Gives you the feeling they could be developing something great. How long till you have this lineup?
I agree with your first line, but I have doubts that Brown can become a true 1C. I think he is highly skilled with good vision and IQ. Just not convinced he has the compete and skating, also hoping injuries don’t derail his career.
Haven’t seen enough of Norris to say he is a 2nd line C, but he could interchange with White. Duclair would be a good finisher.
Chlapik is a question mark for me, hopefully another year in the ahl being the man will help.
Paul has done well since January but I wonder if that is because of Brown and Batherson. Not sure he can translate his current success on a 4th line. Verroneau might be a good substitute if Paul can’t translate.
Abramov could be a good 2nd or 3rd line replacement.
Agree with the D and goalie.
(9 guys) Tkachuk, White, Duclair, Pageau, Chabot, DeMelo, Jaros, Lajoie (was sent down because of injuries and to probably save on his NHL salary lol), Nilsson (if signed) are already NHL players, they just need to continue progressing or raising their level of play.
(5 guys) Balcers, Wolanin, Hogberg, Paul and Davidsson are on the verge of becoming full-time NHL players (Davidsson almost made the Jackets last year). It remains to be seen if Paul and Hogberg can stick but it'll depend on the depth in front of them.
(4 guys) Brown, Batherson, Brannstrom and Chlapik have been kept in the AHL for more development time but they're very close to be NHL ready, should be there full time next year.
(4 guys) Norris, Formenton, Daccord and Bernard-Docker haven't turned pro yet but who knows how much development time they'll need? We'll have to wait training camp to see how far they are. Maybe Formenton makes it right away. Norris is possible too. JBD will be back in college at least another year and Daccord will turn pro.
(3 guys) Tychonick, Gustavsson and Mandolese are clearly the guys who are the farthest away. They need development time for sure. They are still very young and raw
Regarding your points :
- Yes injuries are a concern for Brown, but it is the case for most players. Look at the giant Cowen was, his career still got derailed by injuries. He looked very promising based on his junior career, AHL time and NHL rookie season. Brown has NHL skating, it's not a worry as long as he keeps progressing. And the problem is not "compete" (taller players always look lazier or less competitive), it's that he has to find ways to be more involved in the play, thing he has done a lot more IMO in the AHL after he came back from injury.
- yeah for now Norris is not a guaranteed thing at the NHL level, but based on his pedigree and development curve plus outstanding athleticism, I think he turns out at least a top-9 player. I personally think he ends up better than White but it's an opinion. Worse case scenario if he doesn't then you could have Formenton-White-Duclair as your 2nd line (let's not forget more changes will happen and some other prospects will get drafted)
- Chlapik has everything to be a full-time NHLer but he's still just 21 years old. Not a big deal at all if he hasn't turned a full-time NHLer yet. But it's normal to have question marks. He's another guy who have been slowed down by a few injuries too
- Paul could have been in the NHL as grinder already. He hasn't stick yet but under Boucher things became messy and unstructured so it's naive to become decisive about any player that has player under that regime. From what I have seen and reports of his play in the AHL, sure it helps to play with the B's but he has been very strong too. And we shouldn't put top-6 expectations on him, we just need him to be the "perfect 4th liner", that has more value than people think. And like you said, worse case scenario there'll be some other guys to fall back on if he doesn't work out.
- Abramov is probably the most obscure and unsure Sens prospect, at least among those who already turned pro. High talent level, could turn out really good but size and skating are a concern and might hold him back. We'll have to wait and see.
Couldn't agree more about that top line. I think if there's any chance Brown becomes a 1C, it's gonna be between Tkachuk and Batherson. He needs to play on a high energy line, and we know Brady brings that. We've seen his chemistry with Batherson as well. I would play that line next year. Then after we draft Lafreniere we can play Brady with Norris and Duclair (this is a pretty good 2nd line) and let Alexis dominate with Brown and Bath
Regardless, this team needs to keep Duclair. Dorion's best trade ever, he can't ruin it by not keeping him.
Yeah, Brown is a bit like Ryan (or Spezza), he needs to play with high skill dynamic players. That's what will make his skill-set more efficient. That's always the case with high skill finesse players.
If we draft Lafreniere, then lol
Tkachuk-Brown-Batherson
Lafreniere-Norris-White
Formenton-Chlapik-Duclair/Balcers
Paul-Pageau-Davidsson
with Balcers, Abramov, Veronneau, Crookshank, Gruden and new drafted prospects pushing behind. I suspect some guys would be traded by then because of the massive upcoming logjam.
No worries about Duclair, he's under the Sens control. They should sign him to a 2 years bridge contract, which would bring to his last RFA year, then you either trade him for a decent/good/great asset or sign him long-term to be part of your core.
You always put a lot of thought into your work. Thank You.
I think people like Gibbons, Duclair, etc will be here at least next year so that Norris, Brown, Formenton and that level are in Belleville. Its is important to build a culture of winning. The group in Ottawa next year will become numbed with loosing. I just hope that Chabot, Wolanin, Jaros etc can understand that in 2020-2021 the group will be completely different.
And yes, Anderson, Smith, Boedker, Paajarvi, Ceci should be moved along.
Thanks it's appreciated.
I agree that players should not be gradated until they're really ready. Next year will be another transitional season for that and some players will be stop gaps until youngsters are ready to graduate. It remains to be seen if Duclair will be a stop gap or become a core player, impossible to say right now.
I know most expect the Sens to lose a lot again next year but I'm not 100% sure yet. It really depends what happens with coaching and goaltending.
Boucher was fired on March 1st and since then, the Sens have a 6-8-1 record, 43 GF and 49 GA. It's nothing spectacular but it's AFTER the 3 best forwards were gone and they faced some pretty good teams too. I'm not saying you should expect them to do well over a full year or make the playoffs but I've seen stranger things than it would be for them to not finish bottom-5. Heck, I thought the Habs were going to be bottom-3 based on their roster but their coaching staff makes them probably the hardest working team in the NHL and very structured for a team that has a worse defense than the Sens on paper. Plus, they have Carey Price to mask deficiencies.
So I'm just saying people shouldn't take a top-4 pick for granted. It's likely at this point but people could be disappointed. That's why the timing of rebuilding didn't make sense (as they didn't have their 1st this year), should have just traded Mike Hoffman for help at defense and go all in with Karlsson, Chabot, Stone, Duchene, etc. Of course, a coaching change and goaltending help was imperative and should have make them good enough to fight for the playoffs. Then, if it doesn't work, you sell at the deadline and rebuild.
However, that being said, it's a dangerous game, could be in the hunt for a playoff spot with pending UFAs and can't trade them, like the Jackets.
