Chicago Wolves - built to win or develop?

[Southern_Canuck]

The Chicago Wolves have a reputation of icing an AHL-veteran laden squad, and focusing on wins rather than developing NHL players... with MacTavish in as a Vancouver hired coach, you'd think the Canucks would get a lot of input into their lineup.

So, how has the lineup looked in the first couple of games (0-1-1)?
(Canuck prospects in bold, other Canuck contracts underlined)

Bill Sweatt (22) - Jordan Schroeder (21) - Mark Mancari (26)
Darren Haydar (31) - Michael Davies (24) – Darren Archibald (21)
Mike Duco (24) – Kevin Doell (32) – Victor Oreskovich (25)
Tim Miller (24) – Antoine Roussel (21) – Matt Clackson (26)

Sebastian Erixon (22) – Kevin Connauton (21)
Adam Polasek (20) – Mark Matheson (27)
Yann Sauve (21) – Dustin Friesen (28)

G
Eddie Lack (23)
Matt Climie (28)

Pressbox
F
C - Nathan Longpre (23)
F - Dean Strong (26)
RW - Anton Rodin (20)
C - Stefan Schneider (21)
C - Prab Rai (21)
LW - Steven Anthony (20)
D - Taylor Ellington (22)
D - Ryan Parent (24)
D - J. P. Testwuide (26)

On defence, the Canucks have to be happy that Chicago is going mostly with young Canucks prospects, however at forward only 3 prospects are cracking the 12 skaters so far. You'd think that Rodin and Anthony could at least beat out Tim Miller or Michael Davies...

So, you're not going to take away a spot from veterans Haydar, Doell, or Mancari - and Duco, Clackson, and Roussel have the agitator/fighting roles. That leaves Oreskovich, Tim Miller, and Michael Davies - Oreskovich is a big hitting winger that I could see MacTavish liking - but what about Miller and Davies?

From what I can see, Miller is a mediocre scoring winger that was undrafted from the University of Michigan, and similarly Davies was a center signed out of the University of Wisconsin after fairly mediocre scoring seasons other than his senior year where he put up 52 points in 41 games. Neither has lit up the AHL in their few pro games so far...

So, how about it Craig - will we see Rodin and Anthony in the Wolves home opener on Friday night?

Here are the non-prospects and their AHL experience:

Darren Haydar (31) GP 639 P 674
Mark Mancari (26) GP 418 P 361
Kevin Doell (32) GP 358 P 168 (Europe GP 95 P 87)
Mark Matheson (27) GP 260 P 85
Matt Clackson (26) GP 204 P 19 (PIM 574)
Mike Duco (24) GP 194 P 78 (PIM 384)
Ryan Parent (24) GP 113 P 12
J.P. Testwuide (26) GP 108 P 13
Victor Oreskovich (25) GP 74 P 27
Tim Miller (24) GP 55 P 23
Michael Davies (24) GP 49 P 20
Antoine Roussel (21) GP 42 P 8
Dustin Friesen (28) GP 28 P 5
Dean Strong (26) GP 16 P 5 (Europe GP 25 P 23)
Nathan Longpre (23) GP 8 P 1

S_C

[Southern_Canuck]

So, how about it Craig - will we see Rodin and Anthony in the Wolves home opener on Friday night?

Posting this here as well...

Steven Anthony and Taylor Ellington are sent to the ECHL Kalamazoo Wings from the Chicago Wolves...

Vancouver sends two to Kalamazoo

excerpt:
The Kalamazoo Wings, proud member of the ECHL, two-time defending North Division Champions, reigning Eastern Conference Champions and National Hockey League affiliate to the Vancouver Canucks and New Jersey Devils and American Hockey League’s Albany Devils, announce the Canucks have reassigned forward Steven Anthony and defenseman Taylor Ellington to the K-Wings.


...So Anthony definitely won't be in the Chicago lineup, not sure about Rodin.

S_C

[dbr]

I'm not sure the two are mutually exclusive.

If we were talking about the Wolves going out and signing Jason Krog to play over Jordan Schroeder then I think it would be a case of undermining the development of players.. but the only player you listed as "in the Pressbox" who I ever thought had a decent shot to play in the NHL is Rodin, and injuries have seriously derailed his career to this point.

Anyway, players can still develop without being regulars in a league with an 80 game season.. it's possible for a player to frequently get scratched and still play a comparable amount of games to what they might have seen in the NCAA or SEL, except with the Wolves they have the advantages of practicing under a former NHL coach and with professionals who are a big step ahead of any amateur-level leagues.

Of course, you're not suggesting that these players are better served in the NCAA or SEL than they are on the Wolves, you're suggesting they might be better off on a different AHL team (or the same AHL team with a different management philosophy). Which might well be true.. but at the same time are our prospects as a whole helped by playing a team full of kids - many of whom have no NHL future - and struggling badly any more than they are helped by playing on what should be a highly competitive team?

I don't know the answer.. just trying to present the other side of the debate.

[dbr]

Out of curiosity, I thought I'd compare this. Here is a list of skaters over 24 years of age not under contract to the Canucks on the Wolves roster:

Matt Clackson
Mark Matheson
Dustin Friesen
Michael Davies
Tim Miller
Darren Haydar
Kevin Doell
J.P. Testuide
Dean Strong

Here's a list of similar players appearing in more than 20 games for the Moose last year:

Marco Rosa 51
Travis Ramsey 57
Garth Murray 55
Mark Flood 63
Tommy Maxwell 39
Josh Aspenlind 22
Shawn Weller 67

Also fitting the criteria but playing fewer than 20 games were Ryan Cruthers, Jason Jaffray, Andy Brandt, Dusty Collins, Geoff Waugh, Kyle Bushee, Francis Lemieux and Jason Pitton.

So obviously we don't know how much these Wolves will play but assuming we get more or less a full season from about a third of them, and more or less a half season from the rest.. will things really be all that different from last year?

[Southern_Canuck]

It's hard to tell how it's going to be this season, but they did insert Rodin into the lineup Friday night in place of Tim Miller. Rodin, in particular, needs the North American hockey experience, and I'm not sure practice and pressbox will help him as much as being in the lineup.

Later in the season when Baumgartner, Ebbett, and Sulzer are in Chicago, there will be even more veterans to beat out.

S_C

[Fred]

I suspect this season in Chicago is more about re-establishing McT as a coach

[Fred]

What's with Tanev and Parent both only 1 game each so far. Are they injured ?

[Southern_Canuck]

What's with Tanev and Parent both only 1 game each so far. Are they injured ?

Tanev has had a "lower body injury" (which was suspected to be a fractured foot from a shot block), and Parent has had a back injury.

S_C