Nice to see Kylington do well. I think he has the highest upside of all the young defencemen still. You can teach a young defender to play better positionally on defence (though he makes risky plays, his gap control and coverage is usually pretty damn good), you simply can't teach a young defencemen to play offensively. He has the innate ability to not only try things, but actually make high-level plays work. Really nice to see him shine.
As for Smith and Lack, I can understand the (overly) critical comments. This fanbase is still pretty damn tender given the level of goaltending they have seen the last 2 - 2.5 seasons. This is also an overly tough market on goalies that makes it even more difficult. I mean, the Dome started giving Kipper of all people the Bronx cheer near the end of his career after all. I suspect that I will be very annoyed with a lot of overly-critical comments from posters with regards to the goaltending, but at the same time these will only go away once goaltending is seen as a strength again. Really hoping it starts this season...
It always sucks to lose to the Oilers, even in pre-season, but the sky isn't falling. Just want to see more players get into their groove earlier and be ready by the start of the season. That's my only wish.
Jankowksi is an NHL'er. Dube I think looks close. I suspect he will be sent down to Junior, but I can see him actually making the squad soon - maybe even as early as next year (yeah, that is extremely optimistic, but he has NHL speed, IQ and is so versatile). I liked the pick when it was made, but wasn't over-excited about it. That was a damn good pick by the Flames. I see an NHL'er sooner rather than later there.
|