Looking for a new center

[Mortimer Snerd]

I can't remember the roster. He was not a lock. He was 18. Think he got turned down from the usdtp. Junior teams prefer 19 year olds. He was a ushl player, who the hell watches any games from there to know 1 way or the other if they were making a mistake not picking him. If your asking me 3 years later did they make a mistake then yes. If your asking me in the moment did they make a mistake I would say I haven't got a clue. Watching his YouTube highlight doesn't qualify someone to say they know better then the people who have been evaluating him since he was 12.

Just had to throw that appeal to authority in at the end.

It was pretty obvious at the time that they had made a bad decision.

It is not the same as when Maurice sent him back down to the A to start the season. Maurice was interested in developing a player and I believe he needed that at the time. Hockey USA was trying to put together a team for a short tournament.

Hockey USA made a dumb decision. If they were basing their decision on his birthday there is no excuse for them. If they had been evaluating him since he was 12 then there is really no excuse for them.

 

[truck]

Petan's passing and Laine's shot is a match made in heaven. If Nic can get an extended look there, he could very well impress.

If it doesn't work out, we can still look elsewhere at that point

Definitely worth a shot.

 

[cbcwpg]

Just throwing this out there, but how about Wheels as a center? He did play some center when Mark got hurt, and he seemed to be OK at it. Would save having to go find a 2C or hope that Roslovic pans out at C.

Conner - Scheifele - Roslovic
Ehlers - Wheeler - Laine

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

No idea now that two of their top 6 wingers left in FA.

I'm betting he doesn't have wingers who can score like Ehlers and Laine.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

Tuch probably gets promoted to a top 6 role, Tatar, and if I recall Haula has played LW before. They still have Eakin at 3c. They also might get EK65 lol.

Is EK65 moving to wing?

Yeah, I know. He does help forwards score.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

Regardless of chemistry who te he#* is going to do the dirty work/forchecking and playmaking on that line!?

You have 3 shooters and zero playmakers and forcheckers in the same line for christsake!

Not entirely correct. Both Ehlers and Little are playmakers but I get your point. All are shooters. None are great forecheckers.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

What I'm thinking:

1) Did Littles regression coincide with ELL? And therefore, how reliable is his "regression"?
2) We should first try different line combinations before acquiring new pieces. Little + Wheeler might solve all our problems.
3) It might be that Ehlers + Laine are not a good match, TRY DIFFERENT THINGS FFS

Stas was a great addition for a time, but being so damn stagnant in your player usage is really not even showing us all of the options, so what the hell is up with that (probably a lot that we don't take into account or know about).

In the spirit of Bruce Lee, be like water, not like a brick house trying to find that perfect tile.

The bolded ......... x10.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

Would Nylander be an option?

Interesting thought. TML appeared committed to developing him as a C until they got AM. AFAIK, it was going well.

Way too expensive though. They would not part with him for a reasonable price, IMO.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

I wish we had signed Patrick Maroon to be Laine's LW. But I'm sure someone is going to post one of those nice blue and red charts to educate me on why this would be a bad idea.

No colourful chart, just this:
Ehlers
Connor
Perreault
Copp
Petan
Lemieux
Vesalainen

We don't need any new, different, or additional LW's.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

Quite frankly, I wouldn't bother. The poster isn't interested in a discussion, and as we already know what the authority did, there is no exchange of knowledge to be gained from a discussion where one part is simply stating what the authority did and that decision was correct because the authority did it.

Had to try. Been mostly avoiding diving into that for some time.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

Yeah this is what I see as well. Plus the fact that it's slightly warmer in Vegas.

He didn't take the hardest but most WINNING choice. So now we make him pay for that.

That said, I would have probably made the same choice given that I wouldn't have known what kind of colossus the Jets might grow into.

Slightly warmer? You mean too damn hot!

 

[Whileee]

Tuch probably gets promoted to a top 6 role, Tatar, and if I recall Haula has played LW before. They still have Eakin at 3c. They also might get EK65 lol.

Tatar+Tuch <<< Ehlers+Laine

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

Just throwing this out there, but how about Wheels as a center? He did play some center when Mark got hurt, and he seemed to be OK at it. Would save having to go find a 2C or hope that Roslovic pans out at C.

Conner - Scheifele - Roslovic
Ehlers - Wheeler - Laine

When you look more closely, Wheeler really wasn't good at C. Wouldn't want to try that again even in case of an injury, unless we had at least 2 C's out.

 

[Whileee]

Definitely worth a shot.

Laine needs at least one linemate who is good at retrieving the puck. Petan is not good in that regard. Ehlers isn't either. I think you either give Laine a C like Roslovic or a LW like Connor or Perreault. Connor-Petan-Laine might work.

 

[DRW204]

Tatar+Tuch <<< Ehlers+Laine

no shit

 

[Whileee]

Definitely worth a shot.

Laine needs at least one linemate who is good at retrieving the puck. Petan is not good in that regard. Ehlers isn't either. I think you either give Laine a C like Roslovic or a LW like Connor or Perreault. Connor-Petan-Laine might work.

 

[Whileee]

no ****

Just a reminder re: Stastny's choice.

 

[DRW204]

Just throwing this out there, but how about Wheels as a center? He did play some center when Mark got hurt, and he seemed to be OK at it. Would save having to go find a 2C or hope that Roslovic pans out at C.

Conner - Scheifele - Roslovic
Ehlers - Wheeler - Laine

I don't think Scheifele-Wheeler will ever get split up. What about Laine with Scheifele-Wheeler and Connor with Little-Ehlers?

 

[ffh]

when did we get back to petan being in the top6. are we trying to get laine to ask for a trade. Appleton is more then likely further up the depth charts let alone Lemieux dano and ves.

 

[Howard Chuck]

Laine needs at least one linemate who is good at retrieving the puck. Petan is not good in that regard. Ehlers isn't either. I think you either give Laine a C like Roslovic or a LW like Connor or Perreault. Connor-Petan-Laine might work.

Connor and Roslovic are magic when they are together. Maybe throw Laine on the other wing and watch more magic?

 

[roccerfeller]

Every time I saw Roslovic play this past season I thought he was ready for a bigger role. He's going to be a really special player, if he can become the C we need similar to how Connor came into being a stud last season, that would be incredible.

I agree Roslo + Connor have fantastic chemistry

 

[grieves]

Slightly warmer? You mean too damn hot!

Hah, I do!

To quote the great general Mr Freeze: "What killed the dinosaurs?! The ice age!"

 

[AWSAA]

I think Lowry is the new couturier.

Couturier had 55 more points last season. Good luck climbing that hill.

No idea now that two of their top 6 wingers left in FA.

Watch Bobby Ryan bounce back and score 30+. Vegas effect.

 

[Weezeric]

Couturier had 55 more points last season. Good luck climbing that hill.



Watch Bobby Ryan bounce back and score 30+. Vegas effect.

Couturier was stuck in a defensive role, with bad players (which he dominated possession wise) notoriously never breaking 40 points before being played with offensive players last year and exploding offensively. I could see Lowry doing a similar thing. Maybe not to the same extent, but I could see 50+ points in his future.

 

[Neuf]

Connor and Roslovic are magic when they are together. Maybe throw Laine on the other wing and watch more magic?

Really want to see Connor and Roslovic together in NHL