Tiger's Wood
Active member
Not that unusual. David Chappelle even delivers mail to them.
I don't think Nygren'll be in North America this upcoming season. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I think he's better off staying in Europe for another season.
Hamilton is going to be filled with young, inexperienced d-men. You'll have Beaulieu, Ellis, Pateryn, Tinordi maybe, Dietz, maybe Dalton Thrower. That's 4 to 6 d-men in their first or second pro year. That's also assuming they cut Joe Stejskal loose.
Add a Mac Bennett, Josiah Didier, Colin Sullivan that might come in a near future to join the Dogs. There will be competition for the positions to fill.
Sure, but there won't be 5-6 first or second year players on defense alone when those players come over.
Two seasons from now when Bennett comes over, he'll be surrounded by a lot more veterans on the blueline. Ellis will be in his third year, Pateryn his third (Assuming he's still in the AHL or the system), Nygren his first/second depending on whether he comes over this year or not, Thrower his first if we sign him. Then you can add in 2 veteran AHLers to fill the rest. Didier & Sullivan are going to play their full four years in the NCAA, unless Didier suddenly learns how to play offense overnight.
I love competition between players, however, what I love even more is having good veterans around as mentors.
Weber won't be here next year. They'll qualify him to hold onto his rights, but I expect to see him dealt at or before the draft. We currently don't have a 4th or 5th round pick, which is probably what we can expect as a return for him.
Weber would have to clear waivers to be sent down so I doubt he even gets qualified. If he's traded it will be beforehand and for a 6th rounder or so.
Ah, yeah. I always end up forgetting someone.
Yeah, he's set to be in Hamilton next year. There's a chance Dalton Thrower is in Hamilton next season as well because he's played 4 years in the CHL already & is turning 20 before the new year. That said, I think they'll send him back to Junior to play out his overage year because he didn't have a great season.
So on paper, this could be Hamilton's defensive corps to start the season:
Beaulieu-Pateryn
Tinordi-Ellis (This is only if Tinordi doesn't make the team out of camp)
Corbin*-Dietz
Thrower*-Nygren*
Asterisks are for the players who might not be in Hamilton next year. If suddenly, Tinordi's in the NHL, Corbin's cut loose & Thrower is sent back to the WHL, then sure, there's space for Nygren because then you can fill the two remaining spots with seasoned AHL veterans. I like Frederic St-Denis, but he's done his time here and we need some new people as leaders. It's pretty unfortunate that Alex Henry had to leave for Germany at the same time Tinordi came over. He would have been the perfect mentor for Tinordi. They are so similar in their playing styles (Projected playing style for Tinordi), the only difference between the two is that Henry can't skate to save his life and he's meaner.
Weber would have to clear waivers to be sent down so I doubt he even gets qualified. If he's traded it will be beforehand and for a 6th rounder or so.
Are we making a mistake with Weber? Did he ever really get a fair shake and will we end up criticizing habs brass in 3 years if he's racking it up in Detroit?
Weber has no value. I would be shocked if we got anything more than a 5th at this point.
Also would not be shocked if he turned into Streit 2.0
Are we making a mistake with Weber? Did he ever really get a fair shake and will we end up criticizing habs brass in 3 years if he's racking it up in Detroit?