Nice Article on Mirco Mueller

[J0e Th0rnton]

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=725996

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Well, if Mueller's competition for a spot on the roster as a regular defensman is Justin Braun, Matt Irwin, or a Scott Hannan, I don't see why, with a good training camp / exhibition season, he can't make the team right out of the gate.

The team seems to like his toolset well enough, he has the size and mobility that all NHL teams value, and hey, if he really is trying to mold himself from a Duncan Keith, that's not a bad guy's game to try to emulate.
San Jose could always use a good two-way defenseman.....Irwin and Demers I believe play that kind of game.
Mueller seems to be able to do that....only difference is, he may have a much higher ceiling than those two.

Also, Scott Hannan is being paid just a million bucks as a veteran defenseman.
I think with a good training camp, the Sharks could justify putting Mueller on the team as a regular and maybe do a rotation of Hannan, Irwin, and Braun as guys who may sit out as the 7th defenseman on occasion.
This is under the assumption that Burns, Vlasic, and Demers will be getting regular play time.

I DON'T think SJ would put Mueller on the team just to have him play minimal minutes and/or games as a 7th D-man.
Probably better to have him return to his junior team or have him play top 4 defenseman minutes on the AHL squad regularly than have him sit out, so if he makes the team, I say he becomes a regular.

Seems sort of lanky at 6'4 and just over the listed 200 pounds, but then again, 19 yrs old, a good training regimen, he probably over time can put on about 15-20 quality pounds and still maintain his mobility.
The article did mention he put on some weight, though I am not sure if he put on weight to GET to 200 or he has put on weight since.

Playing in that physically demanding Pacific Division, he will surely need every bit of size and strength while playing in his own zone.

[J0e Th0rnton]

Well, if Mueller's competition for a spot on the roster as a regular defensman is Justin Braun, Matt Irwin, or a Scott Hannan, I don't see why, with a good training camp / exhibition season, he can't make the team right out of the gate.

The team seems to like his toolset well enough, he has the size and mobility that all NHL teams value, and hey, if he really is trying to mold himself from a Duncan Keith, that's not a bad guy's game to try to emulate.

San Jose could always use a good two-way defenseman.....Irwin and Demers I believe play that kind of game.

Mueller seems to be able to do that....only difference is, he may have a much higher ceiling than those two.

Also, Scott Hannan is being paid just a million bucks as a veteran defenseman.

I think with a good training camp, the Sharks could justify putting Mueller on the team as a regular and maybe do a rotation of Hannan, Irwin, and Braun as guys who may sit out as the 7th defenseman on occasion.

This is under the assumption that Burns, Vlasic, and Demers will be getting regular play time.

I DON'T think SJ would put Mueller on the team just to have him play minimal minutes and/or games as a 7th D-man.

Probably better to have him return to his junior team or have him play top 4 defenseman minutes on the AHL squad regularly than have him sit out, so if he makes the team, I say he becomes a regular.

Seems sort of lanky at 6'4 and just over the listed 200 pounds, but then again, 19 yrs old, a good training regimen, he probably over time can put on about 15-20 quality pounds and still maintain his mobility.

The article did mention he put on some weight, though I am not sure if he put on weight to GET to 200 or he has put on weight since.

Playing in that physically demanding Pacific Division, he will surely need every bit of size and strength while playing in his own zone.

Justin Braun was the 2nd best defenseman on the team last year after Vlasic. And he plays the right side

 

 

I'd say his competition is nobody. Hannan is there as a 7th who will play little and he understands that now(They stated as much when they resigned him). Irwin will never be more than 6th IMO. That top 4, left side is Mueller's for the taking. Abeltshauser and Tennyson is his competition.

 

Right now it looks like

 

Vlasic/Burns

Mueller/Braun

Irwin/Demers

Hannan

[jammer2]

@J0e Th0rnton  Must be very exciting to know a world class talent like Mueller could be ready to make the next step! I'm very interested to see where MacLeans (the forecast I trust the most) ranks Mirco in their top 100. I love their top 100, it's the real deal, and puts things in proper perspective.

[J0e Th0rnton]

From what I saw of him, I think his ceiling is Vlasic 2.0.

 

I hope he can get his offense going too, but either way it is exciting

[JackStraw]

I thought I had replied to this already but apparently it got lost in the ether. Anyways, I was kind of hoping the Flyers would draft Mueller (not that I'm disappointed with Morin, I just didn't know anything about him at the time). Mueller's the kind of defenseman you can't have too many of, with size, skating, smarts and from what I've read a bit of a physical side.

[yave1964]

20 year old blueliner with little if any offensive upside. Good size, very young, I think he might be better served by spending the year in the AHL and maybe giving Doherty who is a monster ( six foot eight if I am not mistaken) who like Mueller is never going to remind anyone of Bobby Orr but who is sound in his own zone, but is a couple of years older with more AHL experience. Not trying to sound too down on Mueller, I just don't think he is ready and is a B or B minus prospect anyway, due to his lack of offensive capabilities......

[J0e Th0rnton]

20 year old blueliner with little if any offensive upside. Good size, very young, I think he might be better served by spending the year in the AHL and maybe giving Doherty who is a monster ( six foot eight if I am not mistaken) who like Mueller is never going to remind anyone of Bobby Orr but who is sound in his own zone, but is a couple of years older with more AHL experience. Not trying to sound too down on Mueller, I just don't think he is ready and is a B or B minus prospect anyway, due to his lack of offensive capabilities......

For some reason, I think Wilson believes his game will translate better to the NHL than the AHL.

 

A lot of worchester fans were unhappy with Mueller's 8 games because his D partner was not reading that Mueller's was making the safe pass and got WAAAAAy out of position a lot, and the forwards were just not getting into the right areas to exit the zone. A lot of them mentioned that he was playing the sort of game Vlasic does all the time, and that the NHL forwards and D partners would have been ready to recieve lol.

 

Not really surprising since the Worchester Sharks are one of the worst AHL teams.

 

I guess we will see. Pair him with Braun! if Braun can cover for Stuart's complete inept inability to transition, move the puck and overall horrible play 19 minutes a night and still somehow come out with positive advanced stats, he should be able to help guide a young rookie. I suspect Mueller will learn a lot watching Vlasic's shifts as well.

 

Braun is a whole lot like Vlasic, but on the right side lol. A lot of people just do not know how good he is defensively.

[hf101]

I think that spot on the roster will be up for grabs between Mueller and Tennyson.  The thing going for the Sharks is if Mueller makes the team, Tennyson is available for call up.  However if Tennyson makes the Sharks' roster Mueller will be playing a year in Juniors.  But chances are they will give him up to his 10 NHL games before making that decision.

[J0e Th0rnton]

I think that spot on the roster will be up for grabs between Mueller and Tennyson.  The thing going for the Sharks is if Mueller makes the team, Tennyson is available for call up.  However if Tennyson makes the Sharks' roster Mueller will be playing a year in Juniors.  But chances are they will give him up to his 10 NHL games before making that decision.

Abeltshauser > Tennyson

[yave1964]

@J0e Th0rnton

  You never mention Doherty, what are your thoughts on him? He is huge, not much offensive skill but a solid shut down d-man with a couple of years at Worcester. To me he is a logical guy to plug in. i know he brings little offense to the back end and that is where the Sharks are lacking excepting Burns and to some extent your boy Vlasic but Stuart is the one being replaced and Doherty seems a good fit, size and experience. Is he too slow or something? Truthfully i have never watched him play that i remember but his stat line looks like a nasty bit of work and a big body.

[J0e Th0rnton]

@J0e Th0rnton

  You never mention Doherty, what are your thoughts on him? He is huge, not much offensive skill but a solid shut down d-man with a couple of years at Worcester. To me he is a logical guy to plug in. i know he brings little offense to the back end and that is where the Sharks are lacking excepting Burns and to some extent your boy Vlasic but Stuart is the one being replaced and Doherty seems a good fit, size and experience. Is he too slow or something? Truthfully i have never watched him play that i remember but his stat line looks like a nasty bit of work and a big body.

Demers is good offensively. He outproduced Boyle with little pp time in comparison. Braun has the tools, but was afraid to use them when paired with Stuart. 

 

Doherty is not likely an NHL player. Dylan DeMelo are better candidate, but still behind Mueller, Abeltshauser and Tennyson.

[OccamsRazor]

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=725996

 

Nice read. Thanks. In other news!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

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