I think he has a strong chance but probably needs a year in the AHL and with pro conditioning/training. Skill wise he looked great vs the best NCAA forwards in the championship tournament but he still needs 10-15 pounds of muscle to translate to NHL.
He is a true two-way defender and can easily challenge Caleb Jones next year for 3LD if they don't resign JJ or someone else
I think he has a strong chance but probably needs a year in the AHL and with pro conditioning/training. Skill wise he looked great vs the best NCAA forwards in the championship tournament but he still needs 10-15 pounds of muscle to translate to NHL.
He is a true two-way defender and can easily challenge Caleb Jones next year for 3LD if they don't resign JJ or someone else
Imo JJ is done, and I'd rather see him than Jones. Besides, having won 2 national championships already I think they'd have some confidence in him
Imo JJ is done, and I'd rather see him than Jones. Besides, having won 2 national championships already I think they'd have some confidence in him
100%; assuming we can't re-sign Walker, not sure if they will trust a 3rd pair of Behrens-Malinski (I personally think they would mesh really well) so be interesting to see what moves they might make, if any.
100%; assuming we can't re-sign Walker, not sure if they will trust a 3rd pair of Behrens-Malinski (I personally think they would mesh really well) so be interesting to see what moves they might make, if any.
I don't think Walker returns for less than $3M (at least), and already that's a stretch. I personally would prefer D lines of Girard-Behrens and Manson-Malinski, but I would try the two rookies together as well.