Wonder if Owen Allard is one. Was a free agent prospect invite to rookie camp. Had a decent WJC showing. Was producing at a fairly good rate before the tournament but has slowed down since. And you know. Avs and their nepotism.
I'm not surprised they are after him but I always thought they wouldn't get him due to Graf wanting games this season. It might be hard for the Avs to promise that to him. Also I thought he might prefer to sign with DET as he had TC with them last summer. He would definitely be a could get.
My guess is he ends up in Nashville or Florida… but Avs will be pushing (nearly every team is)
Not sure why you said Miner sucks. He made 40 saves on 43 shots.(.930 SV%) tonight. He has done pretty well as a backup for the Eagles this season (2.45 GAA and .917 SV% before tonight's game). I'll take that all day long from a backup.
Just the goal he let in was awful. Couldnt keep his five hole shut when he didnt even need to make massive side to side movements. Awful positioning on the game tieing goal, net was essentially half open, play small while being a small goalie.
Every AHL team has vets and most of them better than our vets. Hunt is really the only star vet. Pare, burke, tufte arent exactly proven AHL stars. I think defensively/possession wise, our AHL coach is definitely above average but he cant make magic happen without at least adequate vets with an understanding of pro hockey.
What I am saying is the talent is so low without those guys that they can't produce consistently. I'm not saying Burke is a star, just that he's one of the better players on the team. Same with Holland (who would be an AHL all star if he stayed healthy). Meyers is a star level talent down there and playing like it now.
Don't get me wrong on Miner. I have no big expectations for him. I don't even think he will get to be a starter for the Eagles. With that said we need to give credit where credit is due. He has done very well as an AHL backup this year and if he can keep that up I'll take that every day for that team. That is all I want him to be.
They will
IMO what you really want in the AHL is a vet who can step in and be a starter at any given moment for long stretch, but a guy who can mentor a young goalie. Pair that player up with a prospect you hope takes over the starting role and has legit NHL potential. We can waffle on Annunen and JoJo.. but the JoJo/Annunen type of combo is that style. That's what I think you should personally have.
The Avs are going to do that with Stanley this summer as well.
