Alexei Marchenko AHL next year

Henkka

Registered User
Jan 31, 2004
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Tampere, Finland
+20 points, like Slava Voynov did at his rookie-seson in AHL, would be nice.

3rd pair, 2nd PP should be his duty.

I think Sproul will be at 1st pair + 1st PP and Jensen is at 2nd pair. Right-handed 2nd PP pointmen position will be a competition between Marchenko and Jensen. Better will get the ice-time.

Left-handed pointmen will be Almquist and Ouellet.

Almquist - Sproul
Ouellet - Jensen
XXX - Marchenko
Nicastro

Don't really know who will be penalty-killers. Maybe Ouellet at 1st PK and Almquist at 2nd, like he has been already at this season.
 
Last edited:

The Zetterberg Era

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Nov 8, 2011
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+20 points, like Slava Voynov did at his rookie-seson in AHL, would be nice.

3rd pair, 2nd PP should be his duty.

I think Sproul will be at 1st pair + 1st PP and Jensen is at 2nd pair. Right-handed 2nd PP pointmen position will be a competition between Marchenko and Jensen. Better will get the ice-time.

Left-handed pointmen will be Almquist and Ouellet.

Almquist - Sproul
Ouellet - Jensen
XXX - Marchenko
Nicastro

Don't really know who will be penalty-killers. Maybe Ouellet at 1st PK and Almquist at 2nd, like he has been already at this season.

I know people like Sproul but he is the least mature defensively of that bunch. Jensen and Marchenko are deeper into their development. My opinion is Sproul plays third pair with first PP duty.

Basically they can re-sign Evans and work him in as the big vet stay at home guy on the third pair, allowing Sproul to grow with stay at home protection.

Wish their was a way to get Paetsch back he has been incredible this year.
 

DatsyukToZetterberg

Alligator!
Apr 3, 2011
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Well it wouldn't be very good with 4 rookie defensemen either. The AHL club wants to win to, its not just a league for prospects to develop.

It's not like all 4 of them are coming from the CHL though. Jensen was an extremely good defender in the NCAA, he should be fine in the AHL, & Marchenko has been playing in the KHL which some would argue is better then the AHL. The only player that has to play catch up on the defensive side of the puck is Sproul but his offensive play more then makes up for his deficiencies.

I think our group next year will have a lot more offense coming from the back end & I think they may be better defensively as well. Ouellet, Jensen & Almqvist are all fine defensively, I don't know enough about Marchenko to comment on his game, & if we sign a veteran he should be good enough to shelter someone.
 

The Zetterberg Era

Ball Hockey Sucks
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Personally I would pair them as follows, for balance and where I think they are at.

Almqvist - Jensen

Almqvist is a cerebral puck mover, needs to gain a step, but he has sound positioning and an active stick, what he lacks is speed. Jensen will be the fastest player on the team next year. I see him more as a swift skating stay at home type, he will chip in on offense maybe sometimes decently but reminds me of Beauchemin or Hedican, guys with offensive talent but guys that use their skating to become very good defensive d-man.

Ouellet - Marchenko

Ouellet is ready in all three zones, he can move the puck, is solid on the boards and is a coaches best friend. Marchenko has a nice physical component to his game, is a slick puck mover with a plus shot. He is more offensive and Ouellet will provide him cover. This pairing will be a nightmare in transition as both players can go and both can cover for each other although Ouellet will be counted on to be the more defensive minded in my opinion.

Evans - Sproul

A massive and intimidating pairing. Evans can be the rock that allows Sproul to learn and jump up into the play. Eventually when Sproul is proving adequate in his own end you can experiment with him up the lineup, but he needs to work on positioning and having a D-man that covers his mistakes is the answer not throwing him to the wolves.

PP D-pairings Almqvist - Marchenko & Ouellet - Sproul

PK D-pairings Evans - Jensen & Ouellet - Almqvist
 

Henkka

Registered User
Jan 31, 2004
31,077
12,078
Tampere, Finland
Personally I would pair them as follows, for balance and where I think they are at.

Almqvist - Jensen

Almqvist is a cerebral puck mover, needs to gain a step, but he has sound positioning and an active stick, what he lacks is speed. Jensen will be the fastest player on the team next year. I see him more as a swift skating stay at home type, he will chip in on offense maybe sometimes decently but reminds me of Beauchemin or Hedican, guys with offensive talent but guys that use their skating to become very good defensive d-man.

Ouellet - Marchenko

Ouellet is ready in all three zones, he can move the puck, is solid on the boards and is a coaches best friend. Marchenko has a nice physical component to his game, is a slick puck mover with a plus shot. He is more offensive and Ouellet will provide him cover. This pairing will be a nightmare in transition as both players can go and both can cover for each other although Ouellet will be counted on to be the more defensive minded in my opinion.

Evans - Sproul

A massive and intimidating pairing. Evans can be the rock that allows Sproul to learn and jump up into the play. Eventually when Sproul is proving adequate in his own end you can experiment with him up the lineup, but he needs to work on positioning and having a D-man that covers his mistakes is the answer not throwing him to the wolves.

PP D-pairings Almqvist - Marchenko & Ouellet - Sproul

PK D-pairings Evans - Jensen & Ouellet - Almqvist

Good ES pairings, but I'd put Sproul to PK because he has to learn to PK some day. I'd prefer learn those skills in AHL than NHL. Don't want another Yandle for Wings some day. He is so big with good reach, just like Ericsson = future penalty killer. Ericsson developed from forward position to be our best PK defenceman, so Sproul can definitely go with same route.
 

The Zetterberg Era

Ball Hockey Sucks
Nov 8, 2011
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Good ES pairings, but I'd put Sproul to PK because he has to learn to PK some day. I'd prefer learn those skills in AHL than NHL. Don't want another Yandle for Wings some day. He is so big with good reach, just like Ericsson = future penalty killer. Ericsson developed from forward position to be our best PK defenceman, so Sproul can definitely go with same route.

The idea is to win at the AHL level too, they care about that.

For me Sproul is going to be there for 3 years. Just what I have seen from his game, so he learns responsible 5 on 5 play most of the year and we still get to use his PP game as a weapon. In year two he becomes a PK guy. Year three he logs massive minutes in preparation for the show.

Like I said if he gets ahead of where we think he is in development that is great. He gets more responsibility. But he is pretty much the sixth option on the PK next year because of what this roster appears to be trending at. Sure work him in a little. One interesting thing is if this lineup comes together especially on the back-end, they are going to blow a lot of people out which is good for development. I think they will get to experiment plenty because of just how much firepower they are going to have.
 

Henkka

Registered User
Jan 31, 2004
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Tampere, Finland
The idea is to win at the AHL level too, they care about that.

For me Sproul is going to be there for 3 years. Just what I have seen from his game, so he learns responsible 5 on 5 play most of the year and we still get to use his PP game as a weapon. In year two he becomes a PK guy. Year three he logs massive minutes in preparation for the show.

Like I said if he gets ahead of where we think he is in development that is great. He gets more responsibility. But he is pretty much the sixth option on the PK next year because of what this roster appears to be trending at. Sure work him in a little. One interesting thing is if this lineup comes together especially on the back-end, they are going to blow a lot of people out which is good for development. I think they will get to experiment plenty because of just how much firepower they are going to have.

Maybe they add things year-by-year. Just put Chelios to teach him some extra everyday... :)
 

StormSurge9

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Aug 9, 2009
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I think the "starting 4 rookies" is kind of overblown. Look at the top 6 that Grand Rapids are rolling with currently. Billins, Almqvist and Dekeyser are all rookies.

- As far as experience you could compare Jensen to Billins/Dekeyser coming straight from college.
- Marchenko would compare to Almqvist in the fact that they both play pro in Europe.
- Ouellet is even more pro ready then Billins was when he jumped into the lineup.

If they send Nicastro to the ECHL as was mentioned above. And keep Paetsch/Evans I think that would still be good enough for a winning team.
 
Jul 30, 2005
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I mean, what is location, really
Honestly, I don't think the world of the defense the Griffins have right now. I'm not particularly impressed by Lashoff. I think Skinner is ridiculously inconsistent. I think Billins has a lot more flash than function. Evans and Paetsch have been solid vets, though, even if Evans is a bit slow. I like Almquist, but by no means is he a dominant AHL guy at this point in time.

What I mean to say is that the rookies shouldn't be a step down. I think the new guys should dramatically improve the Griffins' PP, which was pretty darn mediocre before Nyquist et al. returned. Sproul and Ouellet are both very good shooters (Sproul the better, of course, but Ouellet is underrated there) and should make PKers pay a lot more attention to the point than they do right now.

I think they'll also improve the transition game the Griffins play so well. They're only upgrading in the skating, passing, and offensive hockey sense departments. Maybe that comes at a defensive cost, but let's not forget that Billins and Skinner have played a lot of minutes for this squad, and I don't think either of them are particularly good in their own end. I would take Ouellet and Jensen over both of those guys. I don't know about Marchenko, and I'd be willing to concede that Sproul might be worse.

My point is, the actual skillsets of these guys will make the swap a lot less painful than some think it'll be. The current D has overachieved, if anything.
 

Henkka

Registered User
Jan 31, 2004
31,077
12,078
Tampere, Finland
I think the "starting 4 rookies" is kind of overblown. Look at the top 6 that Grand Rapids are rolling with currently. Billins, Almqvist and Dekeyser are all rookies.

- As far as experience you could compare Jensen to Billins/Dekeyser coming straight from college.
- Marchenko would compare to Almqvist in the fact that they both play pro in Europe.
- Ouellet is even more pro ready then Billins was when he jumped into the lineup.

If they send Nicastro to the ECHL as was mentioned above. And keep Paetsch/Evans I think that would still be good enough for a winning team.

Good points.

2012-13 vs. 2013-14
Billins = Jensen
1st year Almquist = Marchenko
Evans = Evans
Skinner = Sproul (upgrade offensively, both are weak defensively)
Paetsch = 2nd year Almquist
Fournier/Lashoff = Ouellet (huge offensive upgrade)
1st year Nicastro vs. 2nd year Nicastro

Did not count DeKeyser, because he is only a help for final series.

When you add CHL defenceman of the year and former QMJHL defenseman of the year and NCAA best defenceman, those rookie status really won't matter. They are studs pretty soon maybe after some growing pains (like Jurco had), when they develop in good hands of Jim Paek, Chris Chelios and Jiri Fischer. Also Lidström will join to advice these kids at training camp.

It will be very very interesting season for Griffins.
 

joe89

#5
Apr 30, 2009
20,313
174
It comes down to the trust he gets from the coach compared to the other guys. There's not gonna be 3-4 rookies putting up 30+ points. Almqvist earned major trust early on which allowed him to have a good season. Next season I think it'll be a little tighter competition. Even if I'm high on Marchenko he's going in as the dark horse, and is probably not going to play in all the games. Would be very happy if he could maybe have 8-10 goals and 20-25 points while showing his defense is up to the task.
 

Frk It

Mo Seider Less Problems
Jul 27, 2010
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14,683
I think one of Jensen or Marchenko should get an extended look with the Wings (~25 games) to get a shot as a 3rd pairing ES guy and 1st unit PP guy (left side for one-timers.)

Have to figure CC is going to go down at some point for a good stretch, and then if any one of our other D is hurt at the same time I would like to see Jensen or Marchenko given a shot to "grab ahold of something". I certainly would wish they would be higher on the organizational depth chart than Lashoff, though that is likely not the case.

Jensen I think could give a great spark with his skating, willingness to be physical, PP experience, and of course handedness :)

I alwasy forget/wish we still have KFQ, since I like all of the d pairing I can come up with better when he is not included haha :laugh:
 

Anchor Town*

Guest
Personally I would pair them as follows, for balance and where I think they are at.

Almqvist - Jensen

Almqvist is a cerebral puck mover, needs to gain a step, but he has sound positioning and an active stick, what he lacks is speed. Jensen will be the fastest player on the team next year. I see him more as a swift skating stay at home type, he will chip in on offense maybe sometimes decently but reminds me of Beauchemin or Hedican, guys with offensive talent but guys that use their skating to become very good defensive d-man.

PK D-pairings Evans - Jensen & Ouellet - Almqvist

Jensen is an offensive defenseman first and foremost. His defensive game is what needs more work. Not sure how much of him you've seen
 
Aug 6, 2012
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5
Jensen is an offensive defenseman first and foremost. His defensive game is what needs more work. Not sure how much of him you've seen

He was very good defensively every time I've seen him play aside from his lackluster performance in the Frozen Four.
 

Frk It

Mo Seider Less Problems
Jul 27, 2010
36,201
14,683
Personally I would pair them as follows, for balance and where I think they are at.

Almqvist - Jensen

Almqvist is a cerebral puck mover, needs to gain a step, but he has sound positioning and an active stick, what he lacks is speed. Jensen will be the fastest player on the team next year. I see him more as a swift skating stay at home type, he will chip in on offense maybe sometimes decently but reminds me of Beauchemin or Hedican, guys with offensive talent but guys that use their skating to become very good defensive d-man.

Ouellet - Marchenko

Ouellet is ready in all three zones, he can move the puck, is solid on the boards and is a coaches best friend. Marchenko has a nice physical component to his game, is a slick puck mover with a plus shot. He is more offensive and Ouellet will provide him cover. This pairing will be a nightmare in transition as both players can go and both can cover for each other although Ouellet will be counted on to be the more defensive minded in my opinion.

Evans - Sproul

A massive and intimidating pairing. Evans can be the rock that allows Sproul to learn and jump up into the play. Eventually when Sproul is proving adequate in his own end you can experiment with him up the lineup, but he needs to work on positioning and having a D-man that covers his mistakes is the answer not throwing him to the wolves.

PP D-pairings Almqvist - Marchenko & Ouellet - Sproul

PK D-pairings Evans - Jensen & Ouellet - Almqvist

Almqvist-Marchenko
Ouellet-Sproul
Evans-Nicastro

Jensen on the Wings ;)

That looks perfect to me!

In all seriousness I think we should try to play Ouellet and Sproul a lot together since I think they could be a dynamite pairing together some day.
 

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