Re: Wisconsin Hockey G2O - Making UW Hockey Great Again
For me the key guys that need to come back are Kunin and Hughes. I just don't see Frederic as a flight risk as he is an 18 year old frosh and while a good player....not nearly good enough to have any chance of sticking in the NHL. Very little reason for Boston to yank him out of college and have a 19 year old busing it with adults in the AHL. Speaking of Boston....they do scare me with Hughes mainly because he is a junior and teams get nervous about letting guys play through their senior year and then maybe wait them out and end up as a free agent in Aug after they graduate.
On D Tischke and Linhart are a solid start and Greenway can not possibly improve mentally (he really can't be that bad decision making as a sophomore....right?). Inamoto should give Oz a higher end young guy to mold and Kalynuk is a guy that should hit the ground running as a 20 year old freshman with 3 full years of USHL under his belt. The following year, you replace Linhart with 2 or 3 stud frosh dman and things will be back to normal at Dman U.
I think mark nails my thoughts as well here. Just based on what the NHL has done in the past, Hughes could be the top flight risk. Which would make me sad because he is a guy that has really improved his game each year he's been here and I'd love to have him back to see if he couldn't do it again and be a dominating player as a Senior.
With Kunin, well, he's in the same boat as Kerdiles, but I question whether he's as far along as Nic was. He has a much better shot, but I feel like his whole game needs another gear yet. Evidenced maybe by his lower production against top competition. For example in the last 6 games vs. OSU/PSU he's 2g 1a 3pts. On the other hand, given the right linemates in the NHL I don't doubt he could score right now at that level. On yet another other hand I'm not sure he fits into the Wild line up at the moment, plus I believe the Wild have two other 1st rounders in the system. At the time Kerdiles left it actually looked like he'd have a pretty good shot of making the big club. Somebody that follows the Wild closer than I do could perhaps make a better guess at Kunin's chances? But if chances aren't great I just don't believe in college guys Kunin's age leaving expressly to go grind it out in the AHL.
Might be wishful thinking, but I have some hope that Kunin comes back for unfinished business. Unless he's going straight to the Big Club, I think he should stay.
I'd be shocked to see Freddy go.
Greenway and Tischke could be a very small risk. With Greenway, you just hope he's happy here. He'd still be eligible to go play Major Juniors like Dougherty did should he so choose. If he can work his *** off in the off season, he could really be something special. Funny thing about him right now is that the coaches have raved about how well he sees, thinks, and understands the game. Occasionally it seems that way and yet sometimes it just seems like his brain goes in neutral. I don't get it. Tischke's progress has been impressive and while probably unlikely, it's not totally inconceivable he could field offers.
I like Inamoto a lot. He's going to be like Tischke, but better I think.
