Speculation: 2019 Off-Season Thread - Part 6

[Steazy Doo]

H

Where did "Stamkos at wing" come from? He played exclusively at center all last season, playoffs and I imagine that's where he'll be all season.

Johnson on the other hand has looked much better since being moved to wing, unless Point is missing the start of the season Johnson should stay there

He's been at wing for all of camp so far. Make of it what you will.

 

[Outl4w]

Why do people want Joseph on the top line..? His offensive skillset is limited, he's a player you love to see on the 3rd line but will quickly be hated on the 1st line when he's botching prime opportunities and can't keep up, we've already been through this with Killorn, Palat, Johnson, Gourde and others who are more talented offensively than Joseph. Keep him on the 3rd line with Cirelli where both of them shine and makes the team the deepest.

I want him to go get pucks and feed the beast.

 

[HoseEmDown]

Why do people want Joseph on the top line..? His offensive skillset is limited, he's a player you love to see on the 3rd line but will quickly be hated on the 1st line when he's botching prime opportunities and can't keep up, we've already been through this with Killorn, Palat, Johnson, Gourde and others who are more talented offensively than Joseph. Keep him on the 3rd line with Cirelli where both of them shine and makes the team the deepest.

I don't think Joseph should be on the top line all year but he should at least get some looks in the top 6 this year. His offensive skill set isn't limited, it's just not as good as Kucherov or Stamkos but who is? He put up 1.48 ppg his last year in the Q and had 53 points his rookie year in the AHL. He isn't going to be a ppg player or maybe even a 60 point one but again who do we have that can do that regularly? I don't think Volkov could and maybe Raddysh but that would be with PP time. I can see Joseph as a 40-50 point player without much PP time. He had 13 ES goals and 24 ES points with limited minutes. Put him on the top line and he could be a 20-20 guy no problem then you put Volkov in his spot on the 3rd line. Worth a try since Johnson and Palat don't seem like 50+ point guys anymore while no prospect is ready to be a 50 point guy just yet themselves.

 

[Stormbreaker]

 

[ccman68]

Could have been us

 

[These Are The Days]

Could have been us

Thank GOD we stuck to our guns there right?

 

[Master P]

I mean we have enough small skilled forwards don't we?

But hey, nice preseason pass I guess.

 

[Sky04]

H

He's been at wing for all of camp so far. Make of it what you will.

I mean can try anything in training camp, my moneys on Stamkos as a center on opening day and even moreso with Point unsigned.

 

[Sky04]

I mean we have enough small skilled forwards don't we?

But hey, nice preseason pass I guess.

Yes and how are Dotchin and Koekkoek fairing with the team right now?

 

[Master P]

Yes and how are Dotchin and Koekkoek fairing with the team right now?

Those are defensemen

 

[RussianGuyovich]

Those are defensemen

We sent gusev to Vegas to ensure that we could keep those,...umm... “assets”.

That’s what’s he’s referring to in the post.

We f***ed up.

 

[LightningStrikes]

We sent gusev to Vegas to ensure that we could keep those,...umm... “assets”.

That’s what’s he’s referring to in the post.

We ****ed up.

Hey, we got Rutta out of all that.

 

[NatoGhost]

Hindsight is 20/20. Yeah some guys were high on Gusev there but many were also high on Dotchin and KoekKoek too. I don't blame the team for the route they took. Didn't pan out but not everything does. To bring it up and complain after that play is kinda pointless and borderline petty imo.

I mean sure were fans and nitpick the team so fine, but cant expect every move to turn out perfectly.

 

[DFC]

I don't think Joseph should be on the top line all year but he should at least get some looks in the top 6 this year. His offensive skill set isn't limited, it's just not as good as Kucherov or Stamkos but who is? He put up 1.48 ppg his last year in the Q and had 53 points his rookie year in the AHL. He isn't going to be a ppg player or maybe even a 60 point one but again who do we have that can do that regularly? I don't think Volkov could and maybe Raddysh but that would be with PP time. I can see Joseph as a 40-50 point player without much PP time. He had 13 ES goals and 24 ES points with limited minutes. Put him on the top line and he could be a 20-20 guy no problem then you put Volkov in his spot on the 3rd line. Worth a try since Johnson and Palat don't seem like 50+ point guys anymore while no prospect is ready to be a 50 point guy just yet themselves.

I watched him a fair bit in the Q. His skillset is limited--or, more accurately, his arsenal of moves is limited--but it's simple and effective. It's basically what we saw last year. He beats guys up the boards and makes a play to the slot. Then he often follows the play to the net and cleans up. I think that's what he'll be his whole career, and I wish we had two of him.

 

[DFC]

Brandon Carlo signed. These D deals are making next year look better. At least in terms of getting both D signed to reasonable contracts. Not sure how we get Cirelli or Joseph done, given Vasy's raise. Creativity will be required.

 

[Whoshattenkirkshoes]

If Volkov makes the team he might get a spot on the top line. If the plan is to keep both Stamkos and Johnson at wing it doesn't leave us overly deep down the middle. Apparently Killorn swapped places with Palat today, so I wouldn't mind seeing the offense more spread out if one of the young guns makes the team.

Volkov-Point-Kucherov
Killorn-Cirelli-Stamkos
Palat-Johnson-Gourde
Maroon-Paquette-Joseph

If not, I still like the top 6 that is currently being speculated amongst the media/fans.

Not saying it will happen but I love these lines.

 

[Master P]

We sent gusev to Vegas to ensure that we could keep those,...umm... “assets”.

That’s what’s he’s referring to in the post.

We ****ed up.

I think we'll be ok. Also, i'd like to see how he fairs 0ver an NHL season.

 

[bov]

Verhaeghe will be an interesting one. As DFC pointed out, there seems to be a hole at 3C (If training camp lines are to be believed), and while I don't think he's penciled in just yet, it could end up being a sell high situation down the road. Perhaps he'll get an opportunity to play with some skilled players early on and who knows if that might attract some interest. For some reason I have a hard time seeing Verhaeghe on the team a year or two from now, so a trial at 3C wouldn't be the end of the world. Wouldn't bet on him being in the opening night lineup, but if our top two down the middle is Point/Cirelli to start the season, who knows!

I'm also a bit curious to see what happens with Rutta. At this point, it may just be about not losing Koekkoek for nothing. Part of me is hoping Rutta can prove himself as a capable bottom pairing d-man enough to get back a little something mid-season. He's another guy I have a very hard time seeing on this team past 2019-2020, so might as well see if you can squeeze some value out of him in the meantime. Wishful thinking I suppose.

Volkov, Verhaeghe, Martel, Stephens and Witkowski will be battling it out for the final two (maybe three) roster spots with the way things are looking...something's gotta give.

 

[DFC]

Elsewhere, reports have it that Dustin Byfulien is considering retirement. If that happens, the Jets' blueline will be in rough shape, which could easily spark a Laine trade. Which of course would include a new contract for Laine, thus a little more light on this RFA situation.

Hard to imagine the Jets and Laine going much further together, at this point.

 

[CupsOverCash]

Elsewhere, reports have it that Dustin Byfulien is considering retirement. If that happens, the Jets' blueline will be in rough shape, which could easily spark a Laine trade. Which of course would include a new contract for Laine, thus a little more light on this RFA situation.

Hard to imagine the Jets and Laine going much further together, at this point.

Yea Jets having a rough offseason. Crazy I considered them to be right there with us for many of these contending years and one bad offseason like this and its not looking good at the moment.

 

[Sky04]

Elsewhere, reports have it that Dustin Byfulien is considering retirement. If that happens, the Jets' blueline will be in rough shape, which could easily spark a Laine trade. Which of course would include a new contract for Laine, thus a little more light on this RFA situation.

Hard to imagine the Jets and Laine going much further together, at this point.

Trouba and Buff over one 1 summer is huge, as high as Laine's potential is it reeks of another Drouin situation over there, don't think his "me, me, me" attitude sits well with the leaders in Buff, Wheeler and Scheifele. Not envious of their situation right now, especially given the time crunch they have to make some big decisions.

 

[Stormbreaker]

 

[DFC]

Killer's kind of a beast for his size.

 

[Byrddog]

After the playoff flameout the offseason has been an endless void. Where we know we have the team to make a deep run yet we have to wait 12 months not just the offseason.

 

[CupsOverCash]

After the playoff flameout the offseason has been an endless void. Where we know we have the team to make a deep run yet we have to wait 12 months not just the offseason.

Most brutal thing about the sweep. We have a long wait until the team can redeem themselves.