EVERETT — The last weekend of the Western Hockey League preseason has arrived and the Everett Silvertips find themselves with the type of problem most teams would like to have:
Too many defensemen, not enough roster spots.
Everett heads into its final two preseason games with an overabundance on defense, a tangle the Tips will need to sort out during the course of this weekend.
“Certainly these last two games are going to be important, not only for the organization but for some people, too,” Everett coach Mark Ferner said. “We worked on some things (Thursday in practice), but it wasn’t too much of a workout because we want to give the kids every opportunity to be as fresh as possible.
“It’s going to be important for some guys, that’s for sure.”
Everett concludes the preseason with a home-and-home set against Seattle, with the teams playing tonight in Kent and Saturday in Everett. This is the last opportunity for the Tips’ brain trust to see the players in game conditions prior to determining the opening-night roster.
And while there’s still decisions that need to be made at forward and goaltender, the bulk of the decisions need to be made on defense. This week’s return of captain Ryan Murray gives Everett a bloated total of 12 defensemen on its roster. Teams typically carry seven or eight d-men, so there’s work to be done getting down to a manageable number.
One of those 12 is the combative Lucas Grayson, who’s spent the preseason playing primarily as a forward, so that relieves a bit of the congestion.
“We’re happy with having a player who possibly can play both positions,” Ferner said. “We know what Grayson brings not only to our locker room, but a certain dimension of the game as well. There was the one exhibition game where we had a couple guys kicked out, and he had the ability to go back and play defense. That’s a luxury we have.”
Nevertheless, there’s still a crowd on the blue line.
The primary problem is a wealth of rookie candidates who appear ready to make the jump to the WHL. Eighteen-year-old Ben Betker, 17-year-olds Griffin Foulk, Tye Hand, Cole MacDonald and Mirco Mueller, and 16-year-old Micheal Zipp all have shown they are capable on playing in the league. But there isn’t room for all of them. Some of the veterans — 20-year-old Landon Oslanski, 19-year-olds Murray and Evan Morden, 18-year-old Nick Walters and 17-year-old Austin Adam — could even be playing for their jobs.
“We’ve got 11 guys here that we’ll know can play,” Ferner said. “It’s just a matter of making sure we’re putting the kids in the right situation and giving them the best opportunity.”
Murray’s situation also complicates matters. Murray’s fate is tied to the NHL labor situation. He’ll remain with the Tips as long as the NHL and the players union are unable to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement. However, when/if that’s settled, Murray is presumed gone to the NHL. Therefore, the length of Murray’s stay with Everett is unknown, making the Tips ponder whether to keep a spare defenseman around for when/if Murray departs.
“That’s something we’ve talked about, if we’re going to sit here with eight or nine to start,” Ferner said. “I’m not quite sure. But I certainly hope this weekend it will sort itself out.”
Slap shots
Murray will not play this weekend. Ferner said the combination of Murray still settling in, along with the need for the other defensemen to get playing time, will keep Murray in the stands. Center Kohl Bauml, however, will return to the lineup. Bauml, who has missed the entire preseason while recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, was given the green light to return to action. Winger Ryan Harrison took the next step toward his return as he’s resumed skating in practices. Harrison has also missed the preseason, dealing with a case of mononucleosis. He’s now participating in practices while wearing a no-contact jersey, and the Tips are hopeful he will recover in time to return once his holdover four-game suspension is served.
Check out Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog, and follow him on Twitter at NickHPatterson.
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