Liked Mews, hopefully Paps had some conditions built into Mews returning next year. #41 looked like a deer in headlights, and Roberts not worth the draft capital we gave up at this point. What's with Paps over paying Branford for a rugged dman like last years van fleet deal, wouldn't Protz look good on our blue line now?
Mews is pure skillful and that was evident on his passing skills on the rush. Once the entire line up is in play and this team has a bit of time to gel I believe we can be very hard to beat. Last night the Wolves deserved a better fate. Not sure if all those 3rd period penalties were worthy and really was the difference maker of the game.
Add in Musty, Clayton, Villeneuve and Zillotto and this team doesn't lose last night.
As for Roberts. Tough game for him to slide into after being dealt. New system's and coaches along with new rink to get used to. With this deadline the prices were extremely high and that was evident by the lack of movement yesterday. So really breaking down the deal you really are paying for this year and an OA year since he's already 19. Most 19 year old you would acquire in the offseason of any value are going for multiple 3rd and possibly a 2nd. So premature to say he wasn't worth the draft capital imo.
Brehmer looked decent for his first game and having little time to practice with the club. I really like his size and has decent hands for big man. With a little time I think he can become a really good bottom six player.
Niagara has a really good squad. They use their speed to get after pucks. Not an easy to beat especially when you have Flores stopping at least 40-50 pucks a game his entire career. But when I look at them next year losing Losko, Flores, Van Vliet, He among others to graduation I'm not sure they will be as competitive as they are this season. Of course they have some incredible young talent but will need to pay heavily to replace those top 4.
Yes Protz would look good right now in a Wolves jersey and I'm sure Paps would like to take that deal back. Sometimes you lose out on a deal. You can't predict how things were going to transpire last year but if we would have won a championship we wouldn't be having this conversation.
Let's enjoy the ride this group and hope they remain healthy the rest of the way! My wish is that they get home ice advantage for the playoffs. Some really tough match ups coming up and we need to win as many as we can as the ice usually gets smaller and teams get tougher as we get to late stages of the schedule.
Lets go Wolves!!!
WJ
Reviewing Sudbury's draft capital they are not in to bad of shape with this years draft or 2026. They do get back from Kitchener their 2nd and 4th draft picks in 2026 from the Hage deal. They will need to recoup picks for the 2027 and 2028 drafts. Lots of time for that!
