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HockeytownRules19

Matt Wuest Prospect Tournament Thread

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If you're looking for highlights, I'd highly recommend checking out and / or subscribing to Slapshotgoal on YouTube. He/she does a great job of highlighting this tournament for us every year, as well as a ton of highlights from our prospects in various leagues throughout the season.

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Yup. I bolded the Nosek part because Holland took some heat for trading Janmark and Jarnkrok. But you touched on it. Where would the club have found room for some of these guys?

I actually think nosek has a chance of making the wings, dependent upon what happens with helm/miller/Andersson/Ferraro.

We do have an abundance of 3rd/4th liners, but there is the possibility that we see a fair amount of turnover. If we can get helm cheap enough, of like him to stay. But I have a feeling someone in free agency will over pay him.(he is a Babcock kinda player)

Miller probably will stay until he's no longer a good enough option on the pk and all that, then he'll go to gr and be a player coach.

Ferraros a toss up, he's only on a one year deal, and if we stay relatively healthy(k.o.w.) he's not going to get a fair shot here.

And I think well eventually waive Andersson this season.

Apparently I like nosek much more than most. If we do lose helm, then I obviously like Larkin starting there and working his way up the depth chart more than I would nosek, but he's a good two way player. Plus he hasn't been in n.a. long, hell get better on the offensive side of things. He actually has a good set of hands.

And I'd also rather have athanasiou on the team, than nosek. But its starting to look like they may be moving aa to wing to play with Larkin since he's probably one maybe 15 guys in the NHL that can keep up with him.

Larkin is fast as hell, but I think aa would probably be one of the fastest players in the NHL. I did have really high hopes that larkin/aa would turn into a 1a/1b eventually, but sheahan looks like he could be a 2nd line c like ror, ~50 points with stellar defense.

Plus athanasiou has always had some trouble using his line mates effectively at c, which is probably because of his speed, but the kids got amazinggggg hands. Him dangling up the wing at 100mph with Larkin right behind him.

Could be an amazing duo.

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Also.

I get that mantha looks lazy, but hes not a heart and soul guy, he gets himself into the soft areas of the ice to use his shot, because he has a ridiculous wrist shot.

Brett hull did the same thing, he looked like he was floating, but he was setting himself up to be in a position to take a shot without people noticing him. But hull is like 5'6'' and manthas 6'5'', its impressive he can get into scoring position like he has this tourney, because how do you miss marfan syndrome "sneaking" into the slot.

He's never used his size the way people would want him to, and I don't expect him to change that, that's just not who he is.

And you shouldn't expect him to go all out in a prospect tourney either, especially with what happened to him last year.

Let him get back in the sway of things, stay healthy, and rebound from his "very, Very, very, very, very disappointing" first pro season.

Sure he looks like he's kind of floating around but he's Still in position, he's still covering his areas. And playing on a line with dylark/aa he doesn't have to chase down the play, because the other two take three strides and have already gotten in position.

His defensive responsibility is to cover the guy coming in late sneaking into the slot on the back check. And even though he's not crashing the net like a madman(in a tournament which is basically a friendly match) trying to bang home rebounds, he looks more positionally sound defensively. Which is huge.

And he was in position where he could have easily followed up his rebound, and yes covering the boards when it looks like the puck might come up that way.

I wish he had Larkin's work ethic, but If that line stays together he won't have to, he'll have to keep floating into the soft areas unseen to get that mantha ray off.

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A goal and 2 assists for Janmark in the prospects tournament? We clearly lost that Cole trade... LolHold them off for another 4 minutes boys...

Yep. Holland lost the Cole trade. Just think. In a year's time, Janmark could have still been here, carrying Larkin's gear to the bus. Seriously, get off that lap. The Wings have at least six forward prospects with more upside than that 23 year old. And probably only four of those players will make it. Know what I mean.

Great win tonight. Bright, bright future. Fastest team in the NHL in two years.

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Zombo, that comment was tongue in cheek to say the least... I was 100% kidding. I figured the "lol" would have been enough. If I were on my computer instead of my iPhone I would have used the eye roll emoji. Maybe that would have gotten my point across... Seriously though, when it comes down to it, I think Jammark will be a "decent" NHLer, but will we severely miss him on this squad in a few years? I highly doubt it... Speaking of which, what happened to Backman? As far as I know, he didn't play a single game in the tournament. Is he injured?

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Jimmy, I agree on your assessment of Mantha and some people are way too hard on the kid. He was never drafted to be a stellar two way forward, and he certainly wasn't drafted to be a banger, despite his size. He was drafted to be a sniper, to put the puck in the net, and I believe he will be capable of doing plenty of that at the NHL level in the near future.

As for Nosek, maybe that last comment came across as me not liking him or not thinking he is good enough for the NHL. However, that couldn't be further from the truth. I believe he will someday make for a great 3rd line center in the NHL, I'm just not so sure we'll have the room here. Sure, IF there happens to be a huge turnover in the next few years, it could be a possibility. I just don't see that happening. I think everyone is sure on one guy being back, Abby. I also believe Helm is close to a sure thing as well, as long as he can have another healthy, productive season this year. Miller could go either way, and I'm kind of hoping he's replace by Ferraro after this season. Like you, I think Andersson will be waived and possibly claimed this season. Cleary will definitely be gone after this season in Grand Rapids.

There are just way too many guys knocking on the door that are higher (in my opinion) on the depth chart. You said yourself that both Larkin and Athanasiou are ahead of him (as they should be). I'll peg Larkin as our future number 1 center. I also agree with you that Athanasiou may be better suited on the wing, similar to how I believe Helm is a better winger. I really hope Svechnikov continues to play center in Cape Breton, as I believe he has the potential to be a great 2nd line center option. Then we still have Sheahan that can also be a pretty good 2nd line center or a great 3rd line center. And we will likely still have Glendening as our 4th line center. If we had Larkin, Sheahan, Nosek and Glendening down the middle in a few years, I don't think it would be the worst thing, but then we run into the problem of having to squeeze in all of the wingers...

We'll have Dastyuk (may sign another 1 or 2 one year deals after this contract is up. Would he be a center or winger at that stage of his career?), Zetterberg, Franzen (if he's still healthy and able to play), Nyquist, Tatar, Jurco, Pulkkinen, Abdelkader, Helm, Mantha, Athanasiou, Bertuzzi, Svechnikov, Ferraro, etc. There also may be another couple players fighting for that 3rd line center spot by that time as well. Nastasiuk, Turgeon and Holmstrom could all be in the mix by then... Anyway, long story short, I think he's a good player and was a great add at the time, but I'm not sure if he'll ever have a place in Detroit...

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We'll basically be Tampa bay in two years except we'll be known for defense not offense, still I see us scoring alot too

Jimmy, I agree on your assessment of Mantha and some people are way too hard on the kid. He was never drafted to be a stellar two way forward, and he certainly wasn't drafted to be a banger, despite his size. He was drafted to be a sniper, to put the puck in the net, and I believe he will be capable of doing plenty of that at the NHL level in the near future.

As for Nosek, maybe that last comment came across as me not liking him or not thinking he is good enough for the NHL. However, that couldn't be further from the truth. I believe he will someday make for a great 3rd line center in the NHL, I'm just not so sure we'll have the room here. Sure, IF there happens to be a huge turnover in the next few years, it could be a possibility. I just don't see that happening. I think everyone is sure on one guy being back, Abby. I also believe Helm is close to a sure thing as well, as long as he can have another healthy, productive season this year. Miller could go either way, and I'm kind of hoping he's replace by Ferraro after this season. Like you, I think Andersson will be waived and possibly claimed this season. Cleary will definitely be gone after this season in Grand Rapids.

There are just way too many guys knocking on the door that are higher (in my opinion) on the depth chart. You said yourself that both Larkin and Athanasiou are ahead of him (as they should be). I'll peg Larkin as our future number 1 center. I also agree with you that Athanasiou may be better suited on the wing, similar to how I believe Helm is a better winger. I really hope Svechnikov continues to play center in Cape Breton, as I believe he has the potential to be a great 2nd line center option. Then we still have Sheahan that can also be a pretty good 2nd line center or a great 3rd line center. And we will likely still have Glendening as our 4th line center. If we had Larkin, Sheahan, Nosek and Glendening down the middle in a few years, I don't think it would be the worst thing, but then we run into the problem of having to squeeze in all of the wingers...

We'll have Dastyuk (may sign another 1 or 2 one year deals after this contract is up. Would he be a center or winger at that stage of his career?), Zetterberg, Franzen (if he's still healthy and able to play), Nyquist, Tatar, Jurco, Pulkkinen, Abdelkader, Helm, Mantha, Athanasiou, Bertuzzi, Svechnikov, Ferraro, etc. There also may be another couple players fighting for that 3rd line center spot by that time as well. Nastasiuk, Turgeon and Holmstrom could all be in the mix by then... Anyway, long story short, I think he's a good player and was a great add at the time, but I'm not sure if he'll ever have a place in Detroit...

so basically Ken needs to make a trade.

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Zombo, that comment was tongue in cheek to say the least... I was 100% kidding. I figured the "lol" would have been enough. If I were on my computer instead of my iPhone I would have used the eye roll emoji. Maybe that would have gotten my point across... Seriously though, when it comes down to it, I think Jammark will be a "decent" NHLer, but will we severely miss him on this squad in a few years? I highly doubt it... Speaking of which, what happened to Backman? As far as I know, he didn't play a single game in the tournament. Is he injured?

Sorry. My bad.

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If you're looking for highlights, I'd highly recommend checking out and / or subscribing to Slapshotgoal on YouTube. He/she does a great job of highlighting this tournament for us every year, as well as a ton of highlights from our prospects in various leagues throughout the season.

"She" would be correct - her name is Michelle. She writes for the guys over at WiiM, too. Following her on Twitter pretty much gives up-to-date details on the tournament. Not to mention, she usually posts .gifs of the goals before the highlight packages come out.

https://twitter.com/Slapshotg0al

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Thanks Jesusberg, good to know. I know who Michelle is, and I listen to / read her prospect reports on WIIM all the time. Never knew that was her though. Cool stuff.

I realized how cheeky that first sentence may have read. "'She" would be correct - her name is Michelle." (Oh, you don't know Michelle? You should.)

My bad :lol:

Edited by Jesusberg

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