This team is aging fast. Nelson, Bailey, Eberle, Leddy and Lee all had good enough seasons considering their age, but it won't be long from now until their age starts showing. This has been the core of the team for quite awhile. But we have a new core (Pulock, Pelech, Barzal, Beauvillier) to surround with younger rookies (Wahlstrom, Golyshev, Bolduc, Salo, Dobson, Sorokin and possibly Bellows). With Eberle and Komarov both commanding big cap hits and coming off lackluster playoff performances, I think this offseason is a good time to make a partial transition; leave Lee, Leddy, Bailey and Nelson on the roster for continuity’s sake while ushering new talent and locking in new core members for the long haul.
The drawback to this will be a likely slow start out the gate this season. with a lot of rookies adjusting to a Trotz system and Trotz likely doing everything in his power to keep them from getting minutes.
AND I ADMIT: Trotz would never do this IRL.
But I have few doubts these rookies are truly downgrades of the guys they replace; Golyshev>Dal Colle, Wahlstrom>Palmieri, Bellows>Komarov. Admittedly, Greene will be better than Bolduc or Salo, but in the long term, it's just a much better move to acclimate them. I also think at some point, this team will wear out from consecutive deep playoff runs and one way to mitigate the effects of that would be to replace some of the older, likely most tired bodies. By the time next year's playoffs roll around, this will be a better team than the one we fielded this year.
Salo turns 23 in October and was dominant in the 4th best league in the world. Salo>Greene>Bolduc
Didn't Bolduc almost make the team out of camp last year? I'm not so sure he's far behind. Also, his AHL numbers were really good considering his age. Robin still needs an AHL stint to show he understands the North American game IMO. Though this isn't to say I don't see Salo on the roster soonish, I'm pretty optimistic about him.
Didn't Bolduc almost make the team out of camp last year? I'm not so sure he's far behind. Also, his AHL numbers were really good considering his age. Robin still needs an AHL stint to show he understands the North American game IMO. Though this isn't to say I don't see Salo on the roster soonish, I'm pretty optimistic about him.
Bellows almost made the team out of camp in 2018…from watching Bolduc this season he seems like he needs at least another full year in the AHL. He doesn’t have good hockey sense and he’s still slow to read and react. He put up good numbers but I know he had a bunch of empty net points too
I don’t think Salo needs an AHL stint, he was arguably the best defenseman in the SHL this season and he has no flaws in his game. He plays like Devon Toews, he’s just not as fast. Not only is Salo more NHL ready right now but he’s the better prospect than Bolduc and it’s not close.
Their veterans really aren't the key to success either
Barzal and the goalies ✔
I agree and disagree. I think the key to this team's success is its depth, which the veterans are a part of, but if a significantly younger player joined the team and showed the same kind of buy in guys like Lee and Nelson have shown, they wouldn't contribute less simply because they're not veteran.
But yeah, glad to see other people want to see the youth movement!
Bellows almost made the team out of camp in 2018…from watching Bolduc this season he seems like he needs at least another full year in the AHL. He doesn’t have good hockey sense and he’s still slow to read and react. He put up good numbers but I know he had a bunch of empty net points too
I don’t think Salo needs an AHL stint, he was arguably the best defenseman in the SHL this season and he has no flaws in his game. He plays like Devon Toews, he’s just not as fast. Not only is Salo more NHL ready right now but he’s the better prospect than Bolduc and it’s not close.
I hope you're right about Salo, given his age compared to Bolduc, there's a lot more pressure on him to make the NHL this year. If we take our time with Bolduc, that's fine by me, we only drafted him a year or two ago.
I hope you're right about Salo, given his age compared to Bolduc, there's a lot more pressure on him to make the NHL this year. If we take our time with Bolduc, that's fine by me, we only drafted him a year or two ago.
Salo had better production at a younger age and he has a more translatable skillset. A lot of scouts think he’s NHL ready
From Topdownhockey NHL equivalency and prospect projections. Salo has a 58.74% NHLer probability and a 18.19% star% . Bolduc has a 51.48 NHLer probability and a 2.81% star % - Garth snow has always been good at identifying talented defenseman.
Salo had better production at a younger age and he has a more translatable skillset. A lot of scouts think he’s NHL ready
From Topdownhockey NHL equivalency and prospect projections. Salo has a 58.74% NHLer probability and a 18.19% star% . Bolduc has a 51.48 NHLer probability and a 2.81% star % - Garth snow has always been good at identifying talented defenseman.
Very true, no one saw much in Mayfield and while Pelech wasn't an out of nowhere success, no one looked at him and saw "Top Pairing Shutdown Defenseman"
Bellows almost made the team out of camp in 2018…from watching Bolduc this season he seems like he needs at least another full year in the AHL. He doesn’t have good hockey sense and he’s still slow to read and react. He put up good numbers but I know he had a bunch of empty net points too
I don’t think Salo needs an AHL stint, he was arguably the best defenseman in the SHL this season and he has no flaws in his game. He plays like Devon Toews, he’s just not as fast. Not only is Salo more NHL ready right now but he’s the better prospect than Bolduc and it’s not close.
Bellows is a pretty odd situation though, he started getting shafted due to his skillset not "meshing" with a new coach and system, also them contending
Bellows is a pretty odd situation though, he started getting shafted due to his skillset not "meshing" with a new coach and system, also them contending
Every youngster gets shifted down for a vet then
I consider him a very unique anomalous situation
I'm really hoping Komarov is a cap casualty this offseason. That'd practically force Trotz to put a young guy on the 3rd line, hopefully Bellows.
Bellows is a pretty odd situation though, he started getting shafted due to his skillset not "meshing" with a new coach and system, also them contending
Every youngster gets shifted down for a vet then
I consider him a very unique anomalous situation
Yeah that’s true but the point is just because a young player had a good camp the previous year doesn’t mean he’s going to make the team the following season.
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