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2012 Bulldogs Offseason Tracker


dlbalr

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It's going to be a different looking Bulldog team next year. Here's a look at who's in and who's out so far. This thread can be used to note when Hamilton's free agents sign elsewhere or if the Habs sign some guys to help out the farm.

Updated October 10th after more cuts were made.

-r105019%20:%20ham09_500.jpg

New players:

D Nathan Beaulieu (Saint John, QMJHL)

F Michael Bournival (Shawinigan, QMJHL)

F Darryl Boyce (Toronto/Columbus, NHL)

F Stephane Chaput (Providence, AHL)

D Antoine Corbin (Prince Albert, WHL)

G Cedrick Desjardins (Lake Erie, AHL)

D Morgan Ellis (Shawinigan, QMJHL)

F Brendan Gallagher (Vancouver, WHL)

F/D Kyle Hagel (Peoria, AHL)

F Patrick Holland (Tri City, WHL)

F Daultan Leveille (Michigan State, NCAA)

D Greg Pateryn (Michigan, NCAA)

F Steve Quailer (Northeastern, NCAA)

F Zack Stortini (Milwaukee, AHL)

D Jarred Tinordi (London, OHL)

Confirmed/potential departures, not including free agents:

F Hunter Bishop (South Carolina, ECHL)

D Joe Callahan (Abbotsford, AHL)

F Andrew Conboy (Trenton, ECHL)

D Olivier Dame-Malka (Bakersfield, ECHL)

F Philip DeSimone (Albany, AHL)

F Andreas Engqvist (Atlant, KHL)

D/FZack FitzGerald (Adirondack, AHL)

D Alex Henry (Düsseldorfer, DEL)

G Nathan Lawson (Ottawa)

F Dany Masse (McGill University, CIS)

D Mark Mitera

F Robert Slaney (St. Francis Xavier University, CIS)

D Garrett Stafford (Washington)

F Brian Willsie (TPS, SM-liiga)

Free Agents:

AHL Free Agents:

D T.J. Fast

Approximate Depth Chart:

Forwards:

Geoffrion - Leblanc - Palushaj (I know they're working on Leblanc at RW but the depth here is weak)

Nattinen - Bournival - Gallagher

Blunden - Boyce - Quailer

Holland - Dumont - Stortini

Avtsin, Berger, Hagel

Defence:

St. Denis - Nash

Tinordi - Ellis

Beaulieu - Pateryn

Corbin

Note that most of these d-men are natural LH defence but some will have to shift to the other side.

Goalies:

Desjardins

Mayer

Delmas

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I guess you could add Engqvist to the departed list.

I knew I forgot someone...Henry for that matter as well (I was working off the contracts page which already had those two deleted).

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The Habs have invited Brendan Ranford to training camp. (Bill's nephew)

He’s a young LW/C who was drafted in the 7th round in 2010 by the Flyers, but unsigned.

At 5’10″ he has some size issues… and he’s not the best skater in the league, but he plays a gritty game and has put up a ton of points for Kamloops in the WHL.

86 points in 68 games in 2011

92 points in 69 games this year.

Definite low risk/high reward type of move here. Ranford has some skils, he works hard, goes to the net, has a decent shot, and good playmaking working off the cycle game. He does have the deficiencies stated above though.

We’ll see how he does in camp.

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Eventually something has to give because how can we expect Gallagher to develop as a premier winger if he's got a 3rd line center as his pivot

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Really? Where did you hear this?

I would like to see some veterans down there but maybe the reason nothing has been done is because we already have our #1 center in Hamilton.

he just doesn't know it yet.

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Really? Where did you hear this?

I would like to see some veterans down there but maybe the reason nothing has been done is because we already have our #1 center in Hamilton.

he just doesn't know it yet.

Someone I know who has told me in the past that he knew Zigo. Like most friend of a friend rumours it's basically grain of salt but I guess as a UFA he wants to stay in Ontario if he's going to play in the AHL.

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Given our lack of centers and plethora of wngers, should we not try to develop Leblanc as a center instead of a winger?

With Desharnais emergence, Lars Eller's growth, Galchenyuk being drafted, Michael Bournival being acquired, the depth at Centre is not the issue it once was.

Leblanc is also better suited to the wing, because even in the QMJHL his faceoffs were not good enough, and he's much more of a goal scorer and a shooter than a passer. I'm not sure he has the vision to play wing.

Where our current prospect group is weak is LW, not centre.

We have good depth at both Centre and RW though. That is why you develop Leblanc in the position he's best suited for, which is RW IMO.

Eventually something has to give because how can we expect Gallagher to develop as a premier winger if he's got a 3rd line center as his pivot

Well I still think one of Leblanc, Palushaj, Gallagher will be with the big club, and if not, one of them will be shifted to LW.

I've heard some grapevine rumours that the Habs might sign Zigomanis.

I'd do it for the coach's corner lulz.

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Someone I know who has told me in the past that he knew Zigo. Like most friend of a friend rumours it's basically grain of salt but I guess as a UFA he wants to stay in Ontario if he's going to play in the AHL.

We've had good luck with those types of rumours in the past. We were able to break the Alex Henry re-signing a couple years back based on a report like that while I broke Andre Benoit's initial deal with Montreal based on a connection like that (Benoit played Junior C in my hometown as a centre oddly enough), heard of his news from a co-worker at the time. Zigomanis is at the top of my list for veteran AHL'ers to sign and I think they need at least two solid vets for this team to have the success most expect them to have. With the current roster as listed in the first post, I'm not sure they're a playoff team (too many rookies in key spots usually leads to early struggles).

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We've had good luck with those types of rumours in the past. We were able to break the Alex Henry re-signing a couple years back based on a report like that while I broke Andre Benoit's initial deal with Montreal based on a connection like that (Benoit played Junior C in my hometown as a centre oddly enough), heard of his news from a co-worker at the time. Zigomanis is at the top of my list for veteran AHL'ers to sign and I think they need at least two solid vets for this team to have the success most expect them to have. With the current roster as listed in the first post, I'm not sure they're a playoff team (too many rookies in key spots usually leads to early struggles).

We have always added vets to the mix, but again this is new management. I think there are still lots of options with vets that need a home or need a contract offer from an European team. I believe Ziggy is a face off specialist so yeah we could use that ingredient. I would expect we would get a veteran D-man and a forward with a little more scoring acumen than Ziggy, even if they are stricly AHL contracts. We can also expect a try-out signing or two for depth, if history touchs the new management crew. It is not clear to me however , who will be making these decisions.

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Canoe is reporting that it is entry level contract. Good for him. Did we miss something?

I don't think this is any great loss. He is still a major longshot to make the NHL, and with the 50 contract limit, we couldn't offer him an NHL deal.

The Bulldogs need a Zigomanis type, a Yannick Lehoux, a Nigel Dawes, one of those types right now (and preferably a Centre, though I'd take a Dawes type dominant LW). A journeyman AHL vet who can centre the first line. Its the biggest need for Hamilton.

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Isn't Dawes still in Europe?

I wasn't sure if he signed a 1 or 2 year deal or if he renewed it, or what was up with the guy.

More an example of a type of player, than him specifically... the dominate jourmeyman AHL LW.

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Someone I know who has told me in the past that he knew Zigo. Like most friend of a friend rumours it's basically grain of salt but I guess as a UFA he wants to stay in Ontario if he's going to play in the AHL.

He's staying in Ontario...sadly it's with the Marlies though. He was re-signed today.

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