Maniwaki Canuck
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Everything posted by Maniwaki Canuck
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Agreed: it's like he turned the page on junior at that moment and has been playing a recognizably NHL game ever since. I really like the way he took responsibility for what happened and moved on. Character guy.
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Way more optimistic about Jake's development than I was a couple of months ago, even post WJC. He's learned a lot about how to play the NHL game defensively and positionally in a short time, and is a force not only physically but in gaining the attacking zone. In short, he's starting to take charge and put his tools to work. The scoring chances are definitely increasing as he figures all this out. Our development system is looking really strong these days.
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Glad to see him doing well after living through the Chicago Wolves experience, but don't see much of a place for him with our prospect depth at forward. If his rights can be packaged in any deal that helps us move up in the draft or get a D prospect, I'm all for it.
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Higgins with a power-forward's take the body and take the puck to the net mentality would be a very useful player. That's what we have here.
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Happens to all of us.
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Oh man, this "9 games" stuff! He's not a junior so that rule doesn't apply.
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Interesting how much faster both Gaunce and Horvat have become. There is a technical side to skating that even top junior players don't necessarily get schooled in. People tend to think of it as an inherent characteristic of a player but it can change, up to a point at least.
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Getting back to the original question, yes, we really need Burrows, maybe more than ever before.
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More offensive responsibility would be great for his overall development. Maybe he'll get some time at centre too. There's still plenty of things for him to be working on down there before he gets called up, which will happen this year.
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That's exactly what we saw in the playoffs against Calgary, and it's one of the reasons we lost.
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Another strong game last night. Him and Shinkaruk seem to bring out the best in each other. This tournament is going to do a lot for his confidence and set up a good year in junior for him. Bring on the HGH! (just kidding)
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Great compete, vision and skill from this kid. Looked better than Ehlers out there, at a year younger and with even less size.
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No I'm Gaunch himself.
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Agree: the styles just aren't compatible. We now have two middle-6 centres who can skate, and that's where I'd expect Virtanen to fit. What you say about a sheltered 4th-line role is sensible in the abstract, but I think he needs to play with a real centre, which our 4th line currently lacks. Either Sutter or Horvat will provide the defensive stability and the skating to get the most out of what Virtanen brings to the table. So for me, it's 3rd line or junior for him, but what would I know. We'll probably see Dorsett on the second line.
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^^ Trudeau's just not ready but Boeser is!
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I think you mean "waiver-exempt".
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Very true about those organizations clearing a path for those players to succeed. In the case of Virtanen, though, it seems a bit more complicated. All they've done is move out a somewhat similar player in Kassian who was stuck in a 3rd line role and whose offensive capacity management refused to develop. That seems to be the scenario by which Virtanen could stick with the club but it really does raise the question of how we get his offensive production back on track. Sending him back to Calgary doesn't seem like a good idea either. Are there any good options for this kid's development this year?
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Hate to say it, but so far Button isn't looking that far off on Virtanen. So far, and I hope he ends up being wrong.
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Yeah, the news is pretty bad elsewhere on this board, so I'm taking refuge here.
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No argument about Boeser's potential or Jensen's status, but Grenier has proved he's ready for an NHL look. We'll see how he does. Kassian is already an NHL player and we already have Burrows, Hansen and Dorsett on RW, with Virtanen waiting in the wings. So let's discount Jensen. That still leaves us 6 deep at RW, three of whom (not counting Boeser) are young and 2 of whom are top 6 material (I'm being realistic about Grenier here). Fact is, we're plenty deep at RW. If you want to dispute that, feel free to go through our depth at any other position. Only at C does it come remotely close. Then there's the D situation ... Boeser may well have been BPA so I'm fine with the pick on that basis, just not the bogus argument about us not having depth at RW.
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You can say that about any prospect until they've made it. I do agree about Jensen but not Grenier. The point is that the depth chart is weaker at every other position. Again, none of this detracts from Boeser as a player, just a comment about organizational need. If he's a lethal sniper with some physicality to his game, we can always use that.
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This pick and Jasek are definitely home run swings. I like it a lot, even if we miss.
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Looks like a good pick and could well prove to be BPA, but we definitely do not need more RW despite what some are saying. Leaving older players like Burrows, Dorsett and Hansen out of the discussion, we still have Kassian, Virtanen, Grenier and Jensen. We are deeper at RW than any other position, even C.
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^^ Very much agree. He gets position and uses his size well, and is generally a smart player. All that can translate into offense too, especially if his skating continues to improve. Will be a very useful player for us, and pretty soon, too.
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How his offense develops will determine his ceiling, and there were certainly encouraging signs in the second half of this year. 1C still looks like a stretch to me, but there's no ruling it out given his rate of improvement this year. He's still learning how to drive play and make use of his size at the NHL level. Once he's got that down and his confidence is higher, I expect we'll see more Bo-drags and skill moves from him. More skilled linemates will also change the equation. Right now, though, he's a quality 3C on his way up the depth chart. Don't see him stalling, but you never know.