Well, I like how THN showed 2 prospects as part of the 7 to watch, but I think even more young guys should be getting notice. For instance, John Tavares, who was named CHL player of the week, should get more coverage with his young age and super talent. I'm not trying to compare him to The Great One, but he's got to be pretty good if the OHL changed it's rules to let him in. 2009 will be a year to compete for 30th in the NHL.
What about Kevyn Adams? Sure, he got his place in the top 100 PoP (see The Hockey News for details), but after all that noise about his campaign for NHLPA player president, the Canes trade him for Dennis Seidenberg. I respect Dennis, and I think he has a good future in the NHL, but getting him for a guy like Kevyn could pick up the Coyotes penalty-kill, fore-checking, heck the only thing Adams won't improve largely for the Coyotes is goal scoring, and even there he'll help a little bit. I don't care about Carolina having injuries on defense, that's why they should have kept Jack Johnson. I'll get more into Johnson's issue once he gets called up to the Kings for a late cup of coffee, but really, I hope it's not too much pressure on Rod Brind'Amour and Justin Williams to carry even more defensive pressure.
How about Kyle Calder? First, a huge goalless drought. Than an explosive 5 games. Which version do the Flyers want to keep? Almost everyone would point to the explosiveness, but if he goes cold again, Philadelphia could ship Peter Forsberg and Kyle Calder in a blockbuster and pick up a couple of strong role players and/or draft picks. Such as a guy like Derek Armstrong of the L.A. Kings. Armstrong is a 2nd line 2-way player getting 3rd line ice time, due to the well-deserving pair of Craig Conroy and Anze Kopitar. The Flyers just need to get rid of the troublesome two and find some youth and/or role players.
I have so much here now, I'll post a part 2 later.
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