From The Net Out

[diamond_ace 3,114]

As evidenced by the trades that have happened today, the Prague Phantoms are clearly looking to take a step forward this season and climb up into the playoffs. There are still some holes, of course, but there are also some really strong areas of the team now.

Starting in between the pipes, you'll find the ideal tandem: a vet with loads of skill and enough left in the tank for a few more runs, and a young future star with enough ability to fill in the gaps, and enough time to develop into a solid starter. Brick Wahl needs no introduction, this is a multiple time all star and a player who can change the course of a franchise. Solomon Crawford showed flashes of brilliance in between his early growing pains, but the potential was clearly there.

 

Defensively, a strong top 6 across the board, featuring several standouts as well. Cinnamon Block, last season's 1st overall pick. Wolf Stansson Jr and Seabass Perrin, two guys who went straight from playing together in Yukon to playing together in Prague's inaugural season, and deserve a bit of success coming their way. Jacob Perry, arguably one of the biggest steals of his draft, after taking an extra season to develop he's not far back of some of the rest of the guys who came right into the league. Edward Vigneault, who was an unfortunate casualty of Moscow's roster, finding a home among a well balanced cast in Prague. Even Gert B. Frobe, king of laying the body, fills his role well here. A full three pairs of active defenders, set up well to protect their new netminder - this team should have no problem keeping the puck out of the back of the net.

So far, that's one hell of a cast. Offensively, some great young pieces are there - Alex Pearson and Willie Dredge have been especially coming along well, and relative "vet" Don Draper (only a year older than Laughton and Vigneault) has always had a solid game to him. There's the guys down the lineup a bit, Blake Laughton, Scotty Big Shotty, and two players who'll make their debuts in Ben McGirr and Dagmar Havlova, and it looks like this team has a solid supporting cast, ready to make a splash this season and see where we can go from here, and not a single player set to retire at the end of the upcoming season (except for Mountain Thunderfist, who is largely unneeded at this point and may not make the opening day roster).

It's all just missing one thing: that star offensive piece. Now it's not unlikely that either Pearson or Dredge could develop into that, but no one's quite there right now - there isn't a forward on the level of Wahl on the back end. That's where it falls to the management to make things work in either free agency (where there's not likely to be a ton available) or through a trade. There are a few pieces that could be available on that end, but one thing is clear: this acquisition would be far more likely to be a pure acquisition than a player-for-player deal. The guys who've suffered through the developmental years deserve to see this out, to help guide the franchise to success. Obviously there are always circumstances to take into consideration, but this is a team, and a team works best together.