Every fall we see new names breaking into the NHL. Out with the old and in with the new. It’s as inevitable in pro sports as it is with Hollywood marriages.
For poolies, keeping track of the fresh faces that are either ready to break into the NHL or are still developing in the pipeline can be an important aspect of staying on top.
GABORIK’S CENTRE SLOT OPEN
Marian Gaborik will be the sniper on the first line for the Rangers. That much we know. But who’s going to centre him? We know it won’t be Scott Gomez.
“I like Scott Gomez and I think he’s going to have a great year in Montreal after not having such a great couple of years here, but we needed to move Gomer’s contract in order to get some flexibility with our cap situation,” coach John Tortorella told the New York Post. “I could have worked with Scott, it wasn’t personal, but trading him opened doors for us and it opened the door where we could sign Gaborik.
“You need game-breakers to win in this league. That’s what Gaborik is. He’s a dynamic player who we’re going to lean on in every situation, five-on-five, power play, penalty killing. The only way we could afford him under the cap was to trade Scott, so that’s how that call was made.”
The problem is that while the team filled its most pressing need by signing Gaborik, they also created another hole by losing Gomez and the team’s only legitimate number one offensive centre.
“As an organization, we are currently exploring options to add a top-flight centre, but I don’t know that it’s imperative for us to do that before we get a chance to see what we have in camp,” Tortorella said. “If we go into camp with this roster, [Brandon] Dubinsky is definitely going to get the opportunity to play that spot.
“I’m not sure whether he can handle it, but I want to see him there. I’m also looking forward to seeing what [Artem] Anisimov can do, though it’s probably too much to ask of a [21-year-old] rookie to play in that role. But I’m not ruling it out, either.
“That first-line centre spot is wide open. It’s a critical position on our team. Maybe we can fill it from within and maybe we won’t be able to. We’ll see, but either way, we will fill it.”
Dubinsky has the potential to become one of Tortorella’s favourite players, assuming the coach can get Dubinsky to bring that feistiness and energy in every single game. It’s also true that Dubinsky had much more success than Gomez at playing with Czech star Jaromir Jagr a few years ago, although that had more to do with the fact that Jagr loves to carry the puck and Dubinsky works well away from it. Gaborik is a guy that can certainly create chances on his own, but he’s best used when his centre lugs the puck and finds the sniper after he gets open.
Anisimov was a second round pick in the 2006 draft and he already has two AHL campaigns under his belt. He had a decent rookie season with 43 points (16G, 27A) in 74 GP, but he busted out for a point-per-game average of 81 (37G, 44A) in 80 GP last year and may just be ready to handle some of the offensive burden for his big league club in ’09-10. It’s imperative for a team like the Rangers, which too often gets bogged down with ridiculously-expensive contracts, to be able to have a few young and cheap guys like Anisimov step up and contribute.
CARLSON STANDS OUT
The Washington Post notes that the Capitals’ development camp roster has three first-round draft picks and four players who were chosen in the second round. There’s another who won a gold medal as a member of Canada’s WJC team.
But after the camp’s first two days at Kettler Capitals Iceplex, the spotlight focused on one prospect in particular — defenceman John Carlson, whom coach Bruce Boudreau said is “easily” the most NHL-ready of the two dozen prospects in attendance.
“You notice him out here right away,” Boudreau said of the 27th overall pick in 2008. “With his size and his strength, he’s got the physical stature of an NHL player.”
Carlson spent last season with the London Knights and racked up 76 points (16G, 60A) in 59 GP, including 65 PIM. He also had 22 points in his 14 playoff starts with the Knights, which was followed by three points in his 16 AHL post-season games on that Calder Cup run with Hershey.
Carlson credits his ’08-9 success to former Caps great and current Knights coach/ owner Dale Hunter.
“I think he took extra good care of me because he knew that the Capitals drafted me,” Carlson said of Hunter. “I spent every single day with him. We had individual meetings and go over stuff, especially come playoff time. That’s why I had such a good year.”
The Post indicates that the Caps are no longer asking themselves whether the 6-foot-2, 218-pounder is going to make an impact in Washington. Now they’re asking, “When?”
“Is it this year? Is it this training camp?” Boudreau said. “John Carlson is going to be the one to dictate that. If he says, ‘I’m here to make the team’ and goes out and he’s one of the best players, we’re going to fit him in, if we can fit him in.”
Whether or not he can have any fantasy impact this season remains to be seen, but clearly he’s got the offensive talent to be a key contributor for this team behind Mike Green for years to come. Given the explosiveness up front, that’s destined to eventually be a pretty lucrative spot for Carlson.
SWEDISH PAIRING POTENTIAL
The Star-Ledger reports that the last two first-round picks of the New Jersey Devils, Mattias Tedenby and Jacob Josefson, were assigned lockers next to each other for rookie camp. They flew over from Sweden together and they have been linemates the entire camp – where they’ve apparently looked really good together.
A potential line combo preview a few years from now?
“I don’t know,” Tedenby said when asked why he thought the Devils paired Josefson and he up. “We play well together, so it’s an honour for me to play with Jacob.”
Josefson, sitting beside and listening intently, laughed.
“Playing with him is pretty easy,” Josefson said of Tedenby. “He’s maybe the fastest guy I’ve seen on the ice. Just give him the puck and he takes care of the rest.”
Each player has one year left on his contract with his Swedish team, at which point they could head to North America.
MYERS LOOKING FOR ROSTER SPOT
An Associated Press article today reports that 6-8, 220-pound rookie defenceman Tyler Myers is hopeful of grabbing one of the Sabres’ top seven slots along the blue line in October after a highly successful year with Kelowna in the WHL.
“I’m going to come into camp this year and work for a spot on the team,” the Sabres’ 2008 first-round pick (12th overall) said earlier this week at the team’s rookie camp. “I’m going to do everything I can both on and off the ice and do the best I can.”
He was the MVP of the playoffs (20 points and 29 PIM in 22 GP) after having won gold with Canada earlier in the year and his regular season totals (9G, 33A and 105 PIM in 58 GP) were career highs across the board.
“It was a very good year and I was very happy with it,” he told the AP. “There’s always room for improvement and if they do send me back to Kelowna it’s a great place to play and improve.”
Buffalo brass has been open about the fact that Myers will get a long look at camp though, which only helps fuel the hunger for success.
“It’s always nice to hear things like that coming from the Sabres,” Myers said. “Whenever you do hear things like that it make you want to work even harder.”
Expecting offensive production worthy of being a poolie pick right away is pretty unrealistic – for any young defenceman, really – but down the line that size and skill combo has the potential of being pretty enticing.