Confirmed with Link: Patrick Wiercoich signs [1 year 800k]

[tigervixxxen]

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[CB Joe]

its something

 

[ASmileyFace]

I am so totally okay with this.

 

[Nzap]

Easily buryable (or claimed on waivers) if he does not work out.
Good signing.

 

[Avs_19]

Not expecting much from him but I don't mind it. They've apparently been chasing him for years so lets see what happens. Zero risk.

 

[Joe Sakic]

Would someone mind explaining his play style a bit? Haven't seen much of him.

Is he a rough, nasty defenseman, or a soft, quick skilled guy?

 

[Ensane]

Lotta flack on the first page of the main board thread on this one, but this is a good signing. The amount and term tells you all you need to know where the team expects him to start the season, so I'm happy that there's no disillusions as to what the team is actually buying. If he plays above his paygrade--literally, it's a windfall.

Now, we can't drop our guards completely; management can still **** this up if he plays 20 games of passable hockey and then gets thrown a longterm deal.

 

[Gigantor The Goalie]

1 year/800K if it doesn't work out there are no issues with burying him.

 

[Ivan13]

Not a fan of his at all. Hopefully he plays little for us.

 

[CalderKing21]

Not bad. He has been talked about so much that he seems like he's been an Av for years.

 

[Pokecheque]

Would someone mind explaining his play style a bit? Haven't seen much of him.

Is he a rough, nasty defenseman, or a soft, quick skilled guy?

Definitely not rough-nasty. He's something like 6'5" and less than 200 lbs.

But he's got good wheels, good hands, should provide a decent option as a puckmoving d-man/power play guy.

I don't see how anyone could complain about this signing. Less than 1 million and only for 1 season. After 2-3 years of watching Holden, Guenin, and Stuart plod around the ice this is a breath of fresh air. And he comes in at roughly half of Holden's salary. What's not to like?

 

[UncleRisto]

Outrageous. That's Nate Guenin money!!

 

[StayAtHomeAv]

So who do you guys think comes out on top, Wiercioch or Siemens?

 

[Bonzai12]

I'm very excited about this - enjoyed watching him at DU

 

[InjuredChoker]

Definitely not rough-nasty. He's something like 6'5" and less than 200 lbs.

But he's got good wheels, good hands, should provide a decent option as a puckmoving d-man/power play guy.

I don't see how anyone could complain about this signing. Less than 1 million and only for 1 season. After 2-3 years of watching Holden, Guenin, and Stuart plod around the ice this is a breath of fresh air. And he comes in at roughly half of Holden's salary. What's not to like?

umm.. good wheels?

 

[agentblack]

I don't remember seeing any of his plays or what he looks like at all ...and yet i feel like i know him intimately

 

[forsbergavs32]

Very low risk deal, a 1 year deal to prove he can be an nhl dman. If not then he can be buried in the ahl

 

[Pokecheque]

umm.. good wheels?

Whatever. He's not Holden.

 

[Foppa2118]

Out of left field signing!!!!!!!

 

[McMetal]

The last thing we need is anothet defensively terrible puck mover a la Redmond, IMO. Even for 800k buriable, still just puts another barrier to our actual future stars playing in the NHL. I'd rather have Holden, frankly.

 

[BonkTastic]

Sens fan here.

Pros:
- good first pass
- makes good use of screens when shooting at the net
- good shot accuracy
- decent offensive IQ
- good puck possession instincts
- Decent stick skills (poke check, etc)

Cons:
- terrible defensively.
- no, really. I'm not kidding about the defence thing. You will need to shelter him, and heavily manage his minutes.
- skates like a giraffe. TERRIBLE top-end speed, will get beat by fast players every time, all the time. Decent first step, but he only has two gears: slow, and slightly less slow.
- possibly the worst height-to-strength ratio in the league. Seriously, he's the Shawn Bradley of the NHL.
- does not engage along the boards. Does not go into the corners nearly as much as you want him to. Often waits at the edges of the faceoff circle for the puck to come loose so he can clear it down the ice for an icing call.
- pivots like he just had a hip replacement surgery.
- I swear to god, if you are hoping for a physical player, you signed the wrong guy.
- slap shot is the speed of a little league pitcher. Very accurate, but it's a muffin. He often cheats up into the offensive zone in order to get closer to the goalie because his slapper really isn't a threat unless there's traffic in front of the net.
- pass-first mentality, which the rest of the league has caught onto at this point, so he often just sort of holds the puck and then dump to low-percentage shooting areas.

He is Exhibit A in the case against the "Corsi is an infallible stat" argument. He will have a high-ish Corsi, and you will still be pulling your hair out most nights.

 

[Ivan13]

Sens fan here.

Pros:
- good first pass
- makes good use of screens when shooting a the net
- good shot accuracy
- decent offensive IQ
- good puck possession instincts
- Decent stick skills (poke check, etc)

Cons:
- terrible defensively.
- no, really. I'm not kidding about the defence thing. You will need to shelter him, and heavily manage his minutes.
- skates like a giraffe. TERRIBLE top-end speed, will get beat by fast players every time, all the time. Decent first step, but he only has two gears: slow, and slightly less slow.
- possibly the worst height-to-strength ratio in the league. Seriously, he's the Shawn Bradley of the NHL.
- does not engage along the boards. Does not go into the corners nearly as much as you want him to. Often waits at the edges of the faceoff circle for the puck to come loose so he can clear it down the ice for an icing call.
- pivots like he just had a hip replacement surgery.
- I swear to god, if you are hoping for a physical player, you signed the wrong guy.
- slap shot is the speed of a little league pitcher. Very accurate, but it's a muffin. He often cheats up into the offensive zone in order to get closer to the goalie because his slapper really isn't a threat unless there's traffic in front of the net.
- pass-first mentality, which the rest of the league has caught onto at this point, so he often jus sort of holds the puck and then dump to low-percentage shooting areas.

He is Exhibit A in the case of "Corsi is not an infallible stat" argument. He will have a high-ish Corsi, and you will still be pulling your hair out most nights.

Redmond 2.0

 

[BonkTastic]

The saving grace here for you guys is that he's desperate, and knows he's pretty much on his last chance at sticking in the NHL. That kind of motivation can really push a player, and help him find another gear sometimes.

Our new GM (the old assistant GM who got promoted) called his exit interview with Wiercioch "brutally honest", and then didn't qualify him. Wier knows he's running out of opportunities. Hopefully that pays dividends for you guys, and he finally figures it out.

 

[S E P H]

Also like this, Wiercoich has some baggage, but is still an NHL defenceman IMO (even if it's a bottom pairing). Has good size, but fairly safe player who is more of a zonal player than a physical one. Not a good skater, but I don't think his defensive game is as bad as Bonk has said, for all the crap we get for our defensively, which is deservedly so, Senators could be that one team that is worst than us defensively.

He is what he is, just glad that he's an upgrade on Holden and Guenin.

 

[McMetal]

Also like this, Wiercoich has some baggage, but is still an NHL defenceman IMO (even if it's a bottom pairing). Has good size, but fairly safe player who is more of a zonal player than a physical one. Not a good skater, but I don't think his defensive game is as bad as Bonk has said, for all the crap we get for our defensively, which is deservedly so, Senators could be that one team that is worst than us defensively.

He is what he is, just glad that he's an upgrade on Holden and Guenin.

Upgrade on Guenin? Sure, but I'm not sure he's going to be an upgrade on Holden. At his high water mark he'll be equal to Holden IMO. More likely he goes the Gormley route and washes out of the NHL forever halfway through the season.