ColePens
RIP Fugu Buffaloed & parabola
Preseason is over! We get to the real stuff. Here is my quick take from all of camp/preseason:
++ Riikola/Brassard: Two biggest standouts in camp/preseason, IMO. We've discussed Riikola to death but he deserves it. Some people will say "Oh but it's just camp.. let's see what he can do against the big boys." But that's the thing, Maatta/Ruh/Oleksiak were all playing the same guys and didn't look as good as him. He deserves all the praise in the world.
Brassard looks the best and this is the player I saw glimpses of last year. I knew a healthy camp and preseason with time to get acclimated to Sully would bring this player out. I think these two guys looked the best. Also major props to Rust. I think Rust looked better than I expected, and I was actually expecting
-- Maatta/ZAR: Camp isn't the end all be all of things. Just both guys really looked bad. Maatta's footspeed was brutal and he looked like our worst dman. Not far off were Ruh/Oleksiak. ZAR barely looks like an AHL 3rd liner, but let's give him time to figure his game out in the AHL again. Time will tell with these guys. Shit happens.
== Left me hanging and wanting a lot more are Simon/Sprong. These two guys were basically fighting for a top spot and neither guy took it. Simon gets all the praise in the world from his mates/coach and Sprong has all the tools. Neither guy lit the world on fire. Neither guy even looked to have a sense of urgency like they were in a dog fight.
++ Best fight of camp - Jarry vs. DeSmith. Thought both guys were really solid.
++ Underrated name of camp: Trotman. Liked his game. Liked how he developed. I think he's not too far away from the NHL and I think he could take Ruh's spot immediately.
++ Upcoming players: DiPauli and Haggerty have to get a cup of coffee if needed this year. They both lit my eyes up this preseason. I hope they dominate the AHL.
++ Riikola/Brassard: Two biggest standouts in camp/preseason, IMO. We've discussed Riikola to death but he deserves it. Some people will say "Oh but it's just camp.. let's see what he can do against the big boys." But that's the thing, Maatta/Ruh/Oleksiak were all playing the same guys and didn't look as good as him. He deserves all the praise in the world.
Brassard looks the best and this is the player I saw glimpses of last year. I knew a healthy camp and preseason with time to get acclimated to Sully would bring this player out. I think these two guys looked the best. Also major props to Rust. I think Rust looked better than I expected, and I was actually expecting
-- Maatta/ZAR: Camp isn't the end all be all of things. Just both guys really looked bad. Maatta's footspeed was brutal and he looked like our worst dman. Not far off were Ruh/Oleksiak. ZAR barely looks like an AHL 3rd liner, but let's give him time to figure his game out in the AHL again. Time will tell with these guys. Shit happens.
== Left me hanging and wanting a lot more are Simon/Sprong. These two guys were basically fighting for a top spot and neither guy took it. Simon gets all the praise in the world from his mates/coach and Sprong has all the tools. Neither guy lit the world on fire. Neither guy even looked to have a sense of urgency like they were in a dog fight.
++ Best fight of camp - Jarry vs. DeSmith. Thought both guys were really solid.
++ Underrated name of camp: Trotman. Liked his game. Liked how he developed. I think he's not too far away from the NHL and I think he could take Ruh's spot immediately.
++ Upcoming players: DiPauli and Haggerty have to get a cup of coffee if needed this year. They both lit my eyes up this preseason. I hope they dominate the AHL.