So it has been well established by now - Jan Stransky is no longer a Moosehead. His billet parents know it, reporter Matthew Wuest knows it, coach/GM Cam Russel knows it through 12th hand sources, and strangers from the west coast who read my blog, yet know very little of the Mooseheads, now know it.
We the fans are feeling the sting because we have to live with the pain of knowing that the Moose gave up their 1st overall pick in the CHL import draft thinking that both Stransky and Knotek would be returning next season. We can be happy that Stransky didn't pull a 'Kana' on us and decide to leave after the draft. This way we still have a chance to replace him with another, albeit much lower drafted, Euro.
In today's issue of the Chronicle Herald Willy Palov discusses the situation and this time it is Stransky feeling the sting:
Need I say SNAP?The Halifax Mooseheads forward has apparently signed a two-year contract with Plzen, but has not yet informed Halifax coach and general manager Cam Russell or his agent, Petr Svoboda. That type of bizarre manoeuvre does not reflect well on the 18-year-old sniper and it wouldn’t be an overstatement to say it will cost him a chance at the NHL.
A handful of teams have been in regular contact with Russell this spring and it was starting to look like Stransky was going to get a legitimate look at the draft in June. But now that he’s shown such a poor lack of professionalism and judgment, that ship has surely sailed. The draft is only seven rounds long nowadays, so NHL teams are certainly not going to waste a pick on a player with that kind of flaky personality.
Depth Chart:
Wuest also posted a very informative depth chart in one of his pieces and I am just going to cut and paste it here. Arts and crafts are fun. My ultimate goal is to be a crafty spinster. Please remember that X = possible overagers... and then there is the mysterious Y.
FORWARDS:
x-Yuri Cheremetiev (20)
Tomas Knotek (19)
Alexis Piette (19)
Gerrad Grant (19)
Gabriel Desjardins (17)
Jessyko Bernard (18)
Travis Randell (18)
x-Linden Bahm (20)
x-Eric Louis-Seize (20)
Charles Bety (19)
Alex Lemieux (17)
x-Matt Boland (20)
Ned O’Brien (19)
Guillaume Pelletier (18)
William Cloutier (18)
Andrew Smith (17)
DEFENCEMEN:
Gabriel O’Connor (19)
Pascal Amyot (19)
Alex MacDonald (18)
xy-Alexandre Brunet (20)
x-Ben MacAskill (20)
Scott McDonald (19)
George Dunn (19)
Ryan Matheson (18)
Richard Greer (18)
GOALTENDERS:
Mathieu Corbeil (18)
Stefan Dumaresque (19)
Jeremie Forbes-Brisebois (19)
Kody Blois (18)
While Boland seems nice and occasionally sports a fancy fauxhawk, he eats all the marshmallows after he plays chubbeh bunneh and he is a perpetual broken machine - so he has to go. Did you ever get the impression that management hates Cheremetiev, what with the way he is shuffled through the lineup? Despite the fact that the Moose will be low on goal scoring prowess, I can still see them giving up Cheremetiev... or at least I could until Stransky split.
I don't like to speculate. Let's just say that we all have no idea what will happen and then wait and see. While I hate the wait, it seems like the only logical thing to do. You can wait too. It's not like I showed you my titties and then split town - leaving you longing for more. We are all stuck here together... waiting... fully clothed.
Trades and the Draft:
The loss of Stransky was a definite blow to our offense, which was one of the worst in the league to begin with. The Moose had the second worst PP with only 16.3% efficiency and 193 goals in 68 games. Only the Titan and the MAINEiacs were worse in Goals per game - but even they made the playoffs.
Apparently Cam Russel was going to focus on defence for this draft*, but the loss of Stransky may have changed that.
Stransky’s departure may also alter Halifax’s strategy at the QMJHL draft. Russell initially wanted to focus on defence, but a scorer might pique his interest now.
“You’ve always got Plans A, B and C,” Russell said. “We’ll take that into consideration at the draft … Who we’re trying to bring in with the picks that we have. It also gives opportunities to some of our other guys to play on top lines.”
Other than that, there is still the possibility for a trade. While a rumored trade with Lewiston has been bandied about* (OK, only by me - and I know nothing, and my commenters may be fucking with me) for young defenceman Garrett Clarke, Russel has recently told reporters* that no trades are finalized though he is working on a deal:
Otherwise, Russell said he’s "very close" to finishing off a deal to acquire a solid 17-year-old player in exchange for one of his veterans and a late draft pick. It would be Russell’s first trade since taking over as GM in January.
"Nothing is finalized but it’s a trade we’ve worked hard on since the season ended," Russell said. "If it goes through, it’s something I think could really help us."
Yar (pirates are everywhere nowadays), speaking of commenters. You know you can do that right? You can write to tell me all of your secrets, to giggle about trade rumours, to whisper about boys, or to just insult me and call me a cum-guzzler. You wouldn't be the first one. I find this to be a hilarious insult because despite the fact that boys will use it to put you down, they all wish that their girlfriends (or boyfriends, if they swing that way) would do it.
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