Richdg

Ok the 4th round. This is the round I would like to see us add a G for the future. Goalie prospects are always the biggest risk so you never know what you are getting. That being said some names: Joseph Woll 6-3/195 LHed G. Solid goalie for the USNDT. Filip Larsson 6-2/180 LHed G. Yes a Swed but a pretty good G overall. If not a G, then more Dmen. Ondrej Vala 6-3/190 LHed D. Good solid Czech Dman. Logan Stanley 6-6.25/210 LHed D. Raw and huge. That said is a solid defender and has a good first pass. Austin Osmanski 6-4/200 LHed D. Good solid stay at home type. Think Ericsson as a similar player. More physical though.

Many were unhappy with Babcock's lines as well. So who is right? The coaches or the fans? Either our coaches are stupid and trying to make us lose OR we the fans who are not at practice have no idea of what we are talking about. I wonder which one it is........

Like i said we need an improved front of net presence. 1 call I hope Holland would make is to the Ducks for out of favor Maroon. has a cheap contract-2 mill per year for 3 more years. In 5 on 5 play use him on the checking line but on the PP he is one of the front of net guys. Then lines would look like this: Z-Datsyuk-Abby Nyquist-Sheahan-tatar Jurco-Larkin-Pulks Maroon-Glendening-Helm Richards-Miller The PP units: 1st: Z-Datsyuk-Abby no change 2nd: Maroon-Larkin-Nyquist 3rd: Jurco-Sheahan-tatar What would he cost? Not a ton, so if it doesn't work no real loss. Maybe a Andersson and jensen deal gets it done? It wouldn't be much more than that.

If the zombies don't eat him first....LOL

Now the second round. This is were I would go after a Dman. There are a couple of guys that should/could be available mid second round that I would take a look at. James Greenway 6-5/205 LHed D. He is a good solid skater plays with an edge and shows some potential offensively. most mock drafts have him going between 40 and 50. Needs to go eat some steaks and potatos and hit the weightroom. But 3-4 years from now should be in the 225-230 range. Sean Day 6-3/235 LHed D. Day is the most debated player in this draft. He has great talent but has been tagged with the lazy label. He is a quite soft spoken kid that everyone thinks he should be a top 5 pick but hasn't produced yet... He could be the steal of the draft in the mid-second round or out of pro-hockey within 5 years. Where Greenway needs to eat more steak and potatos, Day needs more fruits and veggies to lose a couple of pounds. he could be a monster at 220, but is on the soft/jelly belly side now. Stephen Dhillon 6-4/185 G. If the better Dmen are gone at this point, then this is the G I would look at. Tall and athletic-the new trend in the NHL. Next up the 4th round. I am looking 5 years down the road. Gauthier is a replacement/upgrade over Abby. If he was drafted he plays 1 more year in junior, then 2-3 in GR. Then a year or 2 on the 3rd line. By that time Abby's contract is up. Nyquist and Tatar are both nice players. But 3 or 4 years from now is a long time. Maybe we have to move 1 or both due to cap. Or if we make a deal. You have to give to get. So who knows.

Let's go forward the next 2 seasons as well. 2015/2016 forward unit: Z-datsyuk-Abby Nyquist-Sheahan-Tatar Jurco-Larkin-Pulks Andersson-Glendening-Helm Richards-Miller Richards, Miller, and Helm are all UFA's. Andersson is a RFA. We have 2 young F's that should/could be ready for next season in Mantha and AA. 2016/2017: Z-Datsyuk-Abby Nyquist-Sheahan-tatar Mantha-Larkin-Pulks Andersson-Glendening-Jurco Miller Because of the waiver issues for Marchenko, Oullett, Sproul, and Jensen next summer I wouldn't be surprised is we start the season with 8 Dmen. 2017/2018: Z-larkin-Abby Nyquist-Sheahan-tatar Mantha-AA-Pulks Andersson-Glendening-Jurco Lil' Bert-nastasiak or Miller At this point Mantha and AA have to be on the roster or we lose them in waivers. This is 3 seasons worth of forwards and we have no front of net guys on the roster or coming up. Something that has to be addressed via draft/trade/ufa. Helm should be moved before we lose him via UFA. 1 of Nyquist/Tatar/Pulks can also be moved to help find the front of net guy. There are also Dmen that can be moved to help create a package for trades.

Some of our issues may be the combos but a bigger piece is the age of a few guys and the lack of front of net players. Z Dat and Richards are playing like guys in the late 30's, which is what they are. Add in datsyuk's late start coming back from surgery and it shouldn't be a surprise that he is off to a slow start offensively. Watching Z last night there were shifts were he looked like a guy going on 70 not 40. The bigger issue is we have 0 forwards that can play effectively in front of the net. Bigger F's that screen the goalie, tip in deflections and gather up the rebounds. To say nothing about guys that wear out the other teams D by pounding on them behind the net and in the corners. Most games we see Helm and tatar being used in that role with Abby. Helm and tatar are far to small for that role and while Abby is willing he is only average at it. Point is, this is a personnel issue not a line issue. As for how I would set up the lines: Z-Datsyuk-Abby Nyquist-Sheahan-Tatar Jurco-Larkin-Richards(until Pulk returns) Andersson-Glendening-Helm Start getting these guys that are our future working together. Next year Richards is gone-replaced by Pulks, Jurco goes back to the 4th line and is replaced by Mantha and then find a big physical wing for the 4th line. Helm and Andersson can be moved to help find a true power forward or crease clearing Dman.

Now we start our parade to the box.......

That was a terrible effort by the wings on the PP. 2 break aways after TO's and now a short handed goal. No effort being displayed by us at all.

I got a text that Tangradi was called up. Insurance for Larkin?

15 in a row! 7-3 win tonight over Lake Erie. Campbell with the hatty. Lil Bert with a fight.

Not sure worrying about a guy on pace for 29 points is all that important. he would be at best our 6th best C. maybe lower: datsyuk, Z, larkin, Richards, Sheahan, helm, Glendening, AA, are all better than he is.

Wasn't that the opinion of some on this forum? Yet now he is doing better in GR than Nyquist, Tatar, Jurco, etc... ever did. 15 points in 18 games this season. Playing a 2 way game and is using his size. TBH Callahan and Tangradi need to take him out for dinner and soon! Many of their goals have come off of his shots to be deflected into the net or the rebounds picked up and put in. Could it be that being a 19 year old kid and missing 6 weeks do to a broken leg were the issue all along? Hmmmm...........

He is out performing AA and most fans love him. Yes the difference in rounds drafted comes into play. Point is we have several very good young F prospects that are developing and some will be stars. The waiting for that to happen is what is hard to do.....

Merry Christmas to everyone! Not sure what the correct way to say have a good Boxing day is, but have a good one of those as well.

Hype is always an issue. Many fans always assume the next prospect is a HOF player. That they should be a HOF player from day 1. Most good to great players in every sport are built over time. Yes all have natural God given talent, but it takes time to mold that talent into something special. Time in the weightroom, skill training, maturity, emotional/mental toughness are things that are developed. Everyone does this at a different pace which far to often fans have no patience for.

Not yet but starting to. The whole Griffins team sucked the first 10 games are so-just like the RW's did. Coaching changes had much to do with that. The Griffins were however outshooting the other team most nights. Now the pucks are going in and they have won the last 14 in a row. During that period Mantha has been better than a point per game. But it is more than that. he is playing D, playing physical, and has added some play making to his game. The thought of Mantha-Larkin-Scevechnikov (spelling) as our top line in a couple of years should make everyone very happy. 3 guys all 6-2 or so that can skate, handle the puck, play D and score is what we need. Find a second line just like it and we are setup very nicely.

Tinky with the laser!

He has been done a long time. This is one thing I do give Blash some grief for. There was no reason to give Kindl another chance.

Another bad play by our D leads to another goal. They do know that the are DEFENSEmen right?

Did I see that right? RW's have the second most Too many Men on the Ice pens this season?????

On the goal. See what happens when you have traffic in front. If we had some good front of net players our PP might not suck and our 5 on 5 scoring would be better. The only guy that provides any traffic is Abby and he is only average at it.

Congrats to TooToo on 5 years!

The RW's look like they started taking some holiday cheer BEFORE the game. BTW.... who buys for Larkin? LOL

Howard getting pulled. His D should be getting pulled. Giving him 0 help.