That is more of a hope than a fact. Removing all those vets and expecting the youth to provide a smooth transition is wishful thinking.
- RonPielep

Russell played 11 games for them.

Hamhuis was signed.

Really only seems like one spot to fill..

The hookers in Dallas will be making alot more money now.
- gergeswillems

Remember when he banged Lang's wife?

Murray is not a very good GM
- KINGS67

Murray would never sign Hudler. He loves big forwards.

"inexperience"

They have Klingberg, Hamhuis, Benn, and Odyua to lean on if need be.
- Feds91Stammer

Maybe I'm underselling Hamhuis a touch, but when I saw Oduya last year (an admittedly small sample of 6 or 7 games) was a guy that just wasn't keeping up like he did in Chicago. I think Demers and Goligoski were more important to that D corps than you give them credit for, but we can agree to disagree.

Assuming Johns can do what he did to end last year and Hamhuis can maintain a top-4 level of play, then I guess they're only really counting on one of their young guys to take a big step forward.

Remember when he banged Lang's wife?
- Feds91Stammer

I don't. But I bet Lang does.

Klingberg is a stud. Johns and Hamhuis are top 4D. Oduya and Benn are top 6 D. Lindell is most likely ready for a top 4 role. Nemeth, Oleksiak, Honka, and Backman are just a bonus.
- Feds91Stammer

Johns was in the AHL last year. Jumping the gun a bit prematurely on claiming he is without a doubt a top 4 D.

Basically they have Klingberg and Hamhuis in their top 4 with Johns, Lindell (who I know nothing about) and Honka as hopefuls to slot in to the 2 empty positions in the top 4. As I said, they are banking on at least 2 of their players making a big jump. Banking on 1 player often goes awry, but banking on 2 is asking for trouble.

You're right tho I was unaware how deep they were on D at the AHL level last year.

It's National waffle day..


[url]

I say Ritchie is gone before Val.
- Feds91Stammer

Possibly. Either way they may be setting up trade scenarios. Simply not enough room for everyone.

benn/seguin/sharp
janmark/spezza/hemsky
roussel/eakin/hudler
mckenzie/faksa/eaves

ritchie
nichuskin

Russell played 11 games for them.

Hamhuis was signed.

Really only seems like one spot to fill..
- Tumbleweed

Fair enough, I look at the top 4 and see it as:

2 spots to fill if they want Oduya on the bottom pairing and 1 if they are okay with playing him in the top 4.

It's National waffle day..



- Fruitcakenipple[url]

Dustin Penner and Phil Kessel will be happy.

Yes, because I forgot to include Lyndell invalidates my point that they're counting on a D corps comprised mostly of rookie or sophomore Dmen. As good as they may look, there are so many things that can go awry in developing Dmen. I'm not saying it'll be bad, just that they're gonna be leaning heavily on a lot of inexperience. Without strong goaltending to back them up, there are a lot of ways it could go wrong.
- MaximumBone

Exactly.

That is more of a hope than a fact. Removing all those vets and expecting the youth to provide a smooth transition is wishful thinking.
- RonPielep

Is everyone forgetting they have Klingberg, Hamhuis, Oduya and Benn still???? Those guys are all proven vets already.

Johns was in the AHL last year. Jumping the gun a bit prematurely on claiming he is without a doubt a top 4 D.

Basically they have Klingberg and Hamhuis in their top 4 with Johns, Lindell (who I know nothing about) and Honka as hopefuls to slot in to the 2 empty positions in the top 4. As I said, they are banking on at least 2 of their players making a big jump. Banking on 1 player often goes awry, but banking on 2 is asking for trouble.

You're right tho I was unaware how deep they were on D at the AHL level last year.
- RonPielep

Johns took some huge strides at the end of last year, but to unequivocally call him a top-4 D just doesn't sit right. The way I saw it, he seemed to be their Davidson.

"inexperience"

They have Klingberg, Hamhuis, Benn, and Odyua to lean on if need be.
- Feds91Stammer

Yeah I think if they need to lean on any of the latter 3 to be a number 2 guy or even to carry a second defensive pairing then they are asking for trouble.

Johns took some huge strides at the end of last year, but to unequivocally call him a top-4 D just doesn't sit right. The way I saw it, he seemed to be their Davidson.
- MaximumBone

Except with a smaller sample size and I am already worried about Davidson being able to repeat let alone counting on him in a top 4 role...

Johns was in the AHL last year. Jumping the gun a bit prematurely on claiming he is without a doubt a top 4 D.

Basically they have Klingberg and Hamhuis in their top 4 with Johns, Lindell (who I know nothing about) and Honka as hopefuls to slot in to the 2 empty positions in the top 4. As I said, they are banking on at least 2 of their players making a big jump. Banking on 1 player often goes awry, but banking on 2 is asking for trouble.

You're right tho I was unaware how deep they were on D at the AHL level last year.
- RonPielep

Johns finished the year in the NHL and played in all of their playoff games. He is ready.

Most likely we see

Lindell - Klingberg
Hamhuis - Johns
Oduya - Nemeth/Oleksiak/Benn

Yeah I think if they need to lean on any of the latter 3 to be a number 2 guy or even to carry a second defensive pairing then they are asking for trouble.
- RonPielep

Could be worse. Their 3rd best defenseman could be Matt Hunwick.

Could be worse. Their 3rd best defenseman could be Matt Hunwick.
- rangerdanger94

Tough but fair.

Is everyone forgetting they have Klingberg, Hamhuis, Oduya and Benn still???? Those guys are all proven vets already.
- rangerdanger94

Klingberg is undeniably a top pairing guy and, assuming his injuries are behind him, Hamhuis is a solid top-4 guy. Oduya is getting up there in age and should see his role reduced and Benn is a bottom pairing guy.

Yeah I think if they need to lean on any of the latter 3 to be a number 2 guy or even to carry a second defensive pairing then they are asking for trouble.
- RonPielep

Klingberg is good enough that he could carry around some trash similar to Karlsson and Methot.

Johns finished the year in the NHL and played in all of their playoff games. He is ready.

Most likely we see

Lindell - Klingberg
Hamhuis - Johns
Oduya - Nemeth/Oleksiak/Benn
- Feds91Stammer

Yeah so essentially two rookies in the top 4. Regardless of how highly touted those rookies are, that's a very risky move, especially when the inevitable injury arises.

It could go either way on them, but it's definitely a risky play to expect first pairing and top 4 play out of a couple of rookies (no matter who they are).

Johns has all of 27 games of NHL experience and produced a total 3 points.

Is everyone forgetting they have Klingberg, Hamhuis, Oduya and Benn still???? Those guys are all proven vets already.
- rangerdanger94

Also overvaluing the "experience thing"

Klingberg is undeniably a top pairing guy and, assuming his injuries are behind him, Hamhuis is a solid top-4 guy. Oduya is getting up there in age and should see his role reduced and Benn is a bottom pairing guy.
- MaximumBone

Good thing they have those stud defensive prospects then

Could be worse. Their 3rd best defenseman could be Matt Hunwick.
- rangerdanger94

would be the no1 guy on the oilers

Klingberg is good enough that he could carry around some trash similar to Karlsson and Methot.
- Feds91Stammer

I tend to doubt that. Who has Klingberg played with in his previous two seasons?

I don't think he has proven he can carry around trash. It might look that way because he is a stud, but it's also quite possible Klingberg could drop off without a stable veteran presence.