Random thoughts heading into the home opener
Published 4:13 pm Friday, September 25, 2009
It’s a rare Friday night off for the Tips. It’s also the day before the home opener, and after a flurry of activity during the first week of the season Everett’s roster finally appears set. Seems like a good time to take stock, as well as share some other random thoughts:
– From the “Much Ado About Nothing” file, what a strange little trip Everett’s offseason overager search turned out to be. In April, Everett general manager Doug Soetaert declared Shane Harper, Zack Dailey and Shayne Brown as Everett’s overagers for the 2009-10 season. When injuries prodded Brown into retirement, Everett’s scramble to find a replacement started to look like something out of “The Fugitive” (search every farmhouse, hen house, outhouse …), with Alex Poulter, Colin Scherger and Travis Dunstall all picked up off waivers at some point. After much deliberation and debate about the overager situation among observers, the Tips ended up trading for Chris Langkow and returning the Poulter, Scherger and Dunstall to the waiver wire. Kind of a roundabout way to trade for a third overager, don’t you think?
– Speaking of Langkow, I’m curious just how much he’s going to bring to the Tips. He arrives with the reputation of a hard-working two-way center who has enough skill to contribute to the offense, but not lead it. With its top five scorers returning from last season, Everett doesn’t really need Langkow to be an offensive leader. However, I’m sure Harper wouldn’t mind having a complementary skill player on his line. Can Langkow be that guy?
– Langkow cost the Tips third- and sixth-round picks in the bantam draft, a price that’s a little high for an overager. Or is it? I’m starting to wonder about the value of bantam draft picks beyond the first round. Give this exercise a try sometime. Find a WHL roster. Eliminate the first-round bantam picks and the Euros. Now, among everyone who’s left, count the number who were drafted and the number who weren’t. I can’t speak for other teams, but for Everett the drafted players only outnumber the undrafted 10-7, and the undrafted include last season’s co-MVP, two NHL draft picks and the No. 1 goalie. I have no idea if this type of ratio extends to other teams (feel free to check it out yourself and let me know the results), it might just be an anomaly. But it does make me think.
– Everett’s big question mark going into the season was defense after the departures of longtime Tips Taylor Ellington, Graham Potuer and Mike Alexander. But having now had the opportunity to see newcomers Rasmus Rissanen, Radko Gudas and Ryan Murray in action during games that count, I think Everett has itself covered. The Tips think their defense is going to be better this season than it was last season. I don’t know if I’m ready to commit to that just yet, but I’m a believer in the newcomers.
– Personally, I am thrilled Kyle Beach is back in the U.S. Division with Spokane. From a reporter’s standpoint Beach is pure gold as he’s an endless source of material. However, over the course of two-and-a-half seasons it got a little tedious pulling the same bucket out of the well time after time. I’m thinking having Beach involved in 10 Everett games instead of 72 may just create that happy medium.
