Irishguy42
Mr. Preachy
I thought Fogarty had a pretty good end of the season in the AHL?
He did.
He just hasn't stood out in Traverse, which I don't think is his style anyway.
I thought Fogarty had a pretty good end of the season in the AHL?
He's playing on a line with Stromwall and Kovacs who have chemistry already. He's never going to be an offensive producer, the hope should be for a 4th line Center ala Dominic Moore
He's playing on a line with Stromwall and Kovacs who have chemistry already. He's never going to be an offensive producer, the hope should be for a 4th line Center ala Dominic Moore
Saturday's lines to start the game
IMO some players can flourish in the more wide open, disjointed style of play you see in these tournaments because they like to play with the puck on their stick and to try things, etc. I think other types of players can vastly benefit from a more structured pro style of game because they're not the type that have the puck all the time and playing within a more strict system allows them to use their strengths better
I thought Fogarty had a pretty good end of the season in the AHL?
Still feel reserved about Nieves' upside...he stands out with his skating but I'm not convinced of his offensive production. That said, it doesn't have to be a case where he develops into a top 6 NHLer
He only played 3 games with very limited ice time to adjust to the pros by getting an early cup of coffee in Hartford. I can't judge him too much on this, I wish he and Nieves got to play in the AHL post-season which is very high level of competition because 1) bad teams are gone; 2) teams get an infusion of NHL and borderline-NHL talent from the eliminated NHL squads. McIlrath and especially Lindberg benefited a lot because Hartford went all the way to the third round the previous season.
Nieves, on the other hand, looked really good in his 8 Hartford games. Some mistakes, but he came out flying as soon as he put on the Pack uniform. Now he stands out in Traverse, so I think he may have a good AHL rookie season. I highly doubt he makes the NHL at any point this season because there are too many little quirks that needs to be fixed, but given his size, speed, on-ice vision and effort, I see him as an NHLer... some time in 2018.
Nieves has an upside somewhere between Kreider and Hagelin. In many ways, he's like a poor man's Kreider: he's big, but not as big; fast, but not as fast; decent shot, but not great like Kreider. He has better vision than either Kreider or Hagelin, but I don't see him as a top-6 guy because he lacks the creativity or the shot to score enough for that. Realistically, he can be a nice playmaking third line center.