2018-2019 Training Camp Discussion

[doublechili]

It’s possible we keep 8 D with Sbisa and Mayfield as the extras. Toews can play with Pelech on the 3rd pair.

I think at some point this season they will settle in as part of the set top 6, but to start I think there will be a rotation.

 

[duster19]

I don't see how, we have too many forwards, especially if Ladd is playing. Is Toews still waiver exempt?

I think Gross thinks Kovar is going to BPT.

I can’t see that. I’m guessing he would leave for the KHL. But he mentioned it in a tweet before that maybe Kovar would start in the AHL.

 

[seafoam]

I mean, I agree about Toews. But what is bath salts lunacy? Is that a real expression?

It is now.

 

[xECK29x]

Toews goes back to Bridgeport as he is waiver except and makes sure his shoulder is 100% I think, no sense having him up as a 7 or 8 D. Trades have to be coming, there are just too many bodies.

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

When you have higher ceiling D-men in the pipeline it pushes guys like Pelech and Mayfield lower on the totem pole. Toews and Dobson could really make some noise in this league.

Oh, I think you're very right.

And once they're ready to do so, they could actually be pushing every single NYI Dman down that totem pole other than Leddy & Pulock.

But they're not doing it yet and particularly Dobson may need several years before he is.

Another thing to consider: Maybe Pelech starts making some noise in this league?

As Crasherino said, Pelech has 130 NHL games under his belt already. It’s not a small sample size anymore.

Oh goodness fellas, that's little more than a spit in the bucket.

Everyone in the know is aware that it generally takes a good long while for a Dman in the NHL to become all that he can be.

Pelech is still at the beginning of his journey. Give me a ring when he's got 280-350 games under his belt.

As a sidenote, in his most recent 78 games (also known as his first full NHL season), Mr. Pelech managed a +7 for the worst team defense in the NHL. I don't know how any fan in his right mind can look at that and think this guy may not be worth investing some more time in.

 

[crasherino]

Toews goes back to Bridgeport as he is waiver except and makes sure his shoulder is 100% I think, no sense having him up as a 7 or 8 D. Trades have to be coming, there are just too many bodies.

If Ladd starts on IR, I think they go with 8 Dmen and 13 Forwards and send Ross J. back to BP. And I also think Toews gets at least a few looks in the beginning of the season in Mayfield's place. I guess we'll see though.

 

[saintunspecified]

It is now.

So turns out it's real:

Synthetic Cathinones ("Bath Salts")

Jesse Kline: The bath salts epidemic that (probably) wasn’t

So, apparently, bath salts madness is the kind of madness that turns people into zombies and causes them to eat others' faces.

 

[buud]

I think Gross thinks Kovar is going to BPT.

I can’t see that. I’m guessing he would leave for the KHL. But he mentioned it in a tweet before that maybe Kovar would start in the AHL.

i would rather see Kuhnackl sent down to BP, and keep Kovar.

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

Do you think it's an accident Vegas got rid of him?

Well, as a team absolutely loaded in D candidates, they didn't get "rid of him". They just let him walk.

The guy has been around and is still a young veteran and former first round pick. He's had some good and not so good seasons.

Statistically, he was actually pretty good last year.

Adding him is a wise depth move. It doesn't have to mean he's got a top 6 role locked up.

 

[CodeE]

Some of you guys would honestly rather have Toews get Donovan'd into a nobody than let Sbisa be a healthy scratch and *fingers crossed* maybe get us a 4th or 5th at the deadline.

 

[seafoam]

Why is Ross Johnston making the team at this point? I like him more than most and would have been fine with him as a part time 4th liner but now that we have Martin, he really brings nothing to the table that we don't already have....other than a legit fighter (which isn't needed in the NHL these days).

If its between Johnston and Kovar, keep Kovar and see what we have and go from there. No one is claiming Johnston on waivers.

Yeah I don’t get this.

Unless Kovar is not willing to be a healthy scratch, waiving Johnston is the move you make. Lamoriello preached about depth down the middle before camp and signing Johnston to that four year term at 1M was supposed to ensure he would make it through waivers and also not count against the cap.

 

[Glory Days]

Okay, thanks. Since Ladd is up in the air let's assume they need to cut 3 for now. IMO they will give Toews lots of minutes in the last preseason games. Assuming he passes the test the cuts will be:

Seidenberg
Gionta
Kuhnhackl

That would leave:

Beau - Barzal - Bailey
Lee - Nelson - Eberle
Komarov - Filppula - Kovar
Martin - Cizikas- Clutterbuck
Johnston/Ladd

Leddy - Boychuk
Hickey - Pulock
Pelech - Mayfield
Toews- Sbisa

I think what you'd see on defense is relatively equal playing time for the 3 pairings, with some rest/maintenance days for Boychuk.

I think Johnston gets waived and clears. I doubt anyone picks up his 4 year contract. Then Ladd goes on IR to start the season. I agree on Seids and Gionta. I think Gionta winds up in Bridge.

 

[sabremike]

I mean, I agree about Toews. But what is bath salts lunacy? Is that a real expression?

Bath salts are essentially the same as meth and every bit as potent in destroying a person both mentally and physically. Think crack x 1,000.

 

[crasherino]

Oh, I think you're very right.

And once they're ready to do so, they could actually be pushing every single NYI Dman down that totem pole other than Leddy & Pulock.

But they're not doing it yet and particularly Dobson may need several years before he is.

Another thing to consider: Maybe Pelech starts making some noise in this league?



Oh goodness fellas, for U24 Dmen in this league, that's little more than a spit in the bucket.

Everyone in the know is aware that it generally takes a good long while for a Dman in the NHL to become all that he can be.

Pelech is still at the beginning of his journey. Give me a ring when he's got 280 games under his belt.

As a sidenote, in his most recent 78 games (also known as his first full NHL season), Mr. Pelech managed a +7 for the worst team defense in the NHL. I don't know how any fan in his right mind can look at that and think this guy may not be worth investing some more time in.

That's true - the book on him is far from being written. But....the first few chapters have been. This year will be very telling. I think he still can develop into a nice two way defender. Clearly not a top pair guy, but a 2nd/3rd tweener perhaps. Nothing wrong with that - especially if you have two solid pairings above him.

But I don't have any real issue with Pelech or his contract. My issues are more with the Mayfield deal. I think his upside is fairly limited and what we've seen is what we get. And what we've seen ain't terrible - he's not a complete liability. But, he's not a guy who anyone will ever say "Oh, we need to get that guy in the lineup."

 

[saintunspecified]

Bath salts are essentially the same as meth and every bit as potent in destroying a person both mentally and physically. Think crack x 1,000.

I understand this now. I was thinking "bath salts" were scenty packets of fizzy stuff one puts in the bath while covering one's eyes with sliced cucumber.

 

[seafoam]

Toews goes back to Bridgeport as he is waiver except and makes sure his shoulder is 100% I think, no sense having him up as a 7 or 8 D. Trades have to be coming, there are just too many bodies.

Just waive Johnston. Hickey, Mayfield, Pelech, Sbisa fight over the last two D spots.

 

[seafoam]

Also, Trotz thinks of Martin-Cizikas-Clutterbuck as the third line...

“A lot of people call it the fourth line and I don’t really call it the fourth line,” Trotz said. “I just call it the third line and the grind line.”

 

[PWJunior]

Sbisa signed, f***.

 

[saintunspecified]

Also, Trotz thinks of Martin-Cizikas-Clutterbuck as the third line...

lol. I used to say this back when people were calling it the "best fourth line in hockey", and they were the third line by TOI.

 

[Islanders4Cups]

Also, Trotz thinks of Martin-Cizikas-Clutterbuck as the third line...

He thinks MC2 is the grind line.

 

[seafoam]

lol. I used to say this back when people were calling it the "best fourth line in hockey", and they were the third line by TOI.

Getting paid like a third line too...

 

[SI90]

Getting paid like a third line too...

Exactly what I was about to post lol

 

[Macch]

We're not making the playoffs this year. Why is everyone getting so butt hurt over the roster? The young players sent down to BP were sent there for their own good.

This is not Garth Snow throwing together a shit roster and saying he expects us to compete for the cup.

The Isles have a lot of holes that you can't fix over one FA period.

LL went out and signed guys that Trotz wanted to help implement his system and lay his foundation. I expect the team we finish the season with to be pretty different than the team we start with.

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

Still amazes me to see how much this team looks like both a typical Lamoriello team from days of old AND the type of team build Trotz went to camp with in Washington last fall.

When I say that, I mean:
- Two clear cut scoring lines
- Two clear cut grinding/shutdown lines
- Several forwards with yet undefined purposes for the team
- Four clear cut Dmen to build the top 4 with
- Four clear cut Dmen to build the bottom 4 with
- Same assistant coach and goalie supervisor

 

[doublechili]

He thinks MC2 is the grind line.

Yes, thanks for clarifying. Trotz meant the the NYI have the 3rd line and the grind line (Martin's line). He didn't say they were like a 3rd line.