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Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Log jam of "ok" players

When Reich resigned with the B's, I was thinking okay this is a good move. Then when I read multi-year 1 way, I paused. I was confused. Didn't Shawn Thornton (who if he wear$ 19 won't $urpri$e me), just get signed for that. (Reich's deal is 2 years). So that leads me to the question, do we have too much mediocre players?

My list of 3rd-4th line guys are Shean Donovan, Mark Mowers, PJ Axelsson, Stan Chistov, Chuck Kobasew, Shawn Thornton and Jeremy Reich.

My "ideal 4th line" was Thornton-Mowers-Donovan. Now, the 3rd line looks like...

Axlesson/Chistov-Kessel-Kobasew
Thornton-Mowers-Donovan/Reich

Let's start off.

Shean Donovan: Widely a scape goat for B's fans, he actually did what he did his previous seaosn before joining the B's, 2 goals less. He won't be the 15-20 goal scorer, but is a solid penalty killer, and many other fans would like to have Donovan on their team. I like him as a player and on the 4th line, he's fine. Ideal Uses: Penalty killer, 4th line winger. Likely Usues: Trade bait, 3rd-4th line winger. Options: Trade in package, keep.

Stanislav Chistov: It makes me laugh when I see people on forums saying if Chistov plays 20 minutes a game, he'll be a 20-30 goal scorer. If he plays that much, he MAY get 15. But, if Stan Chistov is playing that many minutes on your squad, your team has more issues. Now he is only 24, so he may turn it around by playing with Kessel/Bergeron. I don't really see him as a PP guy, but a nice 3rd line winger. Ideal Uses: 3rd line winger. Likely Uses: Top 6 winger. Options: Keep, package in trade.

Mark Mowers: I am a Mowers fan. Label me all you want. He was a great penalty killer, and actually scored some clutch goals...see Florida. I don't think B's fans judge him fairly. People in Detroit loved him. Now, with the logjam of players, I don't know where his role is. A 13th foward would be nice, but I see Reich being that. Ideal Uses: 4th line winger/center. Likely Uses: 13th foward. Options: Demote to AHL, keep.

PJ Axelsson: Not mediocre, but not a top 6 winger. He'll make the team. One of the best 2-way forwards in the league. If you think he sucks...get out of town. This guy is a great player. We just forget him because he was hurt last season. Ideal uses: 3rd line winger. Likely Uses: top 6 winger. Options: keep.

Chuck Kobasew: Not sure what I think of him yet. He did have 20 goals, and is fairly young. Then again, trading him and his 1.2 cap hit would be nice as well. Package deal could happen with a goaltender. I don't have much to judge on last season because he was hurt. Ideal uses: 3rd line winger. Likely uses: 3rd line winger, trade bait. Options: keep, trade.

Shawn Thornton: Love this guy, is a ass-kicker. Write up the T-shirts now. Lock to make the 4th line. Ideal Uses: 4th line enforcer, 13th forward. Likely uses: 4th line enforcer. Options: keep.

Jeremy Reich: Now, I liked him last season, but wasn't Thornton brought in to replace him? I don't see the need for him. Now he will likely only make 500k. So he could be the 13th forward, but he has a 1 way deal, so he can't play in Providence without passing through waivers, which is likely he would pass through. I don't know where he fits in. Ideal uses: 13th forward, 4th line enforcer. Likely uses: 4th line enforcer. Options: Demote to AHL, keep.

12 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

shanahan just re-signed with the rangers. there goes another quality player, although it never seemed like he was going anywhere else than NY

7:05 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

yeah no surprise. The Rangers of old are back. They once again won't be able to buy a cup.

7:16 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have more faith in Chistov and Reich vs. Donovan and Mowers

9:03 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

i think chistov and kobasew will have better seasons than people expect.

9:16 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

every single one of those guys belongs in the AHL. PJ and Donovan can fill in the 4th line adequately. i say screw it, if were gonna suck lets at least have fun with it we got our top six with bergy sturm savard kessel bochenski and murray, bring up lucic, karsums and kreiji on the third line and PJ, Donovan and Kobasew on the 4th line

10:04 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

imo bochenski is not a second line winger... i believe krejci could become a 2nd line center at some point during the season... i think lucic and karsums should stay in providence...

it looks like:
kessel-savard-murray
sturm-bergeron-bochenski
axelsson-krejci-kobasew
thornton-mowers-donovan

i think walter is nhl-ready too... but i don't know if he's a 4th liner... maybe he could be a perfect 3rd line center...
i don't see where chistov fit's in that 'tough to play against'-scheme

3:25 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I feel like Chistov only fits on a speed/finesse line as a pair with Kessel or Bergy. I don't know that he really has the skill to produce at that level, though. He is still young, but his style really only fits a top 6 forward style therefore he is only useful if he can produce top 6 kinds of numbers. He is talented and young, so I want to keep him, but is there really a place on a team with these "tough" 3rd and 4th lines?

11:26 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

When I look at the current roster and the feeble attempts made by Bruin management it looks to me like they are building a mediocre team in Providence and not really focuing on the Bruins....They still do not have hard nosed, talented 1st and second liners and their defense is super weak. Fernandez is not going to stand on his head when the defense is this weak.....c'mon...

1:03 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I really think that Axelsson-Bergeron-Sturm could be a tremendous shutdown/2 way line that would play against the other teams top line.
Kobasew-Savard-Muzz
Axe-Bergy-Sturm
Krejci-Kessel-Bochenski
Thornton-Reich-Donovan
I don't necessarily think Kobasew is ready for 1st line but who else would you put there? Swap him with Kessel and let Krejci play center which he's more accustomed to?

3:18 PM  
Blogger Latrappe said...

Fernandez is not going to stand on his head when the defense is this weak.....c'mon...

Nope but Manny will make the basic saves so that's a huge upgrade.

5:40 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have some reservations about Manny, though. He has been a career #2 until very recently, and his only #1 experience has been with Minnesota which is a goalie factory. I don't lack faith in him, but rather reserve judgement. I worry that the system in Minnesota makes any goalie look good (Roloson, Fernandez, Backstrom), while the system here makes any goalie look bad. Let's hope for some headstands.

7:43 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

aweechees pawchawgush!lol

7:47 PM  

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