JohnC

His reasoning might be very simple: It's what he wants to do at this time. Some students leave school or start school a year later as a gap year. And some students don't. It's simply a personal preference that entails little explanation.

Does ESPN+ show all the games? If they do I will drop Directv"s Ice Center next year and do what you recommend. I get tired of this squeezing the customer BS!

I have Directv's Center Ice package. Whenever I can't watch the game because it is on ESPN+ I feel that I have been cheated. ☠️

Organizations make decisions in their best interest. And players and prospects do the same. It's the nature of business. You simply adjust to things that you can't control.

When you take an overview of your extended list you can see positive signs in almost every category. It's not so much a great leap forward as it is a line of demarcation where the arrow of progress is pointing in the right direction. Not so long ago it seemed that this team was irretrievable stuck in the mud. That's not the case any longer. The team is starting to win and earn points at a respectable pace. For the most part, even when it loses you can see the how much more competitive this team was compared to the recent past. An example of that is the last Florida game compared to the pummeling of the first Florida game.

Power stayed another year in college when he could have gone directly to the pros after being the first pick in the draft. The extra year benefitted his development, not hurt him. I'm just amazed at the responses of fans after a player/individual makes a personal decision on what is the best course of action for his own career and life. It's his decision, and his alone to make. I'm sure he talked to people in his circle who he trusts (family, friends, advisors etc.) before making such an important decision.

Why is this a strange decision? He's a bright individual who enjoys the college atmosphere. No doubt hockey is an important part of his life. At Northeastern he will be getting a lot of playing time against the top college players. Although playing at the college level is not the same as playing in the pros (AHL or NHL) he's disciplined and dedicated to hockey where he can still work on his game. As with Power staying another year in college is not going to set him back in his career. It might even better prepare him for the pro game from both a hockey and maturity standpoint. He made a decision that he felt was in his best interest. Kudos to him.

An interesting discussion can be made of which of our centers would be most suitable for Quinn? My first inclination is Mitts.

In general, I agree with your response. It's very unlikely that this roster is going to be overhauled because as Okposo described how the roster is being developed: it is being done organically i.e. mostly by in-house player development. As you stated there still needs to be a couple to few key outside additions. The overhanging issue for me is how the GM addresses the goalie position next year and after. Will he expend resources for a major upgrade or will he continue on settling for a lower caliber option? Most top tier teams have that position secured; we currently do not.

Florida, Tampa, Carolina, Rangers, Boston, Toronto, Pittsburgh and Islanders are teams in the Eastern Division that are better than us right now and for the immediate future. As you point out this franchise still has a way to go to get to that higher echelon and pass some of these teams. Without good goaltending this team will be at best stuck competing for a lower playoff spot.

If Asplund is put on the Okposo and Girgs line, I see Girgs moving into the center position. I just see Asplund in a better light and a more useful role than you do.

The big issue for me is getting the goalie position fortified. Anderson is 40 yrs old and Toker is inadequate as a regular. Is UPL ready to assume a primary role in net? I'm not ready to say so.

I don't see Asplund as an expendable asset as you do. I think although he isn't much of a scorer he does drive a line. His style of play reminds me of Girgs. Not much of a finisher but plays a hard game that is an important ingredient for a successful team. There are players where their production stats don't reflect their value to a team. In my estimation he falls in that category.

I start slow and then up the ante. As like you I have high expectations for him. An interesting issue is what is the makeup of the line he will be on? I think Mitts would be a good center for him to play with.

I expect him to be a second line forward. I would be disappointed if he doesn't score at least 20 goals next year. I also expect him to be on one of the PP units.

The shock is gone. There is now a high expectation.

Next year Eakon probably won't be on the team. A line composed with Okposo/Gergs/Asplund would make for a good fourth line that can also provide some scoring production.

Everyone has their own personality traits. For a person in his line of work his tolerance for disputation was low. However, I don't consider him to be a mediocre writer. Deadline writers have challenges in putting together columns in the allotted time. When dealing in a forum where there is a lot of subjectivity, it shouldn't be surprising that there are many conflicting views and personality conflicts.

Don't feel bad. I, like you, misjudged him. Mitts more than any player on this roster has surprised me with his style of play. What has surprised more than anything about his play is not his offensive talents as it is his grinding and hard style of play. I would never have expected him to be one of our best, if not best, wall players on this team. This is an unexpected pleasant surprise for a player who is now one of our building block players.

I agree with you and others who say that he was not too receptive to criticisms. So he made a choice to leave this forum. But I still contend that there was a minority faction that was somewhat hostile to some of his comments. He just didn't feel the need to deal with it. That's his prerogative.

I agree with you that John W can be combative. He's certainly not a shrinking violet. He just made a decision for himself that he doesn't want to engage here. Everyone has different tolerance levels. His is lower than most in the business.

I don't have it backwards! There were a few people here who would challenge his credibility and his sources. The one thing a reporter is not going to do is publicly state his sources who expected anonymity after talking to him. Hamilton has often commented on why he often unfollows people on twitter. He pointed out more often than not it is the manner in which one responds more than what is actually said. I'm not being critical of the group in general. It's just that in every group there is a minority faction that doesn't know how to respond without being antagonistic. Some people in the media business just don't want to put up with that BS. I don't blame them.

I agree with you that it was the few jerks that contaminated the discourse. John W is not a passive fellow. He was capable of punching back. It appears that he didn't want to get in the ring anymore. He had better things to do with his limited time like pursuing the exotic beer.

He hasn't been involved in quite a while. My impression is that he got tired of engaging with the snipers who were more interested in battle than in exchanging thoughts and responsibly challenging viewpoints. He had some interesting insights due to his proximity that added to this forum. However, some posters were more interested in being combative.

I agree with you that Okposo should be wearing the C letter. But he is such a sterling person that whether he is wearing a letter or not he is a well respected leader who is going to be listened to.