Kasper has 5 points in 4 Champions League games. He’s been playing 2C minutes, so it’s nice to see he’s being trusted to be a bigger role. The SHL season starts shortly, and my hope is Kasper can be a .5 PPG guy for the season. That would put him in great company.
Yeah I remember this article but it’s a big leap it make when Vrana has only played 37 games in a Wings uniform. I don’t think that’s enough of a sample size to draw many conclusions.
And I am not playing Zadina second line minutes over Perron, who is a superior all around player, just to keep Vrana and Zadina together. If those two stick together, it’ll likely be on the third line with Suter.
The Wings actually have some forward depth this year, their 3rd line will probably play similar minutes to their 2nd line so I think the line combos will be able to be adjusted based on fit
I think the "most optimal" scenario is Ras becoming a legit third center and Suter being depth, but maybe Suter is better than I think.
We still lack top end talent, but this is the best collection of players we have had in for Camp in years.
Two things: 1. Mazur is looking like a hell of a steal for us with how he’s developed to this point. He is a Bertuzzi clone. 2. He is so fucking hideous looking.
Lalonde said not to read into the lines at practice because he expects them to change as early as today. That said, I think the initial lines are a good indicator of where he’s leaning. Forwards Bertuzzi-Larkin-Raymond Perron-Rasmussen-Vrana Erne-Suter-Zadina Kubalik-Veleno-Smith Hirose-Czarnik-Berggren Söderblom-Andreasson-L’Esperance Luff-Worrad-Shine Spezia-Criscuolo-Hanas Defense Chiarot-Seider Määttä-Hronek Edvinsson-Lindstrom Oesterle-Barton Hagg-Viro Johansson-Lashoff McIsaac-Kampfer Sebrango-Plandowski With Copp and Sundqvist out, I think it’s fair to assume Ras is currently the 3C and Sundqvist is the 3LW or 4RW. Likely the latter. That also means Veleno is probably ticketed for GR unless he has a great camp. It’s a good sign that Edvinsson was already paired with a legit NHLer though.
So nothing really changing that much, other than Veleno/Berggren looking like two thirds of your top line in GR which is cool with me.
It’s not like we are a contender, should be keeping guys like him on track, not sand bagging their development.
The fact JB didn’t even get a call up last year tells me that Yzerman isn’t confident about something in his game yet. I am going to assume it’s his game without the puck.
TBF, Yzerman said regardless of how Berggren played that he wasn’t getting a call up. That was shitty and Berggren deserved one.
Roasting OSU for 313 yards to being a 4th pairing split squad D-man is an interesting career change for Mr. Biakabutuka at 48 years old.
non-US citizens are still required to show proof of vaccination. Not sure if he’s a lawful permanent resident or if he’s here on a long term visa
Lalonde had Berggren playing with Larkin and Raymond during yesterdays scrimmage. Afterward, Lalonde said it was at the behest of Yzerman. I’m now at least considering the possibility of Berggren making the team out of Camp, if he performs in the preseason. It’s still unlikely to happen, but we are getting closer to Bert being eligible to play in Canada, so there could be a spot opening up in the top six.
Champions league is trash at this point so not a lot to glean there but the PPG in the SHL is huge. Hell even if he finishes with .75 PPG as a two-way responsible center that would be huge.
Tonight begins a wild stretch of 8 preseason games in 12 games. We play in Pittsburgh, and usually your stars don’t play road exhibition games but I wouldn’t be shocked if we see a few top six guys play tonight and then taper down as we move forward. The locks for the roster at this point are: Larkin Bertuzzi Raymond Copp Vrana Perron Rasmussen Kubalik Zadina Suter Sundqvist Seider Chiarot Hronek Maata Husso Ned Yzerman has seemed to prefer keeping 8 D on the roster, so assuming that’s the case, we have the following players battling for one forward spot: Erne Smith Veleno Berggren Soderblom Veleno will make the team if Ras ends up playing on the wing, but otherwise it’ll likely be Erne. If we move a top nine forward then we can discuss Berggren’s candidacy. As far as D goes, it is likely between: Osterle Lindstrom Haag Edvinsson Johansson I assume Osterle and Lindstrom are locks but I’m not ready to write that in pen quite yet. I could see a scenario where we only keep 7 D if Edvinsson or Johansson make the team, and then we try to send Haag to GR.
Just saw that Pittsburgh is playing just anyone everyone tonight, including Crosby and Malkin. Not a surprise, but it may influence Lalonde to dress more kids to throw them into the deep end..
Starting October 1 he should be able to crosse the border without having any Covid vaccines. No longer any mandates.
My guess for the top nine to start tonight Zadina - Ras - Kubalik Hirose - Czarniak - Berggren Soderblom - Spezia - Hanas D Maata - Hronek Osterle - Kampfer McIssac - Viro And good luck to Cossa tonight.
ESPN ranks us 4th in their future power rankings. That seems awfully aggressive to me, but I hope they are right.
Young players with potential, deep prospect pool, cap space and a proven GM is a good combo. 4th seems a tad high, but I'm pretty high on this organization
Wings are actually up 2-1 right now, goals from Kubalik and Zadina. I'm sure it will be 6-2 Pit in no time.