sterling 1,994 Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 Slaughter Looks to Build on Season 38 New York Americans forward Tom Slaughter is again training hard to prepare for his third season in the VHL which will be coming up within a few weeks. The third year centre will be heading into a good situation this season because although it is likely that he will be separated from Odin Tordahl on the top line, he will still be on what is set to be one of the top teams in the league this season. Over the past two seasons, Tordahl, Xaio and Slaughter have lit the lamp more times than any other line in the league. Season 39 will be slightly uncharted territory. "I'm excited for the season again. I think we have a really talented squad here and now as one of the more veteran players I get to play an even bigger role on the team. It sucks to be moved off a line with the best player in the league, but we need to spread our offense around this year since we have tow young guys coming in to fill the void. We can't leave the young guys out there on their own, that didn't happen to me when I was a rookie. I'd expect all the rookies to have good seasons for us this year," Slaughter said. The void that Tom mentioned comes from a couple of off-season trades made by General Manager Chris Miller. Miller sent fellow first round Season 37 draftees Logan Laich and Jakob Linholm as well as a second round pick over to Cologne in exchange for the fourth and seventh overall selections in the Season 39 Entry Draft, depth forward Riley Stevens and a Season 40 second round selection. The move was made to clear cap space for this season and future seasons and to add some youth to the aging roster. Linholm and Laich were drafted between Slaughter two seasons ago and now both are gone to a new team. "I suppose Cologne really wanted Logan and I wish him well. Jake was a good guy, but he hadn't put a lot of time in at the gym as of late so I can see why Chris wanted to move him out. It's unfortunate that I'm the only one left now, but I kind of expected to see some moves coming up. We live in the age of the salary cap and that's why these moves were made. I wish them luck in Cologne, that franchise deserves a fair break," Slaughter said. The second move saw depth defenseman Tony Stark moved out in exchange for VHLM defenseman Jack Ryan and a second round draft pick. Stark was an underrated member of the squad last year, but Miller is hoping to replace his cap hit and production with two rookies. The move could backfire or pay off in dividends. The same can be said for the rumoured moving of Odin Tordahl to the second line in favour of more production for Wesley Kellinger. Xaio and Slaughter have formed good chemistry and are expected to be the nucleus of the New York offense for many seasons to come while Kellinger and Tordahl near the end of their careers. The Americans' moves certainly seem to have set them up nicely for now and into the future. "I'm excited to get another season started, I think we have a championship team here in New York," Slaughter said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOOM 8,617 Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 See what I do for you Jericho? All the best for the XXX-Slaughter-? line. At least Fong won't be blaming me for puck hogging this season! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Molholt 2,185 Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 Content: 3/3 - For Davos' sake, I hope someone on that offense regresses. Definitely a fearsome set of forwards even without Laich and Linholm.Grammar: 2/2 - Looking goodAppearance: 1/1 - Good!Overall: 6/6 Final: 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 Claimed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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