Quote:
Originally Posted by GioforPM
Poirier has a shot. But not sure you need a dominant right winger if your LW is dominant.
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Gaudreau is not dominant 5vs5. He's dominant on the power play and 4vs4. I'm not sure Hudler is exactly "dominant" either, though he's a very smart player. Bennett will probably be our closest thing to a dominant LW, but he'll probably play more C than that.
We definitely need one genuinely deadly power forward winger on either the left or right side that can keep us in tight checking games 5vs5. It doesn't need to be a superstar but it needs to be a legit top 6 winger with size and a balanced skillset - puck handling, sniping, and an ability to power through contact.
If you look at just about every notable winger with size in the game, they're all first round picks though. Whereas you can get elite goaltending (Rinne), great depth forwards, awesome small skilled wingers (Hudler/Kucherov/Gaudreau), and elite defense (Chara/Brodie/Weber/Kieth/Josi) in the later rounds, the vast majority of dominant forwards, for our purposes wingers - Perry, Pacioretty, Voracek, Steen, Ladd, Tarasenko, etc were all first round picks. Overall it looks like if we want a player with some size that can be a part of our top 6 from the wings it probably has to be a first draft pick.
We had a shot to pick up Kevin Hayes in the offseason, Johnny and Bill Arnold tried to get him to come over but he went to the Rangers. He was a first rounder and already looks like the player that could have put us over the edge + had chemistry with Johnny. So damn close!
Are there any real first-round pick options in our system that can be that for us?:
- Backlund (who's never really played the wing. But he might actually be the best fit beside Monahan as he's not as in-love with the middle of the ice as Captain Boring. He's got decent size, he's definitely the closest thing we have to a Hossa defensively, and I wouldn't overlook his scoring ability as he's played
a lot as the only legit top 6 player on his line. He had 18 goals last year and is on pace for 18 again this year, but has also increased that to a 23 goal pace since returning from injury. He could be comfortable on the left wing but I also like him on the right side)
- Bennett (who's a center, and probably stays at center, but he's gonna be our best sniper the moment he's on the roster)
- Emile Poirier (has the size, but I'm not sure he's an accurate sniper as a lot of his goals seem to come off the rush)
- Klimchuk (doesn't
quite have the size, but he's a bit of a sniper. Could end up a Zetterberg type where he doesn't need the size. Or could never crack our roster and be traded like Sven was.)
- Our #1 Pick this year (who hopefully is natural RIGHT wing)
- Mark Jankowski (who's a center, and not really a sniper. If Backlund finds himself on the top line wings, Jankowski could be our most likely 3rd line center as he's a strong two-way player with high IQ)
- Joe Colborne (who's not really a sniper but he has size in spades and a deceptive shot)
Now - I did think of exceptions from later rounds - Milan Lucic, Patrick Sharp, and Jamie Benn. Are there any later round pick players could
could be that kind of "exception" of player for us? In my opinion Drew Shore and Hunter Smith are the leading candidates. Both have the size and both have offensive talent, albeit in completely contrasting ways.
Shore's an interesting case in particular because he seems to have a valuable shot, even playing the point on the power play for Adirondack. You'll notice in games that he plays, the team shot charts actually shot attempts from the right circle. Maybe he's not a star, but the argument would be that beside a Sam Bennett realizing his potential, he wouldn't need to be.
There's also Granlund who doesn't have the size, but he's definitely a legit sniper on the wings. His shot is probably his best skill and doesn't get utilized enough when he's losing faceoffs and getting pinned in his zone as a center. But his lack of size suggests to me he's best suited as a depth scorer if we keep him. I think he could be the next Jiri Hudler circa 2008 someday for all we know but if that's his ceiling, he's not the solution.
TLDR version:
I really hope Hartley gives some of these guys a shot at more than just spot minutes on the bottom 6. It worked with Lance Bouma, and nowadays Bouma is playing way over his head like a 20 goal scorer next to Backlund. These above players (1st rounders + Shore/Granlund) all bring one thing in particular over Bouma and Jones: an ability to bring the puck through the Blueline themselves through clogged neutral zone which is what you need from your top 6ers. I actually believe Bouma can maintain his 20 goal pace that he's had since his bump up to the Backlund line - but the question is whether that's all you want that from your #2LW offensively. I just think Bouma's in a better position to succeed as a #3LW.
he'd win the Norris
