Savoie you can give a bit of a pass on because I mean, he is 3rd in team scoring, the team isn’t all that good offensively, especially on the PP. He is an AHL rookie and Chaulk can’t decide if he is a center or a winger so he is bouncing around a lot. Even with that he has a +4 which is tied for team lead in forwards so looks like he is doing decent.
I have not watched the Knights this year but you also have to look at player roles. O'Reilly's job with the Knights was and I suspect based on comments by @McDNicks17 still is to take on all the tough defensive assignments. I have stated this many times before but role matters. When playing on the top line he will not be a play driver, especially when the line is paired with Dickinson who is very much a focus of the offense in London.
If he's already playing a low scoring defensive role in junior that doesn't bode well for him to be anything more than a 4th liner at the NHL level. They traded a 1st round pick for this guy so this is a pretty disappointing outcome if this is what he is.
He did get a bigger role, but he's nowhere near the go-to guy out there. Sam Dickinson is Cale Makar on steroids at the OHL level. Easton Cowan is a 20 year old 1st rounder on a 51 game point streak. Denver Barkey is one of the best 20 year olds in the OHL. He was often the 4th most talented guy out there(and the 5th is no slouch either as he's probably going to be a 1st rounder this June).
@McDNicks17 's post 207 says a lot. London is not like a typical OHL team. They run more like a pro squad, and when they have the talent that they do this year the role that O'Reilly has is actually very important. Their top line is incredibly good.
Philp retires then decide to unretire after a year and is our best prospect. Good for him, shows a bit the dire situation of the team in the AHL but he is damn fine on his own.
Might we worth a shot especially since he might still have some upside whereas Pickard is what he is at this point
He's pretty aggressive for a smaller goalie. He looked really confident last night.
Agreed. Waive Ryan and Kapanen and give these guys a look. Forward group badly needs a spark and maybe a reminder that you have to earn your ice time.
For smaller goalies, I’ve found they need to basically have unreal numbers in the AHL for them to really make it in the NHL. Like better than an average sized goalie would.
Later. Maybe after Feb 1. Maybe we need the spark but these guys both need a bit more cooking. Philp has some things he is working on on the south side of the puck. And Savoie is learning lessons about consistency and doing the little things it will take at the pro level. Both though are projecting as players.
He has been very slowly coming along. But yeah even if one day he gets there likely will be an average backup. We really need to strengthen our goaltending in Bakersfield so we have a guy that really is on the edge of making it and with some upside.
