by Nathan Mallett - @RampageNate
If any of you have Twitter, and follow your favorite players, you know that the roads and airways are filled with hockey players this week as they travel to their various destinations. On Sunday, Rampage players will report for fitness and medical tests, preparing them to hit the ice on Monday morning after a long and contentious summer. The NHL lockout has taken center stage, once again, in the hockey universe. While veterans head off to Europe or hold informal practices they need to pay for, the future of the NHL is reporting for the start of AHL training camp.
Some AHL teams will see a major infusion of young NHL talent. Two teams in the Rampage’s division will benefit from these additions as much as anyone in the league. Oklahoma City will see 2011 1st overall draft pick Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (18-34-52pts as a rookie in EDM), 2008 1st rounder Jordan Eberle (34-42-76pts with EDM), and Justin Schultz who was one of the most sought after free agents to come out of college in years. They could also possibly add #1 overall draft pick in 2010 Taylor Hall if his injury heals up before the lockout ends. Meanwhile Charlotte will add 2010-11 NHL Calder Trophy winner Jeff Skinner as well as highly touted defensive prospect Justin Faulk.
(Houston and Texas are getting plenty of help as well. Just not nearly as much as OKC and Charlotte)
The Rampage meanwhile, will possibly get zero help due to the lockout. This isn’t Florida’s fault; they aren’t really overloaded with young NHL talent…yet. The one player eligible to be sent to the NHL, defenseman Erik Gudbranson, injured his shoulder and is expected to miss 3-4 months. The rest of Florida’s deep prospect pool is either still in college or in juniors due to age requirements. The Rampage, however, will have 3 or 4 very good, yet unproven, prospects suit up.
We’ve heard Mike Santos say it over and over again. This team is built from the net out. They are excellent in goal and very good on the blue line. The forwards are big and mean, but without some big contributions from prospects, could be this team’s Achilles heel.
Goaltending
Goalie is the one position on the team with no question marks. Markstrom is still the best goalie prospect in the world and many teams would love to have a buy like Dov Grumet-Morris as a backup. Brian Foster has some AHL experience and is a capable backup should either of the top two get injured.
San Antonio:
Markstrom
DGM
Cincinnati:
Foster
Houser
Defense
The defense is again very good this season. The lone problem is a major lack of depth. Caruso and Yonkman return as the top defensive players on the team. Caruso took a huge leap forward in his development last season and is a top pairing AHL player at this point. Colby Robak is a terrific two-way defenseman and is a great asset on the power play. While losing Roman Derlyuk will definitely hurt, Alex Petrovic appears ready to step in and become a steady force for this team. Newcomer Jason DeSantis is an offensive specialist and should help with expediting the puck out of the defensive zone. That’s five names. After those five, there is little to no AHL experience between Josh McFadden and Andrew Hotham. It’s still possible the Rampage could sign a free agent or even bring back Tyson Strachan if the lockout lasts long enough.
SA:
Yonkman/Caruso
Petrovic/Robak
DeSantis/McFadden
????
Forwards
The forwards (and defense) on this year’s squad are HUGE! Newcomers Andre Deveaux and J.F. Jacques are big and nasty guys that can score and have some NHL experience. Jon Rheault comes to San Antonio from the Calgary organization where he put up very respectable numbers in Abbotsford last season (33 points in 47 games). Former Aero, and Rampage menace, Casey Wellman could be the biggest acquisition of this offseason. Wellman is a playmaker and paired with the right guys could really make a huge impact. Returning for another season are James Wright, Scott Timmins, and Eric Selleck. In my opinion though, this whole offense will revolve around two completely unproven players. Rookies Drew Shore and Quinton Howden are highly regarded prospects and could really make an impact this season. Many consider Howden to be the Panther’s second best offensive prospect behind Jonathan Huberdeau. He is a big kid with a good shot and a willingness to get to the net. I imagine him being a lot like Brett Maclean with skating ability. A sleeper could be John McFarland. McFarland has a ton of potential but has been slowed by injury. He could really be a surprise player.
SA:
Howden/Wellman/Rallo
Jacques/Deveaux/Rheault
Wright/Timmins/Luciani
Selleck/Shore/McFarland
Vaive
Pacan
Cincinnati:
Wilson
Hazen
Birkholz
Outlook
This is easily a playoff team without a lockout. If the lockout lasts all season, like some are speculating, the Rampage are going to have to really overachieve to get anything higher than a 7/8 seed. There is just too much talent coming down from the NHL to other teams. However, if some of the rookies play to their potential and the Rampage get any help at all on the blue line, be it from Strachan or a healthy Gudbranson, this team is built for tight, low scoring games (read playoff hockey) and could surprise some teams.
Training camp practices begin Monday morning and last all week through the preseason game on Saturday. All practices are at 9:45am at Northwoods and if history dictates, open to the public. I will try to make it for the intra-squad scrimmage on Thursday. If not, I’ll be there Saturday. Until then, you know what to do…
LETS GO RAMPAGE!
No comments:
Post a Comment