Player Discussion Josh Norris C 6’1” - Part 2

[Hale The Villain]

What the heck is going on with our young centers and shoulder issues. Pinto, Norris and Greig all missing time for it over the last season or so.

 

[Tuna99]

Happy to have Ridley Greig and Formenton as possible replacements - forward depth hasn’t been this good maybe ever and losing Norris is such terrible news, but he’ll be back for the playoffs and ready for action

 

[Silky Johnson]

Not their skill sets, but the fact both were given bad contracts, that they do not deserve

Let me remind you, Norris contract is twice the amount of what White's was

Considering he is 4 times the player it seems appropriate.

It's not like a bridge would have saved much either. He scored 35 goals in the NHL, that gets you paid, short or long term.

Scored 35 while pacing mid 40's. Even better.

 

[aragorn]

Still in shock we actually gave him a 8mill dollar contract. Talk about about jumping the gun there

We learnt nothing from Colin White's contract lol

Norris was out best faceoff guy before his injury. We will miss that.

As I mentioned earlier, the cap casualty on this team will be DeBrincat. I think that the 9M+ that will be needed to sign him will be used to sign Pinto, Zub and eventually Sanderson. Not to mention we don't have a second goalie next year. Unless they think Soogard or Mando are ready for the NHL.

DeBrincat is an RFA and with the right trade he could be exchanged for a top 4dman

Agree

Not their skill sets, but the fact both were given bad contracts, that they do not deserve

Let me remind you, Norris contract is twice the amount of what White's was

That's because Norris is twice the player Colin White ever was. He is Ottawa's best two way centre, best faceoff guy & best defensive centre who just happened to also put up 35 goals last yr to lead the team.

 

[Gil Gunderson]

Happy to have Ridley Greig and Formenton as possible replacements - forward depth hasn’t been this good maybe ever and losing Norris is such terrible news, but he’ll be back for the playoffs and ready for action

Not sure how either one is going to replace Norris. They're not going to play centre.

 

[CornerStone61]

Norris got a big contract after one good year.

So did batherson.

So did Chabot.

So did stutzle.

What's your focus on Norris?

Probably looked at that Andy & Rono Twitter post that pegged Norris as a 4m player somehow and refuses to adjust their view

 

[DaveMatthew]

Not sure how either one is going to replace Norris. They're not going to play centre.

You could, theoretically, move Giroux to C. That's what he was for 14 years.

 

[OgieO]

wtf is up with our players and shoulder injuries...

Might want to reassess our strength programming or something.

This really sucks.

 

[SpezDispenser]

We're just so lucky we have Pinto and Brassard if need be to step in. Giroux too.

 

[Tuna99]

Not sure how either one is going to replace Norris. They're not going to play centre.

Ridley Greig is a Center

 

[aragorn]

Brassard is the top six injury replacement forward & Gambrell is the bottom six injury replacement forward, both can play centre or wing. Brassard has been a top six player for most of his NHL career & mostly playing centre in his almost 1,000 game career. He should probably get his 1,000 games now with Ottawa this yr with Norris out for months.

 

[DaveMatthew]

Brassard is the top six injury replacement forward & Gambrell is the bottom six injury replacement forward, both can play centre or wing.

Brassard was meant to be a short-term injury replacement, though. I doubt Dorion wanted him playing 70+ games in the top 6.

 

[Masked]

wtf is up with our players and shoulder injuries...

Might want to reassess our strength programming or something.

Assen na yo!

 

[aragorn]

Brassard was meant to be a short-term injury replacement, though. I doubt Dorion wanted him playing 70+ games in the top 6.

It doesn't matter, what does matter is that it was a smart move to sign Brassard & have him here as a replacement player with all his experience. Injury replacement players have to be prepared to play as long as the player is out, if they see that he can't handle all the games they still have Gambrell, Greig, Giroux & Kastelic in a pinch to fill in occasionally. They are well set depth wise at centre this yr.

 

[DaveMatthew]

It doesn't matter, what does matter is that it was a smart move to sign Brassard & have him here as a replacement player with all his experience. Injury replacement players have to be prepared to play as long as the player is out, if they see that he can't handle all the games they still have Gambrell, Greig, Giroux & Kastelic in a pinch to fill in occasionally. They are well set depth wise at centre this yr.

I'd bet a lot of money that Dorion is looking to upgrade that depth with this news. Will it happen? No guarantee. Externally, he'll say they're happy with their depth. Internally, it's probably a priority to bring someone in now. May not be a big name like Toews. But could be someone like Travis Boyd.

 

[LatteLarrys]

Assen na yo!

hip draaaaaahve

 

[God Says No]

Ridley Greig is a Center

In the minors. I don't see him sticking at C in the bigs.

 

[Larionov]

It's not like a bridge would have saved much either. He scored 35 goals in the NHL, that gets you paid, short or long term.

100 percent. All the bridge would have done was escorted him to UFA status, where he likely gets even more under an increased cap.

 

[Tuna99]

In the minors. I don't see him sticking at C in the bigs.

He’s doing it in the A so he’s pretty close. Sliding him into the 3C and moving Pinto to 2C could be an easy solve for the coach

 

[aragorn]

We really need to look to upgrade Hamonic, at some point this season

Why? He's a UFA veteran who is exactly the kind of player Sanderson's father asked PD to play him with. When that guy hit Sanderson high it was Hamonic who went after him, I doubt Brannstrom would have. If Hamonic is not re-signed I assume one of the two in Bellevile likely replaces him & would guess that would be JBD who is better defensively.

I think Hamonic has been fine, but if they're looking to make major noise in the playoffs, I could still see an upgrade to push him down to 3rd pairing come in.

We should be careful what we wish for, IMO if Hamonic gets pushed down a pairing he could end up replacing Brannstrom if they decide to have a shutdown tandem on the 3rd pairing rather than a defensive defenceman & a PMD.

I'd bet a lot of money that Dorion is looking to upgrade that depth with this news. Will it happen? No guarantee. Externally, he'll say they're happy with their depth. Internally, it's probably a priority to bring someone in now. May not be a big name like Toews. But could be someone like Travis Boyd.

I'll take that bet, I would play Brassard over Boyd any day, he just has more chemistry with Giroux & DeBrincat than people realize, he fits that line well & he fits that line better than Stutzle did.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

100 percent. All the bridge would have done was escorted him to UFA status, where he likely gets even more under an increased cap.

Absolutely. And a bridge would probably have been around 6-6.5 per anyway so not a lot of savings were available imo.

 

[cudi]

He’s doing it in the A so he’s pretty close. Sliding him into the 3C and moving Pinto to 2C could be an easy solve for the coach

he's played 1 game this year. So lets see how he looks first.

 

[DaveMatthew]

I'll take that bet, I would play Brassard over Boyd any day, he just has more chemistry with Giroux & DeBrincat than people realize, he fits that line well & he fits that line better than Stutzle did.

Maybe, they've played what, 2.5 games together so far including the pre-season? We'll see how Brassard holds up once he's out there against teams like the Leafs, Tampa and Florida. I'm sure he can hold it down for a few weeks. But for an entire season? I'm skeptical.

It's easy to see a scenario where Pinto gets moved up to the 2nd line, and if that happens, Brassard isn't a good fit for the bottom 6 and we'd probably want to upgrade on Gambrell if we want to stay in the playoff race.

We also have 76 games left. Chances are, we'll lose another C at some point, so the team has to plan with that in mind. If we're ever in a situation where 3/4 of our centers are Brassard, Kastelic and Gambrell, even for a short stretch, that's not great.

 

[Tuna99]

he's played 1 game this year. So lets see how he looks first.

Good depth options - Formenton as well is just sitting there and he’d look great on this team.

 

[jake1]

I haven't seen him lately, can Toews still play?