Thank you for the episode Kronos! Absolutely masterful offseason. A++ The big trade was perfect and as realistic as can be given the circumstances. However, FA is where the GM really shone. The Backlund, Stanton, Stoll (WOW what a find!!!), Jones and UPL signings were all outstanding. Very creative/out of the box thinking, as all three forwards are big, less than 27yo, we're not stealing stars from other teams by bringing them in and their combined salary is slightly less than Perfetti's. Just brilliant.
Early lineup/pro scouting suggestions: 1. Backlund's potential has unfortunately dropped from low elite to low top-9, which means he's pretty much capped at 83ov (and might regress). Still a great player and an awesome signing, but the main concern is that he's a shooter with minimal hands/passing, which might cannibalize Patrick's goal total if they play on the same line. It'd be different if Backlund retained is potential, as there'd be a chance to see his passing/hands improve and his overall rating increase. Since that's not the case, we should prioritize the 3 times 40+ goal scorer (with x factor!) and give Backlund his own line to audition and score on. 2. Quenneville or Bhowmik would be better options for the 2nd line for different reasons. Quenneville because he can complement the skill of Patrick/Dowd and would compete for the Calder, playing with those 2. Bhowmik because he would bring grit to the line + find space and do the dirty work for his linemates. Moving one of the young guys up also balances the forward core. As of now, we have a clear top 6 and a clear bottom 6, where as in the past we had a balanced top 9 with the likes of Tomasino tied to Pinto's hip. 3. Speaking of Bhowmik, we should extend him now to avoid any shenanigans. He grew from 75ov to 80ov and is an important part of the future. 4. One of the reasons why goalies have developped VERY slowly in Winnipeg and thrived elsewhere (Helmersson, Carter, etc.) is the lack of prime opportunities, as the grow very fast when played in the NHL (Konowalchuk-MIN, Helmersson-DAL, etc.). As things stand, with have a glut of goalies at both levels, including 3 med elite battling for icetime in the AHL. That makes no sense. One of those 3 may very well be the long term solution in net and we might never find out because they aren't given a legitimate chance to play. We should trade both UPL and Milic to teams that need help in net and start with Silovs/Gundersen in the NHL, Rielly/Canzanello in the AHL. Gundersen is the oldest/best overall of the bunch of med elites Gs, but perhaps the one with the least upside. He would get the first 20 games as the backup, then be sent down to the AHL in favor of Rielly for the next 20. Then, Canzanello would backup from game 41 to the TDL where stats would be compared and decisions could be made. 5. While playing the young guys, we should aggressively scout the goalie market throughout the year. Not necessarily for a long term solution, but for a 1-3 years bridge (a la Wallstedt) until one of them is ready to take the reigns. 6. One of the keys to a ~30% PP over the past 2 seasons has been having 2 balanced units. Despite the losses of Perfetti and Tomasino, we should aim to make as little changes as possible to the PP.
1. Agreed... Didn't see that he dropped in potential. But he can definitely still command the third line with his stats 2. I think I'm leaning towards Quenneville for the 2nd line but of course if we struggle line changes can be made accordingly and Bhowmik will be the next man up. 4. While I agree with the premise (that we need to prioritize some goaltending development) I just think a 74 overall backup is too low to be successful in the NHL. I don't want to risk them performing poorly and hurting their potential and possibly overall for the future. If they struggle in their limited games in the NHL I don't want that hurting their future progression. But we can definitely sub them in for some games
@Kronos_12 The idea is that all 3 G prospects under contract will not play in Winnipeg long term. At some point, at least one will have to be traded, so it'd be wise to start speeding up their development with NHL time and gather stats on them. While 74 seems low, it's not for goalies (or grinders, as we saw with Bhowmik). There are certain types of players that need NHL time to grow and goalies definitely are one. For example, the year we traded for Wallstedt, Konowalchuk backed up Blomqvist as a 77ov, put up unimpressive stats, but went on to grow to 90ov. By giving each prospect 20 games or so to backup, they'd realistically play 4 or 5 of those before being sent down. It'd unclutter the position (with the other 2 getting AHL icetime) and would hardly be enough to affect their potential. Gundersen for example is 23yo. If not now, when?
