Quote:
Originally Posted by CroFlames
Good for Hathaway sticking around. I like the way he plays and it would be a pleasant surprise if he turned into a regular NHLER this season.
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I'd have Hathaway on the team for sure. He's the perfect 4th line RW. Big and strong, good skater, gets in on the forecheck, stands up for teammates, hits hard, responsible defensively, plays with intensity.
I see the following spots filled:
Gaudreau-Monahan-?
Ferland-Bennett-Browuer
Bouma-Backlund-Frolik
Stajan-Hamilton-Hathaway
Bollig
Tkachuck back to junior so he doesn't kill himself in the NHL because his body is not physically developed to play his game fully.
The extra RW spot is down to Chiasson, Shinkaruk, Higgins, Korpikoski, Vey.
Higgins, Korpikoski might be better suited on left wing, so if they opt for one of them, then Ferland moves to that top line RW.
I think Shinkaruk will be next to go down, unless he puts up a hat trick in his next game to really get the coaches attention. He needs to score to stick.
In terms of usefulness, I think Higgins and Korpikoski are probably better than Stajan for that 4th line LW spot, but unfortunately, Stajan and his contract are there. So I think both of them will be let go.
As much as he hasn't earned it, that first line RW spot is probably going to go to Chiasson. Winner by default. Hopefully he can improve along the way.
And before the anti-truculent crowd comes in complaining about Bollig as the 13th forward over the other bubble forwards. Think about who you would rather have going off for 5 minutes to fight Lucic in Game 1 of the season. You want Engelland to go off for 5 minutes and screw up your pairings? You want Ferland, Bouma or Hathway to risk getting their face punched in? Lucic will be a bull in a china-shop on his first shift and its' better to have Bollig take him off the ice for 5 then a real player. And no, it's not just for Lucic, there are always guys to fight. Gudbranson in Vancouver, King and Nolan in LA, Nick Ritchie in Anaheim all in our division. You really want any of our "real players" risking injury fighting these guys?