I think Piercy is an excellent OA RW, but has never looked good at LW with the colts or firebirds. If LW is the position of need, keep Panwar and trade Piercy for a very good return imo.
As much as I hate to see Coulson Pitre on the 3rd line I think Kristina Hazzard’s lineup much better. I like Panwar. He was a steal for a 4th round pick. He does a lot well. Piercey is just too valuable to this team though. There was a point last year where he was scoring like crazy and had like a 16 game point streak going. Then it immediately and drastically slowed down. I have to believe it was injury related. Even with the diminished production, he was a leader on this team. Is much more punishing on defenders. Might not be much more fighting in this league but who’s left this year that wants any of him? He absolutely lit the crowd on fire with a couple scraps last year and I seriously believe one playoff victory was all on him changing the momentum of a game with a scrap.
Piercey was and will be very good for the firebirds at RW. He is just not anywhere near as good as Panwar playing LW imo. The difference seems so great that Piercey probably offers more value in a trade if he isn’t going to play RW for the firebirds.
If Brochu returns to the Knights (no pro contract) I wouldn’t be shocked to see London pedal him early? Very unusual year coming for the Knights. Normally they retool from year to year this one is a bit more of a complete rebuild as they are so young and starless in the forward ranks. Also Brochu as long as he is healthy will draw a huge return even before the deadline. It’s not just picks London will be looking for so getting a body or two in house early could be the added bonus.
So, I kind of turn to the DiPietro deal as a gauge for recent superstar goalie deals. I would consider them pretty close as far as talent level with Brochu having somewhat less actual value as an OA. When stripped down to what it actually was, it was basically DiPietro and a 4th for Afanseyev and 3 2nd round picks. I haven’t really evaluated the entire market for OA goalies and teams looking to make a run where an OA netminder makes sense but I would expect Brochu to be a bit cheaper. How much? Maybe we will see. Edit: I should add, London would likely have to take Cranley in return. Being a St.Louis signed netminder Flint isn’t going to want to burn that bridge with the Blues by releasing him with no where to play. Hey, maybe he pulls it together and there’s no need for Brochu or he’s playing well enough to offset the cost a bit? I just think now Flint is in the position of needing to ensure he has a landing spot and if he’s only playing to back-up goalie level as an OA that’s could be an issue.
Petes have two open OA spots. NB might be without their OA D for an extended period.
He wasn’t to good in our first exhibition this seadon, but knowone was. He is at the St. Louis Blues training camp right now. Should be back very soon.
