Back in the fun days (2013) today would see Oilers fans get caught totally off guard (Oilers sign Omark! or Oilers sign Petrell!) but one suspects we’ll see a more predictable training camp roster.
Surprises might include a center like Riley Sheahan and someone mentioned Patrick Marleau yesterday—that would be a surprise.
THE ATHLETIC!
The Athletic Edmonton features a fabulous cluster of stories (some linked below, some on the site). Great perspective from a ridiculous group of writers and analysts. Proud to be part of the group, take advantage of the incredible Labor Day Weekend offer here!
- **New Lowetide: Estimating reasonable expectations for the 2019-20 Edmonton Oilers: A difficult journey
- New Jonathan Willis: How much money will Darnell Nurse make on his next NHL contract?
- New Lowetide: Ken Holland’s measured summer leaves Oilers outside playoffs.
- New Jonathan Willis: Can Mikko Koskinen be a quality starter for Oilers in 2019-20?
- New Lowetide: The 2019-20 Oilers and value contracts: A period of transition
- New Corey Pronman: Oilers No. 9 farm system.
- New Jonathan Willis: Jesse Puljujarvi signs one-year deal in Finland, dashing hopes he would return to the Oilers
- Lowetide: Jay Woodcroft joins Claude Julien and Todd Nelson as key coaches in Oilers prospect development
- Lowetide: Is Riley Sheahan an ideal fit for the Oilers as their No. 3 centre?
- Lowetide: Oilers coach Dave Tippett might have to take drastic action in order to find a second outscoring line in 2019-20
- Lowetide: Oilers end summer still shy on first-shot scoring wingers
- Lowetide: Connor McDavid and optimal line chemistry: The Oilers need to abandon enforcer fixation and add a skill winger
- Lowetide: Jesse Puljujarvi’s biggest hurdles: Bad timing and the indifference of the Oilers.
- Lowetide: Projecting the Oilers 2019-20 Opening Night Lineup
- Daniel Nugent-Bowman: Q&A: Dave Tippett on rounding out his coaching staff, fixing Oilers’ special teams and using Connor McDavid
- Daniel Nugent-Bowman: What the 2021-22 Oilers might look like after their steady build toward contender status
- Lowetide: Joel Persson is ideally situated to win an opening night roster spot with the Oilers
- Jonathan Willis: Projecting the Oilers’ opening night lineup, line combinations and more.
- Lowetide: Oilers’ acquisition of James Neal could add badly needed scoring to the top two lines.
- Daniel Nugent-Bowman: Ken Holland puts his stamp on the Oilers with first big move in Lucic-Neal trade
- Jonathan Willis: Ken Holland ends an ugly situation for the Oilers by trading Milan Lucic for James Neal
- Lowetide: Oilers top 20 prospects summer 2019.
TRAINING CAMP ROSTER (A GUESS)
I have added a few ‘possible’ training camp additions based on need.
GOALIES (7)
1 Mikko Koskinen, 31. Delivered in October and November (.924) but was overworked and spent by season’s end. One of Dave Tippett’s assignments will be to have a rested Koskinen starting games.
2 Mike Smith, 37. Smith started slowly but had a .912 save percentage after the All-Star break. His playoff performance was also solid but at his age Smith is a risky bet.
3 Shane Starrett, 25. Posted a great season in Bakersfield (.916 save percentage) and is the first recall option entering camp.
4 Dylan Wells, 21. Played 12 AHL games (.909 save percentage) and spent the rest of the year in the ECHL.
5 Stuart Skinner, 20. 41 ECHL (.903) games made him the Wichita starter, with just six AHL games (.879) during the regular year. Skinner caught fire for Bakersfield in the playoffs, with a .918 save percentage in four games.
6 Olivier Rodrigue, 19. 48 games in the QMJHL (.902) and he’s a consistent goaltender who may have the best pedigree among the young group. Headed back to junior for his final year.
LEFT DEFENSE (8)
1 Oscar Klefbom, 26. I’m interesting in seeing how coach Dave Tippett handles him. Early word has him on the second pair.
2 Darnell Nurse, 24. He might get a push under Tippett, possibly forming a shutdown pairing with Adam Larsson.
3 Kris Russell, 32. Oilers apparently plan on moving him to LD, but he’ll be in the mix if the team can’t find a better option. On the LH side he’s a third pairing option.
4 Caleb Jones, 22. One of the keys to this season for Edmonton will come in getting as many youngsters into the league and adjust by April. Jones is a quality candidate, combining speed and skill in an inexpensive package.
5 William Lagesson, 23. Although he’s a little under the radar, the intel on Lagesson is that he’s bona fide and could push for an NHL job as early as training camp.
6 Brandon Manning, 29. He’ll come to camp as a veteran option but he’ll have a difficult time making the roster as anything other than 7D, and even that is a stretch.
7 Dmitri Samorukov, 20. A complete range of skills and he could pass several on this list in a hurry.
8 Keegan Lowe, 26. Veteran AHL defender who has been helping the development of young Condors blue.
RIGHT DEFENSE (0)
1 Adam Larsson, 26. Shutdown defender had a five-on-five shot share of 48.62 percent last year and a goal share of 38.69 percent. Regression should be expected.
2 Joel Persson, 25. He is an excellent passer and an older player. I think talk of moving Klefbom to the second pair may coincide with a push for Persson early days. He has a clear view of a roster spot.
3 Matt Benning, 25. Benning may be in his final season in the organization but it’s a good bet he’ll be on the team opening night. Oilers won’t turn over too much of the defensive roster so trade deadline might be the time.
4 Evan Bouchard, 19. Bouchard has outstanding vision and passing skills, perfect skills for the current Oilers. I can see him making the team in any month of the season.
5 Ethan Bear, 22. He was effective when healthy, and has NHL experience. Bear is also facing more competition than he did a year ago and will have to make an immediate impact in preseason.
6 Logan Day, 24. I don’t know where he’s heading but last season in Bakersfield was impressive. We can disregard him but this organization has brought along both Jordan Oesterle and Brad Hunt in recent seasons. Day is a talent.
CENTER
1 Connor McDavid, 22. I’m expecting a career season. During his young career, he has been phenomenal (per 82gp: 37-69-106) and he is entering his prime. Stand back!
2 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 26. Nuge is the George Harrison of the Oilers, brilliant and original but in the shadows much of the time. I can’t wait until we get to his ‘here comes the sun’ years.
3 Riley Sheahan, 27. I wrote about him recently (here) and he could help in the faceoff circle and on the PK. Part of me believes if this was going to happen we’d already be there.
4 Jujhar Khaira, 25. I have a feeling Khaira will emerge as an important defensive player for Dave Tippett. Not sure it’ll be at center.
5 Cooper Marody, 22. I have him making the big club for good in mid-season and posting some crooked numbers offensively. He could help solve a major problem in the middle.
6 Gaetan Haas, 27. RH center who has speed and two-way skills, there is a gap in competition for this player and he’ll need time to adjust.
7 Colby Cave, 24. He has some utility but lacks any one strength to recommend him. He won 52 percent of his faceoffs.
8 Kyle Brodziak, 35. He had a tough year, fell off demonstrably from previous level of performance. He was clearly not at full health, and it’s possible he lands on LTIR.
9 Brad Malone, 30. Malone serves as insurance at the position and has played 14 percent of his time with the Oilers in the NHL. If he’s recalled, something unplanned has happened.
10 Cameron Hebig, 22. Hebig started last season as part of the Kid Line and scored well. He got lost in the flood but might find himself in a feature role again this season.
11 Ryan McLeod, 19. I don’t think he’ll see the NHL this season and am interested to see how much he brings offensively in the minors.
LEFT WING
1 Leon Draisaitl, 23. The big man scored 50 goals last season, a feat that puts him on a higher level. Don’t expect another 50, but he is an impact player in the NHL.
2 Patrick Marleau, 39. He turns 40 in September and I don’t think Marleau will sign in Edmonton. Still, it’s an intriguing thought. He played 82 games a season and popped 16 goals a year ago.
3 James Neal, 31. I think Ken Holland made out like a bandit with this trade, even if it doesn’t work out. I think 16 goals is a reasonable expectation.
4 Markus Granlund, 26. He’ll be in the Rieder role, PK man who can score some, check some and maybe move from pivot as required. It’s a good choice, although you worry he lands more of a feature role than warranted.
5 Joakim Nygard, 26. He has speed, giving Nygard a major advantage over other hopefuls. His SHL scoring pace (he was among the league leaders) shouldn’t be overlooked.
6 Tyler Benson, 21. I think he has a real chance to make the team. My RE brings him up mid-season but there’s a massive opportunity here and Benson is a sublime passer.
7 Tomas Jurco, 26. He has had some success (per 82gp: 9-11-20) in the NHL but it has been four years since he was a regular in the league.
8 Joe Gambardella, 25. He scored 29 goals in the AHL last season and showed some ability in an NHL recall. His skill set dovetails nicely to a depth role as a forechecker and PK man who can score a little.
9 Nolan Vesey, 24. He hasn’t shown a lot.
RIGHT WING
1 Zack Kassian, 28. Per 82gp as an Oiler, he scored 10-14-24, which is excellent production for a role player. Kassian will get time on a feature line but it’s an area of weakness for the team. Tippett needs to find more skill.
2 Thomas Vanek, 35. He’s old but he’s skilled and the Oilers have a need he can fill. I expect Vanek will sign out east but I listed him because it makes so much sense.
3 Alex Chiasson, 28. Over the last three seasons, he output per 82gp is 16-15-31, and eight of his 22 goals a year ago came on the power play. He’s a bit of an odd match in this forward group (counting on 22 goals again is unwise). That said, I think some of the verbal on his signing is over the top. Has a lot of the same issue as Kassian, and I expect we might see one of these two wingers dealt.
4 Josh Archibald, 26. One of my favourite offseason additions, Archibald can PK, score goals, skate and play a physical style. No real negatives.
5 Sam Gagner, 30. One of the most interesting players on the roster, over the last three seasons he is delivering (per 82gp) 15-26-41. He could play on all four lines during the year.
6 Josh Currie, 26. I think he could slide into a 13-14F job easily this training camp, so have ranked him here. No matter if Currie gets sent out, it’s better than even money that he plays in the NHL this coming season.
7 Kailer Yamamoto, 20. I don’t think there’s much chance of Yamamoto making the roster out of camp, my suspicion is the organization wanted to see more a year ago. Wrist injury aside, he’ll have to show he can dominate the AHL before recall. I believe he could score 30 in the AHL over a full season.
8 Patrick Russell, 26. The more I look into his minor league season, the more impressive it looks. He’s a depth winger at the NHL level, but could see the NHL again this season.
9 Kirill Maksimov, 20. I don’t see a path for him to make the opening night lineup, but a dominant first half in the AHL could see him recalled. He’s a perfect fit for a gigantic need.
10 Raphael Lavoie, 18. His skills are a perfect match for team needs, he is similar to Maksimov (and Evan Bouchard) in this way. He’ll be a player to watch this season.
hunter1909,
Hi Huntster!
Going with the 102 pts and JP with 19
Gonna be a good year!
Hi Hunter. Please put me down for 82 points and 17 goals for Jesse.
Thanks.
Oh..thanks LT
Chiasson is a great example in which stats can be used that show him to be anywhere a 2nd liner to a 4th liner.
If one uses EVG from last year, he scored at a 2nd line rate.
If one uses EVG/60 over the last 3 years, he scored at a 3rd line rate
If one uses EV Pts/60 over the last 4 years, he scored at a 4th line rate.
Pts/60 last year? A 4th line rate
Using just one stat does not define a player. The more stats that we use to surround a player will help us in placing value on said player.
The majority of stats show Chiasson as a bottom 6 player but as last year showed, a bottom 6 player that can get hot for while playing with skill.
Yup. You should also probably dial down his pp time if you want a realistic estimate. I think they may have better pp options this year.
Connor McDavid’s 2019-20: Pushing for 50 goals while Dave Tippett loads up the Oilers’ top line
https://theathletic.com/1177122/2019/09/02/connor-mcdavids-2019-20-pushing-for-50-goals-while-dave-tippett-loads-up-the-oilers-top-line/
Chiasson will be 29 on game one of this season.
He’s also only scored twenty goals or more once in his career with a career high shooting percentage. If you dial down his last season to his career average shooting percentage, last year he would have had 15 goals.
I would not call Chiasson a good bet to score 20 goals.
I’d say there are better odds his last year of his contract is bought out of he’s placed on waivers than he ever scores 20 goals again.
Somehow all of this discussion about Chaser, has me thinking about David Clarkson.
25-year-old season (per 82 game pace)
chaser: 15
clarkson: 18
27-year-old season (per 82 game pace)
chaser: 24
clarkson: 47
28-year-old season (per 82 game pace)
chaser: 42 points
clarkson: 41 points
29-year-old season per 82 game pace)
chaser: ?
clarkson: 15
30-year-old season per 82 game pace)
chaser: ?
clarkson: 21
I respect your opinion. We see things differently.
The reason that Chiasson contract is the hill I die on is it represented capitulating on improving the roster and ultimately on the season. With that signing Holland gave up his last amount of cap flexibility for a player not good enough to move the needle. Let’s not forget about the current RFA stalemate and the lost possibilities of the value of cap flexibility in getting a more impactful player than Chiasson via trade.
It was also a foolhardy move for other reasons. We bought out Sekera a year too early to pay for Chiasson. That’s sort of like trading Eberle for Strome, then giving Eberle’s money to Russell.
I was actually a huge fan of Chaser last summer when he signed the PTO. But to buyout Sekera and use most of that cap savings on a guy who can’t produce at evens above a fourth line level offends sensibilities. The Oilers are and were tight to the cap with a paucity of actual top six players and a third line center. That’s sort of like when you are getting your first apartment and you don’t have a couch, tv, or microwave, but you spend your last two hundred bucks on a food processor.
Your bet is for the next two seasons don’t forget. Including last year, he’s been at or above 26 points in three of six seasons. Given the roster composition and his right shot, there’s a good chance he gets 26 points this season. He’ll likely be on the 1st PP unit and playing in the top six (where he’s inadequate). There’s also a pretty good chance he doesn’t hit 26 pointsin his 30-year-old season the next year. Either way, your typical $2.15m forward probably is producing from the bottom nine, not on the 1st power play unit and playing substantial minutes with Draisatl at even strength. Also, you can’t really draw a line in the sand at~240th highest paid forward because that would be inclusive of players on their ELC and RFA seasons.
Lastly, no team in the league loves paying for a heater more than the Edmonton Oilers. We’ve been doing it for years. Teams with an analytics department would have probably asked Holland, “are you sure you want to do that?”
At the end of the day, we spent more money than any team in the league has previously for the 29 and 30-year-old seasons of a fourth liner who had a hot stick last year.
Avg evg for 860 + EVTOI (#65 LW/ #60 RW) seasons last 5 yrs
Ferlund 13 evg
Chaisson 12 evg.
Avg PPG for their only 2 140+ min ( top 150 fwd) PP seasons
Ferlund 6 ppg
Chiasson 7 ppg
Given top 6 fwd winger ev min and fringe PP1 min they are both 18-20 goal scorers.
With youth in the pipeline a 2 @ 2.15M is a great price for potential 20g scorer.
Chiasson contract is his 28 & 29yr season.
Ferlund is 27-30yr season.
Ferlund is a winger Peterson needs.
JP:
Tipett did state his 3 preferred ( big min together) off pairs were.
Drai – Mcdavid – xxx
Neal – RNH – xxx
Granlund – xxx – Archibald.
Last year 1000 EVTOI was
#41 LW
#76 C
#45 RW
As I have stated earlier this summer.
The top 9 forwards are seeing 50+% Off FO ZS.
Meaning that the 4th line are DZ eaters for most teams.
Looking at last years Off FO ZS
Gambardella 15gm 26.32%
Malone 16gm 28.79%
Brodziak 70gm 31.69%, 14 toughest of all top 7 C per team
Currie 21Gm 36.84%,
Archibald 68gm 38.96%, 6 th hardest of any RW and he is #51 RW 12 evg
Cave 33 gm 41.40%, 50th hardest of all the top 7 Per team C
Granlund 77gm 41.56%, 19 th hardest of top 4 ( starting) per team LW, #60 LW 10 evg.
Gagner 25gm 42.39%, 13th toughest of top 4 ( starting) per team RW, #37 RW .95 evg/60
Khaira 60gm 45.48%
RNH 82gm 46.37%
Archibald, Granlund, Gagner to have bottom 20 off ZS for position and be top 62 evg or Evg/60 players is just elite evg production.
No wonder tipett wants #3 pair to be Granlund – xxx – Archibald.
DZ FO buried and top 62.
Holy f………………….
All other 3rd line options are silly!
LT:
Sheahan would be #3 of my 4 young vet that got green highlighter, Asterix, & checkmark on Free agency list.
Choice of one of the 2 EW 2.5 M salary projection forwards
Hartman 2.51M projection, he 2 @1.9 M from MIN
Granlund 2.5M projection, he got 1@ 1.3M from holland
The 2 superior EVG fwds of Top 3 younger PK forwards
Archibald 1.6M projection, He got 1@1.0M from Holland
Sheahan 1.3M projection
Looking at my paper notes Of top performing Ufa PK forwards and oilers pre FA
Archibald 4.67 pkga/60
Accari 5.11
Khaira 5.92
Sheahan 6.53
All top 80 PK forwards.
Ok so where do you play your four experienced left shot D, two of which are third pairing capable. Buying out Sekera was the best bet given what Holland had to work with. It opened up a spot for a young D to audition. Russel will probably be moved at the deadline.
Why do you keep posting incorrect information that is so easy verifiiable, especially in the light of being corrected?
He has a NMC for both of the first two years of his contract – as per both puckpedia and capfriendly.
He has a career high of 41 points and has hit the 20 goal mark once – he now deals with concussion issues. Lets not make this player out to be more than one he is. A marginal top 6 player with a very risky contract.
He’ll be the ~240th highest paid forward in the league this season. He needs to score 26 points (based on last season) to cover that bet scoring wise.
You may not agree, but I’d take the over on that for sure. He doesn’t need to do much to be fair value for the contract.
Fair enough. There’s no question camp will be fun to see how all this stuff plays out.
You mentioned you don’t think Gagner will play C and you very well may be right.
My thoughts though had been that a 3A/3B bottom 6 setup made sense, with a checking/PK line (like Tippett has mentioned) and a line with a bit more skill. Something along the lines of…
Draisaitl-McDavid-Kassian
Benson-Nuge-Neal
Nygard-Gagner-Chiasson
Granlund-Khaira-Archibald
The bottom 2 lines would have different roles but likely similar importance and minutes. Something like that would be plausible for Gagner as a C and would be a good landing spot for Chiasson. Of course there’s 1000 other ways this could shake out.
https://www.capfriendly.com/players/micheal-ferland
2019-20 NMC $3,500,000 $3,500,000 $0 $2,000,000 $2,500,000 $4,500,000 $4,500,000
2020-21 NMC $3,500,000 $3,500,000 $0 $0 $3,000,000 $3,000,000 $3,000,000
2021-22 Modified NTC $3,500,000 $3,500,000 $0 $0 $3,750,000 $3,750,000 $3,750,000
2022-23 Modified NTC $3,500,000 $3,500,000 $0 $0 $2,750,000 $2,750,000 $2,750,000
I’ve stated a few times that I’m not thrilled with the Chiasson contract, but Ferland at 4 x 3.5 is an even bigger mistake IMO.
That’s fair, but your tiebreaker will be immediately useless to settle ties between post trade entrants.
This is nonsense.
For many reasons.
He has a NMC for ONE year. Then a modified NTC clause for the final two years….10 team no trade list.
He will easily outscore Chiasson, Kassian and Gagner who are taking up more than $7 million in cap space.
Betting on a a pair of sevens and a five is just dumb.
Sekera was bought out prior to July 1 during the actual buyout period which closes on June 30.
The buyout was to provide cap flexibility during the free agent period, the summer and the season.
Its clear that Chiasson was not Holland’s first option – if he had a hard target on Chiasson, he could have been re-signed long before free agency.
In fact, Chiasson had been clear before July about his desire to resign and the organization were the non-committal party – not even having talks with the player until late in the spring.
Term of contract is important. If you don’t agree with that then we have little to discuss.
Looking not only to the next year but to the future is important. If you don’t agree with that then we have little to discuss.
15 goals in not replacement level, in particular with nominal PP time. If you don’t agree with that then we have little to discuss.
He has a NMC for two years – he must be protected in the expansion draft.
That contract comes with great risk in particular with his concussion issues and required style of play – very risky term and trade protection for a marginal top 6 guy is a non-starter for this org.
Funny but I happened to play “Sundown” by Gordon Lightfoot after reading your blog today, not realising it was in the title. Darren Brown stuff.
Could be. Maybe he doesn’t want gritensity guys more than he has, and signed Chiasson partly to send a message to the team about having loyalty to players that did something to help. The deal isn’t a bad one which would be the concern.
All teams these days mostly play the trap, one way or another. Gully mentioned the importance of special teams bcs 5v5 scoring is extremely hard to do these days.
My concern is the same coach is in charge who couldn’t figure out (unless hampered by org insanity) how to get McDavid Draisaitl and Hopkins destroying all PKs.
Should be pretty easy IMO. Blaming it on the PP D is weak. Klef Nurse and Benning are not without some skills. And we know most scoring is down low.
I hope he sorts it, but I wasn’t on board with GG being hired and remain unconvinced he is a mover.
Creativity without being stupid is what’s needed. Or even being stupid, but changing soon if it’s not going to get the job done.
Lowetide,
Those harmony styles are coming back if Darlingside and the Brother Brothers from this year’s Edmonton Folk Festival are the sign of things to come (back). Any brave new dawn works for me. Thanks for all.
Scungilli Slushy,
What if he didn’t?
That seems to be the most logical conclusion since he re-signed Chiasson on July 1st and bought out Sekera the same day.
Occam’s Razor.
What if Holland pitched Ferland and he said no?
The Peter Paul and Mary but only because of those harmonies that have been rolling around in my mind since childhood.
Always next year. That’s not how the league works.
Kassian has already shown he’s below replacement level.
Ferlands NMC is for one year.
He can be exposed in the expansion draft but I doubt the Canucks would do that.
Exactly.
Ferland wanted to return to Western Canada.
Playing on Connor’s wing would have been one hell of a drug.
Not entirely sure about Ferland or outbidding the Nucks for his services, but you’re right. Not signing Chiasson and Granlund while buying out Gagner would have left the blue line in better shape at the same time allowing signing better offensive options than Chiasson..
Am expecting waived, FWIW.
I would not want to commit four years to Ferland including a NMC in force for the expansion draft – even if there wasn’t the issue that he hasn’t proven to be fully recovered as a player to the pre-concussion player he was.
Also, how about Kassian for half the price and only a one year commitment – for all we know, that’s Kril Maksimov’s job in a year…..
We will see. There will be a few hungry “hustle guys” in TC and based on some of the moments I’ve seen, Gags could get his lunch eaten. He isn’t the quickest or most D-zone conscious player around, right?
Veteran wiles and Tippet history aside, there is a reason 2 other, not-so-deep orgs sent him to the A the last few years (when he was younger than he is now….).
I expect him to.
Question Lowetide.
Is it the Peter Paul and Mary version of Hurry Sundown,
( My sorrow’s song, now, just must break through,
That brave new dawn, now, long overdue.)
or the Little Richard version
(So you got to hurry sundown
I can’t wait to see the morning
There’s a lot of work
I must lend a hand to
So bring on that new day
A great tomorrow is on it’s way)
that puts you in such as hopeful mood today?
The future is certainly finally rosy with prospects and a calm promise of a better day. I feel so good I am going to break my promise of the spring and once again spend some of my hard earned dollars on my Game Centre season sub so I can watch this team from the wild woods.
No heartbreak without hope!
Hunter put me down for 101 points and JP for a Euro season of 19 before coming back across the pond.
Smith is gonna have to come in standing on his head if this team has any chance this year.
and not get hurt.
#roloson2.0
Hunter:
99 points
JP – 11 goals
Put me down for 98 points, 14 goals for Puljujarvi, all before Dec 1.
Conjecture is what this site is all about Your Honour.
Would you prefer Chiasson or Ferland patrolling Connors wing?
No he fits in the insurance column. In the event Neal or Nygard are not the answer. He is getting paid at third line cap and has shown to be able to play on the PP. Some of the roster spots will be filled by committee and while not ideal is a reasonable short term fix. What Holland has done is hedge his bets so to speak. A team is not all about individuals and is a sum of its parts. If for example three different players split the time at say second line left wing and collectively score 20 goals at collective cap hit of six million is that all doom and gloom. There is normally more than one road to most destinations.
When you have the likes of Sam Gagner, Alex Chiasson, Josh Archibald, JJ Khaira, M. Granlund on the lines, they are not below average fourth lines. All of those players, give or take Archibald and Khaira, have had success up the lineup and are solid bottom 6 players.
Using Dom’s concerns from his projection and the resources we have on the team right now, I would build the following lines:
Drai. McD. Archibald- who can skate, has decent hands and defensive awareness
Chiasson. Nuge. Neal
Granlund. Marody. Gagner
Khaira. Cave. Kassian
Let the kids dominate the AHL, save for Marody or Sheahan if we can grab him
No one knows if this is how things could have went down or not. Conjecture, Your Honour.
If Holland had not signed Chiasson and Granlund and had bought out Gagner instead of Sekera, he could have easily been in on Michael Ferland who has wheels, toughness and plays very well with skilled players. But he didn’t.
Hey Reja, if you have something intelligent to say then do so.
This is the third time you throw out a snarky remark because you have a different opinion.
Get stuffed.
hunter1909,
Hi Hunter
Re death march would you put me down for 97 pts
JP 23 goals
Thanks for doing this.
Where does Chaser fit?
In the mistake column. In the I wish I hadn’t signed that contract section…