Patrick Wiercioch

[operasen]

so...

Cowen - Karlsson
Methot - Gryba
Wiercioch - Ceci

Phillips - Borowiecki

 

[Sensinitis]

If all our D break out/play up to par, the pairings will likely be:

Cowen-Karlsson
Methot-Ceci
Phillips-Wiercioch/Gryba

 

[Cosmix]

Just to nitpik a bit;

Kuba, and Gonchar for that matter, continue to get underrated defensively; while neither were studs, the both were more than capable at both end of the ice (though Kuba had that one awful season where he broke his leg in training camp). I do agree that Karlsson doesn't need to be insulated, but I think doing so probably provides the best balance to our D corps.

The Phillips and Volchenkov pair is a different beast; defensive pairs shutting down oppositions top lines opens up softer matchups for the rest of the team, even if they lose the margins they still provide a valuable service. Offensive pairs don't have that luxury.

And finally, the goal isn't to prevent the other team from scoring (unless you're in a pure shutdown role like Phillips/Volchenkov were) it's to outscore the other team no matter how it's accomplished. So if Karlsson - Wiercioch can do that but allow a ton of goals too, I could care less. So long as at the end of the game Ottawa is up by one it doesn't matter how many we let in.

I think you hit on a very good point with the Philips and Volchenkov pairing being able to shut down top lines. They can do that quite well, but are offensive black holes.

Pairing Karlsson with on offensive defence-man who can skate, pass, and shoot well, could yield excellent offensive results and yield a high +/- result. I think Karlsson can play a good defensive role too with his ability to skate in front of forwards and either take the puck or separate the puck from the opposing player, and then make a play. I would try to have that offensive pair play against the opponents weaker lines, along with some offensive forwards. But that would only work well at home with the last line change advantage.

 

[aragorn]

I think you hit on a very good point with the Philips and Volchenkov pairing being able to shut down top lines. They can do that quite well, but are offensive black holes.

Pairing Karlsson with on offensive defence-man who can skate, pass, and shoot well, could yield excellent offensive results and yield a high +/- result. I think Karlsson can play a good defensive role too with his ability to skate in front of forwards and either take the puck or separate the puck from the opposing player, and then make a play. I would try to have that offensive pair play against the opponents weaker lines, along with some offensive forwards. But that would only work well at home with the last line change advantage.

IMO the best offensive defencemen who shoots left on this team is Wiercioch & if you pair him with Karlsson it could be a defensive disaster. Methot IMO is the best two way defencemen on the team since Phillips is defintely regressing due to age & Methot should be paired with Karlsson unless BM trades for a better two way offensive defenceman.

Cowen could make great strides this yr & become the #1 LD on the team but after last yr he has a big hill to climb to get there but he was a top 10 pick & I think the organization expect him to be that guy soon. Wiercioch needs to be much better defensively & physically tougher on the puck than he is to be in the top pairing. He seems better suited for 2nd pairing & the PP & in fact, a 2nd pairing with Ceci I think at some point will work well for Ottawa. Personally, I would wait & not re-sign Methot but look to trade him at the deadline, if & only if Cowen, Wiercioch, Gryba & Ceci all got better this yr especially if Cowen took a big step forward. Maybe Methot/Condra for Chris Stewart would work for both sides.

At some point this yr:
Cowen - Karlsson
Wiercioch - Ceci
Phillips - Gryba/Boroweicki - Boro eventually replaces Phillips.

 

[Cosmix]

IMO the best offensive defencemen who shoots left on this team is Wiercioch & if you pair him with Karlsson it could be a defensive disaster. Methot IMO is the best two way defencemen on the team since Phillips is defintely regressing due to age & Methot should be paired with Karlsson unless BM trades for a better two way offensive defenceman.

Cowen could make great strides this yr & become the #1 LD on the team but after last yr he has a big hill to climb to get there but he was a top 10 pick & I think the organization expect him to be that guy soon. Wiercioch needs to be much better defensively & physically tougher on the puck than he is to be in the top pairing. He seems better suited for 2nd pairing & the PP & in fact, a 2nd pairing with Ceci I think at some point will work well for Ottawa. Personally, I would wait & not re-sign Methot but look to trade him at the deadline, if & only if Cowen, Wiercioch, Gryba & Ceci all got better this yr especially if Cowen took a big step forward. Maybe Methot/Condra for Chris Stewart would work for both sides.

At some point this yr:
Cowen - Karlsson
Wiercioch - Ceci
Phillips - Gryba/Boroweicki - Boro eventually replaces Phillips.

Yes, pairing Wiercioch with Karlsson could be a disaster; however I would like to see Maclean try them out together. My concern with Wiercioch is that he seems to lack first three steps quickness and physical strength, so it might not work out. I agree that Cowen needs to improve greatly too. He lacks quickness as well, and I don't remember him using the strength he appears to have to remove opponents from the crease and in front of the net. He seems tentative, confused, lacking jam and intensity. I do like Methot because of his strong defensive play and mobility, and I hope to see him signed for another 5 years.

 

[jbeck5]

I'd love to see a defensive and offensive d on each pair.

Karlsson-methot
Ceci-cowen
Wiercioch-gryba

With boro being the 7th and philloops in Binghamton. One can dream.

 

[HSF]

Cowen is a better bet to be able to handle top players not Weirchioch

Cowen was coming off an injury and we have seen before that he does have good speed and also has the size and weight for his frame


Werichioch has yet to show that kind of speed or weight which isn't good for how tall he is. He needs to improve on one of those to make it further

 

[Nets Cash]

Cowen is a better bet to be able to handle top players not Weirchioch

Cowen was coming off an injury and we have seen before that he does have good speed and also has the size and weight for his frame


Werichioch has yet to show that kind of speed or weight which isn't good for how tall he is. He needs to improve on one of those to make it further

Wiercioch looks fine to me. Lets be positive bud, its Friday:

 

[Nordic*]

Too bad he is Holmstrom bad when it comes to his skating.

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

In a fast paced AHL league Wiercioch was one of the best 2 way defenders using his speed to actually get him in good position defensively.

 

[BigRig4]

In a fast paced AHL league Wiercioch was one of the best 2 way defenders using his speed to actually get him in good position defensively.

He was a monster in the short season as well. He needs to be paired with an offensive D to unlock his full potential. Check his WOWY's with Gonchar during the short season and see what I mean. Check him out paired with Karlsson this year (although this one is smaller sample size than Gonchar) and it's more of the same. He's also a legit 1st unit PP guy. We need to be taking advantage of him especially considering he's only making 4 mil over the next 2 years.

 

[Cosmix]

Cowen is a better bet to be able to handle top players not Weirchioch

Cowen was coming off an injury and we have seen before that he does have good speed and also has the size and weight for his frame


Werichioch has yet to show that kind of speed or weight which isn't good for how tall he is. He needs to improve on one of those to make it further

I have never seen Cowen show great speed. He has always appeared slow to me. I think one of the reasons he was not used a lot in his first Canadian Junior championship was his lack of speed and quickness.

I hope his skating and mobility and puck-handling improve and he becomes a top pairing defenseman; but based on what i have seen, his potential might be similar to Phillips, meaning a 3-4 defensive defenseman.

 

[Cosmix]

Wiercioch looks fine to me. Lets be positive bud, its Friday:

That was a nice goal by Wiercioch. I hope he gets many more . . . With the Senators!

 

[BonkTastic]

Wiercioch was one of the best 2 way defenders

Look forward to seeing that one day in the NHL.

 

[Benjamin]

Hopefully he breaks out, Methot's re-signed and Cowen is traded in a package for forward.

Kuba 2.0

It'll be tough for Wier to put up a lot of points with Karlsson and Ceci, and two forwards capable of playing the point.

 

[Karl Cowensson]

so...

Cowen - Karlsson
Methot - Gryba
Wiercioch - Ceci

Phillips - Borowiecki

That's what I'd like to see too, but Cowen still has a ways to go before he can be trusted with top mins. I'd flip him and Methot, at least to start the season.

Unless their is a trade for a puck moving D Wier has to be in the lineup. Not enough puck movement from the back end without him.

 

[Cosmix]

Hopefully he breaks out, Methot's re-signed and Cowen is traded in a package for forward.

Kuba 2.0

It'll be tough for Wier to put up a lot of points with Karlsson and Ceci, and two forwards capable of playing the point.

Yes indeed, assuming you mean on the power play.

However, if Wiercioch clicks with Karlsson as a regular and PP defensive pair, i think he could get 60 points! I hope he gets an opportunity in that role rather than the healthy scratch and wrong-side treatment he received last year.

 

[Xspyrit]

I have never seen Cowen show great speed. He has always appeared slow to me. I think one of the reasons he was not used a lot in his first Canadian Junior championship was his lack of speed and quickness.

I hope his skating and mobility and puck-handling improve and he becomes a top pairing defenseman; but based on what i have seen, his potential might be similar to Phillips, meaning a 3-4 defensive defenseman.

Phillips was a #2 in his prime, for a long time (although he was behind two #1 for a while in Redden and Chara)

Cowen was known for a guy who skates very well for his size. I believe injuries kinda slowed him down but he is young and has plenty of time to fully recover. People quickly forget that Cowen had to go through his sophomore season after missing 1 full season and training camp... If he can stay healthy for a while, Cowen will be fine, trust me

I hope our future defense looks like this :

Cowen-Karlsson
Wiercioch-Ceci
Claesson-Wikstrand
Englund

Trade Methot and Greening for a top-6 LW winger? But trading Methot now is still too soon

 

[jbeck5]

I'd say Phillips was a #3 at his best.he definitely had 1st pairing defensive ability for at least 5 years. But his offensive ability was no where near first pairing. Overall a solid number 3.

In my opinion a first pairing D either excels at both ends of the ice, or flat out dominates in 1 end like karlsson. Phillips excelled defensively while being average offensively.

 

[Xspyrit]

I'd say Phillips was a #3 at his best.he definitely had 1st pairing defensive ability for at least 5 years. But his offensive ability was no where near first pairing. Overall a solid number 3.

In my opinion a first pairing D either excels at both ends of the ice, or flat out dominates in 1 end like karlsson. Phillips excelled defensively while being average offensively.

Ok now I know your definition, but what about ice-time on a contender? Phillips had the highest or the 2nd highest TOI/G several years for the Sens

 

[jbeck5]

Ok now I know your definition, but what about ice-time on a contender? Phillips had the highest or the 2nd highest TOI/G several years for the Sens

Because we loved to use our shutdown guys against the other teams top line. Not because he was the 2nd best overall defenseman, but because he was on our shut down line. Volchenkov played a lot too and he was basically a second goalie who sucks at player/skater skills but he could block everything and hit.

 

[source]

Wiercioch-karlsson for first pairing dammit.

Both need to be paired with defense-minded partners. Wiercioch-Karlsson on the first pairing is asking for trouble.

 

[BigRig4]

Both need to be paired with defense-minded partners. Wiercioch-Karlsson on the first pairing is asking for trouble.

Wiercioch has better goal differential and corsi with offensive D.

 

[HSF]

i still think weir is most likely to be traded

 

[Hammertyme]

They only way that Patty stays is if he puts on muscle and plays with a little edge. His skating is average at best and needs to improve. His vision and awareness are excellent.