First Line Forward

[islesfan3913]

I personally don't think the solution to the first line LW is in the organization. Maybe Dal Colle can eventually play there but I'd rather get a proven player to play with JT than wait a year or two for Dal Colle to come up and another year or two for him to turn into a great NHL player. That's possibly a four year wait. Not saying Dal Colle wont be good, I'm a big fan of his and wanted him in the months leading up in the draft. But I want to make sure that we take full advantage of JT's talent and surround him with high end players.

In my opinion we should go after someone like Sharp. He's a legit 30 goal and 70 point player and has proven he can play with elite players. Get him here, put him on JT's wing and and let them play for a few years. Once Sharp's contract is up you can either resign him for another year or two or let him go and put Da Colle in his place.

With all things considered (the Isles need at first line LW, Chicago's cap situation) I think Sharp is the best option. It could be a lot like the Boychuk and Leddy deals where we take advantage of another teams cap situation and add a legit player.

 

[DPSNAGS]

I personally don't think the solution to the first line LW is in the organization. Maybe Dal Colle can eventually play there but I'd rather get a proven player to play with JT than wait a year or two for Dal Colle to come up and another year or two for him to turn into a great NHL player. That's possibly a four year wait. Not saying Dal Colle wont be good, I'm a big fan of his and wanted him in the months leading up in the draft. But I want to make sure that we take full advantage of JT's talent and surround him with high end players.

In my opinion we should go after someone like Sharp. He's a legit 30 goal and 70 point player and has proven he can play with elite players. Get him here, put him on JT's wing and and let them play for a few years. Once Sharp's contract is up you can either resign him for another year or two or let him go and put Da Colle in his place.

With all things considered (the Isles need at first line LW, Chicago's cap situation) I think Sharp is the best option. It could be a lot like the Boychuk and Leddy deals where we take advantage of another teams cap situation and add a legit player.

Sharp isnt going anywhere. The hawks want to win before Kane and Toews contract kicks in. They'll deal with Sharp next offseason.

For me its simple. I want to give Grabner/Bailey a shot. I love Kuly on the top line because hes the first forward on the forecheck and first one back to play D. JT and KO have not been good defensively so we need a defensive forward on that top line. To me, Kuly doesnt have that offensive creativity to be on that top line. I would audition it between Bailey and Grabner. I see the offense being broken into pairs.

JT/KO
Grabovski/Nielsen
Nelson/Strome
Clutter/Cizikas

To me, Bailey was playing great before the injury. Was being defensively responsible and had a real nice turn around goal. He has ability and can cycle effectively. I want to try him out on that line when he gets back. Move Kuly into Clutters spot with Nielsen and Clutter back to forth.

When Grabner comes back hell play with cizikas and clutter to be a fast effective forth line. But the thing I love about our offense when its healthy, is that we have the ability to constantly shuffle. If we need a big offensive shift, Put Strome-JT-Okposo together. followed by Grabovski-Nielsen-Kuly and then Grabner-Nelson-Bailey. That still leaves Lee as the odd man out. To me, no trade is needed. We need to give these guys a shot to play with the top line. When Vanek left, Garth made the decision to sign Grabovski and Kuly which was a sign to add depth over top end talent. After those moves were made, I believe he said, I need to fix the defense and then let this team gel. We have only had our D fully healthy for 2-3 games and not once for our offense.

If we have a legitimate shot to do damage, I can see Garth making a move for a #1 dman and #1 LW later in the season. These are still our top concerns but we saw what happened last season. A top line with no depth. Ill take the depth and try out Bailey, Grabner, Strome, Lee, Nelson all on that wing spot before i ship out talent.

Patience is a virtue and were still a young team. Gotta give the boys a shot.

 

[duster19]

Snow is being more patient with prospects(which is a good thing) but in reality there was no room for another forward at the end of camp. Heck there are to many once Bailey and Grabner get back. Most assuredly Conacher is going to get waived and hopefully make it to the Bridge. But who else will go?

Id guess strome or Lee because they are waiver exempt. I'd prefer a guy like Boulton, but I doubt it happens. I'm not convinced they even waive Conacher. Garth might like the option of Strome and Lee in BP...especially if they are competitive.

 

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Kiril Petrov