He just does not have that offensive upside in him. Unless he'll be able to develop his constancy to score goals (which is not easy, considering his limited offensive skills), he'll end up being a good 3rd liner.
Out of our other prospects, Latendresse has the best chances to become a 1st or 2nd liner for us in the future. He has the tools to become one and looks determinated to do so.
Kostitsyn also has the skills; however, he does not look as motivated and as strong mentally.
I once saw Chipchura as a potential 2nd centre.. but from the looks of it, if he ever ends up being only a 3rd liner, it wouldn't surprise me.
As you can see, we still have no prospects with the ability to be able to replace an important piece like Koivu down the road and that's just too bad.
