Recalled/Assigned: Connolly, Brown, Kucherov & others to Syracuse, Drouin to Halifax | Sustr staying

[Lord Stan 2020]

I read it the way you wrote it buddy. You should get a clue and learn to write clearly if you want to be understood.

I will try to be more clear but honestly I really doubt anyone thought I meant it like you thought. I meant it as look gudas and killorn have proven they can go and do full season. We only kept three rookie forwards 2 defense which didnt see coming myself.

Am wondering how fast we trade pyatt to give connolly his shot and a lot of this might be bringing up kids slowing and having 5 is a lot honestly and if add killorn gudas is 7 so can understand giving time for guys to work out the kinks than bring in less per time frame i hope people are ready to be disappointed cause I think we might not bring kids up even close to when we should.

I feel like the redwings lets sign the most worthless top 6 player in hockey the last 2 years and keep another kid down another year when they are over ready and by the way have the stats to prove that about cleary lol.

 

[MattM92]

Maybe but he has to be strong enough to take those lumps and keep going. I think he'll be fine though. He was the AHL Player of the Month in Feburary after he didn't get invited to the shortened training camp in January.

Oh I'm with you. I hope they make sure he knows why he was sent down and that it has nothing to do with his performance but rather with contractual / roster flexibility.

I hope you guys are right. I just want the youth movement to speed up and get the dead weight out of here ASAP (read: Malone, GTFO)

 

[Al Cervick]

Coop frequently plays 11 forwards and 7 Dmen so Connolly getting cut and Sustr staying makes sense for now

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

https://twitter.com/LightningTimes

Connolly on demotion: "The thing that stings the most is how well I played. ... I have no doubt in my mind I'm going to be back here."

More Connolly: I've never been cut like that before when you think you're going to make it. It stings a little more that way.

 

[ThunderAlleyNomad]

Sens fan here, really surprised that Drouin got sent back down.

He's just not ready for more than a 9 game tryout. Or, to be more accurate, he's not as ready as a bunch of the other kids.

 

[Lord Stan 2020]

I have a question couldnt brown play pyatts spot? Isnt he an upgrade?

Or is Brown a top 6 or bust so out of tampa guy?

I thought cooper ran 7 d too so why im mad or was less than curteous to matt so apologize im a little mad hehe.

I did say stevie started with a five year plan maybe he is just trying to stall it since happened quicker than expected with kids lol.

Am honestly wondering if we are gonna move pyatt if not move him why couldnt give spot to brown if is better put pyatt on waivers?

 

[Lupul1990]

With so many interesting young forwards, what Tampa Bay's lines should look like in 3 years?

Where would you put Connolly on forwards depth chart and what kind of upside does he have, realistically?

 

[CupsOverCash]

Hope that the young kids aren't down about it. They will get their turn soon.

 

[Lord Stan 2020]

With so many interesting young forwards, what Tampa Bay's lines should look like in 3 years?

Where would you put Connolly on forwards depth chart and what kind of upside does he have, realistically?

After him being cut am unsure will be here myself but he will be second line could play on first but figure kucherov is better in long run but is debate there for sure.

I know nothing anymore not sure what we are doing Stamkos was best player in camp Connolly was second best.

 

[ThunderAlleyNomad]

I have a question couldnt brown play pyatts spot? Isnt he an upgrade?

Or is Brown a top 6 or bust so out of tampa guy?

I thought cooper ran 7 d too so why im mad or was less than curteous to matt so apologize im a little mad hehe.

I did say stevie started with a five year plan maybe he is just trying to stall it since happened quicker than expected with kids lol.

Am honestly wondering if we are gonna move pyatt if not move him why couldnt give spot to brown if is better put pyatt on waivers?

Am really wondering what it is you have against Pyatt? Brown will get his chance, as of right now, he is not the better choice.

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

I have a question couldnt brown play pyatts spot? Isnt he an upgrade?

Or is Brown a top 6 or bust so out of tampa guy?

I thought cooper ran 7 d too so why im mad or was less than curteous to matt so apologize im a little mad hehe.

I did say stevie started with a five year plan maybe he is just trying to stall it since happened quicker than expected with kids lol.

Am honestly wondering if we are gonna move pyatt if not move him why couldnt give spot to brown if is better put pyatt on waivers?

He'll never be a 4th liner. He's not a grinder. That's not his game and you can't make him play it. It's not that he's necessarily top 6 or bust, he could be a 3rd liner. Anyway there's nothing wrong with him going to Syracuse to keep developing. He'll get the playing time and get into the situations he can't up here. He's a young guy. We'll stay patient with him.

 

[LTIR Trickery]

I have a question couldnt brown play pyatts spot? Isnt he an upgrade?

Or is Brown a top 6 or bust so out of tampa guy?

I thought cooper ran 7 d too so why im mad or was less than curteous to matt so apologize im a little mad hehe.

I did say stevie started with a five year plan maybe he is just trying to stall it since happened quicker than expected with kids lol.

Am honestly wondering if we are gonna move pyatt if not move him why couldnt give spot to brown if is better put pyatt on waivers?

Brown lost a lot of development time to injury, and yes, hes mostly a top six or bust, so thats why hes going back.

 

[Lord Stan 2020]

well i want pyatt crombeen malone and purcell gone so people like kucherov connolly drouin get their shots. And we solidify the defense.

Nothing personal just want a team that can go to playoffs.

Dont want a guy who will miss 15 games this year no more.

Dont want not having a number 2 solid defender who might miss two months and is gone after this season. Dont want a guy who is proving to be absolutely useless even as a 6 anymore



Will be great watching another year of where we might be close but on outside looking in.


Well looks to me like the third line has been set for the future and is going to be a core group to this team for years sure that can be changed but I dont buy it So guess Brown might as well be traded cause he sure as hell aint getting to be a top six in tampa.

 

[Five Alarm Fire]

With so many interesting young forwards, what Tampa Bay's lines should look like in 3 years?

Where would you put Connolly on forwards depth chart and what kind of upside does he have?

Connolly is ahead of Palat and Panik and just below Killorn IMO. The only reason he didn't make it was because the Palat-Johnson-Panik line played very well. Connolly has definite top-line potential.

As for future lines, if the Lightning expect Drouin to convert to center, then it could look like this:

Killorn - Stamkos - St. Louis
Connolly - Drouin - Kucherov
Palat - Namestnikov/Filppula - Panik

The biggest question mark is at center, as Drouin/Johnson/Filppula/Namestnikov are all capable of playing down the middle. I'd like to see both Filp and Namestnikov at center because they both have a nice two-way game. A cool experiment would be to put Drouin as the top line wing and move Stamkos to the wing.

EDIT: I completely forgot about Erne, who should also play his way on the team within the next 3 years. Our forward surplus is ridiculous right now.

 

[zeykshade]

Pyatt is a swiss army tool. He can play a few games on the top 6 if needed, he can play all forward positions, kill penalties and can play bottom 6 if needed. His type of player is needed. JT Brown is not nearly as versatile as Pyatt is. He could be with more experience though.

I really feel for Connolly. He got screwed by roster composition. He's a top 6 or bust player and a winger only really. He can play center, but would need more work at it to do it right. Even then he's not a 3rd / 4th line Center. He's not nearly as good at it as Johnson is.

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

well i want pyatt crombeen malone and purcell gone so people like kucherov connolly drouin get their shots. And we solidify the defense.

Nothing personal just want a team that can go to playoffs.

Dont want a guy who will miss 15 games this year no more.

Dont want not having a number 2 solid defender who might miss two months and is gone after this season. Dont want a guy who is proving to be absolutely useless even as a 6 anymore



Will be great watching another year of where we might be close but on outside looking in.

You can't win with only goal scorers. It's not fantasy hockey or video games. You need guys with different skill sets and different roles to make a complete lineup.

It's also hard waiting for our top prospects. It's an exciting thought, but you have to let them develop correctly at the appropriate speed.

 

[HoseEmDown]

Sucks for Connolly seems like he isn't getting a fair chance. He deserves a top 6 spot over Killorn, I would've sent him down over Connolly, he hasn't done anything this preseason. I would move Killorn while his stock is high like Conacher, only thing he has over Connolly is he's a LW.

 

[Lupul1990]

Connolly is ahead of Palat and Panik and just below Killorn IMO. The only reason he didn't make it was because the Palat-Johnson-Panik line played very well. Connolly has definite top-line potential.

As for future lines, if the Lightning expect Drouin to convert to center, then it could look like this:

Killorn - Stamkos - St. Louis
Connolly - Drouin - Kucherov
Palat - Namestnikov/Filppula - Panik

The biggest question mark is at center, as Drouin/Johnson/Filppula/Namestnikov are all capable of playing down the middle. I'd like to see both Filp and Namestnikov at center because they both have a nice two-way game. A cool experiment would be to put Drouin as the top line wing and move Stamkos to the wing.

EDIT: I completely forgot about Erne, who should also play his way on the team within the next 3 years. Our forward surplus is ridiculous right now.

Ok, I see. Do you think he might become a trade target for another team? For example, if Tampa is in a play-off spot in March, do you think he might get traded for some D help? Or is it more likely that he's gonna stay in Tampa no matter what and become a top six player here?

 

[Lord Stan 2020]

You can't win with only goal scorers. It's not fantasy hockey or video games. You need guys with different skill sets and different roles to make a complete lineup.

It's also hard waiting for our top prospects. It's an exciting thought, but you have to let them develop correctly at the appropriate speed.

No I thought JT Brown was exactly like Killorn smaller but as versatile so he could come in and take fourth line spot from pyatt. Thought he could do it all pk etc.. Even though believe pyatt can play center? JT is a forward only I believe.

Well stevie and coop have spoken so we now have our grind line in tampa and gonna get them needed time to be third line for the years to come. You guys can keep calling it the gun line but I really believe stevie envisions that line to be the mccarty draper maltby line.

Is gonna be interesting how the russian factor works out in the future too.

For me waiting on a prospect or prospects when makes no sense is hard lol. Is case in point can say stamkos was best player in preseason. Can say marty purcell and flip played very well. But honestly Connolly to me was second best guy at camp. You noticed him all the time he was making it happen.

But now can just call a voodoo friend put a hex on malone J/K maybe if did that though he could stay healthy lol? So is always injuries.

Sucks for Connolly seems like he isn't getting a fair chance. He deserves a top 6 spot over Killorn, I would've sent him down over Connolly, he hasn't done anything this preseason. I would move Killorn while his stock is high like Conacher, only thing he has over Connolly is he's a LW.

Total disagreement. Killorn is flat out the most versatile player we have on team. Plays two way game which is still a question with connolly and maybe that is what he will be told to work on till malone gets injured?

Killorn is only guy I know on team who could play top line and fourth line well maybe fippula could do that too.

Guys like that are super hard to find. Any roll Killorn can do imo so no I would no way in hell move Killorn. I still think Conacher is a bust in Nhl meaning hes already hit more than he probably will ever again. He will not be considered a great player. He will never have a season where is a leader like was in trying to win the calder or rookie thing. Conacher is undersized and defense is very weak imo. Remains to be seen how much of a steal the bishop thing is.

If Bishop busts? Well that ottawa wins that deal or trade but doubt that Bishop busts and Conacher is never more than a 0.5 player if he ever hits that.

 

[DFC]

My guess? One way or another, Connolly's on the roster by December.

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

No I thought JT Brown was exactly like Killorn smaller but as versatile so he could come in and take fourth line spot from pyatt.

He's different from Killorn, but even if he was the same, I don't get why you'd want either guy as a 4th liner. Again you can't just try to make a make an all-star team. Look at Boston's 4th line or the other good teams in the league's 4th lines. They impact the game different than a Killorn or Brown could.

Well stevie and coop have spoken so we now have our grind line in tampa and gonna get them needed time to be third line for the years to come. You guys can keep calling it the gun line but I really believe stevie envisions that line to be the mccarty draper maltby line.

The top gun line name came from over at BP because they were the best line on the Crunch.

Is gonna be interesting how the russian factor works out in the future too.

If you're talking about Kucherov, I wouldn't worry about him. He's got a great attitude and a good head on his shoulders. He wants to be here. Heck, he spent the whole summer in Montreal to train with our guys. He's not going to run for it now that he didn't make the team first try. His parents also work at the UN in New York iirc so they're in the same state now.

For me waiting on a prospect or prospects when makes no sense is hard lol.

It makes sense. Look what they've done in Syracuse and Norfolk. Look at how well Johnson, Panik, Palat, Labrie, Barberio, Gudas, Conacher, Killorn and others have developed. That's because Yzerman didn't rush anything and they stuck to a plan. If you rush Kucherov, Brown, Drouin and others when they aren't ready and aren't being put in situations they can succeed in, they'll surely bust.

 

[ultra63]

If Drouin wasn't even good enough get a 9 game try out it looks like not drafting Jones was a mistake given the Bolts surplus of offense and poor defense. I note Jones is still with the Preds

 

[CupsOverCash]

If Drouin wasn't even good enough get a 9 game try out it looks like not drafting Jones was a mistake given the Bolts surplus of offense and poor defense. I note Jones is still with the Preds

The jury is still out on that but I would agree for now. I think it's more Yzerman just being patient with his prospects. Just hope the kids don't get down about it.

 

[George Maharis]

If Drouin wasn't even good enough get a 9 game try out it looks like not drafting Jones was a mistake given the Bolts surplus of offense and poor defense. I note Jones is still with the Preds

It's not a matter of being "good enough".. Huberdeau wasn't given a 9-game tryout right after he was drafted 3rd overall, and he led the Panthers in scoring during the pre-season that year.

I've been saying since last year that you'll see Drouin come up the same way Huberdeau did. Mass amount of talent and potential, not to mention the random coincidences between the two, but they're not going to be rushed along.

Anyways, thanks for sending him back here to Hali. I highly look forward to seeing him again!!

 

[MattM92]

If Drouin wasn't even good enough get a 9 game try out it looks like not drafting Jones was a mistake given the Bolts surplus of offense and poor defense. I note Jones is still with the Preds

Nashville doesn't have the defensive depth that compares to our wing depth.