I’m still kind of expecting Demers to get signed tomorrow to be the 7th dman. Better to have him sitting in the press box and Niemelainen playing games in Bakersfield, and then have Niemo get the call up when someone gets hurt.
I thought the plan was the better of Broberg/Niemo in camp would be the 6D and Murray would be the 7D.
Unless I've missed something, he's with the team for the moment anyway.
Or it's better to have Neimelainen playing as #6/#7 Dman in NHL
The Flames forward depth is horrible. Toffoli as the top RW. Kadri has Mangipanne and Dube as wingers. I think they make the playoffs but finish 3 or 4 in the Pacific.
Murray is a legit 2nd pairing Dman when healthy.
No, it just means we r cap compliant... A lot can change between now and Wednesday
Maybe, and that is great insurance if true and needed. The Oilers are not paying Murray to be on the second pairing.
No one called him a failure. Broberg just failed to secure a NHL spot himself this camp along with Bourgault, Samaroukov and many others..
Ryan Murray was once one of the highest leverage LHD in the league and put up solid defensive metrics while doing so. Maybe doesn't have the offense you'd want for a former 2nd overall but a strong 2nd pair shutdown guy who can face opposing 1st lines would be considered an above average outcome for Broberg and the absolute best possible outcome for Niemelainen. Don't lump him in with Kris Russell, he's better than all our non-Nurse dmen if he's 100% healthy.
I never said he was a failure....
Theoretically, 3 very good lines if all clicks. 4th line is probably above average in terms of skill too.
How much did Murray play in the playoffs again, and why did Colorado add Josh Manson? Having guys like Niemelainen helps against bigger bodied guys like you've said above, he can also injure smaller skilled players with legal hits. I have time for a guy like that on my team's 3rd pairing all day long.
Every line and defensive pairing should be better and the goaltending is questionable.
IIRC Ryan Murray got himself injured (again) back in March. Google seems to indicate he recovered from the hand injury in the middle of the St Louis series but I'd assume he wasn't even close to 80% let alone 100%. I do agree there's a place for these hit seeking physical dmen in the league but a healthy Ryan Murray is many tiers above the likes of Risto/Gudbranson and those are Niemelainen's best outcomes as a player. Manson isn't the same as these others, he was actually a very strong possession player for many years and even in the last 2 disastrous years in Anaheim he was still actually doing fine shot metrics wise. His on ice save percentage was abysmal though.
