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Post by FreelandSpirit on Mar 23, 2015 12:17:23 GMT -5
Only defensemen I go with at 6 is Hayden Davis, Farrence, or Blacker. 2 of those 3 have NCAA commits ruling them out (unless you have prior contact with agents saying otherwise) with Farrence getting a USDTP invite. That leaves Davis. If he happens to be gone I would gladly take the top forward left before reaching for Phillips. We can take 2 stabs on defense in the second. Not to mention trade some picks to pick up a O/A or a defenseman at the deadline.
I also wouldn't rule out a 98 defenseman from last year joining the program next year. Troy Williams looked good at camp last year and had 11 goals, 28 assists and 72 pims in 55 games this year in Dryden and would be worth a look if he isnt going NCAA.
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Post by kingpin794 on Apr 2, 2015 11:17:55 GMT -5
The draft is inching ever closer and I'm slowly coming around to the idea of us taking a forward to compliment our centers but I'm still 50/50 about wanting us to take a defenseman at 6.
I will say that we should probably keep an eye one of the two first round picks Niagara makes though. If we do happen to trade Sadowy next year at the deadline (I don't know if I want us to do that, but is very possible), the Ice Dogs would be a possible landing spot for him IMO. Can't think of many other future "buyers" for next year right now besides Sarnia though. Maybe something to watch.
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Post by spiritfan8 on Apr 2, 2015 11:51:53 GMT -5
If Sadowy gets traded for anything but an equivalent player at the deadline next season, I will regard the rebuild as a failure. By next season we should be looking at players, not draft picks/prospects.
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Post by MidlandSpiritFan on Apr 2, 2015 14:11:20 GMT -5
If Sadowy gets traded for anything but an equivalent player at the deadline next season, I will regard the rebuild as a failure. By next season we should be looking at players, not draft picks/prospects. Will Sadowy be playing as a 19 yr old next season? If so, he will not be around for an OA season 2 seasons from now which is when everyone now says should be "our year". I assume you mean an equivalent player or players that are 17/18 yr olds next season so they will be 18/19 yr olds in the "go for it" season in 2 years? If so, I agree! Saginaw needs to be getting proven assets back for Sadowy, not draft picks.
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Post by SaginawGensFan on Apr 2, 2015 15:06:22 GMT -5
Honestly the future of our defense looks bright! DiTomaso, Stewart, Crawford, Holmes & Middleton. All going to improve & be solid d-men. Take into account any of our previously drafted d-men & possible veteran signings, and our defense looks fairly good. I don't know that I'd be looking at a d-man in the 1st round. I have a question - any stud goalies in this year's draft??? NOT saying take one in the 1st round (unless there's a "can't miss"), just curious what's out there. I like the "best player available" approach, leaning towards a scoring forward for the 1st round.
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Post by bpfox on Apr 2, 2015 15:30:03 GMT -5
Not to worry. Saginaw is solid in the goaltender department for the next few years. Cormier is a stud and Joseph Murdaca was the best goalie in camp this last fall. Best player available is not a bad way to go at number one, but the goalie thing doesn't need any help!
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Post by SaginawGensFan on Apr 3, 2015 2:58:37 GMT -5
I'm not sold on Cormier yet. He can be good & he can be bad (REAL bad). I would definitely not put him in the "stud" category quite yet.
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Post by bpfox on Apr 3, 2015 6:28:06 GMT -5
I'm not sold on Cormier yet. He can be good & he can be bad (REAL bad). I would definitely not put him in the "stud" category quite yet. Fair enough, just remember this day and give me credit where credit is due. Murdaca hasn't even played a regular season game in a Spirit jersey yet and I can tell you without hesitation that Cormier/Murdaca will be the best goalie combo in the league in two years.
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Post by donjohnson on Apr 3, 2015 7:26:17 GMT -5
Maybe because they both end in "a" but when I hear Murdaca all I can think of is Joe Lepara.
I'm with GensFan on this one...I can definitely see the potential (he played really solid the last couple of games) but he gives up a lot of goals. A crummy goaltender with solid defense and a good puck control offense can look good. A good goaltender with the opposite (insert Jake Paterson) can be made to look bad. That last game when we played Kitchener, even though we won, Paterson made some saves that Cormier just isn't ready to make yet. He definitely has potential and we'll see if he lives up to it in the next couple of years.
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Post by FreelandSpirit on Apr 3, 2015 9:00:55 GMT -5
As for the Saginaw goalie situation I will give you this. When Paterson was traded from Saginaw his GAA dropped by an entire point and his Save% went up two percent. When Cormier was traded to Saginaw his GAA raised one percent while he saved the same percentage if not slightly higher percentage of shots. Meaning that once Paterson was traded he saw either fewer shots or less lethal scoring opportunities due to better defensive play that allowed him to make more saves. In Cormiers case he saved the same percentage of shots and allowed more goals. Meaning that he either saw a higher volume of shots or shots that were better scoring opportunities. Once again due to a lot of the defensive play in front of him.
My conclusion the defense in Saginaw was to blame for a lot of the goaltending issues this year.
As to the poster above talking about Murdaca. +1 here. Him and Cormier ate going to be a force in two years. Remember both of them aren't draft eligible until 2016.
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Post by eric8199 on Apr 3, 2015 13:37:38 GMT -5
Don't bet on Sadowy going anywhere. I predict he finishes his OHL career in Saginaw.
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Post by donjohnson on Apr 3, 2015 15:08:57 GMT -5
Don't bet on Sadowy going anywhere. I predict he finishes his OHL career in Saginaw. Agreed...my "sources" tell me that he was asked this year if he wanted to be traded like the rest of the guys headed out of town and he said no. I've always liked the way he plays and the fact that he wanted to stay here makes me like him even more. Looking for great things from him next year!
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Post by bpfox on Apr 3, 2015 15:19:42 GMT -5
Don't bet on Sadowy going anywhere. I predict he finishes his OHL career in Saginaw. You could very well be correct on this one, but maybe not. I never thought they would trade Vince Trochek, but they did. I think it will depend on how the Spirit's season goes. We have already been told the goal is for the Spirit to contend in 2016/2017 so it will interesting to see how they think the team will need to be put together to make that happen. The Spirit have stock piled enough picks to add some pieces next season without losing too many players. That said, the Spirit are in a position where they don't have that many holes to fill in terms of players lost this year. Only Ringer can't come back. Boys next year are going to have to earn their spots that's for sure. They are not likely to lose anybody to the pros. The one possible exception would be Brown. He's not drafted, but he could get an invite to an NHL camp as a free agent. If he does well, he can play in the AHL next season. One of the things I found most interesting about this season was the fact even though this team was the youngest team to make the playoffs, they played the season with only 2 16 years when they were allow to have 4. I guess the draft will be are first glimpse of how they what direction they plan to take the team going forward. Should be fun.
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Post by kingpin794 on Apr 3, 2015 16:29:55 GMT -5
Don't bet on Sadowy going anywhere. I predict he finishes his OHL career in Saginaw. Agreed...my "sources" tell me that he was asked this year if he wanted to be traded like the rest of the guys headed out of town and he said no. I've always liked the way he plays and the fact that he wanted to stay here makes me like him even more. Looking for great things from him next year! That would be awesome. Guy is gonna be a 50 goal scorer and playing for team Canada at the WJC next year. Getting back to the draft though.... Sean LaFortune posted his first mock draft for the first round: thescout.ca/web/index.php/928-news-free/14829-lafortune-ohl-mock-draft-1-0
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Post by IGive1 on Apr 3, 2015 19:44:11 GMT -5
Agreed...my "sources" tell me that he was asked this year if he wanted to be traded like the rest of the guys headed out of town and he said no. I've always liked the way he plays and the fact that he wanted to stay here makes me like him even more. Looking for great things from him next year! That would be awesome. Guy is gonna be a 50 goal scorer and playing for team Canada at the WJC next year. Getting back to the draft though.... Sean LaFortune posted his first mock draft for the first round: thescout.ca/web/index.php/928-news-free/14829-lafortune-ohl-mock-draft-1-0A 50 goal scorer and on Canada's WJC team? He might just also become the national spokesman for the Dodge Dart.
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