Colin Dambrauskas: No longer in the McDavid hunt, it's time to trim the fat

1st

1st
- jribout

now i will go read your blog...

Good blog Colin.

Can't wait to see what Poirier can bring.

I would be happy to see the 3 (Seto, Bollig, Engelland) gone and give Grats back his icetime.

Not sure how we can get rid of Bollig or Engelland though. Some team might be deperate enough to take Bollig but with 3 years left on his contract will be tough to move Engelland even with eating some of his salary.

Good blog Colin.

Can't wait to see what Poirier can bring.

I would be happy to see the 3 (Seto, Bollig, Engelland) gone and give Grats back his icetime.

Not sure how we can get rid of Bollig or Engelland though. Some team might be deperate enough to take Bollig but with 3 years left on his contract will be tough to move Engelland even with eating some of his salary.


- Mr.Pink

Send Engellend to Edmonton?

Good blog Colin.

Can't wait to see what Poirier can bring.

I would be happy to see the 3 (Seto, Bollig, Engelland) gone and give Grats back his icetime.

Not sure how we can get rid of Bollig or Engelland though. Some team might be deperate enough to take Bollig but with 3 years left on his contract will be tough to move Engelland even with eating some of his salary.


- Mr.Pink

Still cant believe the Hawks got a 3rd for him

Good blog Colin.

Can't wait to see what Poirier can bring.

I would be happy to see the 3 (Seto, Bollig, Engelland) gone and give Grats back his icetime.

Not sure how we can get rid of Bollig or Engelland though. Some team might be deperate enough to take Bollig but with 3 years left on his contract will be tough to move Engelland even with eating some of his salary.


- Mr.Pink

I think you're stuck biting that bullet and either buying him out or paying for his veteran leadership in Adirondack.

I think you're stuck biting that bullet and either buying him out or paying for his veteran leadership in Adirondack.
- jtommyt

Part of the justification offered on engellend's embarrassing contract was that other teams were interested in him. I wonder who these teams were

Colin Dambrauskas: No longer in the McDavid hunt, it's time to trim the fat
- Colin Dambrauskas

Ouucchh! Tough but I like & agree with most. The one player I don't totally agree with yet is Bollig. I have liked some of his game & don't think he has played as bad as you portray. In fact some of the games I saw a fourth line of Bollig, Jooris & Bouma, that was a fantastic 4th line & they created scoring chances.As much as we are out of the gate quick, we need to put some perspective on this start. This team appears to have some pieces that are switching gears to the next level but still too many pieces are place holders in year 2 of a major rebuild. You are scaring the piss out of me of what kind of moves we would make to reward the excellent starts of Hiller/Brodie/Gio/ & to a lessor extent, Monahan & Gaudreau.

Seems to me Stajan & Raymond are out for extended periods but Frelund & Colborne will probably be back sooner than later. If Bourque can clear waivers, I am sure Seto can. Send Seto down, he has zero value, make him earn the $750 large in Addy.

Coming into this year, we knew we had a pretty thin blue line & we knew Seiloff & Tspoon needed big minutes in Addy. That hasn't changed. No one is taking Engellend. So what does BT do, it's too soon to sell, does he pay a price for a real good 3-4 dman. At what price? Be careful for what you wish for.

Our blue line has been relatively healthy & one injury to our top pairing D & we are tank nation. I remember 1 year where we went out of the gate something silly like 12-1-2 & we wound up with Gilbert coaching & we went on to pick in the top 10 that year. It's too soon to decide to go for it & shift gears. I do know how you feel & the excitement of seeing our guys play a brand of hockey that's going to win games.

Really good points which could make for conflict sooner than later. Much of what's good today was done by Feaster including Hartley. Everything you mentioned has been done by Treliving. Hopefully, pride will not force the team to put up with crap because Treliving won't back down. And why is Burke MIA?
For the first time in years the team is getting results but is it in spite of dysfunctional management - maybe Treliving is feeling threatened by Hartley's experience and obvious success with the players?

Ouucchh! Tough but I like & agree with most. The one player I don't totally agree with yet is Bollig. I have liked some of his game & don't think he has played as bad as you portray. In fact some of the games I saw a fourth line of Bollig, Jooris & Bouma, that was a fantastic 4th line & they created scoring chances.As much as we are out of the gate quick, we need to put some perspective on this start. This team appears to have some pieces that are switching gears to the next level but still too many pieces are place holders in year 2 of a major rebuild. You are scaring the piss out of me of what kind of moves we would make to reward the excellent starts of Hiller/Brodie/Gio/ & to a lessor extent, Monahan & Gaudreau. Seems to me Stajan & Raymond are out for extended periods but Frelund & Colborne will probably be back sooner than later. If Bourque can clear waivers, I am sure Seto can. Send Seto down, he has zero value, make him earn the $750 large in Addy. Coming into this year, we knew we had a pretty thin blue line & we knew Seiloff & Tspoon needed big minutes in Addy. That hasn't changed. No one is taking Engellend. So what does BT do, it's too soon to sell, does he pay a price for a real good 3-4 dman. At what price? Be careful for what you wish for. Our blue line has been relatively healthy & one injury to our top pairing D & we are tank nation. I remember 1 year where we went out of the gate something silly like 12-1-2 & we wound up with Gilbert coaching & we went on to pick in the top 10 that year. It's too soon to decide to go for it & shift gears. I do know how you feel & the excitement of seeing our guys play a brand of hockey that's going to win games.
- Kevin R

I think you are a great poster and always bring a lot to the threads, but I am going to be that guy and ask you to use paragraphs…...

Part of the justification offered on engellend's embarrassing contract was that other teams were interested in him. I wonder who these teams were
- mfh867

I wonder if they are still interested……..probably not.

Really good points which could make for conflict sooner than later. Much of what's good today was done by Feaster including Hartley. Everything you mentioned has been done by Treliving. Hopefully, pride will not force the team to put up with crap because Treliving won't back down. And why is Burke MIA?
For the first time in years the team is getting results but is it in spite of dysfunctional management - maybe Treliving is feeling threatened by Hartley's experience and obvious success with the players?
- itwasin

?????? Not understanding this. Why should Burke be in the spotlight? Not his job, it's BT's. Let's not forget what our expectations were coming into the 2014-15 season. We wanted to see the same compete, see some more progress from our young players & expected a lottery pick next year.

The first 17 games we have overachieved to the extent of misguided expectations. I wasn't even sold on Russell in our 2nd pairing starting the year & he has progressed nicely into a 2nd pairing defender so far. How is this all BT's fault & throwing placement holding contracts & trades in his face because we have ridden hot goaltending & career eye popping top 2 D performance? Sorry, we are going to see some regression here. The league isn't that bad that our rookie laden team is suddenly a Cup contender. Other teams are going to match the early work ethic & intensity Hartley has these players playing at coming out of the gate. I see absolutely no reason why BT would be threatened by Hartley.

I think you are a great poster and always bring a lot to the threads, but I am going to be that guy and ask you to use paragraphs…...
- Mr.Pink

sorry

I wonder if they are still interested……..probably not.
- Mr.Pink

I would think the overpay made him desirable for one team ...and they shouldn't want him anymore ...do we need his cap hit to stay above the floor though?

Really good points which could make for conflict sooner than later. Much of what's good today was done by Feaster including Hartley. Everything you mentioned has been done by Treliving. Hopefully, pride will not force the team to put up with crap because Treliving won't back down. And why is Burke MIA?
For the first time in years the team is getting results but is it in spite of dysfunctional management - maybe Treliving is feeling threatened by Hartley's experience and obvious success with the players?
- itwasin

Brad Treliving comes from a talent evaluator background which seems to be a criteria for GM's these days. Does he have autonomy or is he following instructions?

Good blog Colin.

Can't wait to see what Poirier can bring.

I would be happy to see the 3 (Seto, Bollig, Engelland) gone and give Grats back his icetime.

Not sure how we can get rid of Bollig or Engelland though. Some team might be deperate enough to take Bollig but with 3 years left on his contract will be tough to move Engelland even with eating some of his salary.


- Mr.Pink

I agree with you and Colin both on those 3

Seto has been given more than a fair shot and I'd rather see him sent down than any other player
Bollig looks lost out there and it seems like whenever he makes a mistake it either results in a goal or a big save by our goalies
Engelland is a really good ECHL d man ...

Any word on when we will be getting bodies back from the IR ?

?????? Not understanding this. Why should Burke be in the spotlight? Not his job, it's BT's. Let's not forget what our expectations were coming into the 2014-15 season. We wanted to see the same compete, see some more progress from our young players & expected a lottery pick next year. The first 17 games we have overachieved to the extent of misguided expectations. I wasn't even sold on Russell in our 2nd pairing starting the year & he has progressed nicely into a 2nd pairing defender so far. How is this all BT's fault & throwing placement holding contracts & trades in his face because we have ridden hot goaltending & career eye popping top 2 D performance. Sorry, we are going to see some regression here. The league isn't that bad that our rookie laden team is suddenly a Cup contender. Other teams are going to match the early work ethic & intensity Hartley has these players playing at coming out of the gate. I see absolutely no reason why BT would be threatened by Hartley.
- Kevin R

Maybe I like to worry for nothing. But can anyone remember BB ever being this quiet for this long? Sure he's no longer a GM but he's still BB. And Hartley still doesn't have an extension. Not even a whiff of one so far as we know. I wish I could find the interview with Hartley - I think during training camp - when he said specifically that he expected to make the playoffs. Yes, I realize that Babcock doesn't have an extension either but I have a suspicion that no matter how good Hartley does, he won't be renewed if they don't make the playoffs. And then there's Treliving's relative inexperience compared to both BB and BH. And I'm absolutely not convinced that Treliving is doing a better job overall than Feaster. If the team needs leadership why has McG only played 5 games? After that "event" in Van everybody said he was a leader in the room. What changed?
I hope I'm wrong but I think there's more politics and personalities behind the scenes than we realize.

Any word on when we will be getting bodies back from the IR ?
- Redmile247

I think that is a bigger issue for us than the play of the three mentioned.
Very few teams are so thin upfront, especially with centers.

Brad Treliving comes from a talent evaluator background which seems to be a criteria for GM's these days. Does he have autonomy or is he following instructions?
- VanHockeyGuy

The knock on Feaster was being a lawyer - not a hockey person.........
Hopefully, we haven't traded 4 quarters for a loonie...

?????? Not understanding this. Why should Burke be in the spotlight? Not his job, it's BT's. Let's not forget what our expectations were coming into the 2014-15 season. We wanted to see the same compete, see some more progress from our young players & expected a lottery pick next year.

The first 17 games we have overachieved to the extent of misguided expectations. I wasn't even sold on Russell in our 2nd pairing starting the year & he has progressed nicely into a 2nd pairing defender so far. How is this all BT's fault & throwing placement holding contracts & trades in his face because we have ridden hot goaltending & career eye popping top 2 D performance? Sorry, we are going to see some regression here. The league isn't that bad that our rookie laden team is suddenly a Cup contender. Other teams are going to match the early work ethic & intensity Hartley has these players playing at coming out of the gate. I see absolutely no reason why BT would be threatened by Hartley.
- Kevin R

also we are ahead in games played.

So the standings are a bit off. If averages are consistent, we'd drop 3-4 spots.

I agree though. lets not jump the gun on the D. For the amount of minutes they play, our 5-6 D are good enough. Injuries will happen, selloff/spoon will get their shot and eating up bigger minutes in the ahl is a good development move (like brodie did).

Seto however, we can move him once injuries come back. experiment failed.

The knock on Feaster was being a lawyer - not a hockey person.........
Hopefully, we haven't traded 4 quarters for a loonie...
- itwasin

funny thing is he sucked at contracts and trades, not at drafting. So goes against that knock

Great blog Colin. I don't comment much but this post echoes my feelings precisely. All three would not disrupt the chemistry we see on this team right now and the replacements would very likely enhance the play of the team.

Poirier is one of my top prospects coming up. I have a strong feeling he will be a key piece and will bring an element of bite and skill that our team needs.

What are your thoughts on Baertschi right now? I have been a big supporter but I feel forced to admit that his play in the d zone is pretty bad and his compete level doesn't even come close when contrasted with guys like Jooris, Ferland, Byron....well almost everyone else. I think perhaps he should go in order to bolster the RW....

Great blog Colin. I don't comment much but this post echoes my feelings precisely. All three would not disrupt the chemistry we see on this team right now and the replacements would very likely enhance the play of the team.

Poirier is one of my top prospects coming up. I have a strong feeling he will be a key piece and will bring an element of bite and skill that our team needs.

What are your thoughts on Baertschi right now? I have been a big supporter but I feel forced to admit that his play in the d zone is pretty bad and his compete level doesn't even come close when contrasted with guys like Jooris, Ferland, Byron....well almost everyone else. I thing perhaps he should go in order to bolster the RW....
- chinaski08

pretty much my thoughts on baert, being preaching that for awhile but people are very attached to him.

Its not that he couldn't develop well, its that right now he's a moveable piece from a saturated position