canucklehead44

I really think Bertuzzi is the best comparison. Both plays are big and mean but have a certain finesse in their game that you don't see from a guy like Torres or Neal.

Evan "Mack on many" hahaha

The issue is the labelling of the lines. The 3rd line is both referred to as the "checking line" and the line that is 3rd in ice time. I think the poster was saying Kesler would play a checking role while given top 6 minutes. Kesler 5 on 5 is terrible offensively (on par with Lapierre and Malhotra last season, 25% worse than Raymond and Booth). I wouldn't mind seeing these lines when Kes is healthy: Sedin Sedin Burrows Hansen Kesler Lapierre Higgins Schroeder Booth Raymond Malhotra Kassian before Kesler comes back: Sedin Sedin Burrows Hansen Lapierre Raymond Higgins Schroeder Booth Weise/Pin Malhotra Kassian *** I don't like putting Kassian on the 4th line but it is hard to bump him up over the other top 9. Maybe send to the Wolves? ****

Rodin - third liner Hodgson - Yes Jensen - Yes Archibald - long shot 4th liner Schroeder - Won't play more than a handful of games with the Nucks Anthony - Justin Morrison V 2.0

Wow what a play by Climie and shot by Rodin!

JS has pretty unspectacular numbers with Manitoba. Not terrible, but not as good as I had hoped. To be fair he has had a lot of injuries to deal with. The only prospect out of Manitoba, outside of Tanev and Sauve, who has impressed me is Billy Sweatt. The fact that he is second on the team in scoring yet still brings a strong defensive presense is comforting. I think he could develop into a solid 3rd liner with offensive ability. It would have been nice to see what Hodgson and JS could have done without injuries. Their numbers don't exactly scream "blue-chip offensive prospect".

I think Rodin would sign a PTO, not an ATO. Not sure if that would make any difference or not.

It's cool to see Aspelind get called up. He punched my friend in the face in high school.

Eriksson had a 36 goal season, followed by a 71 point season. Now he is scoring at a point per game pace. Hard to compare stats as Eriksson played in the AHL as a 20 year old. As 19 year olds Eriksson had 14 points in 39 games in the SEL compared to Rodin's 5 points in 36 games. I would not be unhappy if Rodin was a 25 goal 25 assist player...which would make him a poor man's Eriksson.

Yikes. 10th on the team in scoring. His 10 assists aren't too bad but 1 goal?

He is sucking big time. After a slow start Hodgson is starting to build some chemistry with Shirokov and is putting up points consistently. 11 games, 0 goals, 5 assists, -2 with only 7 SOG. He has what, 1 assist in his last 9 or 10 games? The 7 SOG concern me a bit. In 3 less games Stefan Schneider has 1 more shot on goal...and is upside is a borderline 4th line NHL centre. Lee Sweatt has 38 shots on goal. The Sweatts are having pretty solid seasons. Lee - 3 goals, 5 points +6 Billy - 3 goals, 6 points +2

Disappointing start for Rodin. He has an amazing World Juniors, a great preseason, but for whatever reason he cant get it done in the regular season.

I liked him a lot when I saw him play the Heat. He is small but shifty and built like a rock. He is strong on the puck, has great speed, and is able to find guys on the ice. Schroeder, Desbiens and Pettinger were clear standouts for the Moose.

Indepth analysis haha! Regardless, it is nice to see Burrows get recognition outside of NA.

Although I am not 100% sure, I remember hearing that Gillis was responsible for the first two picks and let the scouting staff do the rest. It would seem to make sense as at time, it looked like our picks went downhill after the second round.Rai, Froshaug and Clark? Pretty bad. This year all of our picks have shown some pretty good potential, especially Connauton and Andersson.

He is built like a tank. Look at Jordin Tootoo. He is 5'9 and is a physical player. Didn't Schroeder have the second highest bench press results out of his draft year?

Why? Both his play in the NCAA and in the World Juniors has declined since last season. It is not like he is having a breakout year. This season he is getting points at half the rate of last year.

It is amazing how expectations change. Burrows is on pace for around 50 points and the consensus is that he is having a bad year. He isn't at the same pace he was after playing with the twins last year but he was also without Daniel for most of this year. Lupul gets paid 4.25, Erat 4.5, Staal 4, Malone 4.5, Clowe 3.6, Horcoff 5.5, Ryder 4, Kunitz 3.7... Why do I bring these players up? 50 point guys who are still relatively young. They are neither 22 year olds on their first contracts nor are they 37 year olds winding down their careers in a city they enjoy. If Burrows can put up another 50 point season at 2 million he will continue to be a huge bargain.

Don't split up Kesler and Raymond, they have been beasts. Raymond has what, 7 goals and 2 assists in his last 10 games? Pettinger Sedin Samuelsson - Pettinger adds speed and some grit, has shown he can score goals in the past Raymond Kesler Burrows - Reunites Burrows with Kesler while keeping Kesler and Raymond together. Hansen Wellwood Bernier - Hansen adds a little bit of speed. Wellwood and Bernier are struggling and this is likely not going to change. Glass Johnson Rypien - Gritty fourth line. Ugh Daniel come back we need you!!!

The 2007 draft was terrible. I would say there is about a 50% chance of any of our draft picks playing more than a dozen games in the NHL. White has been terrible thus far, Kablukov probably won't leave russia especially since he wouldn't be anywhere near a lock to crack the NHL, Messier is a small, weak forward who has only scored 14 goals in the last 76 games in the QMJHL (scored 27 in 69 before being drafted), Matson has suffered injury problems (1 point in 13 games before injury) and Gendur scored 9 goals in the ECHL last season. The only player that looks to have some promise is Ellington. I think he could make it as a bottom pairing dman similar to a Murray Baron or Vitali Vishnevski. Let's compare this with Gillis 2008 picks 1. Hodgson - Named OHL top player. He is a top 10 prospect league wide. 2. Sauve - Big defenseman with great potential. Heard great news about his defensive play. His offensive improved from 21 points in 69 games to 30 points in 61 games. 2 less points in 5 less games than his team's highest scoring defenseman. 3. Prabh Rai - Scored 5 more goals in 11 less games compared to his draft year 4. Froshaug - Has struggled. Long-term project type pick but probably a bust. 5. Morgan Clark - Bad pick I have a feeling the 2009 picks will turn out a lot better than 2008, but we will have to wait and see. Not only that but Gillis has picked up some decent prospects in Tochkin (expected to go 4th round), Walsky (probably would have been a 4th round pick but bloomed late) and Oberg (would have gone 2nd or 3rd round).

It's great that you are balancing school and a pro hockey career. I started working full-time and I am trying to finish up my business degree at the same time and it's pretty hard. I would probably ditch school if I was going to be making millions in the NHL. Keep up the hard work!

This shouldn't be too hard. Think early nineties.