Last week they pairings were changed.
28/25 were split up
28 went with 2
4 with 25
11 and 5 back together.
There are no others now with Smith and Leonard out long term .
Wray was just brought in to add grit, played well , now out long term .
It takes time to rebuild a team .
Besides, who's taking London out of the playoffs this year ?
The Attack should stay the course and get a top 4 franchise player in the draft .
Don't get me wrong I'm 100% on team teardown. My point is more that, the talented young crop of players we have, that are the basis for the rebuild, are either struggling to progress or not getting the opportunity they need.
Here's what the 07's and 08's have done in the last ten games or more points wise:
Delisle: 8 points in 10 (he's been excellent)
Mbuyi: 1 goal, 1 assist in 10 (although Wrey has rewarded him at times with more ice)
Crawford: 1 goal, 1 assist in 10
Nansi: 1 point in the last 10, 5 assists in the last 25(!!) games
Varosyan: 3 points in the last 10, had that three game point streak and then seemingly back to the bottom six
Arnett: 3 points in 10, obviously a different standard for him as an underage D but has also taken his fair share of minuses
Bleicher: 13 games without a point and never seems to move up the lineup
Kindree: 1g, 1a in 10 games
G Smith: 0 points, will always play a more defensive role, but has been a high event player (both good and not so good) the last 10-15 games
Mikus: Still looking for his first OHL point
I would love if Dale had the stones to trade anyone that's either not back next year or not going to be an impact overager, really the only players who are either improving offensively, or playing well for their age are Delisle and Arnett. Everyone else is struggling and down the stretch some of these guys either need to show more, or we should be questioning what the upside is here.
My take is that the group above is far more talented than their production is suggesting and it's an indictment on Wrey's tenure so far that he can get that great level of buy in, but few seem to be getting better. That's two years in a row and two coaching regimes that have struggled to develop players.
I 100% agree that a Top 4 draft pick is badly needed for this group, but in terms of the timeline, if the young guys are struggling like this... does it not make sense to trade George and cash in on what might be the league's most valuable, and tradeable asset? I'd hate to see him moved and I highly doubt we'd see him moved, but George and some of the vets leaving hands the keys to the young guys and they either sink or swim.
