This year could be a rough one for the Fort Drum Killers.
With his team off to a disappointing 1-21-2 start, Killers Coach/GM Steve Stryska put his troops through a tough practice Monday that ended with a bag skate — a series of repetitive skating drills and sprints in which there’s nary a puck to be found — and a stick throwing incident.
If you’ve ever watched “Miracle,” you might know bag skates as “Herbies” — think of Team USA coach Herb Brooks yelling “again” as his players did skating drills and you’ll get the idea. A bag skate was also part of the plot in “D2: The Mighty Ducks,” when Gordon Bombay grinds his young players through skating drills after a bad game.
About halfway through the Killers’ bag skate on Monday, Stryska grabbed captain Mikko Koivu’s stick and threw the stick, javelin-style, at second line center Jussi Jokinen because he felt Jokinen wasn’t skating as hard as he could skate.
“I had to send a message today,” Stryska said after the practice. “We’re not good enough to just play haphazard.”
For the past two years, the Killers have been an ongoing study in the law of diminishing returns. Despite calls from fans, media and many experienced AFHL people to acknowledge the obvious and take a sledgehammer to the roster so that a full top-to-bottom rebuild can begin in earnest, GM Stryska started a rebuild at the beginning of the 2011 season when he traded Ilya Kovalchuk but then instead of tanking the season for a top pick in the draft (because he traded away his first rounder for that year) he chose to keep several veterans on the team (such as Dupuis, Talbot, Hamhuis) and doubled down on his core of Mikko Koivu and Miikka Kiprusoff.
The Killers haven’t made the playoffs since the inaugural season in 2009. They have potential to be competitive enough to challenge for a playoff spot this year but they are far away from being as elite as some of the other teams in the league. The prospect pool is good but not great. A clearing of the decks and reboot seems in order: trade the remaining veterans for kids and picks, focus on scouting for the draft, and prepare for a rough year or two.
Trading the remaining veterans is easier said than done, however. It’s not as if the dealing of Kiprusoff or even Koivu would be an instant cure-all for Fort Drum. As one former GM told TheAFHL.com, “Remember what Fort Drum got for trading Ilya Kovalchuk: Niclas Bergfors, Ryan Murphy, Thomas Greiss, Philip McRae, 2013 first round pick (Toronto) and 2013 second round pick (Washington).” In other words, the return for a star is not often going to be the foundation upon which your future is built. The pain of trading Kiprusoff or especially Koivu would be felt in Fort Drum for years to come.
But look at the standings. If the Killers don’t start winning soon then they’re going to have to do one of two things: tank the season for a top pick in the 2013 draft by trading the remaining veterans for prospects and/or picks at the trade deadline, or suddenly turn into the Detroit Red Wings scouting machine and draft star players at every point in the draft.
Latest buzz on the eve of Trade Deadline Day
GMs are getting their typing fingers ready
March 6th, 2013
“A lot of sniffing happening over the past couple of days,”said Ottawa Knights GM Ryan Armstrong. “Teams are figuring out what the market is now for rental players. Lots and lots of talking right now.”
Tomorrow is Decision Day for the AFHL’s 20 general managers with the trade deadline set for 11:59pm (EST) Thursday.
Boston Giants center Evgeni Malkin, the biggest prize on the market, has not yet been moved as of late Wednesday morning.
If Malkin isn’t moved then it doesn’t mean the deadline is going to be a dud, but he’s the biggest piece to the puzzle and the contenders have to decide just what kind of shake-up they want to make before the post-season.
Malkin spoke briefly with reporters following the Giants practice on Wednesday morning.
“There have been so many rumors, so much speculation, it’s been tough on everyone,” said Malkin.
“It’s been a great time living in Boston. I’m a (Giant) today and we’re going to do everything we can to move forward as a team. Like I said the other day, these fans deserve a winning team. They’re the ones that have been the most patient.”
But, the number of suitors could be dropping.
Word on the street is that the Toronto Red Devils and Victoria Vipers both remain the highest bidders.
“It’s a big trade to make at this time of year,” a league executive said on Tuesday. “The Giants want a lot, the might be holding out for more. I think they can play hardball because the closer it gets to the deadline, the more some teams will overpay. Everybody will be watching to see if he goes.”
AROUND THE BOARDS
A lot of eyes are going to be on the North Bay Warriors. There needs to be some kind of shakeup with the club barely hanging on to the last playoff spot, doesn’t there? The Warriors’ No. 1 priority is probably acquiring a goalie, regardless of however good Jimmy Howard can play. The three Stanley Cup winning teams in AFHL history have won the Cup with three starting goalies on their roster. The top netminders on the market are Miikka Kiprusoff (Fort Drum), Evgeni Nabokov (Manhattan) and Anders Lindback (Comox Valley).
Expect the 2012 Stanley Cup winning Hamilton Firestorm to try to be active. They’d like to get a little younger without detracting from their overall production on the pro team. The Firestorm will likely show interest in Toronto’s Jason Spezza and Killers’ forward Pascal Dupuis.
Twin City’s top prospects Vladimir Tarasenko and Mikael Granlund could be moved. The word Tuesday was that the Killers and Supermen, both looking to trade a goalie, were in discussions with Twin City GM Phil Svoboda. Twin City isn’t afraid to unload his top prospects to try and win it all this year.
The San Diego Gulls could trade T.J. Oshie for the right price. Speculate away. Gulls GM Lucas Main told several media outlets that Oshie wants to stay.
New Pittsburgh GM Jason Henley could be busy. After taking over a team in the middle of a rebuild, he has stated that some decisions need to be made on some potential “bust” prospects. Several teams are making pitches for guys like Cory Conacher and Mika Zibanejad, but Henley insisted he won’t be giving players away. “We’re not going to trade players just to trade them. If there’s strong value to an offer, we’ll consider it,” he told TheAFHL.com.
The Buffalo Phantoms are most likely to stand pat as usual. “We’re pretty satisfied with our team, but if we can add a skilled forward to upgrade our offense, we would do that if the price was right,” Phantoms GM Beckman said.
* * *
Blast From the Past:
2012 AFHL Trade Deadline Coverage
