2009-10 preview: overagers and vets
Published 10:11 am Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Doug Soetaert made part one of this essay really easy.
When the season ended one of things I did was begin mulling next season’s overager situation in my mind, weighing the merits of each candidate and devising what I figured were the possible scenarios.
Then during the exit interviews Soetaert rendered that entire thought process null when the Tips general manager declared that forwards Shane Harper and Zack Dailey and defenseman Shayne Brown were the presumptive overagers next season. Defenseman Mike Alexander will be invited to camp in August, but more with the idea of exhibiting himself for another possible suitor. Forward Jesse Burt will not be invited to camp.
I guess that settles that.
Frankly, I figured that was the likeliest configuration. Two forwards and a defenseman seemed natural. Harper was the co-MVP and Dailey the captain, so those two seemed safe. That left the choice between defensemen, and given that Brown was on the top pairing alongside Taylor Ellington before he got hurt, the choice of Brown also wasn’t surprising. The one thing I could see upsetting that arrangement is if Harper gets an NHL camp invite, then impresses enough to be offered a contract and a position with a pro team. I would say the probability of that is slim, but he goes into the process with more credentials than Riley Armstrong did in 2004, and Armstrong ended up in the AHL at 20.
Nevertheless, Everett’s overagers appear set. And the other veterans? Well, there’s just so many of them. One thing about having a rookie-laden team, it means the following season there’s going to be a lot of second-year guys, and Everett has plenty. The Tips have the potential to return 20 full-time members of this season’s team.
To me the big question is which of those guys don’t make it next season? The kid line — Kellan Tochkin, Byron Froese and Tyler Maxwell — will be back, obviously. So will Cameron Abney, who might become one of the toughest customers in the league. The Tips invested a lot to acquire forward Dale Hunt and defenseman Alex Theriau, so I figure they’re safe. And the Tips like their goaltending tandem of Thomas Heemskerk and Kent Simpson.
But is anyone else safe beyond that? I’m not sure. There are a few players who I figure have an inside track, but I don’t know if anyone else is a lock, despite being veterans. As much as Everett needs experienced defensemen after the graduation of Ellington and Graham Potuer, are the likes of Chris de la Lande and Trevor Bauer strong enough — as 19-year-olds they’ll need to be reliable second-pairing guys — to hold off candidates from the deepest well in Everett’s system? And up front, several of this season’s rookies — Ryan White, Markus McCrea, Tyler Parker — didn’t get a whole lot of opportunity to show what they can do, so we still don’t really know how good they are. They’ll be challenged, too.
I guess what I’m saying is that having this many veterans to choose from is a good thing for the team, but it isn’t necessarily a good thing for the job security of the players.
Next up: 2009-10 preview: newcomers
