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Jack Rathbone | #3 | D


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55 minutes ago, Maniwaki Canuck said:

Not opposed to re-signing Tryamkin at all, but 2 lefties playing RD is a bridge too far for me.  Maybe re-sign Hamonic instead of Edler though?  It's tough:  Edler has been great for us and deserves all the respect, but Rathbone is a very dynamic player who we shouldn't hold back beyond this year.  Something will have to give.

We do have a right hand shooting defenceman coming in Woo, but I think he needs a couple of year in the AHL, except that with each game he plays he gives me more reason to think that won’t be necessary. He has surprised me several times already this season with just how good his hands are. If you’ve seen the Tom Hardy movie, “The Drop”, you’ll know what I mean when I say, you just don’t see this guy coming.

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4 minutes ago, Ray_Cathode said:

We do have a right hand shooting defenceman coming in Woo, but I think he needs a couple of year in the AHL, except that with each game he plays he gives me more reason to think that won’t be necessary. He has surprised me several times already this season with just how good his hands are. If you’ve seen the Tom Hardy movie, “The Drop”, you’ll know what I mean when I say, you just don’t see this guy coming.

Yeah, I thought Woo was impressive in training camp and he doesn't look to have missed a beat since.  Wouldn't be surprised to see him getting call-ups next year and a regular the year after that.  Seems like him and Rathbone are a great fit too.  Persson, another RD from the last draft, is also looking good but is at best 3-4 years out.  So if we can transition with Hamonic for a year or two backed up by Chatfield and Rafferty that should be good.  Schmidt is fine on RD and maybe Hughes could do it too, but anyone who relies of rimming the puck out of their zone needs to play on their proper side.

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2 hours ago, Ray_Cathode said:

We do have a right hand shooting defenceman coming in Woo, but I think he needs a couple of year in the AHL, except that with each game he plays he gives me more reason to think that won’t be necessary. He has surprised me several times already this season with just how good his hands are. If you’ve seen the Tom Hardy movie, “The Drop”, you’ll know what I mean when I say, you just don’t see this guy coming.

Excellent movie 

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7 hours ago, Coconuts said:

Nice to see that kind of confidence when it comes to his shot. 

I don't imagine we'll see him this season, Utica would probably be a better environment for him anyway. Let him play bigger minutes and hopefully go on a run with the Comets. He's not likely to sniff playoffs at the NHL level this season. 

 

As for Edler, hard to say. But I think he'll be back for at least another season, probably on a one year deal at a lower cap hit. Letting Rathbone stew for an extra year wouldn't hurt his development. 

Edler is absolutely the type of dude that I could see signing 1-year deals for cheap, especially if he feels the team's window is opening. Of all our players, he's one that I doubt ever plays for another team.

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7 hours ago, DontMessMe said:

Whose more NHL-ready. Rathbone, Woo, or Rafferty? 

Rafferty, without doubt.  It's unfortunate that Green has made him the scapegoat in that shellacking by  Montreal in his one game played.  But that's Green's way of things. A journeyman vet will always get his attention over a rookie trying to break in

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3 minutes ago, Wilbur said:

I do wonder what NHL Taxi squads have had on quality of competition in the AHL this year.  Always good to see prospects thriving, but that is making me temper my expectations at least a little.

It’s true. Player quality has been lowered some this season, with most organizations stashing the cream of their AHL crop (or, at least, their most “NHL ready” farmhands) on taxi squads. Hard to say to what degree this has affected overall competition, but it’s definitely a weaker than usual AHL. On the positive side, it’s created great opportunities for younger, drafted prospects to take on front line, top of the lineup roles, that might have otherwise been given to AHL lifer types.

Edited by SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME
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I don't think this year's quality of the AHL had any effect on Trent Cull's comments on Rathbone.

“Jack [Rathbone] walks the blue line in the offensive zone as good as anyone I’ve seen in this league,” said Utica Comets head coach, Trent Cull after Rathbone’s first game. “[…] It’s a blessing. Every coach loves that. You love when a guy can snap and move pucks because that means you’re not spending time in your D-zone.”

 

I think we also have to offset the impact of the taxi squad somewhat with the fact that 3 AHL teams are not operating this year and, while I have not checked, I imagine at least some of their better players have been loaned out to other AHL teams.

 

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And I wonder what the assignment to the taxi Squad does to the psyche of the young rookie. He was tearing up the AHL then gets called up to the taxi squad to just sit and secretly pray for an injury so that he may get a shot in The Bigs

Some teams seem to be using the squad as just an expanded roster, moving players in and out to rest vets or to give as different look in second or 3rd games vs same opponents.  Not our guy though, he loves him his vets

 

 

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9 hours ago, DontMessMe said:

Whose more NHL-ready. Rathbone, Woo, or Rafferty? 

I'd say:

NHL Readiness

Rafferty--->Rathbone------------->Woo

 

NHL Potential

Rathbone-----------> Woo------------------>Rafferty

 

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19 minutes ago, BCNate said:

I'd say:

NHL Readiness

Rafferty--->Rathbone------------->Woo

 

NHL Potential

Rathbone-----------> Woo------------------>Rafferty

 

Yeah, I’d agree with that.

 

And if you actually put them in the NHL for a bit, Rathbone probably leapfrogs Rafferty fairly quickly in readiness, once he gets his feet wet and gets used to the pace and competition.

 

I really don’t think it would take Jack too long to find his NHL game, if given the chance. But still, I like taking it a little slow, rather than rushing him, especially given the team struggles right now.

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26 minutes ago, BCNate said:

I'd say:

NHL Readiness

Rafferty--->Rathbone------------->Woo

 

NHL Potential

Rathbone-----------> Woo------------------>Rafferty

 

I dunno. Rafferty reminds me of a (slightly smaller) Bret Hedican.  Effortless skating, good passes. And for someone with just 1 1/2 eyes,  pretty good on - ice vision. Isn't afraid to take the body, and is pretty focused on what he needs to do to succeed (work on net clearing, he says)

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28 minutes ago, Googlie said:

I dunno. Rafferty reminds me of a (slightly smaller) Bret Hedican.  Effortless skating, good passes. And for someone with just 1 1/2 eyes,  pretty good on - ice vision. Isn't afraid to take the body, and is pretty focused on what he needs to do to succeed (work on net clearing, he says)

I'm certainly not bagging on Rafferty, maybe he is an NHL player, maybe not.  He is 26 next month and has only played a handful of below average games in the NHL.  At a certain point, he will either get a shot with the team or become a career AHL/Europe guy or trade bait.  I certainly feel that he has been passed by Joulevi and Rathbone, and Woo is getting pretty close to slotting in ahead of him on the depth chart. 

 

With all of that said, I'd like to see Rafferty get a solid run of games at some point to get a real indication of what he can do at this level.

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1 hour ago, Rick Blight said:

I don't think this year's quality of the AHL had any effect on Trent Cull's comments on Rathbone.

“Jack [Rathbone] walks the blue line in the offensive zone as good as anyone I’ve seen in this league,” said Utica Comets head coach, Trent Cull after Rathbone’s first game. “[…] It’s a blessing. Every coach loves that. You love when a guy can snap and move pucks because that means you’re not spending time in your D-zone.”

 

I think we also have to offset the impact of the taxi squad somewhat with the fact that 3 AHL teams are not operating this year and, while I have not checked, I imagine at least some of their better players have been loaned out to other AHL teams.

 

Yes they have. Like St Louis has lent some good players to Utica.

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2 hours ago, Googlie said:

Rafferty, without doubt.  It's unfortunate that Green has made him the scapegoat in that shellacking by  Montreal in his one game played.  But that's Green's way of things. A journeyman vet will always get his attention over a rookie trying to break in

Yeah, absolutely, Green never gives rookies a chance. Brock, Petey, Huggy and Hogs would certainly attest to that, right?

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