Article: Can Justin Brazeau Become the Player He Was Earlier This Season?

[Up North Guy]

6 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

This is actually true, as is MHF's previous statement that Faber is worth $5m. Let me break this down a bit:

• Faber could have had a bridge deal of a couple of years at the $4.5m mark after last season
• Faber's 1st couple of years on this contract are probably overpriced, the next 2 are probably reasonably priced, the last 4 are value
• Faber is going through the sophomore slump which many players go through
• This includes hitting the wall of exhaustion
• I completely disagree with the defensive part of the equation, I believe he is a shutdown defender
• Points aren't the only thing to look at. Faber is very balanced. He's already exceeded, in both years, what most expected from him offensively
• This kid is getting better!!!

But, MHF is also correct that we need the forwards. Based upon drafting, it appears that Guerin preferred to take a goalie forward approach to this rebuild which is a proven strategy. He got his goalie and some defenders. The right defenders? Maybe not, they all looked like the same player. But, the issue here is that goalies take the longest to develop, then the defenders and lastly the forwards.

Boldy Guerin gets no credit for drafting, Rossi I believe was purely a Judd selection, but the building and focus came the following year with the defenders. And, he just picked up Jiricek to double down on the defenders. Everyone sees the holes in the forwards, emphasized with a giant hole that is a missing Kaprizov. Does he have guys to step into the top 6? I count 1 in Yurov. I think OgZ is a middle 6, and I don't see much else coming soon. 

Other teams are on different timelines, and they may part with a mid-20s guy who wants to win now, if they are in rebuild mode. But this will require some of our prospects to do it. I think we've got a lot of potential prospects who are tradeable and can move our timeline up a little. I'd concentrate on size and the '20-22 drafted players. 

MHF is right about there being very little in UFA. So, likely this will not be the way to go. Further decimating our hopes is a salary cap shooting up, meaning, teams that might need some cap relief from us, just got it from the league. So, the remedy might be finding a disgruntled guy who wants to win, is in our window, and purchasing him. Not that he's currently available, but the noise that was heard (a faint noise) about B. Tkachuk being sick of losing last offseason was something that needed exploring and hoping he was quietly available. As things have turned out, it appears he isn't (though the booing of the anthem has raised more noise from his direction). 

Having the #2 rated prospect pool means we have several solid prospects that could be traded and play NHL minutes. Simply put, we keep the ones we want and expect to make an NHL impact, and we hope some others have impressed enough where other teams think they can make an impact. Who could that be? 

For me, Yurov, The Wall, Jiricek and Buium are pretty much untouchable. I would take OgZ out of the prospect mix into NHLer. There are a lot of other good looking kids who need opportunity. I'd say Lambos has improved and would be sorry to see him go. I think Spacek is our future 3rd pairing RD. We also have a very cheap Chisholm who is ready for a top 4 role elsewhere. 

Some teams starting the rebuilding process may need volume more than quality since their prospect cupboards are empty. These would be the teams to target which could include more draft picks also. 

I also think it's important to consider how Guerin wants this team to play. He wants offense but is unwilling to sacrifice 200' games. He's got many players on this team with 200' games and wants to keep that going. This may take out some of the huge point getters, for solid 2-way players in his view. A quick look at the Hurricanes/Rantanen debacle explains this shift. Rantanen could wheel and deal in Colorado, but placed into a structured environment like Carolina, even with his best friend there, didn't match up with his game or preferred style. Some will look at this as Carolina making a huge blunder, but in reality, Carolina probably saved an 8 x $14m salary by finding this out early. 

Russo has mentioned a couple times a free agent from Western Michigan that sounds good.

If the Wild dip into the college free agent market, one wonders if they’d be interested in Western Michigan’s Tim Washe. The Detroit native is big (6-3), he can skate and he’s the best faceoff guy in the country — three areas that could help the Wild in the long term. Washe, 23, enters the NCAA tournament this weekend against Minnesota State with 15 goals and 34 points in 38 games.

A 6'3" center that can win face offs would be great. Stramel probably stays at MSU another year.

[mnfaninnc]

1 hour ago, Up North Guy said:

A 6'3" center that can win face offs would be great.

Sounds a bit like Nico Sturm.