Sad reality of our defense and lack of prospects

[RonJeremy]

First off , we do not have any first or second line forwards anywhere in our system, from AHL to Juniors or anywhere else,Laughton is a 3rd liner and the few other guys we have are similar role players but not even as good.Our goaltending is even worse, Leighton is horrible, I think we wasted a second rounder on Stolarz, to me you dont waste a second rounder on such a longshot, Cal Heeter might be our best prospect at this point in goal. We do not have any top 3 defensemen either. and Gustufsson, Manning and Bourdon(if he ever returns) are # 4-6 defensemen. . So we have no real goalie prospects , we have a couple of third line forwards and a few bottom pairing dmen.

Now , on to the current team... right now Bryz looks alot better than he did last year, , so lets see how he does this year, up front we could use some help, but there are no real prospects who can step in and make an impact , so for now , we are stuck with what we have. Our biggest weakness is on defense, especially in the puck rushing, creativity and scoring areas. We are also severly lacking in the PP since none of our dmen can shoot. We really do not have a legit #1 or # 2 dman. Timmo is on his last legs and once hes gone ,we are really in trouble, hes about the only skating dman we have,but his scoring ability is minimal.

So we keep hearing how we are going to trade for Subban, etc, well maybe we could, but its gonna cost at least Coots or Schenn, maybe Montreal would even want more since premium young dmen are much harder to find than a good young forward. So I dont see how weaking the offense in a trade for defense is gonna make us a better team. So before we can trade for defense , first we have to shore up the offense, So to me the only solution is as follows......

When we are near the bottom of the pack at the trade deadline, I would trade Timmo to the highest bidder, and you know playoff bound teams will always overpay at the deadline for a veteren dman, think of what we gave up for Kubina and Grossman, so Timmo can get us something real good either a top young player, hopefully a young dman or at least a first rounder . Then , in the offseason. if he does not retire ,we bring him back for one more year.... since the UFA defenseman this year are nothing to write home about, we really cannot get any help on defense via UFA, What we need to do is sign a couple of forwards like Getzlaf and Perry,, so then if we sign these guys,now we are overstocked up front and then we can make a move for some defense . Maybe we package our pick and the pick we get for Tmmo and move up in the draft and grab a stud dman that will help a bit but ., I know we need more help than that, so then, no matter what anyone thinks ... IF YOU WANT A TOP PAIRING YOUNG DMAN - COOTS OR SCHENN WILL BE THE ONLY WAY TO GET THAT DMAN. THAT IS THE REALITY...

Lets be realistic, there is no forward on our roster that is going to get us a top paring dman other than Giroux, and you know he isnt being traded, so your looking at Coots or Schenn, lets face it. Sure we dont want to trade them, but once again, we are going to be forced to trade for defense, it seems like we are making trades for defense every season.... Howe, McCrimmon, Desjardins,, Svoboda, Haller, Markhov, Gauthier, Timmo. Pronger, Mez, Grossman, etc... we have been trading for defenseman for the last 30 years.

[Howie58]

First off , we do not have any first or second line forwards anywhere in our system, from AHL to Juniors or anywhere else,Laughton is a 3rd liner and the few other guys we have are similar role players but not even as good.Our goaltending is even worse, Leighton is horrible, I think we wasted a second rounder on Stolarz, to me you dont waste a second rounder on such a longshot, Cal Heeter might be our best prospect at this point in goal. We do not have any top 3 defensemen either. and Gustufsson, Manning and Bourdon(if he ever returns) are # 4-6 defensemen. . So we have no real goalie prospects , we have a couple of third line forwards and a few bottom pairing dmen.

Now , on to the current team... right now Bryz looks alot better than he did last year, , so lets see how he does this year, up front we could use some help, but there are no real prospects who can step in and make an impact , so for now , we are stuck with what we have. Our biggest weakness is on defense, especially in the puck rushing, creativity and scoring areas. We are also severly lacking in the PP since none of our dmen can shoot. We really do not have a legit #1 or # 2 dman. Timmo is on his last legs and once hes gone ,we are really in trouble, hes about the only skating dman we have,but his scoring ability is minimal.

So we keep hearing how we are going to trade for Subban, etc, well maybe we could, but its gonna cost at least Coots or Schenn, maybe Montreal would even want more since premium young dmen are much harder to find than a good young forward. So I dont see how weaking the offense in a trade for defense is gonna make us a better team. So before we can trade for defense , first we have to shore up the offense, So to me the only solution is as follows......

When we are near the bottom of the pack at the trade deadline, I would trade Timmo to the highest bidder, and you know playoff bound teams will always overpay at the deadline for a veteren dman, think of what we gave up for Kubina and Grossman, so Timmo can get us something real good either a top young player, hopefully a young dman or at least a first rounder . Then , in the offseason. if he does not retire ,we bring him back for one more year.... since the UFA defenseman this year are nothing to write home about, we really cannot get any help on defense via UFA, What we need to do is sign a couple of forwards like Getzlaf and Perry,, so then if we sign these guys,now we are overstocked up front and then we can make a move for some defense . Maybe we package our pick and the pick we get for Tmmo and move up in the draft and grab a stud dman that will help a bit but ., I know we need more help than that, so then, no matter what anyone thinks ... IF YOU WANT A TOP PAIRING YOUNG DMAN - COOTS OR SCHENN WILL BE THE ONLY WAY TO GET THAT DMAN. THAT IS THE REALITY...

Lets be realistic, there is no forward on our roster that is going to get us a top paring dman other than Giroux, and you know he isnt being traded, so your looking at Coots or Schenn, lets face it. Sure we dont want to trade them, but once again, we are going to be forced to trade for defense, it seems like we are making trades for defense every season.... Howe, McCrimmon, Desjardins,, Svoboda, Haller, Markhov, Gauthier, Timmo. Pronger, Mez, Grossman, etc... we have been trading for defenseman for the last 30 years.

Ron: See my response on the "Accountability" Thread. We are a "forward-centric" franchise that doesn't seem to develop good goalies or D-men. Me thinks it is a leftover from the Cup days...toothless Bobby C. is still on their minds. Leighton is, as you note, a symptom, not a cause. The inconsistency of this franchise since '06-'07 should be a warning sign to any outsider that a system, rather than the coach, may be the issue.

Howie