saskriders
Can't Hold Leads
Let's try this again
A while ago we had the "who would you keep" thread, here is the opposite question.
A while ago we had the "who would you keep" thread, here is the opposite question.
Zibanejad. His first year was meh, a bunch of injuries, loves shooting from the blue line, average hockey sense.
Of the prospect forward big 6; Petersson is the one that will not make it here in my opinion. His chance is now and he's not there yet. He will be passed on the depth chart and could easily be part of a trade package to move up in the draft. DaCosta is another where the clock is ticking. Depending on our draft position (from the lottery?) I wonder what a Zibanejad, Petersson plus our 2nd would bring - a chance to draft Monahan in the 6 or 7 spot? I'd think about that.
Considering how he's playing I doubt we could get much for him, I think he's Sweden bound after this season if he doesn't make it, and we don't have a 2nd round pick this year (Bishop).
I see Zibanejad as being an Good-Elite 2nd liner and a meh 1st liner but I see Silfverberg ending up like Alfredsson, and Stone being our top line winger for years to come.
Stone-Turris/????-Silfverberg
Zibanejad-Pageau-Puempel
Noeson-Smith-???
???-???-???
That is all hypothetical and asssuming we maintain our prospects.
Stone for me, if the right deal came. He will be an NHL player, but it's not certain if he will ever be a top-6 guy. He does, however, have the least trade value of the three IMHO.
Zibby has raw potential, but it's not certain if he will ever be a top-6 guy either. However, he has the ability to be, at the very least, an effective 3rd line guy who chips in with important goals here and there. He is more "clutchy", like our other home boy Turris. I also believe his ceiling is higher than all three, however it's too early to say that he will never put it all together.
Silf's transition has been much quicker. As an older prospect, he is showing signs of the kind of player he is. I believe he will be a quality top-6 guy for Ottawa.
Potential does not mean a heck of a lot when you are injured all the time. Kind of hard to develop a prospect that rarely plays. Hopefully that part of his "game" gets addressed/fixed soon. Bad luck with health issues is never fun but look no further than Rick Dipietro to see what happens when a prospect is always hurt for one reason or another.
I think it's presumptuous to knock on Zibanejad for his health issues at this point. For all we know, he had some bad luck getting knocks to the head twice last year and now with wisdom teeth/illness. Sure, there could be other stuff in there too as he's missed abnormally long time for various illnesses, but I think it's too early to decide whether this is just a bad year or if he's actually extremely prone to these kinds of things.
Jared Cowen has had some major stuff hindering his development yet we are assuming he'll be a top-4 D for years, and rightfully so.