This is interesting.
Today I received word that Everett claimed a pair of overagers off waivers, picking up the rights to former Prince George Cougars Alex Poulter and Colin Scherger. Poulter, a center, and Scherger, a defenseman, will attend training camp in August and compete for roster slots.
This certainly shakes things up a bit.
When the season ended, Tips general manager Doug Soetaert anointed winger Shane Harper, center Zack Dailey and defenseman Shayne Brown as Everett’s prospective overagers for next season. Defenseman Mike Alexander was invited to camp, but with the understanding it was for the purpose of showcasing himself for other teams. Center Jesse Burt was released. Everything seemed cut and dried.
But this changes things completely.
I understand Scherger was brought in as insurance against Brown being unable to recover from the hip-flexor issues that plagued his 2008-09 season. Scherger, who had one goal and nine assists in 65 games for Prince George last season, was sort of the league’s plus/minus freak. It evened out toward the end of the season, but for a while he was a double-digit plus on a team where everyone else who played regularly was a double-digit minus. I’m not sure what this means for Alexander, but it may indicate he’s decided to move on from his WHL career.
Meanwhile, Poulter is coming off a somewhat disappointing season. As an 18-year-old the Colorado native had a promising 16 goals and 21 assists in 72 games. However, he slipped to eight goals and 15 assists in 65 games last season, when he apparently was playing through injury. The Tips believe that a healthy Poulter may be able to get back onto the track he was on two years ago.
This does a lot of things. First off it creates competition, meaning no one can take it easy this offseason believing his roster spot is secure. Secondly, it opens up the possibility of a trade. And thirdly, it gives the Tips options on how to distribute their 20-year-olds. Instead of being locked into two forwards and a defenseman, the Tips could conceivably decide to go with three forwards or one forward and two defenseman.
So given this information, how do you see Everett’s overage situation shaking out next season?
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