Cornet would have to be considered the biggest surprise, after all it was uncertain what role he'd play in the organization this season. Plante has had his best season in the AHL, and his last year and a half in the league are trending in a good direction. Danis is a minor league veteran who has been solid in his return to the AHL.
I think it's important we take a moment to make the distinction between these AHL all-stars and actual elite level prospects. The outstanding prospects in OKC this season are Teemu Hartikainen and that group, these are men who have proven themselves in the very difficult AHL. However, making too many of that league's all star games tells us said player isn't moving up to the NHL as a regular. I'd rank Danis in that category, with the other two still in the prospect stage.
--
Tanner House appears to be a useful AHL player already. Coach Todd Nelson uses him in a very productive manner as Neal Livingston details in an excellent scouting report. Mr. Livingston tells us his passing ability is a negative and that he's only average in size. Those things aside, the young man is a willing 2-way player with a strong work ethic.
Edmonton has recalled the following "role-playing" forwards this season:
- Nov 30: Recalled Ryan O'Marra
- Jan 2: Recalled Teemu Hartikainen
- Jan 3: Recalled Josh Green
My bet is that he's in the mix for the next recall. If Josh Green struggles in the next game and Edmonton decides they'd like a center, then it might come down to O'Marra, House and VandeVelde. O'Marra is probably the better bet, but House has to be getting good scouting reports from his coach and the Edmonton staff must be aware of his progress.
Dammit, always post just as a new post comes online. Hope you don't mind if I repost here...
ReplyDelete'd like to hear some opinions on what I would like to see happen with the World Junior.
I suppose it depends on where you sit but to me, there's best-on-best tournaments and then there are...others. Canada winning or losing the Spengler Cup means less than nothing to me. I'm sure the games are entertaining but the outcome isn't measuring anything.
I'm worried that as the NHL is evolving to a young man's league, the World Juniors will become (and maybe already have) a Spengler Cup for teenagers.
The best 18 and 19 year olds (in Canada at least) do not get a chance to ever play in this event or if they do, it rarely is as the focal point. When they are draft eligible, they are buried behind a flood of 19 year old men. When they are 18 and 19, they are playing in the NHL.
If the World Under 20's became the World Under 19's, what's the downside? Are the players a little worse at this age? I suppose, but ALL teams would be slightly worse and the product would be just as good.
All the 19 year olds would be gone leaving the old guys as the 18 year olds. The truly elite draft eligible Canadians would almost definitely play and play huge roles.
Going back in time, this 2012 (in 2011) team would gain Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Ryan Johannson, Sean Couturier and lose Michal Bournival, Boone Jenner and Tanner Pearson. The year before would have seen Skinner and Seguin join Hall (and Eberle at 18).
It's important to note, these guys would still be underagers but not so underage that they couldn't contribute. It would become an 18 year old (and elite 17 year old) tournament and that's exactly what I think they intended.
The other countries aren't affected as much for two reasons. First, they don't have the depth so a truly elite talent will play at 18, 17 or even 16. Secondly, they tend to wait until they are 19 or 20 before coming to the NHL. I'm not coming at this from a position of fairness to Canada...Christ, they host every year*** so fairness is out the window.
This tournament is all about seeing Kuznetsov, Yakupov, Grigorenko, Granlund, Huberdeau, Dougie Hamilton and the other guys who will have terrific NHL careers. I'll forget Michal Bournival existed in about 10 minutes.
***Buffalo and Grand Forks are Canada...who we kidding.
Carcillo sits for seven.
ReplyDeleteNice to see Plante's name on that list.He's got a few bodies to climb over if he's going to make the NHL roster(Teubert,Peckham) and he's going to have Musil and the other young D pushing him next year-an AHL All Star game on your resume isn't a showstopper but it's something.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry, Knighttown. I'm giving Canada three years before it makes the under 17 tournament as big of a deal as the under 20 tournament.
ReplyDeletecould not post this on ON. IP has been banned. RB had me banned for asking him if Scott brownlee was his brother. Guy went around twlling the women he had a big .... they laughed at him.
ReplyDeleteSo Cornet:
Philip Conet:
1. lead the Quebec midget league in Scoring (MVP)
2. was the 2nd overall pick in the QMJHL draft.
3. 2nd leading 18yr scorer QMJHL 08-09
4. Top 10 QMJHL scoring 19YR 09-10
5. top 5 Goal Scorer in AHL 21YR 11-12 AHL All-star.
From that list I will take being buried in first year of AHL as: not the norm.
rickibear,
ReplyDeleteWith 2 points tonight (O'Marra had 3 and MPS an A) Cornet now has 17 goals on 53 shots. Thats not sustainable especially with just 4 assists.
He isn't good enough to play top 6 in the NHL and aint big enough to play bottom 6.
Trade him while he is hot!
Nice to see Plante developing. He is going to get a very long look next fall as he will need to clear waivers.
Have they put his face back together yet?
Edmonton needs a Count Floyd monument. Maybe an aware statue on a quiet corner downtown, where if the statue notices a person beside it, it'll start to tell a scary story.
ReplyDeleteThis was meant was for the WJC discussion in the last thread:
ReplyDeleteI've watched almost all the Canadian games including the exhibition ones. Here are some thoughts:
The #1 (and very obvious) reason that Canada didn't walk away with gold is the missing kids playing in NHL. Among them are 3 forwards hovering around the 1 point/game rate after approx 30 games played. When's the last time you see Team Canada missing 3 forwards with this kind of NHL production? And then of course there are a couple others who are playing regularly as footsoldiers but would undoubtedly dominate junior hockey.
I thought Don Hay's usage of his forwards was very questionable. The 3 most skilled kids on the team are Huberdeau, Strome, and Schwartz. The next tier contains a bunch of guys, the best of which are probably Stone and Connolly. I have no problem with Huberdeau, Strome, and Stone forming the primary scoring line and the PP unit #1. But I thought Schwartz was completely misused. Instead of giving him good offensive linemates, he was saddled with Gallagher and Scheifele.
God bless Gallagher's hustle and straight-ahead speed. But despite racking up some points, he makes Cogliano look like Pavel Bure. The kid has no hands and very little offensive acumen. He really has no business on the PP unit #2 but was made a fixture. He plays for Hay in Vancouver so I think the unjustified favoritism is very apparent.
Scheifele is the complete opposite of Gallagher: excellent hands and offensive instincts but was completely overwhelmed by the pace 5-on-5 any time we faced a decent opponent. I thought he and Pearson were the 2 worst forwards on the team. I don't mind him as a PP specialist, but 5-on-5 he was an anchor to this linemates.
Not only was Schwartz wasted with bad linemates 5x5, he was misused on the PP as a point man. His skills on the side & end boards were obvious. There, he can pivot & turn and regularly evade at least one defender to create time and space. On the point it was too dangerous to pull those tricks as the last man back and you can see that he had to suppress his considerable skillset and play much more conservatively. He doesn't have a hard shot nor is he the fastest skater. The decision to play him there is completely baffling. Why was it done? To open a spot for the offensively deficient Gallagher? Baffling.
If there was a spot to open for someone on the PP, it probably should have been Connolly instead of Gallagher. I find it hard to understand why he received so little time on the PP.
Despite some bad luck in the last game, Ryan Murray had a very good tourney. The kid is NHL ready and I'd be happy if the Oilers take him.
Ducey: 53 shots from along the boards or in front of the net he described this year.
ReplyDeleteCause 53 5% shots is unsustainable. 53 50% shots then he is underperforming and expect an increase in the Goal rate.
That real shot stat would be nice.
Bob McKenzie
ReplyDeleteTSNBobMcKenzie Bob McKenzie
As per @helenenothelen, ANA GM says Selanne and Koivu are only two untouchables on Ducks. Which means he'll listen on Getzlaf, Perry, Ryan.
30 minutes ago
Burke has been clearing cap space.
I wonder if Tambellini knows about this.
I wonder if Tambellini also knows that Burke is with the Leafs now.
ReplyDeleteTrade Hemsky for Ryan straight up.
Hemsky is a flawed rental of zero value to the Ducks.
ReplyDeleteAnaheim is blowing things up.
If the Oilers want to be in the conversation one of Eberle, Hall or Hopkins will have to be on the table.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteOk, try this again...
ReplyDeleteIrony. That's it.
Tracy
ReplyDeleteTreenasOil Tracy
Ducks letting everyone know Perry, Ryan and Getzlaf on the block has lowered the Oilers "assets" unless they deal with each other.
15 minutes ago
I thought you said the two teams 'assets' weren't in the same category (Porsche v. Saab), so how does that lower the Oilers asset value? As in, either you want a banged-up, slick, UFA bound, proven vet having an off year or Hemsky.
ReplyDeleteCan't see the difference from here, unless you feel C v W is a big difference for teams.
Are you drunk?
ReplyDeleteFinally
ReplyDeleteEnough non-sequiturs and we have finally arrived.
Burke, GM of Leafs, not Anaheim.
Good night.
@knighttown
ReplyDeleteI know it's frustrating for everyone that Canada isn't able to make full use of it's greatest strength (depth), but it's really for the best. Not our best, of course, but the tournament would grow old if we found a way to ensure all the best young Canadians were there every year. If even just Nuge was there this year we would have killed everyone, and that's the case I'd say 4/5 years.
Look at women's hockey: there are only two good teams and the other nations are tired of getting killed. Tournaments generate such little interest or competition that the olympics are considering scrapping the sport.
Canadians provide more NHLers than the rest of the world combined; Canada needs to be hobbled. Take it as a compliment and sleep soundly knowing that using the entire best of the best Canada's third-string team would be a perennial medal threat, and no other country could even almost say that.
@Rickibear
Ol' Rob's pretty ban-happy, eh?
I agree with Stevezie, it's a *good thing* for Canada to be humbled reasonably often. I got attracted to the Lowetide blog because I was homesick for Edmonton, living in the States and Europe from 1996-2007. When I got back to Canada I was shocked at how much more arrogant the country seems to have become. Maybe it's because I'm living on the west coast and everyone seems to be stuck-up and ignorant. Saskatchewan and Manitoba are still humble. Saskatoon reminds me of the Edmonton I used to know. Very homey.
ReplyDeleteThis thread so far demonstrates how little attention and interest the AHL garners. Is it just poor marketing? Even as a prospects fan, I didn't consider for more than a second shelling out money to watch the Calder Cup.
ReplyDelete@delooper
ReplyDeleteNot sure where you are at on the 'west coast', but painting everyone as arrogant and ignorant is pathetic. I grew up on Van Island. The people are as humble and hardworking as you will find anywhere. Those lucky enough to have a job mind you.
Sorry, as usual I am way off topic.
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to add, if the Ducks big trio is available we gotta go all in. I have no idea which one would fit best in the 'City of Champions'. Oh my sweet jeebus any one of those chaps would look good in Oil silks. With the exception of Eberle, Hall, and RNH ... take anybody!!!!!
I'm prepared to offer Hemsky and a second for Perry.
ReplyDelete"This thread so far demonstrates how little attention and interest the AHL garners. Is it just poor marketing? Even as a prospects fan, I didn't consider for more than a second shelling out money to watch the Calder Cup. "
Dude, I regularly shell out 84 bucks for glass seats to watch OKC when they come to town. I love watching the Barons, worth every penny.
if Getzlaf is available, the Oilers should go after the power forward, skilled centre which the Oilers do not have. I don't know what Getzlaf's salary is though.
ReplyDeleteIf Getzlaf is available. You make a first offer of Gagner and one of Omark/MPS. If they don't hang up on you outright, start adding even if it costs you both Omark and MPS and conditionals if he resigns next year.
ReplyDeleteIf you have a centre core of RNH/Getzlaf/Horcoff/Belanger/Lander locked up, you're pretty set for the next few years and possibly beyond.
If of the Ducks's "big three" is available for the kind of offers being thrown around on here I'll eat my hat.
ReplyDelete