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Post by spiritfever on Jun 30, 2015 12:10:08 GMT -5
Now that the drafts are complete, it looks like some interesting choices for a lineup. Going to be a very exciting year to say the least!!
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Post by Disco Stu on Jul 4, 2015 19:38:57 GMT -5
Drafting an import defenseman means that if we have 8 defensemen on the team (as we seem to like to do), that there is one spot for Holmes, Henley, or Stewart.
Kodola's spot amongst the forwards is open. There are a lot of guys from last year's team who will compete for that one open spot. Guys like Clarke, Webb, Webb, McPhail, etc. Then there is the question of which 1st year 17 year old guys will be given chances to get a spot at forward.
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Post by kingpin794 on Jul 5, 2015 9:29:29 GMT -5
Drafting an import defenseman means that if we have 8 defensemen on the team (as we seem to like to do), that there is one spot for Holmes, Henley, or Stewart. Kodola's spot amongst the forwards is open. There are a lot of guys from last year's team who will compete for that one open spot. Guys like Clarke, Webb, Webb, McPhail, etc. Then there is the question of which 1st year 17 year old guys will be given chances to get a spot at forward. See I'm of the mind set that Stewart is not on the bubble. His game rounded out nicely towards the end of the season. He started out just running over anything whether it was a penalty or not. But as the season progressed he learned to time his hits better while still keeping his mean streak. His first pass is decent as well and he looked more comfortable with the puck on his stick by the playoffs. His game is tailor made for Gilbert. If anything, if 8 D are kept, it's between Henley and Holmes and between those two I'd give the clear edge to Holmes. He's Ringuette 2.0. As far as Kodala's spot goes, that's tougher to guess IMO. McPhail (liked what he brought but not skilled enough), the Webbs, and Clarke (some trade value here) can all be improved upon. Jackson would be the most OHL ready of the 17 yr olds for the spot. He's got the frame and the hard working style that would make for an easy transition into the bottom six of this team. Larionov Jr would be next simply for the chemistry he showed with Maksimov in camp. Honestly both would be great cause it wouldn't cost us picks to add new/better players into the lineup. And then again we could also bring in a 3rd OA to help mentor the young guys.
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Post by spiritfever on Jul 5, 2015 19:28:03 GMT -5
Sadowy – Stephens – Barwell Paliani – Felhaber - Brown Maksimov – Artemov – Larionov Jackson – Gilmour - Coskey
Petschenig – Middleton Stewart – DiTomasso Crawford – Proner Niemelainene
Cormier Bonello
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Post by bpfox on Jul 5, 2015 20:15:40 GMT -5
I like the way you are thinking. The one flaw would be that the Spirit can only have 4 16 year old players. Bonello will most likely get a year of seasoning in jr B.
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Post by Disco Stu on Jul 6, 2015 21:35:53 GMT -5
Lets break it down like this.
20 year old Forwards Brown
19 year old Forwards Sadowy Bennett Paliani Clarke
18 year old Forwards Stephens Barwell Artemov Webb Webb McPhail
17 year old Forwards Felhaber Larionov Jackson
16 year old Forwards Gilmour Maksimov Coskey
I just listed 17 guys. In theory, 3 or perhaps 4 of them will not be on the team.
I think you can list the following guys as absolutes: Brown, Sadowy, Stephens, Artemov, Barwell, Felhaber, Gilmour, Maksimov, Coskey Which is 9
Which means that you have these guys for 4 or 5 spots: Bennett, Paliani, Clarke, Webb, Webb, McPhail, Larionov, Jackson
I think that of this group, Bennett, Paliani, Larionov, and Jackson can make it without too much trouble. That leaves one spot for the Webbs, McPhail, and Clarke to fight for.
But I think you can see what I meant earlier where we have a lot of 1997 born guys, and we could trim from that group to add new 17 year olds and of course the new 16 year olds.
Here is the defense: Petschenig (20) DiTomaso (19) Crawford (18) Stewart (18) Holmes (18) Henley (18) Middleton (17) Niemeläinen (17) Proner (16)
Once again, a bunch of 18 year old guys. Crawford might be the best defenseman on the team so he is safe. I see the other 18 year olds as being similar guys which is why I lumped them together. If Stewart had been younger maybe the spot would be his, but seeing as how he is the same age I could see them all fighting for that last spot (or two spots if they keep 8 which they like to do).
At goalie, we have Cormier (18) and Murdaca (17) to back up with Bonnello getting #1 minutes somewhere down a level. That is what we did with Paterson, and what we did with Murdaca last year, so it isn't a shock to do it this year. By signing Bonnello we ensure that he can be called up on a 10 game limit if Cormier gets chosen to play in something during the middle of the season which is a possibility.
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Post by FreelandSpirit on Jul 7, 2015 8:44:52 GMT -5
I think the thing to remember is that not everyone who starts the season will end the season with the club. If I was a betting man I would say that Sadowy will be dealt Ala Moutrey at the deadline for a kings ransom. I see a almost trocheck like deal where we get a 16 year old from a contending club and picks and flip those picks back to the team for a solid piece for a run next season. Can also see the team look to trade off s few of the extra players we have (Clarke and Holmes) if we can find a buyer on them to aquire more picks for next year's trade deadline.
A good gm (which we are still looking for) will definitely have those future trades in mind while selecting his roster.
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Post by spiritfan8 on Jul 7, 2015 11:55:21 GMT -5
The 16 year old we got from Plymouth in that deal was a real bust. Not the first time Plymouth took us to the cleaners in a trade... #vaclavmiedel
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Post by bpfox on Jul 7, 2015 16:02:49 GMT -5
The 16 year old we got from Plymouth in that deal was a real bust. Not the first time Plymouth took us to the cleaners in a trade... #vaclavmiedel Man you are like a pit bull, you need to let that one go. It was season #1. We all know the Spirit didn't know what they were doing back then. Even they will tell you that....Let it go. Trust the folks in charge now, they will lead this team to the promised land. Oops....sorry, I thought you were still hanging on to the Thorburn deal
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Post by Disco Stu on Jul 7, 2015 18:56:07 GMT -5
If we move Sadowy partway through the season I would prefer it be for a proven and promising 17 year old forward rather than a unproven and promising 16 year old forward. We already have three really promising 16 year old forwards.
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Post by FreelandSpirit on Jul 8, 2015 21:13:58 GMT -5
Random side note.From the looks of it Stewart was invited to Arizona Coyotes rookie camp. I think Gilbert thinks pretty highly of him and has him as a bottom pairing guy. I think Henley or Holmes are the odd man out. With the winner and crawford playing as a 7th and 8th dman
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Post by spiritfever on Jul 11, 2015 5:15:03 GMT -5
A good quote from the new GM should make the rookies and veterans do some thinking. This will be very intense during main camp in August.
"I'm big on internal competition," he said. "I think nobody's spot is safe. If you've been here two years, three years, one year, it doesn't matter. If someone can work hard in the summer, and they can take your spot, I'm open-minded to that.
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Post by IGive1 on Jul 11, 2015 9:10:40 GMT -5
A good quote from the new GM should make the rookies and veterans do some thinking. This will be very intense during main camp in August. "I'm big on internal competition," he said. "I think nobody's spot is safe. If you've been here two years, three years, one year, it doesn't matter. If someone can work hard in the summer, and they can take your spot, I'm open-minded to that. Every coach/GM has said that since the beginning of time.
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Post by spiritfan8 on Jul 11, 2015 10:08:21 GMT -5
The 16 year old we got from Plymouth in that deal was a real bust. Not the first time Plymouth took us to the cleaners in a trade... #vaclavmiedel Man you are like a pit bull, you need to let that one go. It was season #1. We all know the Spirit didn't know what they were doing back then. Even they will tell you that....Let it go. Trust the folks in charge now, they will lead this team to the promised land. Oops....sorry, I thought you were still hanging on to the Thorburn deal I was talking about the Trocheck deal. Vaclav Meidl is just a legendary figure that gets tossed into all trade comments, as Midland Spirit Fan would agree. He really had no bearing on my comment.
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Post by spiritfever on Jul 22, 2015 12:55:36 GMT -5
Niemelainen signed!!
Some interesting choices now on the back end!
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