Steelers signings and departures

[Doom]

I agree with the posters above, we do seem to be pinning our hopes on either squeezing one last good season out of a veteran or hoping somebody from a better league with poor numbers can magically turn it on in our league.

Trying to be positive though, could we draw some parallels with the new signings we made before the Grandslam season?

Josh Nicholls came with a very solid CV, but was clearly on the decline having failed to score a single goal from 30 games in the KHL when he joined us. Whilst he didn't put up big points in our GS season, he was very solid and brought a lot of professionalism and knowledge.....A fair comparison with Sean Collins?

Juusola joined us after a dreadful season in Liiga/Czechia, having not scored a single goal in 32 games. He did however score at 1 in 4 in Liiga the season before.....A fair comparison with Teissala, who struggled for goals last season, but scored at 1 in 4 in Liiga the season before?

Archambault I wouldn't compare with any of the new signings, but a player we already had on our books. His CV looks comparable to Ciampinis to me.

The 3 other main new forward signings to the Grandslam team were Balmas, Watling and Simpson. None of those 3 were coming off high scoring seasons, although Watling's CV did shout out 1st line centre.

If, as suggested, we still have our 1st and 2nd line centres to sign and a 4th line winger, we may yet get our Watling, Balmas and Simpson to complete the squad.

In the GS season most of the new forward signings did have an element of risk attached to them, but it came good. I guess we just need to hope that Fox has done his research well and gets as lucky as he did in the GS season.

Regards

Doom

[ginger]

Every team usually has some veteran leadership though - Belfast had it with Lake, Goodwin, Long. There's a lot left now with Tansey retiring, so don't see too much problem with bringing in veteren presence, especially a natural centre who wins draws for a third line role, when we're clearly going to be able to roll 4 lines more consistently next season.

Our current over 30s are Dowd (not really slowed down yet in scoring terms), Jasper (who proved he has the legs, does need to hit the net more), Archambault (essentially a PPG in Slovakia last year - better PPG than Watling had before signing) and now Collins. (Not counting Greenfield since there's zero concerns ability wise).

If our final three forwards are 30 or under, I don't think it's a particularly old forward group.

[Al Murrays Hairbrush]

The rumoured Aatu Aarnio, defensive D man signs.[u

[url]https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/3 ... aarnio/url]

[Doom]

I can't say I'm overly excited by our new additions so far, but Aatu looks decent enough.

Generally at the lower end of his Liiga teams +/-, but we're very unlikely to get a top end defenceman from that league who is only 25 years old.

As a rule Finns have been good for us, so hopefully Aatu continues that tradition.

I wonder which defensive line he'll be on.

Regards

Doom

[Clear The Zone]

Welcome to Sheffield Aatu D-man.

Hopefully he's more mobile than his Star Wars namesake.

[Jayboy]

I can here it now... Rock the block


Ring a rink of roses... a team full of posers.. Aatu Aatu they all fell down....

Jayboy

[smbmetal]

Welcome to Sheffield Aatu.

My favourite part of the signing article:

"With significant experience in Liiga and a reputation for strong defensive play, mobility and competitiveness, Aarnio adds size, stability and quality to the Steelers blue line as preparations continue for the 2026-27 campaign".

I like to see a defenceman DEFEND first.

[Jayboy]

Welcome to Sheffield Aatu.

My favourite part of the signing article:

"With significant experience in Liiga and a reputation for strong defensive play, mobility and competitiveness, Aarnio adds size, stability and quality to the Steelers blue line as preparations continue for the 2026-27 campaign".

I like to see a defenceman DEFEND first.

I 100% agree... i have to say I am not a massive lover of the Ben O Connor school of defending and would much rather see a dedicated defender that sees it an insult to let anyone near the net... i do recognise the need for good transition through the neutral zone and great vision and passing that can open up a defence etc.. but my preferred ratio for these guys is 4-2 in favour of stay at home true defenders versus the offencive minded defender..

Jayboy

[ginger]

Very similar Liiga stats to Huttula, so the hope has to be we're getting a slight upgrade there.

Always hard to judge more defensive dmen from EP stats. +/- in isolation doesn't help (and definitely not when your forwards apparently couldn't score more than 1 a game most nights)

Great age to pick him up at so there's definitely positives here on paper

[MLL79]

From an observation point of view only - we seem to be young at the back and old up front. Typically it’s the flip of this.

They’re hardly inexperienced, just interesting it’s going that way.