Support cast

[fuhr86]

I\'m rebuilding a team in a FHL league so everything is taken into account for players ratings defense, intensity, scoring, speed, skating, strength.

So here are the prospects I have up front for the rebuild, will these players develop good enough at the NHL level to be good support players?

Sean Bergenheim, Petri Kontiola, Blake Wheeler, Gilbert Brule, Kyle Chipchura, Artem Anisimov, Lauri Korpikoski, Peter Regin, Kaspars Daugavins, Alex Bourret, Nathan Davis, James O’Brien

I\'m eventually going to have to bring in a 30+G 80+ point center and 35+G winger but until then am trying to create an exceptional supporting cast of players.

So is that a strong foundation up front?

[ultrawhiteness]

i like kontiola, wheeler, brule, chipchura, anisimov, bourret.

gotta say, i don\'t really know who davis, o\'brien, or daugavins enough to comment on them.

bergenheim should be rated pretty speedy, correct? other than that, i don\'t think he\'ll develop into much of an NHLer.

i don\'t know what you consider to be a strong foundation, but they\'ll all be decent 3rd liners.

[fuhr86]

ultrawhiteness wrote:

i don\'t know what you consider to be a strong foundation, but they\'ll all be decent 3rd liners.

15-20G 40ish points ability per player to go along with strong defense ability with some players able to bring a little bit of other elements like intensity and size to the table.

[fzusher]

It\'s hard to say without knowing how many teams in the league, how many players dressed, and how soon you are planning to compete.

The short-term situation of many of these will also be clearer after free-agency starts because many of these are close and could get a chance on teams that aren\'t too deep, and a few are so close that if their teams don\'t leave a roster spot for them it is cause for concern.

Particularly to watch:

Bergenheim - The Islanders will have both top-6 LW spots open, with Bergenheim, Comeau, and Bentivoglio in the mix for them in camp. Watch to see if they land seasoned help there via trade/free-agency, and also watch what Bergenheim\'s new contract is (he is RFA) - one-way or more than year are good signs.

Kontiola, Davis - Stuck in a deep C line, though Sharp can be moved to wing. Watch to see if they trade Havlat or Lang and whether they bring FAs to fill their spots. Kontiola is closer than Davis.

Chipchura - Next in line to inherit Smolinski\'s spot in the line up, unless they go to free agency for that.

Wheeler, Brule, Anisimov, Korpikovski - Their teams are all up in the air now, so you can\'t project where they are until the dust settles. Dubinsky\'s solid season is a set back for Anisimov, Wheeler will have a shot in camp, if the Jackets bring in UFAs to complete the top-2 lines without Brule it\'s a disconcerting sign. Wheeler and Anisimov may actually require another year of seasoning. These 4 also strike me as the ones with the highest upside in the bunch.

Regin, Daugavins, O\'brien - Watch to see whether and who do the Sens sign, and for how long. That\'ll tell you whether and when do these players figure in their plans, though I think the Sens would rather not rush either of the three, and I\'m not sure either is ready. Same for Bourret in NYR.

[fuhr86]

fzusher wrote:

It\'s hard to say without knowing how many teams in the league, how many players dressed, and how soon you are planning to compete.

Thanks for your insight. It\'s three years from now I plan to compete in the league I am in. http://nefhl.com/news/ might as well plug it.

I do have my opinions on these players and it is always nice to have another persons opinion.

I think I am going to tank this up coming season and have a chance to draft Tavares or Hedman in 2009. I also have a few awesome rated players to move in Prospal, Stillman and Thomas do to the strong 07/08 seasons they have. Grab a couple firsts in 09 and target a few young talented forwards for them.

So I am hoping the support cast comes together in the next few seasons and I can ice three solid two-way lines and after the 09 draft be able to put an offensive dominating first line in place.

[fzusher]

Wow, somebody\'s really put in amazing time and effort into your league\'s website. Very impressive.

From what I saw looking randomly at a few teams, you have a 20 (12+6+2) player active rosters plus 20 player farm rosters, but those include both reserves and prospects. That means your league is not too deep in actual prospects (my leagues has 30 player farm and reserve rosters plus 30 prospects and in one of them entry draft players don\'t count towards those 30 for the first two years unless I activate them).

With those roster sizes, taken prospects would for the most part be top-end prospects and close prospects, and either way surefire prospects. Players like O\'Brien, for example, would be a waste of pick or roster spot until he actually proves he is ready to move into the NHL - he\'s not that high-end a prospect, and there should be players who are both better and closer - and more hyped. Ditto Regin. Ditto Davis, because there are many people ahead of him on the depth chart and because he\'s only 193 in a 6\'1\'\' frame, suggesting he\'s got a bit of growing still to do. These are players I would think most GMs in your league would not bother with for at least another season.

Bergenheim, Wheeler, Brule, Chipchura and Anisimov are definitely the type of players worth holding on to with such roster sizes. I\'m pretty certain the middle three will achieve the numbers you\'re looking for; Wheeler and Brule I believe can do better than that. Anisimov, by all accounts, has the talent for that, but may not get the opportunity of Dubinsky keeps his spot. Bergenheim I\'ll leave to people who know better.

The other 4 you mention are in between - closer and more sure than the first group, but haven\'t yet proven they have it no doubt.

If you\'re looking at a rebuilding process of 2-3 years (target season 10-11 or 11-12), one type of player you can target are power forwards at the beginning of their pro careers. They take several years to mature, and don\'t produce much until then, so other GMs may not afford the wait. Think players like Latendresse. Another type of player to target are young players on teams at the beginning of a rebuilding process - teams whose +/- will scare GMs this year but will turn it around by 10-11/11-12. I\'d use the Leafs and Isles as an example, but they\'re just messed up management wise. But you get the picture.