Welcome to the Thursday ramblings once again as it is another Thursday in January. The World Juniors are over, and the three CHL trade deadlines have completed with the OHL and WHL deadlines wrapping up earlier today. Joel Henderson (@dathockeydoe) went over the WHL yesterday, more so the Regina Pats so check that out. I’ll go over some OHL moves and other things.
BUT FIRST! I quite like posting music here; hopefully everyone is fine with it. This time I will post some blues by Mr. Sipp:
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Moderate trade yesterday in the NHL as Arizona shipped an unhappy Anthony Duclair and Adam Clendening to Chicago for Richard Panik and Laurent Dauphin. This will likely be covered by smarter people than me over at Dobberhockey.com and in the ramblings there as well, but since Duclair is young I will give my quick take here:
Richard Panik – Likely will stay hot and cold in Arizona but at least won’t be scratched now.
Laurent Dauphin – Re-acquired by Arizona but really has done nothing much in the AHL that screams top six forward. Arizona likely sees him as a future NHL in a bottom six role.
Adam Clendening – Chicago just sent Cody Franson down to the AHL so I doubt a player who couldn’t play consistently in Chicago last time (under the same coach) will have much of an impact.
Anthony Duclair – I checked Yahoo and Duclair currently has 3660 adds today, I think people are assuming he will have a greater impact than will happen. Aside from one 20 goal season Duclair has not done anything in the NHL, I expect the mediocre production to continue. I would say add if you are curious but i=do not over pay.
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The NHL all-star rosters were announced, here is my other take:
I don’t care, but I am sure NHLers who have a bonus clause in their contracts for the ASG care. Also what is your over/under on Crosby actually going? I will go with 25% going and 75% skipping as he has only been to two in his entire career.
There is a reason to care and watch the all-star game, do what I do for entertainment:
Make a hockey pool out of it!
“How do you make a hockey pool that makes that all-star game interesting?” you ask. Well gather a group of six friends and choose seven skaters with a standard 1 point for a G, A, GWG, and all-star MVP. Also pick two goalies and if your goalie wins that is two points and zero for a loss. Try it out, it makes watching worth it I guarantee.
Side note: I am not saying make it worth money but betting on something for first place will help, along with possibly a dead last non-prize.
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An interesting trade went down in the OHL just as the deadline wrapped up. The Barrie Colts traded Alexey (Alexei) Lipanov to the Sudbury Wolves for Dmitry Sokolov and a conditional third in 2022. This interests me because Lipanov was a good centre and friend to noted top three pick in the 2018 draft Andrei Svechnikov. I have no idea on the relationship between Sokolov and Svechnikov but I do know they were both under-utilized for Russia at the World Juniors in December.
Lipanov and Sokolov have both been under-whelming this year but for different reasons. With Lipanov it is more that he just does not produce at a good rate without Svechnikov in the lineup, as he appears to really struggle on offense. Sokolov has been disappointing this year because he just has not taken the OHL over as he should, with his size, sill and shot I do not understand his low numbers in comparison. Sokolov lining up with Svechnikov will be exciting however, mostly because it will be fun to see which one shoots the puck when both are on the ice. The addition should help Barrie quite a bit in the "can score at any time" threat Sokolov brings. Lipanov should be a pretty strong two-way centre for Sudbury ging forward.
Sudbury also somewhat loaded up over the last couple of days for the future. The Wolves also acquired 2016 OHL first round defenceman, Peter Stratis from the Ottawa 67s in exchange for four picks, and dealt 19 year-old defenceman Reagan O’Grady to the Mississauga Steelheads for a return of three picks.
If you would like a list of trade deadline deals for the OHL check out: http://ontariohockeyleague.com/media-notes/
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That is all I have for today. Have a great weekend.
My twitter @FHPQuinn