Keep or Can

K

katie.sinclair1

Active Member
#142
#142
This season has baffled me, so already looking to the next! I would seriously be looking at retaining the likes of Waller. As already said, he is going to be a target from others in our league and beyond. Not utilising his skills now is going to be a factor in his decision making. I don't want to see him steaming up the ice at IAW wearing another logo on his chest! However, if he got an offer from afar, I wouldn't begrudge him his opportunity.
 
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Hodor

Hodor

Member
#143
#143
It's nice that a lot of the 'younger' players are the ones a lot of people want to retain - Cox, Sanford, Coughler, Crawford, Waller, Brandt and now Pietroniro seems to be getting some love. I hope they all want come back and go on to become Devils legends.
 
Devils86

Devils86

Well-Known Member
#147
#147
Devils86 said:
Bit late to this one...my two cents:

NM:
Bowns and Kozun have shown over the season that they can turn in very good performances but also drop complete clangers. A little inconsistency is to be expected otherwise they wouldn't be playing in the EIHL but for me if we want to be moving up the table then a new starting NM is a must. Cowley will continue to be linked with us and if he was picked up I would be happy with that, but that would likely mean Kozun on his way as Bowns' status as a Brit will make him more valuable to the organisation (plus theres that rumour hes signed a 3 year deal). Kozun has been brilliant at times this year and it shows what ice time can do for a guy who didn't impress me last season. This season has genuinely been a tandem without a clear number 1.

D:
The Brits of Ritchie and Batch will likely be retained, in part because of the requirement for Brits and the lack of options to bring in. Ritchie has had another solid year and whilst Batch hasn't hit the heights of a couple years ago he's doing OK for an EIHL level. I don't subscribe to the idea that just because you are big you have to be fighting every night, although it would be nice to see Josh dominate some opponents every now and then rather than end up relying on his poke check reach.

Louis, I would leave it to him. If he feels he has another year then give him the deal. He's had an interrupted year but he gets what being a Devil is and is one of only a couple that will stand up for their team mates, and probably at present the only physical deterrent we have to stop teams picking on our small forwards. Never going to set the world on fire with points and I think we need to break up the pairing of him and Batch - when together they just don't inspire oconfidence.

Crawford, given his point production and age is a must to re-sign. He does need to improve his actual defending but he has got better as the season has gone on and has reduced the number of god-awful icing hoofs up the ice.

Thompson - not for me. Not sure if he is supposed to be a stay at home or all-rounder on the blue line. Too many mistakes throughout the season and I think is someone we could improve on.

The quandary is Jardine. I wasn't all that fussed with him when he was first with us until he started to improve when paired with Morrisonn. The Jardine that lit up the ECHL or went to Scandinavia, get me that fella - because what we have at the moment is, for whatever reason, not the same guy. Rumoured like Bowns to be on a multi-year deal so we'll see. Wouldn't mind if he was retained but he needs to improve and show us what the big fuss from the owners was about in the summer. I'd love Gleason back and if Jardine is the cost of that then off he goes.

F:
Cox & Sanford - these guys come as a pair and I would be delighted to see them back. But especially with Cole's goals he may get an offer in another league and take Cox with him. Likewise we will very very lucky to hold on to Waller. The only way I see that happening is if he wants to guarantee more top line ice time and he stays with us to continue developing. The guy won't be in the EIHL for long though.

GOAT - no question. The man still gets it and doesn't take a night off, unlike most of his team mates. Same as Brandt and Duggan in terms of getting that the logo on the front of the jersey matters. Multi-year deals please.

Davies should be re-signed, value as a Brit and on the PK cannot be questioned. I was worried when we lost Myers but Davies is different but just as good. In my opinion Crandall has the 2nd best hockey IQ on the team behind GOAT, he's been quiet compared to last season and he made need to un-learn his pass-first attitude but I'd have him back for the 2nd or 3rd line. I'd also offer Coughler a deal presuming that he has recovered from his injury issue and will get back to being his first season self.

Penny I'm less sure on. I like that we took another EIHL team's best forward and put him as our 3rd line center and he does show glimpses of good work rate and defensive coverage but he has certainly not done enough to nail down a spot on next year's roster - he's vulnerable to being replaced.

Brittain and Reid - times up lads. Reid got found out towards end of last season and given how many goals he scored we couldn't not sign him back. But this year that credit has been used up. Brittain showed a glimpse of what he can offer but is too inconsistent - or is consistently not turning up, either way we need better if we are to improve.

Whilst he seems to skate well and has done 'OK', and always like a guy willing to scrap, I presume we can do better than Pietroniro - wouldn't be disappointed to see him signed up as he's versatile and decent but he's not going to be a game changer at this stage of his career.

The forward lines need to be reevaluated, we don't seem to have options to change up things when they aren't working. The D pairings could do with tweaking depending on who is retained. And we need to fix the special teams.

2-ways:
Bradley, Kerlin, Kelly, Harewood - would be very happy to see them all retained on the same basis, with a few more call ups where appropriate (CC, dead rubbers etc). Impressed by Kelly's improvement but always reckoned that Bradley would be the one to make the step up first - interesting to see what happens with him.

Coaching:
For me if we look at the roster and say largely the players are good enough and need a couple additions rather than a full overhaul then you have to look at how they are being coached, the standards and expectations that are being set. All of that falls at the feet of the coach. Du Pont and Horne come as a pair IMO, replacing Horne but leaving Du Pont in place will not fix the issues we have. We need someone who will fix that god-damn powerplay - whether thats a new coaching team altogether or you persevere with Du Pont and Horne for another season with expectations laid down from the outset. If they team isn't performing ultimately its their responsibility. From what TK said at the Q&A a while back Du Pont got the job only because he won the playoffs and TK sounded like he had someone else lined up to come in. It may well be that Du Pont has had his shot that he earned winning the playoffs and its now time for TK's other guy to come in. I genuinely don't know which way I would go but at the moment I leaning towards getting rid of the coaching team and starting afresh with the vast majority of the roster (if they want to stay).

I've read the suggestions around Dixon, I would have him back in a heartbeat in a player/assistant coach role like we had Piggsy but its too early in his career to task him with turning around this team as a head coach. Dix could still do a job on our third line (and/or winning key face offs in OT/PP) but it may be that hes done playing this season.
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As the season has finished my thoughts haven't changed much...

The only changes I have are that: I'm less sure on Cox/Sanford after the discussions around their consistency; Chad played himself into more contention for a spot next season; and I was more sure that we needed a change of coach.
 
M

moggy#9

Well-Known Member
#148
#148
Devils86 said:
As the season has finished my thoughts haven't changed much...

The only changes I have are that: I'm less sure on Cox/Sanford after the discussions around their consistency; Chad played himself into more contention for a spot next season; and I was more sure that we needed a change of coach.
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Out off curiosity regarding Cox/Sanford, is this based on seeing them as the first line they were playing as, or the second line unit they were recruited to be? My Personal view is that they're a highly effective second line, and would be even more so if they hadn't been burnt out from the over reliance on them.
 
Devils86

Devils86

Well-Known Member
#149
#149
moggy#9 said:
Out off curiosity regarding Cox/Sanford, is this based on seeing them as the first line they were playing as, or the second line unit they were recruited to be? My Personal view is that they're a highly effective second line, and would be even more so if they hadn't been burnt out from the over reliance on them.
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I don't claim to be in the know about anything but for me I'd recruit players on the basis they will be a top 6 forward or would be 2nd/3rd line. I wouldn't expect Cox and Sanford to be brought in on the basis they would be 2nd line per se - I'd expect them to be able to step up, and they have.

Valid point about burn out. It may be that they need genuine top 6 winger colleagues to share the load. Maybe I'm just a bit more resigned to their departure or am finding it difficult to keep them out of the problems we have in the roster (ie what if the problem is Cox and Sanford).

To be clear I've probably gone from 100% keeping them to 90%!
 
Wannabe2

Wannabe2

Well-Known Member
#150
#150
Cox and Sanford had 131 pts between them 66pts & 65pts, in a pretty average inconsistent team think people need a re-think here. Two excellent players that I would have already have signed for next season, you don’t see these guys wanting to be carried or being passionless. Still very young let these guys go at your peril, though it would be an idiotic move to make, these lads with a very good coach would blossom.
 
W

winstanley

Member
#152
#152
Wannabe2 said:
Cox and Sanford had 131 pts between them 66pts & 65pts, in a pretty average inconsistent team think people need a re-think here. Two excellent players that I would have already have signed for next season, you don’t see these guys wanting to be carried or being passionless. Still very young let these guys go at your peril, though it would be an idiotic move to make, these lads with a very good coach would blossom.
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....."you don't see these guys wanting to be carried or being passionless".

I think these two have shown remarkable character. They stepped-up to become leaders in the team. Not just in carrying the bulk of our attacking threat amongst the forwards, and seeming to play more than a fair share of shifts, but also in the way they have played with greater physicality and have been more effective in the higher traffic areas. I would be disappointed if they were not back.
 
E

E.D.S.

Well-Known Member
#153
#153
Wannabe2 said:
Cox and Sanford had 131 pts between them 66pts & 65pts, in a pretty average inconsistent team think people need a re-think here. Two excellent players that I would have already have signed for next season, you don’t see these guys wanting to be carried or being passionless. Still very young let these guys go at your peril, though it would be an idiotic move to make, these lads with a very good coach would blossom.
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Agree. I still refer back to what I've said for most of the season.... the amount of defending that line had to do, the number of times they were dumping the puck so they could get a change, the poor way we exited the zone, the awful passing from our D when trying to create a rush and our in ability to retain possession in the attacking zone, combined with the way we restricted ourselves to 2 lines at times... it's a minor miracle these guys posted the numbers they did. They were killing themselves out there at times and killing themselves in the wrong part of the ice. Their frustration was clear as they started to get involved in the hacking and whacking. I haven't even mentioned the underwhelming and underperforming second line that placed enormous pressure on the first.

Our Davies and Duggan line, combined with Brandt and Chad were severely under utilised. They should have been trusted to provide a welcome break to the 1st line.

The fact Cox, Sanford and Joey did what they did is remarkable.
 
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E

E.D.S.

Well-Known Member
#154
#154
winstanley said:
....."you don't see these guys wanting to be carried or being passionless".

I think these two have shown remarkable character. They stepped-up to become leaders in the team. Not just in carrying the bulk of our attacking threat amongst the forwards, and seeming to play more than a fair share of shifts, but also in the way they have played with greater physicality and have been more effective in the higher traffic areas. I would be disappointed if they were not back.
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It's a shame they had to play with that extra physicality as well. It speaks volumes for their spirit and desire but it's not really what we want them doing. Both, great characters.
 
rocketbob

rocketbob

Well-Known Member
#155
#155
E.D.S. said:
Agree. I still refer back to what I've said for most of the season.... the amount of defending that line had to do, the number of times they were dumping the puck so they could get a change, the poor way we exited the zone, the awful passing from our D when trying to create a rush and our in ability to retain possession in the attacking zone, combined with the way we restricted ourselves to 2 lines at times... it's a minor miracle these guys posted the numbers they did. The were killing themselves out there at times and killing themselves in the wrong part of the ice. Their frustration was clear as they started to get involved in the hacking and whacking. I haven't even mentioned the underwhelming and underperforming second line that placed enormous pressure on the first.

Our Davies and Duggan line, combined with Brandt and Chad were severely under utilised. They should have been trusted to provide a welcome break to the 1st line.

The fact Cox, Sanford and Joey did what they did is remarkable.
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Nail, head, hit.
 
JC23

JC23

Well-Known Member
#156
#156
Keep;
Richie
Crawford
Brandt
Duggan
Waller
Davies
Pietroniro
Coughler
Martin
Cox
Sanford

Can;
Jardine
Thompson
Reid
Kozun
Brittain
Penny

On the fence;
Bowns
Crandall
Louis
Batch
 
K

Kristoff

Active Member
#160
Thread starter #160
So looking at last season's rosta and who we have brought in. Have we upgraded?
Louis
Brittain ️
Jardien ️
Reid ️
Kozun
Thompson
Coughler
Penny ️
 
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