I mean, do you really want another Meyenshein? I'd rather not have an import if players of his caliber are going to be the ones to report. I'd would much rather them swing on a decent player and miss than take a guaranteed body that just takes up space on the roster. The import draft has produced a wide array of player caliber for the Otters. It's been hit and miss across the league. There have been some gambles with Dansk, Burakovsky, Cernak, Slafkovsky, Khusnutdinov, Kolosov with half of them reporting. Kolosov likely would have been here if not for Covid. Then there have been some decent players like Cajka who left after their draft chances were stunted by bad coaching. Kulakov is a capable 2nd/3rd pairing D. The point is you really never know what you're going to get. Teams often have to rely on outside scouting or limited viewing with international tournaments.
I totally agree that I would rather them swing on someone than take a guaranteed hit on a depth player at best like Patry. The problems aren’t the swings but the constant strikeouts - especially when they have had higher picks during this rebuild. Having Cajka be around for 2-3 years as opposed to one, having a goalie like Kolosov actually show, and adding someone like Molnar to the roster would have changed the trajectory of some of these teams. Yes COVID hurt but a lot of it is Erie doesn’t handle the import draft well and they haven’t since about forever. Even Burakovsky and Cernak were not a guarantee. Both only showed up thanks to NHL teams putting them here. Sometimes that’s the game you have to play but also sometimes, you just need to recruit better
For real, let’s hope. I watched some highlights and read a few more stories on him today. I just feel he could really develop into a legit guy in this league. Would be huge signing
I read they had illnesses throughout the team so it’s possible he’s sick? Or hurt
Can’t be surprised given the asset spent on Downey. It’s just interesting that Downey seems like the same type of player and somehow we thought we were better off with him. I guess the only positive is his age (2004) compared to Nicholls (2003) and his slightly bigger frame. Let’s hope it works out for them but Downey needs to give more this year if it is ever going to be worth it.
League site says Kulakov suspended indefinitely. Just means they don't look at weekend suspension till Monday or later .For sure...Saturday had to be really demoralizing...then the way it finished didn't set up for a good outcome today. Missing Cohen, Spence, Kulakov is I assume suspended and/or benched, Johnston still out and that's all I can think of at this point, but yeah, Owen Sound punched them in the face where it counted, in the W/L column.
And Othmann got traded
He got a match penalty which comes with an automatic three game suspension pending league review where they can either reverse it or tack on more games. My guess is he gets more games because not only was this unnecessary at the end of a game, he also has suspension history.
