Yeah, I sorta suspect none of these guys turn out to be anything but I at least recognize Rathbone's name, so I assume he was at one time somebody noteworthy.
So somebody else people can pretend Sullivan is either holding back or ruined. Got it.Yeah he was a 4th rounder by Vancouver that blew up in college (53 points in 61 games with Harvard) and was terrific early in his pro career (49 points in 47 games in the AHL between 2020-2021 and 2021-2022). He fell off hard last year though, which is why he's now being traded for Mark Friedman.
Definitely a no risk, high reward gamble. Even if he doesn't pan out into a NHLer, this move helps WBS alleviate some of the AHL veteran issues that they're having.
Yeah he was a 4th rounder by Vancouver that blew up in college (53 points in 61 games with Harvard) and was terrific early in his pro career (49 points in 47 games in the AHL between 2020-2021 and 2021-2022). He fell off hard last year though, which is why he's now being traded for Mark Friedman.
Definitely a no risk, high reward gamble. Even if he doesn't pan out into a NHLer, this move helps WBS alleviate some of the AHL veteran issues that they're having.
It’s just strange that we have such a logjam of LD with similar skill sets. Add Rathbone to the pile of Smith, Shea, Butcher, etc.It's a trade that makes sense anyway, As Emp said it helps with WBS vet problems and at worst it's a dman you weren't going to use for a younger dman you aren't going to use and at best, it's a dman you weren't going to use for a PMD that may rebound.
Was about to say obviously yes but I legit forgot Ty Smith cleared waivers.Does Rathbone make Ty Smith even more expendable? I was for tading Smith for a young forward in the same situation even before this trade.
I just like to see Dubas making trades to impact the AHL team. Would be nice to see WBS have some success
WBS has a stacked defense at this point, especially after signing Hajek to an AHL deal. Hajek is also not a veteran in the AHL, so that helps a bit too.
The organization as a whole is really deep on defense at this point. I don't know the exact pairs they're running with in WBS, but WBS now has Smith, Fedun, Ouellett, Rathbone, Hajek, Samukorov, Butcher and St. Ivany as pretty proven AHL defensemen or better. I think Fedun, Ouellet and Butcher are the only veterans of that group, and Butcher is injured right now anyway.
If I had to guess, I imagine WBS defense will be something like this until Butcher gets back:
Smith-Fedun
Rathbone-Ouellet
Hajek-St. Ivany
Samukorov
I imagine they'll rotate the defensemen to have all of them play. It seems like WBS has already been alternating Fedun and Ouellet, which may be due to veteran limits but it shows they will rotate through the guys.
Wish Rathbone was a right handed shot. Then there’d be slight hope Ruh comes out of the line up.
Shea-LudvigSmith-Fedun
Rathbone-Ouellet
Hajek-St. Ivany
Samukorov