I don’t think you’ll actually see a huge shift in styles from us. Like most said if we’d started the year with the team we ended the league would definitely have been a lot closer so whole sale change wasn’t required.
As for the changes must seem to be parity or an improvement.
Register - Crawford
Looks like a parity switch with Crawford potentially being a bit younger and more dynamic stylistically. Seems a close as we could get to Fournier without it being Fournier.
Mikkelson - Jardine
Again seems like a good parity signing with Jards potentially having a little more offence about him.
Thompson - McNulty
Seems like an upgrade. Appears to be considered the North American version of Ritchie which can only be a good thing.
Martin - Dixon
Feel dirty saying anything bad about Dixon but has to be considered and upgrade.
Brittain - McNally
Actually very intrigued by this comparison. McNally was a very effective player when on it but also had moments of the wires crossing. Will Brittain be a slightly more effective, slightly more disciplined player in that role. Interesting.
Penny - Lammon
This is the signing I’m intrigued about most but only because of my bias. On paper he looks an upgrade on Lammon and played Blaze top line so moving to Devils third could be a stroke of genius for both parties. However my bigger question is will Penny do as good a job on the third line as potentially Dixon might have done for us if we’d kept him. Of all the signings he is the one that might have to work hardest to convince me he was a good pick up. Especially in the Face Off dot.
Carruth - Bowns
Carruth is a loss undoubtedly so could be perceived as a down grade but I think Bownsey can still back stop a championship team. Also successful teams are exactly that. Teams. I think Bownsey is a better cultural fit to the locker room than the loan wolf in Carruth. Bownsey will be 1A and Kozun 1B but if they can just be consistent enough in their play I think that D Corp and a firing offence will mean a successful compromise might have been met. However everyone does seem to be judging on Bownsey potentially unfairly as we haven’t seen him consistently play for a while.
From the team that ended the season which was looking pretty strong overall there has been an incremental upgrade so can’t see anything other than to be optimistic Devils will be fully in the mix next year. Winning is never guaranteed but as someone mentioned this looks like a Devils team on paper.
As for the changes must seem to be parity or an improvement.
Register - Crawford
Looks like a parity switch with Crawford potentially being a bit younger and more dynamic stylistically. Seems a close as we could get to Fournier without it being Fournier.
Mikkelson - Jardine
Again seems like a good parity signing with Jards potentially having a little more offence about him.
Thompson - McNulty
Seems like an upgrade. Appears to be considered the North American version of Ritchie which can only be a good thing.
Martin - Dixon
Feel dirty saying anything bad about Dixon but has to be considered and upgrade.
Brittain - McNally
Actually very intrigued by this comparison. McNally was a very effective player when on it but also had moments of the wires crossing. Will Brittain be a slightly more effective, slightly more disciplined player in that role. Interesting.
Penny - Lammon
This is the signing I’m intrigued about most but only because of my bias. On paper he looks an upgrade on Lammon and played Blaze top line so moving to Devils third could be a stroke of genius for both parties. However my bigger question is will Penny do as good a job on the third line as potentially Dixon might have done for us if we’d kept him. Of all the signings he is the one that might have to work hardest to convince me he was a good pick up. Especially in the Face Off dot.
Carruth - Bowns
Carruth is a loss undoubtedly so could be perceived as a down grade but I think Bownsey can still back stop a championship team. Also successful teams are exactly that. Teams. I think Bownsey is a better cultural fit to the locker room than the loan wolf in Carruth. Bownsey will be 1A and Kozun 1B but if they can just be consistent enough in their play I think that D Corp and a firing offence will mean a successful compromise might have been met. However everyone does seem to be judging on Bownsey potentially unfairly as we haven’t seen him consistently play for a while.
From the team that ended the season which was looking pretty strong overall there has been an incremental upgrade so can’t see anything other than to be optimistic Devils will be fully in the mix next year. Winning is never guaranteed but as someone mentioned this looks like a Devils team on paper.
