Head coach Dominique Ducharme put 32 of his charges through two practices on Tuesday, rotating through four goalies and trying to give the 18 forwards and 10 defencemen a good look as he, team lead Joel Bouchard and head scout Brad McEwen have to narrow their roster down to 22 by Friday.
Probably the steadiest defenseman for the Crunch this season. Not flashy in either end, but gets the job done and done correctly. One of the few Crunch players who have been ready for a call up to Tampa from first game of the season.
Thanks for the update.
So do you think he has the potential for NHL future as a bottom pairing D-man?
I see him being a top 4 guy. Just comparing him to current lightning players he can be as good as a prime Girardi. His strength is his play in his own zone like Girardi, where he's physical in front of the net and in the corners. Is a better skater than Dan so can escape the zone better with the puck on his stick and has good vision for the outlet pass. Has good gap control and positioning so is rarely out of place. On the offensive side he has a good shot and vision but not skilled enough to be a PP guy. Will get some points off rebounds or deflections from his shot or a nice outlet pass, won't be making any cross ice feeds. I see a top unit PK guy, logging heavy defensive first assignments with 20-25 points, if all guys right can hit 30. Should be taking the Sustr role as the #7 next year with lots of callups and starting to take over for Girardi fulltime in 19-20.
Great report, hope you are right. Lightning definitely need another young top 4 Dman on the right side. Stralls probably has another 2-3 years at this level.I see him being a top 4 guy. Just comparing him to current lightning players he can be as good as a prime Girardi. His strength is his play in his own zone like Girardi, where he's physical in front of the net and in the corners. Is a better skater than Dan so can escape the zone better with the puck on his stick and has good vision for the outlet pass. Has good gap control and positioning so is rarely out of place. On the offensive side he has a good shot and vision but not skilled enough to be a PP guy. Will get some points off rebounds or deflections from his shot or a nice outlet pass, won't be making any cross ice feeds. I see a top unit PK guy, logging heavy defensive first assignments with 20-25 points, if all guys right can hit 30. Should be taking the Sustr role as the #7 next year with lots of callups and starting to take over for Girardi fulltime in 19-20.
Great report, hope you are right. Lightning definitely need another young top 4 Dman on the right side. Stralls probably has another 2-3 years at this level.
Saw Taylor Raddysh play live last week, he was probably Erie's best forward but that's not saying much as they sucked pretty bad.
Yeah - a rookie squad is going to take awhile to gel. He went in and fixed one of the problems and the rest fixed themselves.Ya know, I haven't seen Syracuse fans whining on Twitter about how Yzerman hates the Crunch in about 10 games.
Nice layout of predictions. Thanks. That is going to be the youngest team in the AHL.Early Prediction 2018-19 Syracuse Crunch:
- Vladdy Re-Signed (RFA)
- Paquette Re-Signed (RFA)
- Koekkoek Re-Signed (RFA)
Lightning have 3 open roster spots (Kunitz, Brown, Sustr). Erne takes the 4th line LW spot. Paquette returns to Center. Callahan returns to RW. Bournival (RFA) is the 13F. Tampa start the season with 22 bodies.
- Gallant Re-Signed (RFA)
- Peca Re-Signed (RFA)
- Verghaeghe Re-Signed (RFA)
- Walcott Re-Signed (RFA)
- Domingue Re-Signed (RFA)
- McBain Re-Signed (UFA)
- Lynch Re-Signed (UFA)
- Loney, Condra, McNeil, and Bodie leave as UFAs.
Stephens - Peca - Raddysh
Yan - Cirelli - Joseph
Katchouk - Howden - Volkov
Gallant - Verghaeghe - Tammela
Lynch - Somppi
Masin - Cernak
McBain - Foote
Walcott - Thomas
Sosunov - Spencer
Domingue
Ingram
- By my count that is 17 players on ELCs playing for the Crunch next year. Paquette maybe gets an overage year in the CHL. MacLeod goes un-signed same with Salminen. Best prospect before the 2018 draft that will return to CHL is Lipanov. Of note ... Lightning have not yet signed Somppi to ELC.
- Colton, Lohin, Walker, Guttman, Perbix, Zuhlsdof, and Odlham return to their respective NCAA teams.
Don't we have the youngest team in the AHL this season too?Nice layout of predictions. Thanks. That is going to be the youngest team in the AHL.
Where is Hajek?
Correct.Don't we have the youngest team in the AHL this season too?
That is because we are having more fun quietly waiting for and then reading wanna be troll posts like this. Thank you for helping restore our faith.Ya know, I haven't seen Syracuse fans whining on Twitter about how Yzerman hates the Crunch in about 10 games.