Edit: Saturday 23rd - added defence comments & rest of the Ages
http://tigershockey.com/article/tigers-sign-import-dahlstrom
Looks like more good news for the Tigers next season as John Dahlstrom has agreed to play for the Tigers. So it looks like both Euro's from the CHL Import Draft are both coming over. Scouting Reports say Dahlstrom has an uncanny ability to put the puck in the net.
Updated Depth Charts
Goaltender
Schneider 19
Rommelaere17/McGovern
Prospects&Invites
Defense
Kirichenko 20 Schultz 19
Rubins 19 Quenneville 18
Heid 19 MacPherson 18
Forrest 19
Clayton 16
Matechuk 16
Prospects&Invites
Clouston20*
Forwards
Bradley19 Owre20 Butcher 20
Gerlach18 Shaw18 Dahlstrom19
Rassall19 Fischer19 Jevne18
Chyzowski16 Preziuso17 Haden17
Mowbray20*
Hamblin17
Fantillo18
Anderson, 16
McNeil,16
Heathcote16
Ganie 17
Prospects&Invites
Thoughts
Gotta give props to the scouting department, as they have stocked the cupboards very well the past couple seasons. The Tigers look to have some pretty impressive depth, especially at forward. Of course you never like to trade guys that can make a whl team, but If I'm an opposition team looking to improve I'm keeping an eye on the Tigers forwards that fall down on their depth charts. Their could very well be whl calibre rookies not making the team because of the firepower up front. It should make for quite the battles in training camp.
Forwards
This forward group has the makings & capability of a championship squad that will only get better as the season progresses. They have enough depth where guys like Rassall, and Fischer will be playing 3rd line minutes but could probably play on most teams 2nd lines. Last year the Tigers were in the middle of the pack in terms of scoring, and they didn't loose anyone. They gained another year of experience, and they gained a scoring import. They can score by committee, and I'm extremely excited about their potential for next season. They could very well sit near the top of the league in goal scoring. Their is potential for 8-9 guys to score 20+ goals.
Defense
The defense seems questionable on what their strength will look like. Their top end depth is unproven to playing 1st line minutes. We will have to wait and see what Rubins can bring to the back-end. I don't expect him to be a #1 guy, as he was projected as a good talent but wasn't drafted. (Similar to Platanov of last year). I could see the Tigers looking at acquiring a guy that could play first line minutes later at the deadline if they are in a position to make some noise. I think their defence could be anywhere from below average to above average.
WIll Quenneville improve to a point where he isn't a defensive concern against opponents top lines. Will schultz come into his own and prove he can play top line minutes. How will Kirichenko fare with stanton gone. Will Mcpherson step up and become someone you can't take out of the lineup. Forrest has excelled in pre-season, will he turn the corner and become a breakout player. Does Heid become steady eddy on the back-end. He was someone oft overlooked last season, but was decently sound in his own end. To be honest I'm not 100% sold that clouston is the odd man out for over-agers He brings a lot of intangibles to the lineup. He is big, tough, plays a simple solid game, and is very aggressive with no fear. Kirichenko might be able to bring a 2nd round pick in return. If that is the case do the Tigers deal him, knowing they could possibly be looking for a non overager later in the year? They would need his replacement to play first line minutes, however if Rubins can bring what clouston did last season, perhaps that changes things as well.
Goaltending.
Schneider was very strong at the end of last season, and ended up with 9 games of AHL experience. The Tigers will boast a very strong #1, they will need to find a quality backup tender and get him some games so that next season the Tigers aren't going in with issues.
Overall
This team has some great potential for this season. The Central is up for grabs next year, their are no bona fida contenders. The Tigers have potential to make some noise with a very quick turnaround season.
Late Edit: I mispoke about bona fida contenders. Lethbridge looks to have a very solid team
46 comments:
It does not seem to me that Mowbray and Clouston are worth keeping. I would release them. Tigers could pick up a couple 20s released from other teams. A stay at home defence would be good
I think Forrest can be released as wel
Well owre, butcher, kirichnenko are 20's. I could see potentially clouston making a case to stay. If someone wants to offer a good deal for kirichenko, it would make sense to keep clouston, and then use the returns to potentially aquire older(non-overager) help if needed
Forrest - It depends. His value might be higher in pre-season because he usually plays well. IT does depend on how many new guys are able to crack the roster. If someone makes an impact then he is more expendable. Depth wise I'd like to keep him unless someone else really likes him and offers a good deal. I also see Forrest as a player who could possibly breakout this seaon. He is a great skater, is he able to turn the corner?
Tyler Preziuso on the nhl central scouting futures list for 2017.
Wonder if we may see some trades. But looking like a pretty decent team.
Thoughts on captain and assistants?
I wish hockey season would start now. I like the looks of this team, I like the guys on it, hopefully this core can have a good attitude unlike so many last year.
Tired of Clouston giving the *C* to the best player on the team. Doesn't always mean your qualified to wear a letter.
Well Last years assistants were: Butcher, Kirichenko, Owre
I Imagine they get 3 of the 4 letters.
I would put Bradley, Shaw as likely candidates, with Quenneville getting an honorable mention. I think Bradley got the A when someone was out last season so he is probably likely to get the last letter.
Next season we could have a complete refresh of leaders. I see Shaw as a future Captain
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Last season, I thought their next up cycle would still be a year away, but with the changes they made, and the imports they grabbed it appears their next up cycle is this coming season.
I would like to see a character guy like Shaw or Quen get letters. I think Sanford was a terrible pick. A guy who leaves the team is not any letter material. Tigers need to stop picking the best player and pick the character guy in the dressing room who leads!
I am really looking forward to this season. Should be a lot better. Also looking forward to having Fox behind the bench.
I agree, Tigers have the potential to be a dark horse, if they can come together as a team, as in, better attitude and feeling in the dressing room compared to last year, I think we could see a little playoff action. Sure a nice thought, hope it happens.
C- Kirichenko
A- Owre
A- Butcher
A- Bradley
A- Quenneville
A- Shaw
Shaw and Quenneville rotate games with the last letter.
Why Kirichenko? He did not appear to be much of a leader on the ice but am I wrong? The vocal guys seemed to be Owre, Shaw and Quenneville. At least that is what I saw over the season, I could be wrong.
Not sure about Kirichenko, I agree, seems like a good kid but not sure about him being a dressing room and on ice leader. I also dont think Bradley is up there. The guys who leave it all on the ice every night is Owre, Butch, Shaw and Quen. So mostly agree. Who is captain amongst those, I am not sure. Would be happy to see any of there. Would like to see a 18/19 captain so we get some continuity to next season.
Why Kirichenko? He did not appear to be much of a leader on the ice but am I wrong?
Not advocating the kid to wear the C, but has to be a reason why he got an A last yr when he came to the Tigers, even if he isn't the most vocal kid on the ice as others have mentioned.
Kirichenko is a guy that I was not overly impressed with on defence, not that I disliked him but he just did not seem like a standout. I thought he would be a guy who would not get a 20 year old spot. I was thinking there is likely a better defenceman available on the 20 year old list.
Kirichenko is a solid 3-4th defenseman not a top 2 d
I would hope that if you are keeping a guy in the 20 year old spot he is at least a top 2 spot guy. He should be one of the "go to" guys. I would look for other options, guys who maybe are not remaining on their teams
Awesome job by Darren Kruger and the scouting staff. Our future does look bright, our euros look like winners this year hard work pays off. kudos to you DK, you were a great player awesome coach and now awesome in your new role!!
I would whole heartedly agree with anon 10:57 and his thought on Darren. I posted when he took the job that the look of this team would change drastically with him in charge of player personnel and while it will be another couple years before it fully takes effect, you can already see the change in draft strategy.
Anyone know how season tickets are going? heard they lost quite a few.
I will be sad if numbers are down a lot, the fans called for a larger rink, we finally got one and now that there is tickets available without getting season tickets, people drop off. I think season tickets commit people to attending, you dont want to waste what you have already paid for. Where buying tickets per game allows excuses not to go - too much snow, roads too bad, too tired etc. Part of me feels that they put in far too many seats. I have my season tickets! Through thick and thin, I am a tigers fan!
I think it's more people are getting tired of Clouston
How about seniors prices 9 game packs and pack the rink night, this might sell more tickets. Yes the prices are the same for 10 years but we are in a recession. The tigers are a good game yes but mgmt. needs to be more creative to pack the new arena. Some of the seats on the west side should be discount seats not all the same $.
a lot of people stopped their seasons tickets due to the parking problems. Strange they would build a rink in the bald prairie and then not develop proper parking,
When is camp?
I agree sammy12 if we didn't leave early we spent 40 min a few nights playing the waiting game to get out of the north lot.
Does anybody know the all the players listed?
Camp schedule announced. Looking forward to taking in some games. I can not help but think with not losing anyone from last year and the great young talent in addition to Fox behind the bench (who bring experience) this is going to be a good year!!! Will be more fun to watch as a fan!
You can tell the Hat is a small town with all the complaints about parking and time to get out of the lot. Seriously, come to a large city and try to leave a NHL arena. It is part of how it goes, quit complaining!
Nothing to do with large city vs small city. In big city land is tremendously expensive and not readily available. Here we had a bald prairie with lots of space for parking and then exiting. The city didn't want to anti up the land cost for additional parking space that the gentleman who "donated" the land for building wanted. There is still plenty of undeveloped parking space but the city and owner have to come to an agreement to the cost of developing the needed extra parking. Seems to me something can be done. The land owner has seen tremendous money invested by the city to develop services and roads for the area to allow more businesses. Now it should be a matter of give and take to work out a deal quickly before the winter comes. Gravel parking would be livable!!!!!
Would be nice if you could park at Costco. I would even pay for it.
The parking is just not that big of a deal to me. There is parking outside of the large lots. Just get creative. Also, there are pubs that have buses if you would rather do that. There are options, you just need to look around. I missed 2 games last year, was at the rest. Never ever took me 40min to get out of the lot. Never took me more then 20min to get home.
On a different note then parking, the Euros, they are decently high picks but I find they are so hit and miss. And are often projects to bring up to speed to play in the WHL. I am always on the fence if they are worth taking on the team or not. Will be interesting to see how these 2 pan out.
For Parking I've noticed that if you park in the back and attempt to leave out the back road your going to be waiting 20-30 minutes and will be the last vehicles out of the parking lot. I parked their a few times during the season. It was stressful leaving, and their were 0 cars left anywhere else. I got home well after the radio broadcast ended
If you do park in the back, drive around the one side(opposite of entrance) and exit through the front lot, it is much quicker.
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On Euro's I would say your right to the poster above. How every player reacts to a new culture is unpredictable. Usually when I try to estimate the strength of incoming euro's I will look at the following:
1) Have they been drafted into the NHL? If not, why? Were their injury issues? did they play on poor teams? Were they highly touted and then dropped off the map?
2. World tournaments - Have they played for, or was a consideration for their country in the Under 17's 18's, and/or world juniors.
3. Have they played in Euro Men's leagues
-In Europe you have to be a pretty decent player to move up to the Men's leagues.
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Example Markus Eisenschmid
He wasn't drafted. However he played in Germany's world tournaments, and he also had substantial time in the div 2 men's league in germany. Those were great indicators. If he hadn't played in the men's league, we should assume a higher risk/reward ratio. German men's league isn't the absolute best, but it's not terrible either.
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Let's look at last years New euro
Alexei Platanov - He was a big young kid who was being touted as a pretty decent prospect in Russia. He had some world tournament experience. No Men's league experience, too young to be drafted. Their was a high degree of risk/reward. Unfortunately the risk didn't pan out, and the result of that was a pretty significant loss because the Tigers backend was further weakened by another euro import Defenceman getting released.
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This Season.
John Dahlstrom
Played in sweden's under 17,18, and on the roster for their world junior roster. He also had 13 games experience in Sweden's highest level men's league. He was also drafted in the 7th round by the blackhawks.
We won't know until we see him play how he fits. But he meets all 3 indicators. I'd say the potential for a bust is low (but always possible) I'd guesstimate he could earn similar minutes to Markus Eisenschmid's last season as a Tiger if he adjusts well to his new environment.
Kristians Rubins
-Latvia's Under 17,under 18, and world junior experience. (although Latvia's team isn't that strong). - In his 17yr old season he played 10 games for DIV 2 men's league in sweden. In his 18yr old season he played in 4 games. It is division II but sweden typically has very strong men's leagues
He was ranked as the 99th overall euro in pre-draft rankings, but wasn't drafted. However he missed half of last season with a shoulder injury, and is more of a defensive defenceman.
I would say based on those indicators that the risk is also fairly low(depending on how he adjusts) Their will be numbers issues next season.
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I wasn't sure if I liked the picks at the time because, they seemed like they were risky to come over as they are established players, but after both decided to come over and researching what they can do I am very excited. We will wait to see them play but as of now I think the Tigers did an exceptional job with the picks.
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I do question though, whether it's time for the CHL to start looking at restricting imports completely. It does seem an unfair advantage to those who have good resources and more money for scouting
What are your thoughts on Hamblin? He was a high 1st rounder for the Tigers yet he did not blow me away last year. Do you think he has the potential to be a threat in this league? Be an NHL drafted player? Because that is what you are hoping with your 1st rounders I would think.
Hamblin was a later pick at #17. I agree that he was quite raw last season, almost too raw, but they needed bodies up front.
That being said I think it is still too early in his development to see what his max potential will bring. He has some tools, he was just too young and too raw.
Steven Owre also had 2 points in his first season and now he is a pretty good junior.
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Going further in depth their are usually telltale signs a player is about to breakout where no statistical metric can point to. It lies in the players ability to win small battles and outsmart his opponent consistently on the 3rd/4th lines.
I didn't see that from Hamblin last season. Last season he got his feet wet where the game appeared quite fast and tough. At 5'9 158lb he was pushed around quite often.
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I see great straight line speed. I saw a few instances of decent lateral mobility, but I think because he was so small and un-confident he used his strength(his speed) and became more of a outside player
At this point I'd say he is pretty raw, and I expect that he won't start becoming "a potential threat" until the 2nd half of his 18 yr old season and more of a late bloomer.
This next season his 17 yr old year, I would expect a smaller smattering of points in the (5-15 range). But Because of the Tigers depth at forward he might be an odd scratch.
Of course after training camp and the first 10-20 games we will get to re-evaluate his ability and see if that path has improved or declined.
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On another Note in terms of players improving...
For next season the Tigers have a lot of potential breakout players on offense. Their 3rd line (Rassall, Fischer, Prezusio)
Rassall I thought won a lot of battles and seems poised for a very good season. Fischer scored 10 of his 13 points in the last 10 games of the season and looked like a veteran. Prezusio didn't grab much ice-time but put up an impressive 10 points in the process and looked very smart on the ice. Going into next season I expect at least 1 if not all 3 to become 45+ point players.
The Tigers also have 2 other players who are in line for decent progressions. (Fantillo, Jevne) They also have Gary Haden, and last years first round pick Ryan Chyzonski. That leaves like 1 possibly 2 spots for other prospects.
Heard in the last few weeks, Mowbray might not be coming back to battle for one for the one 3 yr old spots as he would be going to school instead.
Butcher, Owre, Kirichenko, Clouston, Mowbray
I think that would be a wise choice by Mowbray. Their seems to be an abundance of the (0.2- 0.3 PPG) overage forwards in the league this season. Some of them will stick, some of them won't. It would be throwing the dice and hoping to get lucky with another team.
Alex Mowbray is making the right decision if in fact he is going to pursue going to school. He's not going to be back here nor will he be picked up by any other team in the league. While he was a good soldier here and always played hard and did what was asked of him he's not what teams are looking for in an overage forward. Career stats of 41 points in 180 games isn't going to have teams knocking down his door looking for his services.
Mowbray was listed on the Tigers training camp roster.
Anyone know why Rylan Rommelaere isn't on any of the 3 rosters?
Rylan Rommelaere informed the team he will not be presuing a spot on the team this year ........... well that was unexpected. He is a signed player so kinda shocked. He was also a second round pick I believe. I think the Tigers likely had him lined up to be the back up. Interesting, would love to know what happened. Looks like we may have a problem in net after this year. I dont see a 17 year old being our started next year
That's unfortunate, but if his heart/mind isn't in it, it happens.
I beleive one of his best friends was paralyzed in a freak accident, and sometimes events like that can shock/change people's priorities.
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Where is the Euro forward?
Looks like they put him up their now and was just an initial ommision.
Anyone have the cuts from the weekend as it was trimmed from 60 to 40?
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