Quote:
Originally Posted by JJ1532
GOALTENDERS
1 - Jonas Hiller
31 - Karri Ramo
37 - Joni Ortio
DEFENCEMEN
15 - Ladislav Smid
7 - TJ Brodie
26 - Tyler Wotherspoon
29 - Deryk Engelland
4 - Kris Russell
6 - Dennis Wideman
5 - Mark Giordano
27 - Dougie Hamilton
33 - Jakub Nakladal
44 - Ryan Wilson(PTO)
61 - Brett Kulak
FORWARDS
13 - Johnny Gaudreau
16 - Josh Jooris
23 - Sean Monahan
60 - Markus Granlund
79 - Micheal Ferland
8 - Joe Colborne
11 - Mikael Backlund
17 - Lance Bouma
22 - Drew Shore
52 - Brandon Bollig
64 - Garnet Hathaway
67 - Micheal Frolik
18 - Matt Stajan
19 - David Jones
21 - Mason Raymond
24 - Jiri Hudler
93 - Sam Bennett
32 - Paul Byron
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None of the cuts today surprised me in the slightest.
Injured players for opening day in red. My cuts indicated by strikethrough.
I have to say that Ramo doesn't look much different than last year. He still flops a lot and overcommits to the shooter. As much as Hiller is inconsistent as well, he still is a much more solid presence in net than Ramo. I keep Ortio for a few reasons: 1) he's no longer able to pass through waivers, 2) he's young and improving, 3) he has lights out potential that the other two just don't have. There's nothing really wrong with Ramo, but if I'm forced to make a choice it's Hiller getting 60% of the games and Ortio getting 40% of the games, with Ramo moving on.
The defense situation is murky, but I love what I've been seeing from Kulak. Unless he has an absolute bomb of a game he'll be there opening night even ahead of Wilson. On that subject, I think he's earned the right to a contract, but I'd make it a two-way and send him to Stockton once everyone is healthy. He'd be a nice veteran presence on a team with a lot of young players. Nakladal would make my opening night roster, so if he's healthy you can scratch Wilson. Kulak goes down once Brodie is healthy, but I believe he would be a perfect fit to play 3rd pairing minutes alongside Engelland for the time being.
As for Kylington, he's far too good and too experienced playing among men to be sent to junior. Even if he struggles for a period, the point is to challenge him and force him to be better. Plus, teaching defense in the AHL vs. Juniors is a very different process, and at least in the AHL we can be sure the coaching style would mirror the NHL club. I think he's a year away from competing for a job at least, but he's not far beyond that.
Same could be said for Anderssson. There's no doubt he needs to be more fit and have a better first step. That being said, he looked just fine competing against NHLers and he already thinks the game at a very, very high level. Quite frankly, if he was eligible for the AHL he should have gone there, because Junior isn't going to offer him any challenges at all. At least he can work on his fitness over the course of this season.
I didn't have nearly as much trouble making cuts among the forwards. I like Granlund, but unfortunately he's still able to pass through waivers, so he had to go. Same for Hathaway, but he's clearly not ready for the NHL. I liked what I saw from him though. Raymond has to go simply because he doesn't cut it anymore. He offers nothing, and I don't think there would be much problem for him to go through waivers unclaimed (unfortunately). There are just too many quality players here to keep him around any longer. Shore deserves the chance to at least be a spare forward, and slot him in when we need some more size at center or right wing. Byron is a tough cut, but he looks like he needs to spend some time in the AHL just to get his game back on track after all the injuries that he only recently recovered from. I don't think anyone would claim him, and he'd likely be the first injury recall.
Ferland has more than earned a job on the team, he's earned top 6 duty. Can't wait to see him for a full years. Bennett also deserves to be here, even though he hasn't been as effective as he can be. I think he'll take the first 10-20 games to get things going. It won't take long for him.
Obviously this is just what I think, and it doesn't necessarily mean it will go down this way, but I'd be happy if it did.