sureloss
Registered User
- Jan 5, 2006
- 839
- 62
Hopefully they mean just an ATO and not an ELC. Don't think he is worth a 3 year contract.
That was a real young and bad team he was on. The Lightning are probably higher on him than his numbers suggest. The Lightning sign all their draft picks so this is in line with the way we draft and develop. No open spots on game day roster though we are deep down in Syracuse at RHD.
He was on a pretty decent Calgary team but was passed by better players so he got traded and his game still didn't develop. He stagnated since his draft year, there hasn't been any growth to his game. Him being a RD is his only good thing but is he better then Dotchin who'll he be competing with for time? Next year Spencer turns pro and will need a contract, we could let Dotchin go and give that contract to Spencer. Think we should give Thomas an ATO to see what he got but look elsewhere for a RD to sign to an ELC.
Started a Ben Thomas thread on the WHL forum.
"Thomas has been one of the Giants best players this year. On one hand that is sad given how many injuries and struggles the team has faced this season. On the other hand it's a compliment to him. He's been their most reliable all around defenseman. I would classify him more as a defensive defenseman but he has had opportunities on the PP. Don't think there is much upside offensively at the pro level. I wouldn't be surprised if he returns to Vancouver as an overager. Even if he is signed by Tampa or any other team he should be back in junior for his final year."
If he is a more mobile defensive defenseman than Dotchin...I'll take it all day. Kid has good size and if he can be a better option than Dodero on injury call up that would be great. Darcy and Hart have taken HUGE strides this season - though they still kinda both suck - they are much better players than what they showed to start the season. Don't mind if he hasn't developed ... as far as I'm concerned does he have tools that can be developed.
The other thing I'm not sure about is what type of contract does not count towards the 50 man roster but assures that we keep the players rights that are on ECHL contracts? For example, once we get an ECHL affiliate - can we stash Ben Thomas' type players in the ECHL without them signing with other teams and not counting towards our 50 man roster limit?
Its a 3 year ELC per: http://lightning.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=875015
More info on the Syracuse Crunch website: http://www.syracusecrunch.com/news/2016/3/22/syracuse-crunch-sign-ben-thomas-to-ato.aspx
I told you he was getting signed, never any doubt in my mind.
I put the announcement on the thread and got:
"Cool, always liked his steady game. Seems like a good kid too."
"Either way, good for him, he was definitely one of (the) better defenseman the Giants have seen in years."
More than meets the eye with the kid in terms of stats. I wish I would have gotten a chance to watch him during rookie training camp. The Lightning definitely have a player "type" with their mid-round drafted defensemen. All about 6'2" with a 210 lb fully developed body frame - can skate, smart. They are definitely looking at the Garrison type without putting much emphasis on the shot or scoring from the blue line. Blujus, Masin, Spencer, Koekkoek, Thomas, MacLoud ... all have that large athletic frame to them and not overly focused on points at all. DeAngelo type is definitely the outlier in terms of what they are looking for but he was brought in to be a PP specialist. Dotchin is an outlier as well as he doesn't seem to be smart nor have good/great skating.
Excited to see more of this kid. If he is the steady type like Blujus...that should prove to be a boon for Syracuse. I'd think they want to move someone on the blue line but was looking at Witko maybe replacing Angelidis with the C. But that is a glut of RHD. If we move or don't re-sign Witko (25 yr old UFA) we become real young - especially with Koekkoek maybe spending a large part of the year with TBL. Taormina probably deserves another contract as he has performed well. If everyone comes back we are looking at:
Koekkoek / Witko
Taormina / Blujus
Masin / DeAngelo
Walcott / Dotchin
/ Thomas
So far we are adding only three players this summer: Point / Masin / Thomas. Maybe Tammella as he was drafted out of Finnish league. Gusev isn't coming over next year. Mullin might be another one but doubt it as he is a 2010 (pre)-Yzerman draft pick and might suffer same fate as Brendan O'Donnell. Digiacinto might be another one we could possibly sign as he is elligible for a contract. So that is 4 contracts that we could possibly be adding on.
We have 47 contracts - minus: Ohlund, Angelidis, Broll. That is 44 contracts and add in Point, Masin, Thomas, and Digiancinto. So that is 48 contracts - from that perspective we should be fine.
RFA with nearly 300 AHL games (including playoffs). Is there any value to another organization or even with the Lightning?
Will turn 24 later this month.
Wondering about guys like Mermis or some others who took time to develop in the AHL but eventually emerged as NHL defenseman.