Player Discussion: Erik Cernak
- Thread starter alko
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Love him, he's my favorite prospect. He'd have to set the AHL on fire and we'd have to have a catastrophe on defense for him to see NHL time. He's 6-7 on our RHD depth chart, but a good chunk of those are scheduled to be UFA's in two seasons or less.
Lord Stan 2020
Elite fan
if sergachev is sent down he will get more time but he will get a little time maybe for injury call up no matter what
Great prospect. Very unlikely he sees the NHL this year. Stralman, Sustr, Girardi, Dotchin, and Thomas are ahead of him on the right side. You can even make a case for Coburn since he plays the right side as well his entire career so I'd add him too. Very doubtful he sees NHL time.
VoluntaryDom
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I don't see how Sergachev is relevant at all to Cernak. Surge is LHD, Cernak is RHD.
RegularSznAllStars
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Haven't seen much film on him. But I thought he was the most impressive dman at our prospect camp. Big body, skates very well, was very polished. Looked like the most NHL ready prospect there. Although, surge will get there sooner based off of sheer talent.
Cernak is a big boy, it's easy to push around kids in the CHL when you're bigger than them. Next year in Syracuse I expect him to have a bit of a rough patch, similar to Masin, where it won't come as easy to them. He's not all about physical play and has better than average skating and puck skills but a lot of his success is easily winning board and puck battles with his size. There's no reason for him to even sniff the NHL next year, way too many ahead of him and he needs to figure out what type of player he is going to be. He has enough offensive instincts to be a two way player so the coaching staff might try to put him in a position to do more with the puck than just be a defensive zone, PK monster.
McBain is going to be the PP, ideal offensive zone draws guy, Thomas will be all situations guy and so it would seem Cernak will start as the defensive zone, PK guy. He still has to beat out Spencer for the 3rd RD spot. Pairings I expect to be
McNeil - McBain
Masin - Thomas
Bodie - Cernak
Walcott/Spencer
McBain is going to be the PP, ideal offensive zone draws guy, Thomas will be all situations guy and so it would seem Cernak will start as the defensive zone, PK guy. He still has to beat out Spencer for the 3rd RD spot. Pairings I expect to be
McNeil - McBain
Masin - Thomas
Bodie - Cernak
Walcott/Spencer
alko
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RegularSznAllStars
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He was the crunch’s top RHD this year in my understanding. Should see some games this year. Very excited about him.
The Macho King
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Is he 6-7? Stralman-Girardi are the only set NHL RHD. Then we have Dotchin (who is out of favor and may only stay up by virtue of being on a one way deal), Foote (young), and him. Who else is above him?
Sergachev will likely play RD but unless we make a trade for a Faulk/Trouba/Karlsson, I think a cup of coffee is possible for Cernak.
VoluntaryDom
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He's moved up a lot and fast. I had concerns how his physical style would translate from pushing kids around to men but he had no troubles at all. I had him being a bottom pair guy last year taking some time to adjust while working on his game, similar to Masin rookie year, but he came in and took over the top RD spot. It helped that McBain struggled with the system early and Thomas fell off as a prospect so the opportunity to be the guy on the right was there. He was a monster defensively and showed solid growth on the offensive side, he's also not afraid to shoot and it gets through.
The top RD spot should be his but he will be pushed by Foote for it. Cernak will get the heavy lifting for sure which he shown he fan handle with ease. So on the defensive side there's not much to worry about just continue being dominant there. Offensively he did better than I thought, figured he'd struggle like Masin his rookie year, but he showed much better skills and instincts than expected. Masin had a huge turnaround his sophomore year so if Cernak takes that leap from where he already is could be a 30 point guy next season with little PP time. With 8 D on the roster call ups will be limited unless a serious injury crisis hits. I do expect a cup of coffee at the end of the year at least. He's currently 9th on the depth charts to me, with Masin ready for a call up himself and Foote should be pushing for one too. This may be the best D the lightning have had in Syracuse.
Stormbreaker
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From the little I saw of him in the playoffs this year his skating left a lot to be desired. It was only a handful of games so take it with a grain of salt. Lots of you seem to be high on him so I hope he has a great camp this year.
It's still his biggest weakness but not one that will hinder him from being a good NHL player. He's never gonna look like a smooth skater but his top end speed isn't bad, needs to improve his first step but makes up for a lot of that with his high IQ and positioning. He also was finishing a long season for him so I'm sure there was some fatigue involved and more off season training will fix that.
The Gongshow
Fire JBB
Yes but with us probably doesn't make it that high with Sergachev and Foote ahead of him going forward. Could be a 20 point, #1 PK, shutdown defender. Depending on chemistry he could also end up as Hedmans sidekick.
The Gongshow
Fire JBB
You think Serg is gonna be playing the right a lot more? I guess McD is stapled at #2 LD for at least another 3-4 years.
A solid PK/shutdown guy would be nice. Kid has some decent size to him as well
alko
Registered User
What i see is the possibility, that if Karlsson will be traded from Ottawa, he will be a part of the package.
Other side, cousins Jaros and Cernak will be great to see in Sens jerseys.
Other side, cousins Jaros and Cernak will be great to see in Sens jerseys.
It's going to be very upsetting to see him sent to the AHL if he has another great camp, but if they are going to use Sergachev on the right side I don't see a regular spot for him in the lineup yet. I can't wait to see him in camp or for him to arrive in full force next season. Plays a style we don't see too often.
I hope not. Sens can have Masin instead
I hope not. Sens can have Masin instead
He's back to normal. Seeing a lot more assertion on offense this year, again, pretty much perfect for what we want from our RD. Tons of hard and accurate shots from the point and he makes smart passes. Just don't ask him to skate the puck up the ice or create offense on the fly.
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