Its all good BG, Thats what were here for....lol
LD-Sautner McEneny RD-Chatfield Blujus LD/RD-Brisebois seem like a pretty reliable solid core for the defense....NO?
add in Olli Juolevi for at least until they settle the Edler Del Zotto and Hutton situations this year and i dont see the dilemma's regarding the defense?
Of course injuries can and will occur
C- Kero Gaudette MacMaster Darcy Hamilton.................................Chaput Cassels Cameranesi
LW- Boucher Dahlen Palmu Archibald Gadjovich.............................Goldobin Molino Labate
RW- Motte Jasek Lind MacEwen Bancks Carcone..............................Megna Daoust Cherniwchan
LD- Juolevi Sautner McEneny........................................................Weicioch Holm
RD- Brisebois Blujus Chatfield Sifers
GK- Demko Bachman
Those are some nice upgrades and full seasons from Boucher Archibald McEneny and Blujus would be huge as well
As far a C ice goes......Gaudette and MacMaster who you really liked last year should be a couple nice centres with playmaking abilities and theres always the possibility that Motte and MacEwen could play in the middle too if needed.
As far as the veteran defenseman isn't that what Blujus was signed for and what about McEneny? You might get Quinn Hughes to replace Juolevi by seasons end if things go well also.
anyways i would be ****ing stoked if i was a Utica season ticket holder vs the gong show we have going here in Van
You are not the first poster from Vancouver to put MacMaster in the middle. He may have been there before he got here, but all of his positive play in Utica was spent on LW. You are correct that I am high on this kid, but unless he was playing on the wing for some unknown reason of idiocy, that's where he will be again. I say idiocy because if this kid was a talented center, why would the plugs Utica sent out at center the second half of the season not be replaced in a split second by Tanner MacMaster? So take MacMaster out of the middle, call up Gaudette and the centers after Kero are Darcy, Hamilton, and whomever. "Good luck getting the puck from these centers talented wingers."
Sautner had his first full season playing above #6 and he was still in need of an experienced defender to succeed.
McEneny was starting his second year with the Comets when out for the season after 11 games. He is in essence about begin his second AHL season after losing a full season to major knee construction. Expecting big things to start the season is over the top with optimism.
Brisebois and Chatfield are still very young and in only their second pro seasons and did not have the kind of season that makes them top notch AHL defenders. One is a 3rd round draft pick, but not a can't miss blue chipper. He needs lots of work to be NHL ready and the other is going to be lucky to be a top AHL player. Both still need a vet babysitter like they had all last season.
They are where they are in this franchise because Benning has drafted little in the way of D until Juolevi who has proven to be a project and now Hughes who is back in school. Both of the higher picks have already passed these two by and left them barely visible in the rear view mirror.
Blujus came in as a PTO and earned an AHL contract. He is not exactly one of the AHL's brightest veteran D-men. Yet, with the D the Comets played every night he and Sautner established themselves as the top defensive pairing with puck moving abilities. On a good AHL team Blujus is maybe on the third pairing. If you leave this D-corps as is, he is elevated to top 2/3.
Sifers is a reserve at beat, yet last season he had the best influence on Briesbois's game.
What I guess I am trying to say is these guys fit into a good D-corps if the two defenders who left are replaced by better AHL vets who will not get called up, but will stabilize the kids and give them a partner to help them develop their games instead of scrambling around like fish out of water trying to make sure the other team doesn't score. They can develop into actual promising hockey players.
16 of 31 AHL teams make the playoffs. Bubble teams are comprised mostly of players unlikely to become NHL players of serious note. There are one or two exceptions on those rosters every once in a while. The good teams have a very good mix of top prospects, 6 high level AHL vets (no more) who will likely never get a call-up, NHL/AHL tweeners who are not vets, Europeans brought in to shore up weak spots, and good kids who play the game well, but are just not going to get to the show, but do really well in the AHL and are also not yet qualified as vets. This is how good AHL GMs work with their NHL counterpart to build their rosters.
Henning knew just how this worked. Benning fired him and the Comets have floundered in mediocrity ever since. Ryan Johnson has made no effort to become one of these GMs.