Steelers 21/22 Signing Discussion

[SteelerBlade]

As the dust settles on the 2021 Elite Series, I’ve given my thoughts on our side below, and areas where we need to be better for the new campaign to kick off this off-season thread.

NETMINDERS:

#88 Muse:
Had a torrid time really, looked solid & calm that first game. Then never really had time to get back to his best. Can’t really give an accurate assessment, he’s a fiery Brian Stewart character though

#31 Churchfield:
I thought he did decent, he had no idea how much he’d be relied upon & he made some nice saves, few areas for him to improve but behind our defence he did okay.

#34 Warburton:
I thought he gave an outstanding account of himself, for me he outperformed Churchfield who is 5 years his senior, looked big in goal. The age old EIHL Brit goalie development issue applies here, seems a waste of talent to back up.

[SteelerBlade]

DEFENCEMEN:

#28 Schulze:
I wasn’t that impressed with Schulze in all honesty, great skater & has decent offensive skills but his size & fear of physicality makes him very weak defensively and he turned the puck over countless times. Wouldn’t want him back.

#25 Beaudry:
I thought he did okay, small like Schulze but stronger & more robust, was always on scene when it got chippy. Good PP guy and has a bomb of a shot, I would be okay with a return as long as he’s our only undersized D man.

#97 Hrabal:
Played decently, was using his shot more which was good, positionally strong but I thought he looked a little slow & leggy, maybe age creeping up on him. Could’ve been more physical.

#2 A. Jones:
Didn’t see a whole lot of him, played okay but not somebody I’d be interested in beyond this series.

#13 D. Phillips:
I thought Davey had a monster series! Logged big minutes, looked solid position wise, strong on the boards, nice 1st pass. Only the silly ejection to put against him really & that was in a nothing game, impressed.

#47 Saxrud-Danielsen:
I thought he was fantastic in the early games but he tailed off badly. Nice size, skates smoothly enough & will finish hits. Not really offering much offensively and gets caught up ice too much for me.

#44 S. Jones:
I thought he was excellent, skates well, composed on the puck, physical, sticks up for teammates & just all round good general play. Think if he bulks up a bit he’ll be even better.

[SteelerBlade]

FORWARDS:

#63 Connolly:
Poor by his standards, he has to be good to offset his bad penalties and he didn’t in this series. Had a few good games but overall wasn’t at it, again maybe age creeping up.

#75 Dowd:
Thought he started the series quiet but really grew into it & played like the Dowd we all know. High energy, good intensity and always a threat.

#10 Eberle:
Probably our best player, even if he did go missing in the finals. Physical, skilled, good touch around the net & always affects the game. Maybe his big minutes caught up with him. Took some lazy hooks.

#21 Graham:
Looked out of shape to me, bit heavy. Was hoping this would be his time to shine but he never really offered much offensively at all, needs to improve his skating if he’s to make it pro.

#17 Hewitt:
Was fun to see him in orange again, surprised a lot of people with his ability to be honest. Was in excellent shape & netted a few times rolling back the years.

#14 Kirk:
The OHL has turned the raw talent into a skilled forward, he’s fast & can handle the puck great at speed. Fantastic shot too. Had a few defensive lapses he’ll need to sort if he’s going to crack the AHL. Could add weight.

#94 Mikyska:
I thought he was wonderful. Incredible stick skill and puck control, great edge work making him elusive. He also holds the puck until there’s an option rather than just firing it anywhere. Good work ethic too I’d look to add him permanently.

#24 Musil:
Think he iced once and I don’t remember seeing him.

#8 Myers:
I expected more. Great face-off man and good on the PK but his general play was pretty poor and he is very slow and a poor skater. Will play physical but I wouldn’t be interested long term, but he’ll stay in Cardiff anyway.

#12 Olden:
The enigma that is Olden. Obviously a fantastic player who’s speed and skating abilities are a joke at this level. His work rate however was shocking and I doubt we saw half of his talents. Probably didn’t want an injury as he’s on £90,000 in Switzerland allegedly.

#3 Pákozdi:
Played okay, worked hard and looked to make plays but I’m not sure he’s up to the EIHL level quite yet.

#20 J. Phillips:
Timeless. Still fit and fast. Chipped in offensively too, not much to be said that we don’t already know.

#19 Waller:
Exciting talent, fast and happy to go to the hard areas. Good on the puck, needs to find some extra production. I’d be very interested in adding him although I’m not sure where he’d fit.

[SteelerBlade]

GOING FORWARD:

I’d like to see more size up front, a big winger or two who can knock the puck about and grind below to goal line. Although Fox isn’t a fan of size on the wings he prefers pace I believe.

The D needs major surgery, I wouldn’t be disappointed to see 4 new imports in that area, hopefully at least 1 with some size & robustness. The D is a 5 man unit though and it wasn’t good enough throughout the tournament. Also systematically we have to manage the puck much better, the best form of D is offensive zone possession.

We need a stud netminder too. Mustukovs was the last man who could win us a game even if the guys had an off night.

I’m interested to hear the opinions of others

[Jayboy]

As always I am going to say what I always say, ive seen nothing to change my mind at all, and I've been banging this particular drum for years and years..

Start from the back and get that right! Spend a big chunk of change on a highlight reel goalie and 2 big as they get stay at home defenseman who clear the net in their sleep, who get a nose bleed if they cross the blue line, then pair them up with defenders that are young, fast, fit and can skate well.

Championships are won in defence and always have been, you cant win games if your team leak goals, no matter how good you forwards are... I am no way saying we should not have dynamique flair forwards or character players, we should, I just feel we need to address the balance slightly the other way. defenders that are fast and can transition through the neutral zone are essential, but they should be defenders first and true 200 foot players. I see the time when we had Ben O'connor type players at an end, same with selfish forwards too, we dont need players that only know the last 100 foot of a rink. Ed Courtney alway epitomised that type of player, selfish so and so's that only care about doing one job...

Aaron fox had it very nearly spot on in this mini series team and if it wasn't for the obvious fatigue could have won the lot... a small tweak in the balance is what I would want to see.. starting in defence as always....

[paul johnston]

At the end of the last "main" season Foxy said he had learned and new how to take the team forward. I felt that would mean mainly two things. A bit more defensive minded d men/improving the team d play collectively and also raising the physicality of the team.
Whether it was the circumstances of the elite series, ie what players were available (can't argue this as other teams managed to) it seemed to me we didn't do any of those things.
As Jay says decent D wins championships. Run and gun/harlem globetrotters type teams look fantastic at times but there will be occasions where it just isn't working out and you have to resort to basic, defence orientated games and tough it out.

The team balance has been wrong to me in both of the teams Foxy has signed over the last couple of years. Overloaded with too many offensive minded players throughout the line up. Not enough big, physical players. Not enough role players and we never seem to find enough decent face off winners.

I was pleased to see Jones and Waller show so well. They've impressed me for a couple of years now. I would like to see Waller here permanently. Simms says no space. I would make space.
All the new imports were OK. Olden was obviously good, but I thought playing at less than 75٪ for most of series. Thats no good. He could do with watching Eberle and Dowd to see what is expected. I think there was one game (one of the semi finals) where he upped his intensity for the second 30 minutes of the game and I thought wow that's more like it.
There are none of the new imports that I would say we must keep. ASD would be up there, and I would be happy enough with Mikyska and Beaudry.
Muse? Who knows. Cant tell from what we saw.
We need to look to sign a more well balanced team, with a more defensive minded slant with some more size and physicality.

[Doom]

In terms of the +/- stats, the final standings are:

Danielsen +19
Eberle +16
Beaudry +15
Dowd +13
Mikyska +12
Kirk +9
D Phillips +7
Schulze +6
Connolly +6
A Jones +5
Pakozdi +3
J Phillips +1
Graham +1
Hewitt 0
Olden -1
Myers -1
Waller -1
Hrabal -2
Musil -2
S Jones -3

Some interesting and quite surprising numbers. The +/- stats are a guide, but other factors need taking into account (ie. Did Waller play a lot of time against the opposition's top lines).

I do think some of our players are starting to show their age and we might benefit from a few younger players.

Hrabal would have been my number one pick from last season, but I didn't think he had a good tournament. Maybe he benefitted from playing with his fellow countryman last season or maybe age is catching up with him.

Danielsen would be my top choice, he's top of our +/- and if you look at his recent seasons that's a familiar theme.

Regards

Doom

[raetiamann]

I'd like to see us next season sign a couple of D men who can clear the crease and can compliment the D that are effective going forward. Troncinsky would be my no.1 choice for import D. I was very impressed with Sam Jones over the last month and I'm pleased we have/will sign him. We need a real stud goalie and together with the D, this has to form the starting point.

Eberle and Dowd set the tone up front and gave us lots of energy, but i agree we looked very short of energy towards the latter stages. Waller I was very impressed with and if he does come to Sheffield then I'd see him as a long term replacement for Jono, when he eventually retires. I also agree with Doom about the importance of a strong face off winner. I really want to see Vally returning it we do need a no nonsense winger to compliment the other forwards.

Throughout the tournament I've been dry impressed with Betteridge, but I can't see him leaving Panthers. Further thoughts may follow.

[SteelerBlade]

Betteridge is a great energy role winger who can play in all situations, works incredibly hard and offers secondary scoring. Developing into a quality Brit.

Tetlow is coming along too, lots more mobile and confident on the puck than I remember.

[Fluffybunny21]

Hey guys are you not signing at the moment , or have I missed the posts ?