Edited May 30, 2022 at 1:44 a.m.
Quoting: Jacketsman61
See this is where I disagree. Jarmo is going to try and increase the value of Foudy and Bemstrom. The last thing Jarmo needs is to lose either of these guys to a waiver claim and them to become huge stars elsewhere. The only reason Chinny started this season and stuck with the Jackets all season was because of lack of depth. That clearly will not be the issue next season, assuming no big injuries. These guys will get a chance in training camp/preseason to claim a spot but if they are tied Jarmo is going to send down the waiver exempt players. From Jarmo’s perspective, he has to consider the development of the younger guys and balance that with put the team in the best position to win. The draft next year could be a game changer. If Jarmo feels this team would have a better future if he allows players like Bemstrom and Foudy to play at the NHL level to increase trade value while having younger guys like Johnson, Chinny, and Marchenko down in the AHL to get as much ice time as possible, then he should do it. Jarmo doesn’t like to lose but if he feels this team is not ready to compete for the cup. He has to do the right thing for the future. It isn’t tanking, it is put this team in the best position for the future.
I'd understand the ice time factor but what you spoke about with the purpose of depth and development over these past few years, Foudy and Bemstrom have had chances to move into those depth roles or excel out of them, and they haven't, Bemstrom especially. Part of that was because Bemstrom wasn't used at his strongest point, a powerplay specialist. Instead under Torts, he was turned into a checking forward. But, he also didn't adapt over here to smaller ice that well when he did have offensive chances. They did try him at one timer set up on the powerplay, and he rarely scored, mostly missing, even more than Laine does. And for Foudy, lack of center has been a problem for years. And it seems he's now even playing a split time of center and wing, they've had a gap at center for a while now, if they wanted to get him development time in the NHL, he could've had the spot. Especially after this year, when all 4 centers would have very close amounts of ice time to each other, sometimes Kuraly even having the most. It seemed there wasn't even a ranking to the centers, all 4 main ones had somewhere in between 30-45 points. These past few years seemed to be a time for people to get a chance, especially Torts' final year, which Foudy played 24/56 games, there were sometimes up to 50+ line combinations per game. And with how many injuries/covid abscences there have been over the past 2 years, both guys have had chances to play more. Both averaged somewhere between 12-13 minutes last year, but barely produced. Bemstrom scored 3 times, but it was all in 1 game. I feel like, especially for Foudy, there's not much time left for him to gain value, unless he really improves this summer and is all of a sudden better than who we had last year. But by now, I can't see him fitting into the lineup, as I'd rather have the other guys play, development and production wise. I don't think they're gonna treat next year as another experiment/growth year, unless he just slots in consistently producing out of nowhere, I don't see a need for them to insert him. The Jackets had no issue scoring last year, it was just defensively. So an offensive substitution is not that big of a need anyway, rather just keep who we had last year, or use guys that can improve. Don't see Foudy or Bemstrom being improvements to last years offense.
However, I am not sold on Marchenko until he does actually play time over here. He could just have another year like Chinakhov, but a decent bit of Jackets fans seem to think he can already slot in and stay a 2nd-3rd line forward for the year. Can't be certain of that until he actually plays. They tried that with China, but he was involved in about 4 disallowed goals, 2 of which he scored that came back. I don't really know how to judge AHL assignment, cause that isn't a sure fire thing for everyone either. Not everyone that does well in the AHL is gonna translate that in the future years when they are called up. Never know that until they actually play in the NHL, and by now, Foudy has had 37 NHL games with only 7 points, Bemstrom 122 and 36 points. If there are younger guys there that can already put up the same play, numbers, or play even better, you use them, not just Cleveland them. Hell, Angle was over a ppg in 20-21, then dropped to 37 in 71 last year. And if we are talking production wise, Bemstrom seems to be more of a keeper than Foudy, especially if Foudy moves away from center. Cause even with Foudy's PK ability, Erob Kuraly Danforth did an excellent job already killing penalties, Nyquist as well. But notice how none of those guys are defenseman, the bigger issue.
Sometimes guys do need a change, and Milano was a case of talent not used well under a certain coach. But Foudy was also a major reach, almost nobody had him in the 1st round, and if that it was a later position, some had him as low as late 3rd. But at least we didn't pick Jay O'Brien either, who's yet to play any games, but at least he's doing well in college
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