Caps Cuts and More

First of all let's get this out of the way...the following players were cut from Caps camp and will be in Hershey for the start of Bears camp on Sunday:

• Francois Bouchard
• David de Kastrozza
• Kyle Greentree
• Boyd Kane
• Maxime Lacroix
• Graham Mink
• Garrett Mitchell
• Danick Paquette
• Paul Baier
• Zach Miskovic
• Phil Oreskovic
• Dustin Stevenson

Yesterday I put up a post discussing the potential lines and productivity levels. I just wanted to elaborate on that a bit.

I mentioned that 10 or more players could score 20+ goals this year but none will reach 40. I did some research to confirm that and I found the following:

• No player on the Bears potential roster has scored 40+ in the AHL. Greentree scored 39 a few years ago and Cody Eakin scored 47 in juniors.
• 9 players have scored 20+ at the AHL level. They are Keith Aucoin, Boyd Kane, Chris Bourque, Francois Bouchard, Greentree, Ryan Potulny, Matt Ford, Graham Mink, and Jacob Micflikier. In addition Mathieu Perreault scored 16 in one season and Jay Beagle scored 19.
• Of the 9 that have done it...6 have done it multiple times. They are Aucoin, Kane, Bourque, Greentree, Potulny, and Mink. All 6 have done it 3 or more times.
• Only 4 players have scored 30 or more. Aucoin, Greentree, Potulny and Mink. And they have only done it a combined 6 times.
• Graham Mink has scored at least 15 goals in all 10 of his AHL seasons.

If you also consider what Eakin did in juniors and consider that Andrew Carroll scored 30 goals in an ECHL season you can see the potential.

Not included in any of that is Christian Hanson and Mattias Sjogren. Hanson's best year gave him 13 goals while Sjogren played in the less offensively focused Swedish Elite League. I can see both getting to 20 if they played full seasons in Hershey.

So in reality there are 9 that have scored 20+, another 3 that have scored 10+ in the AHL, and another 3 (Eakin, Carroll, and Sjogren) that could legitimately get to 20 if given the opportunities.

Of the potential roster of forwards there are 15 guys that are legitimate chances for 20+ goals in a season.

And there are 0 guys who can legitimately score 40.

How it all works out will begin to be figured out on Sunday. Injuries, call ups, and different roles will likely keep some from reaching the 20 goal plateau.

But I honestly think that we will be amazed at the scoring depth that this team will bring this season. And it should not come at the expense of defense as many of these guys were brought in for their defensive play (Bourque, Hanson, Eakin) as much as their offensive play.

I am starting to get excited for the season now!

B - E - A - R - S

BEARS, BEARS, BEARS

WOOOOOOO!!!!!