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Very good post Voyageur - I pretty much agree with all of it. In a nutshell, I don't think Vesa or Niku are ready yet. I wasn't really impressed with Vesalainen ?- maybe I'm missing something. One thing for sure is --if he goes back to Europe, he'll likely hurt his career, and will miss a callup. He should play with the Moose, as that's where the Jet's will call up players from, plus he'll play on a smaller ice surface.
Just wondering what you think of Joe Morrow --you like him ?? or not ?? and also the new backup Brossoit --you think he's any good-impressed ?? Be interesting to read your comments on these 2 guys. I personally like them both.
I'm not against keeping Vesalainen on the team. He has the tool in the tool box, but reminds me a bit of a 19 year old Connor, just not up to the pace yet. I think he is a better I option than Lemieux or Dano for top 6 injury replacement with the right leaders surrounding him. But Ehlers is likely 1st, Roslovic 2nd. Hopefully we don't have too many stretches with 2 from our top 6 missing. I expect to see all of Lemieux, Dano, Vesalainen and Griffith in the final game, then we'll see how it goes. I still think Lemieux has the edge. I hope he gets the 2nd PP time. In the grease (crease).
As for Morrow, I think certain players profit from certain coaches. Morrow found a team, coach, and system that fits his style of play. Being physical helped move him above Toby last year. Probably the front runner for #6, playing his offside with Kulikov, but I think he also showed he can play well with Buff, which allows Maurice to tweak the d pairings to a more familiar group if Myers struggles on his off side, with harder matchups.
Would not mind seeing Morrow on the 2nd PP, he can blast it from the point and skates real well to retrieve pucks. Has some wth moments though, so it's hard to say. I think Myers is still the front runner for that spot, depends on minutes though. If the top 4 is in the 45-47 minute range, may want to give them a break.