Top 5 D prospects

[herzausstein]

I have the program from the event and a photo of Ufko on my phone from one of the warm up sessions. I was at the arena at 3 PM when the doors opened so I could park for free and see all of both games both days at 4 PM and 7 PM. The games were December 28th and 29th. Maybe he played on the 28th and then flew to Canada to join the World Juniors, which ran from December 26th to January 5th. U Mass lost their first game in Milwaukee to Clarkson 6-3.

Marc Del Gaizo played 3 years at U Mass Amherst. His numbers went down each year. It makes me think that the coaching staff did not do a good job with him. He is 23. I don't think his NHL career is over. Dman and goalies are usually older than forwards when they hit the NHL. Unless you are Bedard.

Welcome to the HF Boards.

Agreed here. Heck Carrier will be 27 in October this year. His first full NHL season was at 25. Ekholms first season was at 23 but i dont think he really "broke out" until 25 though.

 

[Flgatorguy87]

DelGaizo is plenty young to still be in the conversation. Carrier is the perfect example of a guy that really took time to get things going.

 

[Armourboy]

Maybe it is too soon, but with Locmelis and Suniev joining, plus Gorman transferring from Princeton, they might have a little more scoring up front again in the next couple years. (Plus they have that huge goalie Hrabal coming too).


I was surprised when they called up Stastney instead, tbh. Because just from the stats-watching armchair, it seemed like Del Gaizo was playing a bigger role in Milwaukee, and would have been the more expected first callup amongst the prospect D. But I guess they (rightly as it turned out!) realized that Stastney's superior skating was actually a better fit for playing against NHL competition.

Milwaukee was still playing for playoff positioning and if I recall right Stastny was playing on their 3rd pairing. May have been a case that they didn't want to take Del Gaizo away from Milwaukee at that time.

 

[Olderfan]

I never saw Del Gaizo until last years playoffs. He looked very good. There are times when this “great prospect” title gets in the way of promotion by performance. He out performed the other Ds in the playoffs.

 

[Kat Predator]

DelGaizo is plenty young to still be in the conversation. Carrier is the perfect example of a guy that really took time to get things going.

To add a bit of context, Carrier was stuck in the AHL (4-ish seasons) to some degree because of the organizational depth and Poile's penchant to sign grizzled, old veterans with rusty skates and plenty of points in the frequent injury rewards program for his bottom pairings. In fact, the season he finally did break through (COVID bubble season), he was still thought of more as a perma-AHLer and a filler piece on the extended taxi squad. Hynes was forced to use him, and he played well enough to force his way into the lineup.

 

[herzausstein]

To add a bit of context, Carrier was stuck in the AHL (4-ish seasons) to some degree because of the organizational depth and Poile's penchant to sign grizzled, old veterans with rusty skates and plenty of points in the frequent injury rewards program for his bottom pairings. In fact, the season he finally did break through (COVID bubble season), he was still thought of more as a perma-AHLer and a filler piece on the extended taxi squad. Hynes was forced to use him, and he played well enough to force his way into the lineup.

The current dgroup makes me worry about the grizzled vet thing again. We 4 dmen over 30 and the dman thats been in most of the trade rumors was our youngest nhl dman. I just wonder what the plans are long term here. We dont have space to bring any young players up. Schenn was just brought in. McD is liked for his leadership qualities and unmovable contract. Josi is captain and our best dman. Barrie i dont see here longterm but he is our best offensive RHD.

 

[Kat Predator]

The current dgroup makes me worry about the grizzled vet thing again. We 4 dmen over 30 and the dman thats been in most of the trade rumors was our youngest nhl dman. I just wonder what the plans are long term here. We dont have space to bring any young players up. Schenn was just brought in. McD is liked for his leadership qualities and unmovable contract. Josi is captain and our best dman. Barrie i dont see here longterm but he is our best offensive RHD.

Good point, Stoneheart.

Stastney, Del Gaizo, and Livingstone are at/near the age where one would like to give them an "extended look" in the bigs. Stastney and Del Gaizo could find a spot on the "4th pairing" and rotate in with Lauzon, perhaps. Livingstone, unless he can play well on his off-side seems to be entirely off the board though. Without moving one of Barrie, Carrier, or Fabbro, there is just no spot open with the addition of Schenn.

And while there is a certain logic to having Schenn around for culture/leadership reasons, it seems like you really want that discipline and leadership to be rubbed off on your young d-men coming up specifically. With Carrier and Fabbro on "show me" contracts at the moment, there's not a lot of room for that rubbing to happen.