Which players are deadwood?

[Member 308457]

At a time where nothing seems to be going right, how about start by getting rid of deadwood (no longer useful or productive) players? Okposo, Thompson, Skinner, Ristolainen, Montour and Hutton come to mind...anyone else?

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[ozpensfan]

The funny , well i shouldn't say funny.. but on a team where everyone regressed badly, the only dead wood i can think of is Okposo.

I know Miller gets some flack but look what he did for Vegas under a competent coach.

I want to see what Skinner, staal, jokiharju and hall could do under Gerard Gallant

 

[Royal Thunder]

Ristolainen is not dead wood. Would be a beast on the second pair of a functional team, I really believe that.

I think it’s easier to list the players who aren’t dead wood. Ullmark, Olofsson, Risto, McCabe, Rieder, Lazar, Reinhart, Dahlin, Cozens, Sheahan. Guys like Jack, Hall, and Skinner clearly aren’t dead wood but they aren’t exactly looking like they want to be part of the solution here. Hall has been terrible, Skinner can’t do anything and is being wildly misused, and Jack, while clearly our most talented player, is either playing significantly hurt or he is kind of throwing in the towel on this organization. He looks nothing like who he was the past two years.

The true dead wood is Montour, Okposo, Hutton, Thompson, Miller, Eakin. They’re dreadful. Can probably throw Staal in there too. Even some of those guys like Montour, Staal, and Miller would probably be playable if the coach had half a clue and played guys to their strengths. For me the only player who simply should not be in the league is Tage, he is downright horrendous. Okposo is a 13th forward at best.

This is the darkest it has ever been for this organization. Lots of talent but they look and play like a tank team, minus the effort. Krueger desperately needs to be canned.

 

[ozpensfan]

Ristolainen is not dead wood. Would be a beast on the second pair of a functional team, I really believe that.

I think it’s easier to list the players who aren’t dead wood. Ullmark, Olofsson, Risto, McCabe, Rieder, Lazar, Reinhart, Dahlin, Cozens, Sheahan. Guys like Jack, Hall, and Skinner clearly aren’t dead wood but they aren’t exactly looking like they want to be part of the solution here. Hall has been terrible, Skinner can’t do anything and is being wildly misused, and Jack, while clearly our most talented player, is either playing significantly hurt or he is kind of throwing in the towel on this organization. He looks nothing like who he was the past two years.

The true dead wood is Montour, Okposo, Hutton, Thompson, Miller, Eakin. They’re dreadful. Can probably throw Staal in there too. Even some of those guys like Montour, Staal, and Miller would probably be playable if the coach had half a clue and played guys to their strengths. For me the only player who simply should not be in the league is Tage, he is downright horrendous. Okposo is a 13th forward at best.

This is the darkest it has ever been for this organization. Lots of talent but they look and play like a tank team, minus the effort. Krueger desperately needs to be canned.

Montour was good in Anaheim before he was here.. would love too see him back with a decent coach

 

[member 329811]

I'd like to re-evaluate after a complete purge of management from the bench on up.

 

[tellermine]

Ristolainen? What!
He is most of times only player in ice that actually knows what to do!

That said Ristolainen plays best hockey of his life and could be quite a trade bate...

 

[The Red Helmet]

 

[Royisgone]

Identifying the dead wood isn't that hard to do.

Actually getting rid of it is the problem.

We've wanted to get rid of Okposo for at least 3 years now, and here he still remains.

It's the NHL. You can't get rid of dead wood.

 

[Jim Bob]

I don't believe the biggest issue is the talent on the roster, outside of in goal.

This team has talent, especially up front. The problem is that they don't have a coaching staff that is optimizing the talent they have available to them.

 

[Bones Malone]

Yes

 

[Member 308457]

I see Risto as dead wood because he has the losing ingrained in him. We need to start again with fresh guys who haven't been through this ten cursed years of losing. It's soul-rotting.

 

[TehDoak]

How do you tell what players are NHL capable when the coach isn't a NHL caliber coach. I honestly wouldn't use the first 20 games as judgement of anything given Krueger's deployments and line combos lack any real logic or planning. Get a real NHL coach in here to see what they can do with this roster.

 

[SackTastic]

How do you tell what players are NHL capable when the coach isn't a NHL caliber coach. I honestly wouldn't use the first 20 games as judgement of anything given Krueger's deployments and line combos lack any real logic or planning. Get a real NHL coach in here to see what they can do with this roster.

I agree, but no real coach is going to come near this franchise.

 

[DJN21]

I agree, but no real coach is going to come near this franchise.

No one sitting in unemployment will gladly take a job?

 

[Zach716]

Risto gets way too much flack, which thankfully has seemed to change a bit this season. When Risto is gone we are going to miss him.

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

I see Risto as dead wood because he has the losing ingrained in him. We need to start again with fresh guys who haven't been through this ten cursed years of losing. It's soul-rotting.

You can’t just start over with a completely new roster, and he’s been on bad teams through no fault of his own- he hasn’t had losing ingrained in him, he’s had shitty teams, that doesn’t speak to someone’s inner winningness or anything.

 

[IceNeophyte]

At a time where nothing seems to be going right, how about start by getting rid of deadwood (no longer useful or productive) players? Okposo, Thompson, Skinner, Ristolainen, Montour and Hutton come to mind...anyone else?

If you want to go after deadwood, I'd start with the suits.

 

[Buffaloed]

I thought this was memorial thread for Natalie, but as long as I'm here:
Driftwood - Jeff Skinner
Petrified wood - Kyle Okposo
Needs to be trunkated - Ralph Krueger
Sabres fans - Board

 

[Sabre the Win]

Everyone should be available being this bad.

No one off limits, they're all dead wood to me.

 

[sufferer]

Everyone should be available being this bad.

No one off limits, they're all dead wood to me.

I'm getting there, too. Wouldn't mind exchanging our roster for a clean slate with Seattle (including mgmt, coaches, etc).

 

[Man of Principles]

Miller, Montour, Irwin...ah to hell with it, let's just say anyone on defense whose name isn't Dahlin, Borgen, McCabe, and surprisingly Ristolainen.

As far as forwards, Thompson, Okposo, Sheahan. I really like Rieder in the right role.

Goalies...I've seen all I need to see from everyone except Ullmark...and he should be the backup next year.

 

[allsilverdreams]

There isn't one Player I would consider untouchable. However,I want to see this group play with a coach that has a F ing clue.

 

[SnuggaRUDE]

The only players I'd give up assets to jettison are Okposo and Skinner.

 

[Asymmetric Solution]

Risto would be a superstar on a better ran organization. Skinner didn’t just forget how to play hockey. Scheme and coaching is the problem. Okposo is cooked and overpaid but he fights every shift. He’s still a 4th liner.

 

[Ygo]

The bolded need to be upgraded upon. they are worse than replacement level (Okposo was there most of the year, but, has shown a little life in the last handful of games... looks more like he did last year)

Eichel - 1C
Reinhart - resign long term if you can
Cozens - top 6 forever (we will see him at C soon)
Hall - Try to resign him cheap (if you cannot, trade deadline)
Skinner - Play him with 9 and 23 forever (Can't trade him so get the most out of 5v5 play)
Olofsson - 4th line with 21 and PP1 specialist - if value is higher, trade him now
Mitts - middle six winger now?
Staal - Done after this year (trade deadline if you can get anything)
Lazar - good on the 4th line (can alternate scratches)
Rieder - 4th line (alternate scratches with Okposo)
Okposo - The contract prevents you from moving him so put him on the 4th line, minimal minutes... has been better last handful of games (mind you, that is 4th line worthy better lol)
Eakin - Poor signing... who cares, get rid of him
Thompson - AHL
Sheahan, - 4th line, off the team, who cares

Dahlin - Pray he is better than what he has shown past 2 seasons
McCabe - FA, can he be resigned?
Borgen - skills seem to match partnership with 26
Risto - Showing positive signs (D that just seems to resemble the team - at least he is nasty)
Jokiharju - Might lose to expansion
Montour - trade for whatever (FA after this year)
Miller - Find a way to trade (or really limit minutes
Irwin/Davidson - who cares... the less they play the better (but, that is what they are now)