LegionOfDoom

Thank you to all who came out to attend N.AK onboarding party. We all appreciate the gestures. OR gets a special mention as he has tirelessly worked and has proven N.AK as a viable AND Valuable! roster piece to our Flyers faithful. I just hope he can change out his jersey to #47. N. AK47 that was a nice snipe of a shot. How many Rounds and Rounds he will put out? Just ask Ratt....Flyers next goal song?

Glad for the win for: AV. Hayes. N.AK: https://www.crossingbroad.com/2019/12/nak-attack-nicolas-aube-kubels-efforts-to-claim-his-seat-at-the-flyers-table.html Home Teams Sports Betting Online Casinos and Gaming Odds Home » Teams » Flyers » NAK Attack – Nicolas Aube-Kubel’s Efforts to Claim His Seat at the Flyers’ Table NAK Attack – Nicolas Aube-Kubel’s Efforts to Claim His Seat at the Flyers’ Table By Anthony SanFilippo December 25, 2019 Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports *Crossing Broad’s Flyers coverage is brought to you by DraftKings Sportsbook. Sign up today and use promo code CROSSINGBROAD to get your deposit matched up to $500 . Terms and conditions apply. 21+ Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.* I want to tell you a story about a hockey player that as recently as 12 weeks ago, nobody wanted. Don’t worry, it’s Christmas time, so this is a feel good story. But before we get to the crescendo of the underscore, we need to go back in time a little bit. Back to where there was no music playing in this story. There was just silence. It was during Flyers training camp, the first under new coach Alain Vigneault. Every player in the organization was given a fresh start. What happened in the past was not prologue. Sure, those of us who watched the team would remember – both the good and the bad – and even some within the organization’s upper echelon of management would dust off their notes from a season ago, but Vigneault came in fresh-faced and eyes open to any possibility. There were a number of younger players who were also going to be given the opportunity to make the team. We all know the journeys of Phil Myers, Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee, and how they were the final cuts from camp before getting recalled relatively quickly during the season. But there was one player who signed a one year, two-way, “prove it” contract in July, who was hoping to open enough eyes to make the team in camp. After all, there would be a couple of spots available for his style of play – a bottom six forward who could bring energy, speed, determination, and some potential secondary scoring to the lineup. When camp broke, the Flyers chose to go with Carsen Twarynski and Connor Bunnaman in those roles. The guy they didn’t chose was the guy who signed that one year deal. Instead, because of his age and experience, the “prove it” guy was waived. He had 24 hours to wait and see if any of the other 30 teams in the NHL would claim him and give him the shot he was hoping for at the NHL level. After the clock did two complete revolutions and that time expired, he heard nothing. Crickets. Nobody wanted him. Not even on a one-year deal worth only $700,000. Without any other option, he had to once again return to the Phantoms in the AHL, a place where his development was sort of stalling. It was an unfortunate set of circumstances. With the prior regime, lorded over by former GM Ron Hextall, he was considered a burgeoning prospect. An early-round draft pick, he was a guy Hextall and his staff had an eye on and expected big things from. But then Hextall was fired and the staff turned over considerably. Chuck Fletcher came in and brought new people with him. For the one-time prospect who was nearing his long-dreamed-about breakthrough, it was like starting all over again. And that’s something that Nicolas Aube-Kubel knew might be a long shot. Getting on the radar Aube-Kubel was a second-round draft pick by the Flyers in 2014. He was considered a top-40 North American skater by many draftniks and because of his speed and determination, was a guy who some teams would take a shot on somewhere in the second or third round. He wasn’t the biggest kid. That was the knock on him. And he didn’t have great hands. But he had a willingness to go to hard areas of the ice, so if he could just add a little size, maybe he could develop into the kind of forward that nicely fills out an NHL roster. But playing junior hockey in Quebec, Aube-Kubel wasn’t asked to be much of a 200-foot player. His team needed him to score. By his second season with the Val d’Or Foreurs, he was playing second line center (behind only Anthony Mantha, who was drafted in the first round the year before by the Detroit Red Wings), and he saw a huge spike in his offense. As a 17-year old, he posted 10 goals and 17 assists for 27 points in 64 games for Val d’Or. But, in 2013-14, he nearly doubled his production, posting 22 goals and 31 assists for 53 points in 65 games as he helped the Foreurs win the QJMHL championship and he had an opportunity to play in the Memorial Cup Tournament between the champions of each of Canada’s major junior leagues. It was this season that caught the eye of the Flyers – especially Quebec scout Todd Hearty – and they selected him in the middle of the second round, 48th overall. With Mantha signing his entry level deal and shipping off to the AHL, Aube-Kubel was leaned on even more heavily the next season in Val d’Or. In 61 games he posted 38 goals and 42 assists for 80 points and the Foreurs made another deep run in the QJMHL playoffs. In his final season in the Q, Aube-Kubel, improved his totals again, finishing with 38 goals and 46 assists for 84 points. It looked like the Flyers had a gem on their hands. Pro hockey without the glitz and glamour But the AHL can be a humbling experience for many a high-flying junior hockey player. No longer are you playing against teenagers looking for the easy way out. No, now you are playing against men. Guys who have been through the wars and have the scars to prove it. It’s an amalgam of prospects trying to make their way to the big show, tweeners who are yo-yo’d up and down by the big club, and a bunch of other guys holding on to the faintest hope of ever making it, often hanging on far longer than they should, but knowing nothing but hockey, finding a way to make a living toiling in the minors. The game can deflate you at this level. It takes you down a peg or three. It makes you eat dirt. It cuts you to the quick. But it messes with your mind more than anything else. It makes you question yourself. Are you really good enough? Hell, if it’s a challenge at this level, what’s it going to be like in the AHL? What happened to all my abilities? I used to score at will. Now, I can barely get a shot off without some grizzled hanger-on chopping his stick across my hands. What is happening here? “It’s hard to prove yourself in the AHL because it’s such a different game,” Aube-Kubel told me. “It’s such a defensive game, even more than in the NHL. You have to play a role. I was asked to play on the penalty kill. I had to prove I could play defensively.” It wasn’t something Aube-Kubel was used to. He was a guy who was used to just going out onto the ice, blowing past everyone with his speed burst as if he had an internal X button that he could tap repeatedly, and creating offense for his team. But this defense thing, and the penalty kill, and the grind of playing a responsible defense-first game was something new to him. Thankfully for Aube-Kubel he had a confidant in Flyers assistant coach Ian Laperriere. Laperriere always talked about the challenges for young players to find out where they belong. He once described it to me this way: Scott Laughton has been one of the Flyers success stories in this vein. He was a first round pick, and first round picks are expected to be fast-tracked to the NHL and become top-end talents. However, Laughton is a guy who the Flyers needed to develop differently. They needed him to be more versatile. They needed him to be willing to be a third line player who did a lot of little things well that don’t necessarily show up in a box score. Laughton embraced that role quickly. He found his chair. He’s now a fixture in the Flyers lineup as a very reliable and talented bottom six forward. For Aube-Kubel, the light switch didn’t flick on as quickly. Finding his way At the conclusion of his final Junior season, Aube-Kubel was given a chance to test these AHL waters. Without much direction, basically in a “let’s see what you got, kid” kind of situation for a Lehigh Valley team that knew it wasn’t going to the playoffs, Aube-Kubel came in and impressed with his skill right away. In his first six professional games, he scored a pair of goals and added an assist and flashed a glimmer of what the Flyers hoped he could become. But then life changed the next season. In 2016-17, Aube-Kubel was a regular player on the Phantoms, playing in 71 games. But the offense all but disappeared. He posted just nine goals and nine assists for 18 points, many nights being buried in a bottom six role on an AHL team. He didn’t quite understand what was happening. The game was swallowing him up, as it does many first-year pros. But at the end of the season, the Flyers met with Aube-Kubel and told him what changes were needed to be a better pro. He needed to get bigger without losing his top-end speed. He needed to be more willing to play with a defense-first mentality and realize that good offensive opportunities are born from good defensive posture. When 2017-18 rolled around, Aube-Kubel was suddenly making a name for himself again, this time as a well-rounded player in the AHL. Back in February, 2018, I spoke with then-assistant G.M. Chris Pryor about a lot of the Flyers prospects, and this is what he had to say about Aube-Kubel: Aube-Kubel had his best year in the AHL in 2017-18, finishing with 18 goals and 28 assists for 46 points in 72 games. In the summer of 2018, Hextall came on the Snow the Goalie podcast and indicated he thought Aube-Kubel was a young player to keep an eye on as a possibility to not only make the team out of training camp, but to be a real contributor at the NHL level. Aube-Kubel had a really good camp in the Fall of 2018, but was one of the last cuts. He went back to the AHL and then, through no fault of his own and some bad timing, everything went to hell. A series of unfortunate events On Black Friday, 2018, I was told Hextall was going to be fired but former coach Dave Hakstol was going to keep his job. I told Russ just before the first intermission. Like a kid in a candy store, he couldn’t wait to publicize it. We went on the Press Row Show at intermission and he threw the scenario out to me. My facial expressions tell the story as I hem and haw about it. Yet, three days later, that’s exactly what happened. Hakstol stayed on for a bit longer, but he was dead in the water as a coach. In the middle of all this upheaval, Aube-Kubel was recalled from the Phantoms, and wasn’t really given a chance to show what he could do, nor was he really being watched closely at the NHL level. “It’s a different situation than last year,” Aube-Kubel said. “Last year the team was losing and I got called up as the coach was about to lose his job.” Hakstol did lose his job. Aube-Kubel was sent back down to the Phantoms as new GM Chuck Fletcher wanted to assess what he had at the NHL level. When Aube-Kubel went back to the Phantoms he suffered two injuries. An LCL sprain in his knee and a concussion. Fletcher and new assistant GM Brent Flahr didn’t get to see Aube-Kubel at his best. “Their first opinion of me was the end of the American League season and I wasn’t playing my best hockey,” Aube Kubel said. “I was coming back from injuries and I wasn’t at my best. So, it was very important for me to have a good summer, come back and have a good camp. I thought I had a good camp, but they made the decision and went for another player and I still had to wait for my chance.” But getting sent down again wasn’t easy. Aube-Kubel had just five goals and three assists for eight points in 26 games with the Phantoms. He was inconsistent. He would have one really good game, but it was often sandwiched by two games that weren’t great. Frustrated with his inconsistency, Phantoms coach Scott Gordon made him a healthy scratch for a game. He came back determined, but was still further down the Flyers depth chart. However, a rash of injuries, suspensions and a cancer diagnosis to Oskar Lindblom left Fletcher with very few choices for wingers to come in and play as fill-ins at the NHL level, so he leaned on the guy he gave one more chance with that “prove it” contract and recalled Aube-Kubel. ‘The time is now’ When Aube-Kubel was a kid, growing up in Slave Lake, Alberta, his favorite goalie was Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers. He didn’t want to play goalie, mind you. It takes a certain breed to want to stand there and have people fire frozen vulcanized rubber at you repeatedly at 100 MPH. But he loved watching Lundqvist turn away shot after shot after shot. One day, he hoped to have an opportunity to face his boyhood favorite in a real game, but first he needed an opportunity in the NHL again. That opportunity presented itself with the Flyers so shorthanded up front- and not just one where he would play just five minutes a game, like last season. This time, he was going to play meaningful minutes. Flyers coach Alain Vigneault paired him on a line with red hot veterans James van Riemsdyk and Kevin Hayes. Together, the trio were awesome when it came to puck possession, to hunting pucks, to pressuring the opposition and, to putting pucks on net. Both van Riemsdyk and Hayes had begun scoring with more regularity, a boon for a Flyers offense that had begun to sputter in December after a brilliant November. In the process, Aube-Kubel had picked up a couple assists in his first four games, but he also did some other things well. His speed stood out. So did his physicality. So did his determination to go get the puck. Following a game against Buffalo last week, Vigneault highlighted those attributes and said, “there’s room for that here.” Aube-Kubel, if he was willing to play that role at the NHL level, could keep a place in Vigneault’s foot-on-the-pedal system. Even when guys like Laughton and Michael Raffl return from their injuries, there’s still a spot for a 12th forward on this roster. There’ve been several AHL guys who’ve had a chance this season. Twarynski, Bunnaman, Misha Vorobyev, David Kase and Andy Andreoff have been up and down with the team, but none seem to stick. With Lindblom done for the season and Nolan Patrick remaining a complete enigma with his migraine disorder, the Flyers need one of their AHL forwards to latch on to that final forward spot. And you can tell Vigneault likes Aube-Kubel’s style. So maybe it was serendipitous for Aube-Kubel, who has had such a long and tumultuous journey, that he was on the roster at a time when the Flyers would face the Rangers and Lundqvist. There was definitely an extra pep in Aube-Kubel’s step too – evident from his first shift. Maybe playing with Hayes, who was absolutely pumped to face his former team, and JVR, who grew up rooting for the Rangers, and playing for a coach who likes him – who just so happened to be fired from coaching the Rangers a season ago, that had “Cube,” as Vigneault likes to call him, elevating his game. He was a bowling ball early. He pissed off the Rangers with some physical play. A hard hit on $11 million man Artemi Panarin had the Rangers chasing him around the ice trying to fight him. Aube-Kubel remained disciplined, and drew a penalty. Later, his aggressive skating drew another penalty. He was becoming a pest. Skating around the Rangers with a combination of piss and vinegar. “I play with that edge since I’ve become a pro,” Aube-Kubel told me. “There’s a role like that for me here right now and I’m trying to take it. The time is now for that. If I can get into someone’s head a little bit or finish my hit, I’m going to do it. I like playing that way. I didn’t have to fight today, but maybe someday I’m going to have to, and I won’t mind.” That’s an old-school mentality that will surely win over fans in Philly. But while he was a pistol at 5-on-5, and has been a contributor to the Flyers staunch penalty kill in his short time in the NHL, the one thing he hasn’t had an opportunity to do is play the power play. Yet, for all the bad timing that Aube-Kubel has faced in his career thus far, the timing couldn’t have been better Monday. The Flyers had just scored two quick goals to open up a 4-1 lead on the Rangers it what was a game played with a playoff like atmosphere. The Rangers were frustrated late in the game that they were going to lose, and started to get a bit ornery. South Jersey’s own Tony DeAngelo (Sewell, N.J.), was especially cantankerous, and drew a late penalty. Travis Sanheim had already scored two goals, so Vigneault put him out on the power play with a chance at the hat trick, but he also rewarded Aube-Kubel for his gritty efforts, and sent him out as well. The next thing you know, this happened: See Jordie 's other Tweets “The guys were teasing me saying, ‘who was that goalie? Never heard of him,'” Aube-Kubel said with a smile. But there it was, a lifelong dream finally coming to fruition. A first NHL goal against the goalie who was his favorite growing up. It doesn’t get much more storybook than that: 21 people are talking about this “I can’t thank AV enough for giving me the chance to go out there in that situation,” Aube-Kubel said. “He didn’t have to do that, so I appreciate that and I appreciate that he trusted me in that situation.” It’s obvious AV likes him, and he and Laperriere are still talking to Aube-Kubel every day. Reminding him of what he can do to stay in the NHL. “I’m thankful for the minutes AV has been giving me so far,” Aube-Kubel said. “It could be a lot different for me if he was giving me just five minutes like last year. AV just keeps telling me to skate as hard as I can and be physical. I talk a lot with Lappy too and he reminds me to keep doing those things but to also play a simple game too. Sometimes you can try to do too much. He reminds me to keep it simple.” In other words, find your chair. Aube-Kubel seems to have found it, now it’s up to him to keep his seat at the Flyers table.

I got a nack, NAK will stay up due to no waiver exempt status. Just like Chaurlie (from BSH)was saying when the coaching staff would say, "As long as he plays this way, he has a chance to make the team." "HE'S BEEN playing like that!" Thaunks Chaulie for being a Beliebar....and backing it up with his Corsi and 5 on 5 Show and Tell stats.

I know AV's been great, but to put N.AK on the second line RW, I never saw him doing that. Pleasantly surprised by his coaching. Where's Frank Seravalli's 600k overpay for Kevin Hayes? Chuck Fletcher has been looking like he's known a thing or two on his GMing' and hoping his pieces will work with what the team needs were.

In regards to where Patrick goes when he's able to play is pretty straight forward. 28 Claude Giroux - 14 Sean Couturier - 93 Jakub Voracek25 James van Riemsdyk- 13 Kevin Hayes - 49 Joel Farabee 23 Oskar Lindblom - 19 Nolan Patrick - 11 Travis Konecny (60+ Goal line}12 Michael Raffl - 24 Mikhail Vorobyev - 21 Scott Laughton 44 Chris Stewart

I wonder what Seravalli has to comment on the game tonight and Hayes contract value.

I believe it was Bill Clement that mentioned Kevin Hayes game reminding him of Kieth Primeau.. I thought I saw his shadow out there as well.. Feel the Shake! Highway To The Dangerzone....

Where I'm looking at it, is through which tool is better for our team. I would of loved to of won on Duchene because of his scoring. But in regards to what our team could use more of is another Coots type player. Hayes is a big body and almost uses it as a shadow of Jagr in how he is able to hold on to the puck. I think Hayes is playing better offensively in the O and B. He seems to be the better part for our team than Duchene would of been. Would Duchene have been in AV's doghouse by now? I don't know. But Hayes is playing the right way and has the tools to seem to be an effective Playoff player in a deep run 7 game series. I know it's premature but Playoff Primeau's shadow seems to be on the ice when I see Hayes skating up and down. I don't recall what it was a goal, a chip in, and assist but Hayes was gassed and he was able to expend a bit more energy to complete his play in one of the previous games where he came back on the bench and I was impressed by his perseverance in going the extra mile. I think he scored a goal or created a goal scoring opportunity. Duchene might end up scoring more goals or points than Hayes. But if someone asked me to trade Coots for a higher goal/point scorer, I would pass because Coots is able to do more things than just wrack up the points. Again Duchene would of been a nice pickup for sure. But I think Hayes is what this team needed and because of the high cost to entry to get him, this thread started out as he was way over payed and not worth it. He seems to be using his smarts and physical abilities now. Five years from now, he should still be able to use his smarts even though his physical abilities might not be as high. He can also play wing to complicate things less going forward.

The Eye test doesn't justify those numbers. He has been a positive factor in each game. Have you seen him play? "Right market value". is what it is. Look at Duchene. Hayes is more valuable that's for sure and cheaper. The market is this right and will be right alot higher in the next 7 years. The league needs to remove the cap ceiling and let teams be allowed to buy who they want. Bankrupt the cap ceiling to remove it from the league.

Maybe we could find out what other teams want for him, and see if what they are offering is what we would take back if we had Stecher and come up with a trade to Vancouver to get them do a 3 way trade. But right now we have a Team that needs to play the system and not think the system. So we do have a full plate right now.

I will say this about Hayes, in watching him play, he is looking like he is living up to his contract. He is falling into Couturier level of knowing how to hold on and maintain control of the puck, he was able to score a nice behind the net wrap around goal and is able to 9 out of 10 times skate with the puck out of the defensive zone and if trapped, he seems to be able to put it out of harms way. His determination defensively is reminiscent of Coots skill level as well. I would trust him with the puck on his stick in the same company as Claude and Sean. Lindblom is getting there as well. Hayes also can be another face off option as well. He is more versatile then Duchene. He has a LeClaire'ish way of putting his backside to the puck to protect it as he's going into the high danger zones. Kenny Loggins would be proud.

Stewart.

It's interesting that the writers that watch the AHL a few years come away with believing over the body of work of two years, they come away with N.AK being the more consistent proven player during the season than spurts of preseason mojo that seems to enthrall the coaching staff of the Flyers, after making that comment saying it was the best they've seen N.AK play in that one game. When he has had better games in the AHL. I would of rather have N.AK play in Pitlicks spot, but they payed for his plane ticket so there's that.

Dirty but good.

https://www.broadstreethockey.com/2019/9/25/20883601/philadelphia-flyers-nicolas-aube-kubel-clears-waivers-nhl-news-phantoms The winger will be sticking around after all. Yesterday we got the latest round of roster cuts, and a shocker among them was Nicolas Aube-Kubel. NAK had performed well so far this preseason, and many expected well enough to earn himself a roster spot. That didn’t happen, but he has cleared waivers according to Charlie O’Connor of The Athletic. 64 people are talking about this We were also informed yesterday that there would be a good bit of roster activity in the opening portion of the season — so while Aube-Kubel finds himself in the AHL right now — I wouldn’t be too surprised to see him with the Flyers before November. https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/flyers/flyers-roster-stock-watch-preseason-carsen-twarynski-philippe-myers-joel-farabee-nolan-patrick When the Flyers submit their roster, don't fall in love with it. Right now, "It's just about getting ready for Prague," Chuck Fletcher said. "We could even carry 20 or 21, we'll just have to see how the cap situation and how the math works out," the Flyers' general manager said on a conference call Tuesday. "I anticipate an awful lot of roster changes the first six weeks of the year. Our goal right now is to get a roster to play Chicago in Prague. When we get back, I'm sure there will be things we need to do as we move forward. "There's not going to be any final roster, final cuts. There's going to be an ebb and flow of players between Philadelphia and Lehigh Valley for the early part of the season, depending on who we're playing, the health of our team, whether we need right shots or left shots, or wingers or centeremen." Though I was initially bothered he got cut from roster. I understand the coaching staff want to know what they have in these remaining young players. Sending N.AK down now raised his chances of not getting claimed due to other teams having to cut down their own rosters and trying to extend looks at some of their own players. They can't spend extra time keeping a claimed prospect for another 30 days when they're trying to field their own final team. The coaching staff must of learned from loosing Martel, when they sent him down at the last minute for teams to pick up a player, after their squad was set.. At least he's getting some media praise for his work in the preseason.

Is that the Flyers new Goal Song?

N.AK looked solid, especially as one of the few who actually took it to the islanders at 3 on 3. He did nice passes and looked like a player that can make a difference on the ice if he can have 2 other players on his line that can keep up. Kase as well. Morin looked solid in yesterdays game as well.

Unfortunately Allison's recovery wasn't as smooth as the others who had that procedure done to them. One thing though if he had signed, he could of had the Flyers Training staff and doctors work on his recovery and/or secondary surgery to make sure he is well taken care of. Since he's not signed, he has to go about it without the Flyers getting officially involved.

I understand the need for Fletcher to get two veteran Dmen to start out this year. Too much youth on D and the way the team D was being played and allowing so many shots/goals against, starting the year with Morin and Myers/Haag/Sanheim was just too young as a team to run with from an upper management point of view to roll the dice this year. I am fully unhappily on board, but unhappy in how we got here. but if we are going to turn this around, we have to start with Known Good Pieces, not necessarily high Good, but "Good on Paper", Good players in the sense of running a defensive team system with pieces that are experienced enough to be able to go out there and do the job. Braun and Niskanen have resume to do just that and show the young guns how it's done night in, night out. I just hope Morin gets time in on the rotation.

“You look around the league and it seems to be a common theme with a lot of people breathing in oxygen and breathing out carbon dioxide"

I was at a local Langley Tim Hortons, when a good friend of Frank came from hanging out with him from the 2019 World Lacrosse Men’s Indoor World Championship. (We know Frank has been adopted by British Columbia and is their local boy now, so we know it must be true since he was at the 2019 World Lacrosse Men’s Indoor World Championship). He said that there was no way Frank was signing on to TSN unless they would give a massive overpay. It was hard to gauge how much of an overpay it was, considering at the time of the signing the Beaver Gazette was gonna give him market value of $6 to $7 hundred more quids for the same amount of term. I don't really understand why Frank would give up 5 cases of Tasty Cakes just to setup an interview with The Sports Network.

And that there is what I saw him do In those games. Call it paying attention to details or OCD in making sure he was where he was supposed to be at. You could almost see his thought process as he was covering up and down the lanes, ya he realized when he messed up, but he actively tried to make up for his rookie mistake with intent and hustle. I think he continues that trajectory this year.

I remember reading about him and Ghost as our top defensemen in the AHL and how well they complemented each other as a defensive pairing. They were our top prospects before we even entertained such things as a Proverovs, Sanheims, Myers or Yorks in our lineup. They are serviceable, Punto.

In watching Morin play last year, he was the only defensemen and I mean only defensemen those last games that had his head on a swivel. He actively scoped the crease and when going behind the crease, he actually looked back on the opposite side to see if anyone was gonna sneak to the other side of the crease. He was high IQ, smart enough to guard his area like an Alsatian Wolfhound. i very much liked his demeanor and sense of purpose. He had that slick goal, I believe in preseason, when he was a lock to start the season but was hurt. He has a cannon of a shot when he decides to unleash it. Braun and Niskanen are placeholders, they are here this year to stabilize our defense, I appreciate them for what they were brought in to do. They are short term. Sam Morin can definitely be a part of the long term defensive plan and be a 3 or 4 defensemen, but due to so much defensive talent coming possibly up, they will probably use him as 5 or 6, unless deep playoffs potential shutdown last minute hold the lead type situation.

Crazy "fun fact" . Alot of first rounders without tanking. If that ever goes to print, in ten years we'd be considered Super Tankers to have received that many first round players, playing for a team.