The great unknown
What we know:
- Neal is scheduled to be in the lineup against Seattle.
- The Americans then have 14 days to decide what to do and get to the maximum of 3 20-year-olds.
- In terms of the schedule, there are 5 games within those 14 days.
- There is definitely a need for his big body crashing the net and creating space on the ice.
- It's a business. And building a winning team is a business. Bob is going to do what is in the best interest of the business. If the price is right for the present and future of the team, no player is ever completely safe from being traded (or sent down or released).
- Portland has an open 20-year-old spot.
- Where is Neal going to fit in the lineup?
- Will the young defense survive the (potential) loss of one of the veteran D-men?
- If keeping Prokop (and Reddick, see my assumptions and speculations below), which D-man has more trade value if a team such as Portland were interested?
- We have no idea what goes on in that locker room (and if I did I wouldn't blab it here anyways). The recent losing trend could mean a chemistry issue, not just on the ice. Again, Bob's a smart guy, he's going to do what's best for the team, including addressing any possible chemistry issues.
- Rumor has it Portland was shopping Stebner at the deadline so Bob grabbed him up. Gave up a 2011 3rd round Bantam pick for him. If either defenseman goes, will they head to Portland? Stay in the US Division?
- Reddick was named Captain a week after the 2009-2010 season ended, the likelihood of him leaving is slim, slimmer than any of the other 20s. Doesn't make him immune. Perhaps part of this recent skid is a lack of leadership. Maybe being named captain so early didn't allow for competition for the role. Perhaps if Neal hadn't been injured he would have been named Captain.
- Assuming Reddick stays, that leaves Prokop, Schmidt, and Stebner. We don't know yet what impact Neal will have. But if I were to guess, and it's just a guess mind you, Schmidt has more trade value than Stebner. Then again, if Portland wanted him originally....
- Would I want a former American to stay within the US division? No. Especially when the Ams haven't even played Portland yet. Again, I'm only throwing Portland in there because they have the open spot. That doesn't mean any of the other 20 teams couldn't be trade partners, they would just have to release one of their 20-year-olds.
- Holy shit it would be tough to be a GM. Can't we just keep them all????
3 comments:
all of this just makes my head hurt.
With Portland off to its fantastic start, and the Ams scuffling of late, perhaps the Winterhawks are willing to up the ante for a final piece to what they think could be a Memorial Cup-winning team. Trader Bob made the original deal a) when the Ams weren't scuffling; b) to block Portland when he thought the Ams' chances of contending were good. Now, maybe not. Maybe you go ahead and deal him to Portland, since it will only hurt you this year, and get top dollar for him. ... Lots of fun to speculate, at least.
The good news is one of those five games is against Portland. They (and we) will finally get to see just how good the Hawks are. I know they're, like, reaaaally good, but it will be interesting to see how they match up against our Americans. Last year the Ams were the Hawks' Achilles' heel. Aaaaaand getting an idea how they match up against Portland will create a better overall picture of the team's potential success.
I doubt that any of the higher ups have stopped seeing this Americans team as a contender in the playoffs. Because, like us, they have seen them better. They know the pieces are there, they just aren't quite gelling right now.
The special teams really seem to be struggling right now and in my mind that would play a big role in who should be kept/traded. But in all honesty, I know virtually nothing about this stuff.
KB said he asked one of the players (not his players) if the problem was Hiller and the answer was no. So the speculation continues...
Post a Comment