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and 1 Defensemen.
If you could hand pick any 1 Forward, 1 Defenseman and 1 Goalie to start a team, whom would you pick? Please take into account each of these players status with current cap hits, contract length, team control or not at end of contract, age, attitude, marketability, etc. How would you construct the leaders of your team? Go the youth route and build up or go the tried and true and win-it-all mode?
For me it would be
Forward: Toews (Age 22). I like his cap hit for the next 5 years ($6.3). He has a great resume in big games (Olympics and NHL Playoffs), as a Sharks fan I know the importance of having your best players be your best players when on the big stage. He plays center and can distribute the puck or score so he has a lot of versatility. He's a humble kid that shows great leadership qualities. For instance, after Canada won Gold in the Olympics, a reporter asked if he, Keith or Seabrook were going to tease Kane about his silver medal. He answered (paraphrased) "No and nobody else will either. They came this close to winning the Gold and they deserve to have their accomplishment acknowledged. If anybody does want to tease him they'll have to go through me first." -- The kid is all class. Only knock on him that I can find is that he hasn't scored a ton of points in the regular season on some pretty stacked Blackhawks teams.....but the kid is only 22.
Honorable mentions to: Crosby (too big of cap hit and a FA in 3 years); Parise (is a RFA after this season and is 3 years older than Toews and plays wing not center); Datsyuk (best all around player, but a little too old to start your team with in my humble opinion).
Defense: Weber (Age 24) I love the way the kid plays. He plays tough as he will hit, fight and can also clear the crease. He's only under contract for this upcoming season, but his cap hit is low $4.5 and he's still under team control (he's an RFA) after this season. I'd try to sign him to an 8 year, $40million contract extension that is front loaded (or something of that ilk). He's above average in his own zone and can play on the PK. He also is a hell of a PP QB with an amazing shot and can play big minutes.
Honorable mentions to: Doughty (Weber doesn't have the upside of Drew Doughty. However, Doughty is such a superstar that I feel his contract demands could get out of control. Weber seems much more signable in my opinion while not losing all that much in the skill department to Doughty. Also, Doughty doesn't have as much of an intimidation factor or physical edge as Weber); Keith (I really like Keith as a player as well, but having a guy who will be ages 35 - 38 with a $5.551mil cap hit doesn't sound as appealing.....especially with injuries to defensemen).
Goalie: Miller (Age 29): This was a tough one and I went in a little different direction than the other two picks. Miller is under contract for 4 more (in his prime) years at a pretty steep pricetag of $6.25mil. However, the guy has proven, in my estimation, to be a big game goalie. Not only did he play amazing in the Olympics, but he's taken two different Buffalo squads to the Conference Finals. The teams he led there weren't overly stacked and Buffalo constantly has budget constraints that don't surround Miller with as much defensive talent as other goalies. I know the recent trend has been to win with no-name cheap goalies, but Miller also has great marketability (Weber and Toews are about as marketable as tree bark, lol) and (supposed) great leadership qualities. I'd love to see what Miller could do on a bigger market team that spent some more money. The drawbacks are his age and pricetag, but at least I'd have him locked up during his prime years and if he doesn't lead you to the promised land, he doesn't have a ridiculously long contract that can't be traded.
Honorable mentions to: Rinne (has had some consistency issues and is a UFA at the end of the 2012 season); Rask (seen too many youngsters come in and dominate for awhile only to be backups or out of the league ala Raycroft and Jim Carey); Bryzgalov (is a UFA at the end of the upcoming season and benefited from a very stingy coaching strategy)
***Keep in mind that you guys don't need to explain in as much detail as I did if you don't want to. ;-)~
and 1 Defensemen.
If you could hand pick any 1 Forward, 1 Defenseman and 1 Goalie to start a team, whom would you pick? Please take into account each of these players status with current cap hits, contract length, team control or not at end of contract, age, attitude, marketability, etc. How would you construct the leaders of your team? Go the youth route and build up or go the tried and true and win-it-all mode?
For me it would be
Forward: Toews (Age 22). I like his cap hit for the next 5 years ($6.3). He has a great resume in big games (Olympics and NHL Playoffs), as a Sharks fan I know the importance of having your best players be your best players when on the big stage. He plays center and can distribute the puck or score so he has a lot of versatility. He's a humble kid that shows great leadership qualities. For instance, after Canada won Gold in the Olympics, a reporter asked if he, Keith or Seabrook were going to tease Kane about his silver medal. He answered (paraphrased) "No and nobody else will either. They came this close to winning the Gold and they deserve to have their accomplishment acknowledged. If anybody does want to tease him they'll have to go through me first." -- The kid is all class. Only knock on him that I can find is that he hasn't scored a ton of points in the regular season on some pretty stacked Blackhawks teams.....but the kid is only 22.
Honorable mentions to: Crosby (too big of cap hit and a FA in 3 years); Parise (is a RFA after this season and is 3 years older than Toews and plays wing not center); Datsyuk (best all around player, but a little too old to start your team with in my humble opinion).
Defense: Weber (Age 24) I love the way the kid plays. He plays tough as he will hit, fight and can also clear the crease. He's only under contract for this upcoming season, but his cap hit is low $4.5 and he's still under team control (he's an RFA) after this season. I'd try to sign him to an 8 year, $40million contract extension that is front loaded (or something of that ilk). He's above average in his own zone and can play on the PK. He also is a hell of a PP QB with an amazing shot and can play big minutes.
Honorable mentions to: Doughty (Weber doesn't have the upside of Drew Doughty. However, Doughty is such a superstar that I feel his contract demands could get out of control. Weber seems much more signable in my opinion while not losing all that much in the skill department to Doughty. Also, Doughty doesn't have as much of an intimidation factor or physical edge as Weber); Keith (I really like Keith as a player as well, but having a guy who will be ages 35 - 38 with a $5.551mil cap hit doesn't sound as appealing.....especially with injuries to defensemen).
Goalie: Miller (Age 29): This was a tough one and I went in a little different direction than the other two picks. Miller is under contract for 4 more (in his prime) years at a pretty steep pricetag of $6.25mil. However, the guy has proven, in my estimation, to be a big game goalie. Not only did he play amazing in the Olympics, but he's taken two different Buffalo squads to the Conference Finals. The teams he led there weren't overly stacked and Buffalo constantly has budget constraints that don't surround Miller with as much defensive talent as other goalies. I know the recent trend has been to win with no-name cheap goalies, but Miller also has great marketability (Weber and Toews are about as marketable as tree bark, lol) and (supposed) great leadership qualities. I'd love to see what Miller could do on a bigger market team that spent some more money. The drawbacks are his age and pricetag, but at least I'd have him locked up during his prime years and if he doesn't lead you to the promised land, he doesn't have a ridiculously long contract that can't be traded.
Honorable mentions to: Rinne (has had some consistency issues and is a UFA at the end of the 2012 season); Rask (seen too many youngsters come in and dominate for awhile only to be backups or out of the league ala Raycroft and Jim Carey); Bryzgalov (is a UFA at the end of the upcoming season and benefited from a very stingy coaching strategy)
***Keep in mind that you guys don't need to explain in as much detail as I did if you don't want to. ;-)~
