Man, a few of you guys sure are in a rush to make judgement on a bunch of prospects.
Here is the thing; remember when Myers was traded here, a player that was supposedly playing poorly in Buffalo... and then looked good here because he was surrounded by complimentary players? Myers looked terrible in Buffalo because he had no help. Similarly, players like Morrissey, Ehlers, Petan, etc will look better when they are playing a structured game with similar talents. The forwards aren't going to look good in a prospect game that features river hockey... and on a team with several D that can't get the puck to them. Conversely, a player like Morrissey tends to play up to his competition; don't be surprised if/when all of a sudden he soon begins to shine against NHL players in camp.
Man, a few of you guys sure are in a rush to make judgement on a bunch of prospects.
Here is the thing; remember when Myers was traded here, a player that was supposedly playing poorly in Buffalo... and then looked good here because he was surrounded by complimentary players? Myers looked terrible in Buffalo because he had no help. Similarly, players like Morrissey, Ehlers, Petan, etc will look better when they are playing a structured game with similar talents. The forwards aren't going to look good in a prospect game that features river hockey... and on a team with several D that can't get the puck to them. Conversely, a player like Morrissey tends to play up to his competition; don't be surprised if/when all of a sudden he soon begins to shine against NHL players in camp.
Hey you may be right, but I'm thinking past history suggests that Morrissey is slow to warm up to new situations (he hasn't been impressive in TCs to date & not expecting that to change overnight at this year's TC). Would need to dominate at TC to make it - no chance.
Looks like Ehlers needs to make too many adjustments to his game at this point to outperform all the guys he is battling with for a spot at TC. Much like last year & at the present tourny, I expect flashes of semi-brilliance, mixed with a lot of nothing & a few mistakes. Not enough to make the team unless mgmt. is desperate -- which they will most certainly not be. Hello Europe -- as Huff says, that probably will be a great way for him to make the transition to a more pro style
Petan has performed well at previous TCs & seems to be on his game for the most part. From that, I expect more of the same & right now he's my bet to make the top 9.
Armia/Copp -- don't know where to place them right now. If either can carry their weight at TC, they are probably in.
Agree that he will have to be lights out to make it but disagree that he hasn't been impressive at past camps. He was very good his first year, but wasn't good last year.
There is truth the notion that he takes some time to really establish himself and I think I have figured out why. He is very much a %/positional defender and I think he plays it safe until he has trust in his partner and other teammates to take care of there assignments. When he does, you start to see him challenge the puck carriers more aggressively and start to jump up into the play. If he wants to make the team I think he needs to throw caution into the wind and play aggressively and not worry about the other players on the ice. I think there is a lot of truth to what Maurice said last year in that Morrissey will look much better in a system setting.
I think Morrissey is a long-shot to make it out of camp, mostly because I think the Jets are going to look seriously at moving Buff over to LD to increase the usage of the top-4.
If Morrissey looks really ready, or shows a lot early in the year at the AHL level, it might influence the Jets' decision on Buff.
I think Morrissey is a long-shot to make it out of camp, mostly because I think the Jets are going to look seriously at moving Buff over to LD to increase the usage of the top-4.
If Morrissey looks really ready, or shows a lot early in the year at the AHL level, it might influence the Jets' decision on Buff.
Agreed. I'm reminded of Scheifele a couple of years back when he was pretty unnoticeable due to being asked to play all out defensive hockey. I see similar from Morrissey and some other players this year.
I agree that it looks as if the plan is for him to play in AHL. I think they hope he's ready by the all-star break. I still don't see how they keep all of our defenders past this year, given what they will make.
I think they know full well that he is ready now but are going to leave him in the A to over-ripen while they sort out the rest of the D. He will get called up for injury replacement.
That is a very real possibility. I do wonder what there mid term d plan is. If Buff or whoever transitions well to the left side do they re-up Buff and move another defender in a deal?
Should be an interesting year. Maybe Chevy surprises us with another unexpected blockbuster lol.
Anything that is not impossible can happen.
If Buff doesn't move left then Trouba will. We have several options for #7/8 D. With Postma to play 3RD and Kostalek coming the right side is adequately covered. With a choice between Chiarot and Morrissey to play 3LD the left side is adequately covered. At that point does it make any sense to keep Stuart around? What might a physical, shot-blocking, locker room glue D man bring in trade?
I think we can debate Stuart's on ice ability all we want, but TNSE loves what he brings to the table so I don't envision him going anywhere. From everything I've heard he's one of the biggest leaders in the locker room and he does have intangibles such as a real strong work ethic and the willingness to sacrifice to win that can be passed on to our younger players.
Given that he is also marrying a TN employee I think he's here for the long haul. More so than Ladd I think he is being looked at as someone who will fill a front office role when his career is over. With regards to usage, I hope he is used in bottom pairing role and eventually takes on the Pardy role as he gets pushed out of a spot over the next couple of years.
We have drifted a little OT here. You are almost certainly right but the ramifications of that appear to me to be that Morrissey has to stay in the A until Stuart retires or a D is traded. Just numbers. Exception would be if Stu could reserve a seat in the pressbox.
When Chiarot is your third-highest ranked D prospect & you have very little else of substance in the AHL, yes we are sorely lacking on D prospects.
If our D on the Moose is anywhere close to as inept as most of the D prospects have been in this tourny (Morrissey & Kostalek excluded) I'm expecting management to take notice & make a couple trades to bring in some high end D prospects
I don't believe we can afford to spend $25 million (From a cap allocation stand point) plus on our top 4 which is what it will be if they elect to re-up Buff. So I fully expect one of our top 4 to be traded at some point either this season or next summer. If they keep Buff and someone makes the successful transition to LD my money is on Enstrom being moved out.
Listening to Chevy's interview again he mentioned Morrissey second after Enstrom when discussing the left side in his interview. I think they fully expect him to be on the team in the not too distant future and likely have a plan in place to make a spot for him. I also think Stuart will find his way into the PB consistently in the not so distant future as well.
Chiarot played 2nd pairing as a rookie, and did it during the time we were down 4 defensemen. He didn't always impress in that role, but overall, he handled himself pretty well for a rookie. One can only imagine he'll improve. So our 3rd best D prospect should pan out as an average or better 2nd pairing d-man.
I don't know how much better you want our prospects to be. There was a lack of depth at the tournament, but there's no lack of depth on the big club and the top 3 prospects (also Glover?) should be pushing for spots over the next few years. We're gonna be just fine.