86Viking

Would there be any chance Boeser decides to go pro and not play out 4 full years in College? Maybe 1 more year then go to Utica?

send him down, take the pressure off, let him try to find his offensive game in the whl for this year. Hope they go on a run and he is a key contributor in the PLayoffs. Next year send him to Green if he is still their in Utica. No matter how his camp is he needs time, and seasoning. atleast 1 full year in Utica. Shinkaruk had a great pre season a couple years ago and probly earned a 9 game stint and he has spent the past year plus honing his D game and now scoring in the AHL and it has helped his developement. Lets do the same to Jake. Call up Shinkaruk also imo, slot him in baertschi spot

i agree. Maybe we slot McCann on the wing and Sutter at center unless McCann improves at the face off dot. I like that lineup, I wouldnt be opposed to moving dorsett out as he is too costly for a 4th liner imo. What would your defence look like out of curoisity?

Be nice to see Rodin come back and get a shot at playing, seeing some other guys come over and have success transitioning to the nhl means there is hope. I realize more fail than succeed. He could come over and it would allow Jake to go spend a year in Utica also. Which I think is a good thing helping him gain experience. One of the vets will most likely be gone between now and next year, players who have contract via burrows/higgins. So that would also allow Shinkaruk a chance with the big club hockeydb lists him as a left shooting right wing, anyone know his natural position, or if he can play multiple forward positions?

thats what he needs to do, he needs to be better positionally infront of the net. he tends to stand to the side at times thus giving the goalie a clear sight line. its like vey on the pp last night, atleast burrows plants himself infront of the net on the pp and tries his best to screen the goalie, why vey is rewarded with 1st unit pp time baffles me. Pays to play for medicine hat under WD Virt just needs to simplify his game

thankfully nobody in this world is perfect, mistakes happen...i guess just like virtanen's careless use of his stick eh...

careless stick their

exactly, he isnt the first and wont be the last. This all being said I do think he may not be 100 percent healthy maybe? He has chances, I think he needs to work on his positioning, and this isnt just wjc this was during the year with the canucks. Like any prospect there are bumps in the road and these are all learning curves. You just hope he can learn quickly from the mistakes and move on. He is going to need some seasoning, he isnt a bust that takes a while to get that label. He needs to use his speed, drive to the net and get open with his stick on the ice and release a hard accurate shot. Using the body but being smart and not taking penalties. Just needs to fine tune some parts of his game, but this wont happen over the next week or by the end of this year. He is the type of player who may take a bit longer than most would like giving where he was drafted but he has the skills, can he put it all together is the BIG UNKOWN.

he is young, it will take him a while to find his game for an nhl regular. But i have been disappointed with his tournament play. He is suppose to be one of the key guys and he seems to be in the wrong position alot of the time, he stands infront of the net and his stick is never on the ice, cant tip a low shot or accept a pass like that. I think he is a project prospect, he probably should follow the slow transition like Ty Rattie. Rattie is finally showing good numbers in the AHL now. I hope this pick pans out because for #6 overall we needed a almost surefire top 6 forward or top 4 D if that was available. Benning and and everyone needs to be patient with him. I hope to see him playing for Green in Utica and hopefully he can help hone is game. Send him back to junior after the tourney and give Shinkaruk a look on the big club. may not play ever game but give him a legit chance to see what he can do in a top 9 role on our team

at the wjc, i thought he was on their team

has he played for the czech's yet?

Benning go to Europe watch him play and then sign him to a contract that can get him over here after his season is done their

I agree about your Virtanen comments. He needs the most seasoning out of them, no need to push him along. A year in the AHL under green would help too. If it was me I would send him back to junior much like Pens did with Sprong. Calgary has a good team, Jake needs to score and get back to being dominant. Lets groom him, not rush him

we just need to sign him to a contract I guess and then the door is open for a return

When is his season done over their? Can we sign him to a deal now and he come to the nhl after the season without waivers? Or is there now way to bring him to north america till next season? thanks for the clarity

I liked what he showed at the youngstars tourney in Penticton. Needs time to bulk up but he played well. Got to give him time, some time in the ahl and see how he is 2-3 years minimum. We all want the diamond in the rough, but thats rare

id try to get him back over here maybe after his season is done, join the comets for a playoff run and then if he plays well give him a one way nhl deal. I totally agree his ahl time in Chicago was no good at all, We got swedes still on the team maybe they can influence him to come back for a chance at a nhl roster spot?

by forchecking and using your size to hit the defence it makes they rush the pass ever so much faster and that could turn into a golden scoring chance. Obviously im saying for him to use his discretion but wearing down the defence with physicality is never a bad thing

i was hoping gaunce would use his size more and be more physical when entering the offensive zone. Maybe he will play that way in the pre season but at the young stars tournament he rarely made any contact with the opposition. With his size, he needs to play that way to be ultra effective and push for a spot in the next year or 2

does he play with an edge and use his frame to hit and intimdate the D with his forcheck?

ahh i see. Wonder if Benning has any interest in maybe trying to bring him back over. Hes at that right age, and would be given a proper role this time around in the ahl. With the potential for a call up next year. Hopefully we dont lose Green as our coach but have to think he could be a goner at seasons end if we have a long run Either way, I wouldnt mind giving Rodin another chance under this new revamped management and our own ahl team to handle him properly

do we still own his rights? Could he possible come over after the playoffs this year to help utica in their run? Especially if Baertschis stays with the big club, rodin could be a decent replacement. Rodin in the AHL last time was different then if he came now. He is older, more mature. The team now has their own AHL club they own and has a terrific team that is well coached. He could fit in well with the system they play. Wonder if we hold his rights still or if he would be interested in a return to north america

The easy choice would have been to play him against Arizona. Let him get his first game against a basement team. WD chose otherwise, unfortunately it was a bad debut this year no doubt. When playing a team your trying to pull away from in the playoff push I do believe you should be starting your Best goalie available. Now things have tightened up, we need to rebound and must beat arizona. This team got to stick together after the trade deadline, if they lose out on a playoff spot, I think the core will have to be taken apart. Numerous NTC will asked to waive I hope Markstrom gets a couple more starts minimum, but maybe he is the one we move at the draft packaged with something else to try and recoup a 2nd rounder. His value still isnt much, AHL is not the NHL Come on Markstrom, keep your head up and when you get your next chance show us what you got

is there any link where Markstrom has gone on record saying he doesnt want to resign with the canucks? I for one, would prefer us move Lack in the nex month and use Markstrom as our backup. He is 2 years younger than lack, and seems to have played well in utica and Melanson has spent some time down their with him. I Doubt we resign miller, so When he is a ufa Markstrom would be the perfect age to take over as a no.1 he would be 27 i believe. 2 Years as the backup here would continue his development with Melanson and if he plays well he will get starts and could be our next #1. He has the size and skill. I like Lack but I would move him for something as he holds alot more value than Markstrom. Also I want to see this Luongo trade thru before jsut giving up on Markstrom, if he can become a solid goalie for us the trade will ahve benefited both teams. We brought miller in to maybe bridge the #1 position until markstrom was ready to take it. Hopefully we keep markstrom and hes the backup. Lack would help some teams that have an injury or have a brutal backup right now. Teams of interest might be: Dallas, Philly, Washington, Nashville and probably others I say lets give this guy a fair shot in the nhl before we get rid of him for a mid round pick or so so prospect

As for Horvat. Id like to see him remain up for the year and play 10 min a game. Possibly progress to some PK time as the season moves along, and hey maybe a look on 2nd PP unit if it continues to be stale. As for the Vey talk, i think he needs to be on the 2nd PP unit, bring some change to that unit that hasnt shown much. Maybe if we acquire a PMD we can have 2 D on both units and not need vey as the 4th forward on unit 1