Armstrong comments on signing free agent Pius Suter

[Big_G]

3:57 YouTube video.

HERE

[Harold_Melvin]

During the video Doug says, the roster is pretty well set.

[BluesBirdsBuds]

Man idk why Doug constantly discredits Schenn at center

Is he a high end 2C? No

Is he better on the wing? Sure

But he had a really nice year in between Holloway and Kyrou

Publicly saying you could see Pius Suter centering those two instead is just dumb. I get it’s another option but Schenn is the much better player and centerman. Like cmon dude. Give the captain some credit.

Disclaimer: I’m a massive Army fan but that annoyed me

[General]

Man idk why Doug constantly discredits Schenn at center

Is he a high end 2C? No

Is he better on the wing? Sure

But he had a really nice year in between Holloway and Kyrou

Publicly saying you could see Pius Suter centering those two instead is just dumb. I get it’s another option but Schenn is the much better player and centerman. Like cmon dude. Give the captain some credit.

Disclaimer: I’m a massive Army fan but that annoyed me

I think he’s stating the obvious that Schenn isn’t getting any younger and his ability to hold up as a 2C is definitely a question. He’s acknowledging something that is blatantly obvious and as a Manager, he needs to have the roster construction configured in case Schenn is not able to sufficiently handle 2C responsibilities.

[Sudsy 11]

Man idk why Doug constantly discredits Schenn at center

Is he a high end 2C? No

Is he better on the wing? Sure

But he had a really nice year in between Holloway and Kyrou

Publicly saying you could see Pius Suter centering those two instead is just dumb. I get it’s another option but Schenn is the much better player and centerman. Like cmon dude. Give the captain some credit.

Disclaimer: I’m a massive Army fan but that annoyed me

I think he’s stating the obvious that Schenn isn’t getting any younger and his ability to hold up as a 2C is definitely a question. He’s acknowledging something that is blatantly obvious and as a Manager, he needs to have the roster construction configured in case Schenn is not able to sufficiently handle 2C responsibilities.

Agree, Schenn will be 34 when the season starts. Keeping him as 2C is not a realistic long term plan. It's clear from the long term investment and the fact that Schenn is team captain that he is respected within the organization and by Army.

[a smell of green grass]

This signing tells us that Army is not happy with our Centers at the moment. He "called out" Schenn directly, but I think that he is sending a message to every one of our Centers. His message... "The 2C spot is yours to take. Go get it." Did you hear that Schenn and Dvorsky and Bjustad? I think that competition is great. I'd like for Dvorsky to grab it, and never let go, but I want a strong 2C, no matter who it is.

[skilles]

Man idk why Doug constantly discredits Schenn at center

Is he a high end 2C? No

Is he better on the wing? Sure

But he had a really nice year in between Holloway and Kyrou

Publicly saying you could see Pius Suter centering those two instead is just dumb. I get it’s another option but Schenn is the much better player and centerman. Like cmon dude. Give the captain some credit.

Disclaimer: I’m a massive Army fan but that annoyed me

I think fans including my self do to sometimes, he really is a fine 2c and now we have a good 3c.

I just hope one of the young guys can take that 3rd RW spot and run with it now. If that happens we should be good IMO.

I don't think Schenns age is really a big deal with Dvorsky in the system.

I'm a little concerned about the wing now to be honest, I thought feeling from strength meant dealing from excess not dealing the actual strength. I hope one of the young guys can handle that spot.

[seattleblue]

Man idk why Doug constantly discredits Schenn at center

Is he a high end 2C? No

Is he better on the wing? Sure

But he had a really nice year in between Holloway and Kyrou

Publicly saying you could see Pius Suter centering those two instead is just dumb. I get it’s another option but Schenn is the much better player and centerman. Like cmon dude. Give the captain some credit.

Disclaimer: I’m a massive Army fan but that annoyed me

I would defend Armstrong a little here. He didn't discredit Schenn. What if Thomas gets hurt like he did this year. Then your top two centers become Schenn and Suter. What he was saying IMO was that Suter "can" play with that caliber of winger because he has his own offensive ability. If Schenn were to get dinged up and Suter has to move up, he "can" play with them. Or if Schenn is in a slump and Monty needs a shakeup. We've seen Schenn seemingly slump only to ride long stretches of high quality 2C play later in the same season. It's the classic third line player who can move up onto a higher line and not drag it down. And they have confidence in that because of the offensive pop he showed last year. 1 year but he's not an aged vet who you know that's an outlier, could be a trend potentially, and with wingers like that he'd be in a position to capitalize.

[seattleblue]

He was asked about Suter's upside and he first cited "leading the PK" and noting the Blues needed an uptick there. He then was asked about his net front willingness on both ends of the ice said "good teams win battles in front of their net" like it was a core philosophy. To me that gave me encouragement that he is not budging on Neighbours if that's what Buffalo is demanding for Byram and good for him because Neighbours is one of the stability rods this franchise is going to be built on for the next ten years, and we're going to be grateful for it. We will miss a major part of the heart of this team if he trades Neighbours. I think he understands that.

[Whatashame]

I had mentioned this in the Suter trade thread. There will be lots of opportunities to see who steps up but I can see this shaking out with

Buchnevich Thomas Snuggerud
Holloway Suter Kyrou
Neighbours Bjugstad Schenn
Toropchenko Sunny Walker

Suter gives the second line more speed. This drops Schenn to the third line on the wing which is probably his best spot. This gets Sunny off of the third line and replaces Faksa on the fourth line where Sunny belongs. The wild cards are the youth and how they develop this year.

Does Dvorsky challenge for a spot with the Blues. How about Carbonneau, Dean, Kaskamaki?

[bluetunehead]

I had mentioned this in the Suter trade thread. There will be lots of opportunities to see who steps up but I can see this shaking out with

Buchnevich Thomas Snuggerud
Holloway Suter Kyrou
Neighbours Bjugstad Schenn
Toropchenko Sunny Walker

Suter gives the second line more speed. This drops Schenn to the third line on the wing which is probably his best spot. This gets Sunny off of the third line and replaces Faksa on the fourth line where Sunny belongs. The wild cards are the youth and how they develop this year.

Does Dvorsky challenge for a spot with the Blues. How about Carbonneau, Dean, Kaskamaki?

I doubt Carbonneau is given serious consideration unless he absolutely blows everyone away in development camp. More likely that he’s back to juniors or off to BC. I know Armstrong floated the idea that he could make it, but there are enough young forwards in the system putting in their time ahead of him that I’d be pretty shocked. Dvorsky, Dean, Stenberg, and Kaskimaki all will be in their 2nd or 3rd year in the AHL.

[DawgDad]

I had mentioned this in the Suter trade thread. There will be lots of opportunities to see who steps up but I can see this shaking out with

Buchnevich Thomas Snuggerud
Holloway Suter Kyrou
Neighbours Bjugstad Schenn
Toropchenko Sunny Walker

Suter gives the second line more speed. This drops Schenn to the third line on the wing which is probably his best spot. This gets Sunny off of the third line and replaces Faksa on the fourth line where Sunny belongs. The wild cards are the youth and how they develop this year.

Does Dvorsky challenge for a spot with the Blues. How about Carbonneau, Dean, Kaskamaki?

I doubt Carbonneau is given serious consideration unless he absolutely blows everyone away in development camp. More likely that he’s back to juniors or off to BC. I know Armstrong floated the idea that he could make it, but there are enough young forwards in the system putting in their time ahead of him that I’d be pretty shocked. Dvorsky, Dean, Stenberg, and Kaskimaki all will be in their 2nd or 3rd year in the AHL.

I sure hope one of the prospects steps up and wins a job on the third line. Dean and Stenberg may need games in the A but Dvorsky or Kaskimaki might be ready. That line needs more energy.

[Younghopp1991]

Man idk why Doug constantly discredits Schenn at center

Is he a high end 2C? No

Is he better on the wing? Sure

But he had a really nice year in between Holloway and Kyrou

Publicly saying you could see Pius Suter centering those two instead is just dumb. I get it’s another option but Schenn is the much better player and centerman. Like cmon dude. Give the captain some credit.

Disclaimer: I’m a massive Army fan but that annoyed me

I would defend Armstrong a little here. He didn't discredit Schenn. What if Thomas gets hurt like he did this year. Then your top two centers become Schenn and Suter. What he was saying IMO was that Suter "can" play with that caliber of winger because he has his own offensive ability. If Schenn were to get dinged up and Suter has to move up, he "can" play with them. Or if Schenn is in a slump and Monty needs a shakeup. We've seen Schenn seemingly slump only to ride long stretches of high quality 2C play later in the same season. It's the classic third line player who can move up onto a higher line and not drag it down. And they have confidence in that because of the offensive pop he showed last year. 1 year but he's not an aged vet who you know that's an outlier, could be a trend potentially, and with wingers like that he'd be in a position to capitalize.

This is how i took this too. I believe army was just saying whatever the coach wants to do, we have viable options now. Thats the only way i took this.

[STL fan in MN]

Man idk why Doug constantly discredits Schenn at center

Is he a high end 2C? No

Is he better on the wing? Sure

But he had a really nice year in between Holloway and Kyrou

Publicly saying you could see Pius Suter centering those two instead is just dumb. I get it’s another option but Schenn is the much better player and centerman. Like cmon dude. Give the captain some credit.

Disclaimer: I’m a massive Army fan but that annoyed me

Not sure what press conference you listened to but I didn’t get that out of it at all.

He said Suter could play between Holloway and Kyrou if that’s what the coach chooses. To me, he’s simply saying they see Suter as a middle-6 option but he’s doing a good job of saying it’ll really be up to the coach to put the lines together.

[Red7]

It’s no secret Schenn was not the first choice as 2C. That was Buchnevich. In fact, that’s a big reason he was extended/re-signed. When that didn’t work out, Schenn stepped up in a big way. That’s a huge credit to him. However, he WILL be 34 and his best years at C are well behind him. Both the team AND Schenn prefer him on the wing. Look around: would Schenn be a 2C on a Cup contender? Schenn’s a warrior and a leader and he will do whatever is asked.