Confirmed with Link: Dickinson signs ELC 3x $975k, AAV $1.758M

[TheBigDrunkPanda]

He should definitely go back to London, they have one of the best development staff in the entire CHL

Yeah who would’ve ever thought Dale Hunter would be that guy given his rep as a player. Similar to Don Hay when he was with giants and had lucic and Kane

 

[Hodge]

He should get his 9 NHL games if only to have a clear indication of what he needs to work on.

 

[gaucholoco3]

He should get his 9 NHL games if only to have a clear indication of what he needs to work on.

I agree. Maybe they can have some phantom injuries and give Dickinson, Musty, Halttunen, and Chernyshov all 9 games to start the season. Why not have fun to start the season?

 

[coooldude]

Most likely he gets some preseason games and sent down to junior. It's rarer and rarer for 18YO's to play in the NHL, and especially on D. He's way too raw, don't want to blow his confidence. I don't see any need for him to get any games with the big club this year.

As many have said -- London is a great place for him to develop. If Bonk is gone, he's the #1D in a great structured system and he'll get to succeed and fail with less consequence. He has definitely not outgrown juniors.

 

[CanadienShark]

EL..S?

Entry level... Signing? Not sure lol.

 

[TheBeard]

He should get his 9 NHL games if only to have a clear indication of what he needs to work on.

He’ll get his 9 games at the end of season.

 

[Juxtaposer]

He’ll get his 9 games at the end of season.

No he won’t, he’ll be in the OHL playoffs long after the Sharks are done with their season.

 

[slocal]

Woohoo! I have a feeling he's going to be a fan favorite. Bring back the holiday videos!!!

 

[Hodge]

I agree. Maybe they can have some phantom injuries and give Dickinson, Musty, Halttunen, and Chernyshov all 9 games to start the season. Why not have fun to start the season?

Idk about Chernyshov and Halttunen but this would be a fun lineup for 9 games:

Eklund-Celebrini-Toffoli
Granlund-Smith-Zetterlund
Musty-Wennberg-Kunin
Goodrow-Sturm-Dellandrea

Ferraro-Emberson
Walman-Rutta
Dickinson-Benning

 

[TheBeard]

No he won’t, he’ll be in the OHL playoffs long after the Sharks are done with their season.

Then I personally wouldn't bother with the 9 games. Too many other moving pieces on that defense to start and too many young forwards up front to get acclimated.

 

[gaucholoco3]

Idk about Chernyshov and Halttunen but this would be a fun lineup for 9 games:

Eklund-Celebrini-Toffoli
Granlund-Smith-Zetterlund
Musty-Wennberg-Kunin
Goodrow-Sturm-Dellandrea

Ferraro-Emberson
Walman-Rutta
Dickinson-Benning

Yeah I do like the idea of Musty and Smith building on their chemistry. I do think if must puts the work in he has a chance to stick past 9 games. Then if Couture is healthy they could run:

Eklund - Celebrini - Toffoli
Couture - Wennberg - Zetterlund
Musty - Smith - Granlund
Goodrow - Sturm - Kunin

That 3rd line would be so fun to watch in the offensive zone. Hopefully they don’t have to play much defense though.

 

[Mattb124]

Most likely he gets some preseason games and sent down to junior. It's rarer and rarer for 18YO's to play in the NHL, and especially on D. He's way too raw, don't want to blow his confidence. I don't see any need for him to get any games with the big club this year.

As many have said -- London is a great place for him to develop. If Bonk is gone, he's the #1D in a great structured system and he'll get to succeed and fail with less consequence. He has definitely not outgrown juniors.

I agree, he has too good an opportunity to learn and really hone his development under a great staff in London. And while it was just one game, he was plain bad in the prospect game - poor decisions and weak plays.

 

[Juxtaposer]

Then I personally wouldn't bother with the 9 games. Too many other moving pieces on that defense to start and too many young forwards up front to get acclimated.

Right, I’m not advocating handing games to him unearned. Just saying there’s a non-zero chance he earns a look in camp. I don’t think it’s likely at all though.

 

[Mattb124]

Yeah I do like the idea of Musty and Smith building on their chemistry. I do think if must puts the work in he has a chance to stick past 9 games. Then if Couture is healthy they could run:

Eklund - Celebrini - Toffoli
Couture - Wennberg - Zetterlund
Musty - Smith - Granlund
Goodrow - Sturm - Kunin

That 3rd line would be so fun to watch in the offensive zone. Hopefully they don’t have to play much defense though.g

IMO starting Celebrini as the 1C on s crap team would be a great way to potentially damage his development. He would benefit from extended time against lesser competition.

 

[Sharkz4Fun]

Yeah I do like the idea of Musty and Smith building on their chemistry. I do think if must puts the work in he has a chance to stick past 9 games. Then if Couture is healthy they could run:

Eklund - Celebrini - Toffoli
Couture - Wennberg - Zetterlund
Musty - Smith - Granlund
Goodrow - Sturm - Kunin

That 3rd line would be so fun to watch in the offensive zone. Hopefully they don’t have to play much defense though.

This is like the worst possible lineup you could create with the current forwards lol. It's July 10th anyways.

 

[Munnyro]

I wonder what they'll do with Granlund at EoY/TDL.

 

[STL Shark]

I agree. Maybe they can have some phantom injuries and give Dickinson, Musty, Halttunen, and Chernyshov all 9 games to start the season. Why not have fun to start the season?

Be a great way to promise another 0-11-1 start to the season as well.

 

[STL Shark]

IMO starting Celebrini as the 1C on s crap team would be a great way to potentially damage his development. He would benefit from extended time against lesser competition.

Playing with the best linemates does not mean that you have to keep him there every shift in every situation every night and play him 20 mins a night like we did with Granlund and Hertl last year.

It's not like he puts on a disguise that makes other teams not know he's there if he plays with crappy linemates as opposed to good ones. It just makes his job that much harder to carry lesser players against still tough competition because he's the #1 overall pick.

Play him with Eklund and Toffoli, but don't run that line into the ground. That's the whole purpose of why we've gone out and beefed up the bottom 6 and added center depth so that Warsofsky and company can roll lines a lot more instead of having Labanc, Givani, Hoffman, Bailey, Zadina, etc. forcing our top 2 lines into playing way too many minutes.

A Wennberg led 3rd line and Sturm/Goodrow led 4th line can eat up a lot of tough defensive starts and PK duties and play 12-15 mins a night each. That leaves Macklin and Smith lines to play a lot more in the offensive end and PP while not extending much beyond 15-17 mins a night. It also allows them to play with skilled players and have a chance at succeeding in those minutes.

 

[Mattb124]

Playing with the best linemates does not mean that you have to keep him there every shift in every situation every night and play him 20 mins a night like we did with Granlund and Hertl last year.

It's not like he puts on a disguise that makes other teams not know he's there if he plays with crappy linemates as opposed to good ones. It just makes his job that much harder to carry lesser players against still tough competition because he's the #1 overall pick.

Play him with Eklund and Toffoli, but don't run that line into the ground. That's the whole purpose of why we've gone out and beefed up the bottom 6 and added center depth so that Warsofsky and company can roll lines a lot more instead of having Labanc, Givani, Hoffman, Bailey, Zadina, etc. forcing our top 2 lines into playing way too many minutes.

A Wennberg led 3rd line and Sturm/Goodrow led 4th line can eat up a lot of tough defensive starts and PK duties and play 12-15 mins a night each. That leaves Macklin and Smith lines to play a lot more in the offensive end and PP while not extending much beyond 15-17 mins a night. It also allows them to play with skilled players and have a chance at succeeding in those minutes.

A strategy of switching lines during the game to load balance or to load up a line with your best offensive players and then limit their time on ice is not a good way to build chemistry or optimize on the team’s assets. Last change is a thing considering half the schedule is comprised of road games, so our coach can’t always pick who that line is playing against.

I’d much rather see Granlund back in the 1C role with a loaded line and give Celebrini fewer and softer minutes with consistent linemates to start.

 

[coooldude]

I’d much rather see Granlund back in the 1C role with a loaded line and give Celebrini fewer and softer minutes with consistent linemates to start.

We basically don't have a great 1st line, but we have a very solid 2nd line, and another solid 2nd line (if Celebrini can hang), and a strong 3rd line / weak 3rd 2nd line.

I'll plant my flag - based on everything we know and saw last year and in the offseason from Grier and Warsofsky, Granlund WILL center the first line (which is actually a good second line). It'll probably be the Lund line, but wingers might move up and down.

I think Celebrini is likely to center the second line with Toffoli and whoever cycles in on the left (my bet is on Kostin to start the season but I think it'll be a bit of a revolving door). This will be a decent 2nd line.

The Third line will almost certainly be centered by Wennberg to start, or maybe Smith if he has a great camp with Wennberg and whoever else helping a lot on the defensive responsibilities. This will be a good third line and a weak 2nd line.

The fourth line will be a pretty good fourth line, no matter which players are rotating in or out.

All told, we will probably roll a lot more at evens (barring injuries) -- I could see 3rd line getting 15 minutes, 2nd line getting 17-18 minutes, 1st line 18-20 minutes, 4th line gets the rest (10-ish). might be even more balanced than that, actually.

That's my prediction and my preference.

 

[dmcccdmn]

I feel like a player at Dickinson's current development level would really benefit from going back to juniors. I think defensemen that need to develop more poise with the puck and offensive awareness from the back end need more reps and confident reps. If you rush these types of players, they'll turn into guys (not gonna single anyone out) that get into a good position on the ice but absolutely don't know what to do with the puck once they get there. We saw this a few times with Dickinson at the prospect scrimmage; he's such a good skater that he "outskates" his hands and brain and just malfunctions and gives the puck up.

Get the dude some good coaching and he has all the physical tools to be very good. Stunt his growth offensively and he'll look like Vlasic on offense. I really hope he figures it out offensively and gets really mean on defense, I can see him being Pronger-esque.

Sounds like there's a strong possibility that he might not pan out if his decision-making is suspect. Makes one wish we would have Buium, whose skating, brain, and hands are firing off at a high level already. I thought Dickinson had a higher floor than Buium, but it doesn't look to be the case if his processing skills and hands coordination isn't up to par.

 

[Juxtaposer]

Sounds like there's a strong possibility that he might not pan out if his decision-making is suspect. Makes one wish we would have Buium, whose skating, brain, and hands are firing off at a high level already. I thought Dickinson had a higher floor than Buium, but it doesn't look to be the case if his processing skills and hands coordination isn't up to par.

Dickinson’s hockey IQ is average, not bad. You need high-end hockey IQ to be an elite defenseman but you don’t need it to be a good one and plenty of true #1D had just “above-average” hockey IQ.

I don’t think Dickinson’s hockey IQ is any worse than Brent Burns, and Dickinson has elite tools.

Buium’s skating is average and hands on a defenseman aren’t make-or-break tools.

 

[coooldude]

Dickinson’s hockey IQ is average, not bad. You need high-end hockey IQ to be an elite defenseman but you don’t need it to be a good one and plenty of true #1D had just “above-average” hockey IQ.

I don’t think Dickinson’s hockey IQ is any worse than Brent Burns, and Dickinson has elite tools.

Buium’s skating is average and hands on a defenseman aren’t make-or-break tools.

Exactly, and we're still talking about 18yo's in a position in hockey that requires a lot more development than playing wing.

I had Buium over Dickinson on my list, like a lot of people, and I was hoping we picked him, but I'm not going to pretend that I know for a fact that Buium is going to be a superstar and Dickinson isn't. We have no clue what's going to happen with these kids. They could both bust, they could both hit their ceilings, and everything in between.

 

[STL Shark]

A strategy of switching lines during the game to load balance or to load up a line with your best offensive players and then limit their time on ice is not a good way to build chemistry or optimize on the team’s assets. Last change is a thing considering half the schedule is comprised of road games, so our coach can’t always pick who that line is playing against.

I’d much rather see Granlund back in the 1C role with a loaded line and give Celebrini fewer and softer minutes with consistent linemates to start.

You're not switching the lines all night. You just don't have to deploy that line for 20 mins a night because you have actual NHL players in the bottom 6 and have up to 8 NHL centers in the lineup at a given time if a young guy is having an off night or it's a late game defensive zone draw and you need/want a more experienced line out there for a key situation.

There is not enough offensive talent to where playing Celebrini/Smith with less skilled players is going to do more for their development than playing them with guys that can actually contribute offense. Why the heck would you sign Toffoli if you're not going to play Celebrini or Smith with him?

Teams are going to put their best players against Celebrini because he's going to likely be one of our 2 best forwards this year. Doesn't matter who he's playing with, so you are WAY better off giving him the best chance possible at succeeding rather than pretending that by putting him with Kostin and Kunin that's somehow better for his development because you're assigning a "3rd line" designation to it.

 

[gaucholoco3]

We basically don't have a great 1st line, but we have a very solid 2nd line, and another solid 2nd line (if Celebrini can hang), and a strong 3rd line / weak 3rd 2nd line.

I'll plant my flag - based on everything we know and saw last year and in the offseason from Grier and Warsofsky, Granlund WILL center the first line (which is actually a good second line). It'll probably be the Lund line, but wingers might move up and down.

I think Celebrini is likely to center the second line with Toffoli and whoever cycles in on the left (my bet is on Kostin to start the season but I think it'll be a bit of a revolving door). This will be a decent 2nd line.

The Third line will almost certainly be centered by Wennberg to start, or maybe Smith if he has a great camp with Wennberg and whoever else helping a lot on the defensive responsibilities. This will be a good third line and a weak 2nd line.

The fourth line will be a pretty good fourth line, no matter which players are rotating in or out.

All told, we will probably roll a lot more at evens (barring injuries) -- I could see 3rd line getting 15 minutes, 2nd line getting 17-18 minutes, 1st line 18-20 minutes, 4th line gets the rest (10-ish). might be even more balanced than that, actually.

That's my prediction and my preference.

Just by calling it the 2nd line and putting Kostin on his wing is not going to prevent Celebrini/Toffoli from being matched up against the opponents best on the road.

I think the clear C’s are Celebrini, Wennberg, and Sturm. The last C will be either Granlund or Smith. I believe Granlund mentioned last year that he struggled with Pit because he is more comfortable at C. I would put Granlund and Smitg on a line together and who you call the C is irrelevant. They take their strong side draws. This would insulate Smith while also letting him play with a skilled player.

I think it will be:

Eklund - Celebrini - Toffoli
Grandlund - Smith - Zetterlund
Couture - Wennberg - Kunin
Goodrow - Sturm - Dellandrea
Grundstrom, Kostin

The bottom 6 is hard to distinguish between the different lines especially with Couture out.

Run the bottom 6 13-15 minutes per night and the top 6 15-17 minutes per night.

The point of this season is not to win. The entire season should be about the long term development of Celebrini, Smith, Eklund, and Muk. If they win more and finish with the 10th pick if is great because those young guys are probably accelerating their development. If they struggle and pick in the top 3 they get to add another core piece to the roster.