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#1
Morning All,
With Chris Blight's signing today, it looks like we might have recruited a player to light the lamp on a more consistent basis - something that was noticably missing last year after Pelle's departure.
Indeed, the 2 new import signings look pretty impressive - adding to the returning quality we've secured.
Appreciating it is still relatively early in the off-season - a concern in my head at the moment is the vacant wing slot on the 3rd line.
I know that quite a few slots are still open at the moment - but all things being equal i'd hazard a guess at the line-up looking something like;
K Smith - New Import
M Smith - Import (possibly Chris Frank?)
G Adams - J Batch
Birbraer - Faulkner - Blight
New Import - Macrae - Hill
McKenzie - Davies - ???
Now I like Adam Harding a lot - he skates well, plays with his head up and has been taught in North America to finish all his hits. He's got a whole heap of potential. However, in my mind he's not ready to take a regular shift on that 3rd line unit.
My reason for this; Harding did play a role in the run-in and play-offs - he did earn his place ahead of Tim Burrows and Sam Smith. He was though, playing on a line with Scott Matzka - a 2-way centre so good that he could have probably got Brad Gratton and Trent Anderson to the NHL.
Suddenly, Harding would be on a line with Ben Davies as his centre. Now everyone (including myself) loves Ben Davies and recognises his potential to be an elite brit in this league. However, he himself will be embarking on his first full season as an Elite League centre-ice - and Ben himself admits he still has work to do on the defensive side of his game.
Our 3rd line could potentially be scored on quite frequently.
I guess there is the option of Bari MacKenzie stepping up a line (like he did with the Capitals) and playing with Stu and Phil Hill - with an import on the 3rd line. I've got a hunch that G won't do this though - because Hill, Stu and a consitent import winger looks to have a nice balance about it for secondary scoring.
Adams on the 3rd line wing slot? Possibly - but I like the idea of him going back to play on a denfensive unit with Josh Batch to continue that player's rapid development.
So who takes that 3rd line slot...and who is available that we could possibly get?
Cheers,
John
With Chris Blight's signing today, it looks like we might have recruited a player to light the lamp on a more consistent basis - something that was noticably missing last year after Pelle's departure.
Indeed, the 2 new import signings look pretty impressive - adding to the returning quality we've secured.
Appreciating it is still relatively early in the off-season - a concern in my head at the moment is the vacant wing slot on the 3rd line.
I know that quite a few slots are still open at the moment - but all things being equal i'd hazard a guess at the line-up looking something like;
K Smith - New Import
M Smith - Import (possibly Chris Frank?)
G Adams - J Batch
Birbraer - Faulkner - Blight
New Import - Macrae - Hill
McKenzie - Davies - ???
Now I like Adam Harding a lot - he skates well, plays with his head up and has been taught in North America to finish all his hits. He's got a whole heap of potential. However, in my mind he's not ready to take a regular shift on that 3rd line unit.
My reason for this; Harding did play a role in the run-in and play-offs - he did earn his place ahead of Tim Burrows and Sam Smith. He was though, playing on a line with Scott Matzka - a 2-way centre so good that he could have probably got Brad Gratton and Trent Anderson to the NHL.
Suddenly, Harding would be on a line with Ben Davies as his centre. Now everyone (including myself) loves Ben Davies and recognises his potential to be an elite brit in this league. However, he himself will be embarking on his first full season as an Elite League centre-ice - and Ben himself admits he still has work to do on the defensive side of his game.
Our 3rd line could potentially be scored on quite frequently.
I guess there is the option of Bari MacKenzie stepping up a line (like he did with the Capitals) and playing with Stu and Phil Hill - with an import on the 3rd line. I've got a hunch that G won't do this though - because Hill, Stu and a consitent import winger looks to have a nice balance about it for secondary scoring.
Adams on the 3rd line wing slot? Possibly - but I like the idea of him going back to play on a denfensive unit with Josh Batch to continue that player's rapid development.
So who takes that 3rd line slot...and who is available that we could possibly get?
Cheers,
John
