Nieves has looked better than I thought. Might turn out to be a nice 4th line center eventually. First time I've liked what I saw from him. Staal and Girardi suck so bad it's almost hard to believe what has happened to these guys. Now Staal is starting look like an imbecile out there. Buchnevich has looked better than I expected though I still think he could benefit from some AHL time. Pirri brings a lot more than I expected. Our idiot forwards never shoot and this guy does. Thank God. Hope Jooris steps up. Gerbe to me is a nice injury reserve guy but I don't see him making this team. He's too small. Would go with McDonagh, Klein, McIlrath, Skjei Clendening and Staal/Holden. Let's face it. Nobody we have on defense can a run a PP other than Clendening. McDonagh pretty much sucks on the PP.
I think it might be tough for Jooris to now make the opening night roster with the injury time missed and just the number of bodies. Perhaps the 13th forward.
I'm not sure if the defense still sucking isn't now a product of the system. Seems like there are still way too many high quality shots from other teams. They have way too much space to make plays.
I agree that the defense is the weakest link on the team.......hopefully, if nothing else from Girardi & Staal, they help the other D. Besides, Beuk will help the D.
