Rumours 2025/26 Season

[ginger]

Cardiff rumoured to be in talks with Brandon Hawkins - top scorer in the ECHL last year.

Player himself has said this is not happening on X. However new rumour is Glasgow. No word from player but could be more due to time difference

[Doom]

Watched some of Coventry's highlights last night to have another look at Seitz. We've got a real good one there assuming rumour is correct. He can score, but his passing and vision are quality. He's pretty speedy and has definitely got a bit of grit/gets under people's skin.

Also saw a couple of highlights of Jasper last year - mainly goals/assists but he looks like he's got pace and got a nice shot. Difficult as only limited clips.

What I would say about Jasper is that he's always been pretty high up his teams scoring (usually top 5), but team scoring overall has not been high. Could suggest he's tended to end up on struggling teams so not having good support, and in particular poor transition limiting opportunities to score points. His +/- is poor last year, but again without seeing actual games, difficult to pinpoint why. Is it him, or could it be he was taking lots of D zone draws, and due to law of averages spent a lot of time in the D zone against opposition top lines? Did they concede a few shortys whilst he's on the PP unit?

I'm still wait and see on him, but I'm probably more positive on him now I've had a look in to some of his stats relative to teams he's played on

With Jasper it's the +/- which is my main concern.

It's not the number I concentrate on, but where the player is relative to the rest of the team.

I'd actually feel more comfortable with a player who was -5 and finished second best on his team, over a player who was +10 and finished near the bottom of his team.

Last season Jasper was -23 which was the worst on the team. The two closest were -19 and -11.

I'm sure Fox is very aware of this and many other stats, so if he has signed him, he'll see the benefits of how he fits in to our plan.

Doesn't stop me from being concerned though, until I've seen him play for us a few times.

Regards

Doom

[ginger]

With Jasper it's the +/- which is my main concern.

It's not the number I concentrate on, but where the player is relative to the rest of the team.

I'd actually feel more comfortable with a player who was -5 and finished second best on his team, over a player who was +10 and finished near the bottom of his team.

Last season Jasper was -23 which was the worst on the team. The two closest were -19 and -11.

I'm sure Fox is very aware of this and many other stats, so if he has signed him, he'll see the benefits of how he fits in to our plan.

Doesn't stop me from being concerned though, until I've seen him play for us a few times.

Regards

Doom

I would usually agree, but year prior he's 3rd best on his team in Czechia, so I can't see it being a direct issue with his defensive play, sounds like a bad situation which he obviously wasn't happy in. His DEL time he was never quite as skewed either so it definitely feels like something was just all wrong in Vienna.

Apparently their coach was very negative trying to hit teams on a break, so not much opportunity to play offense with sustained o zone pressure.

[Doom]

With Jasper it's the +/- which is my main concern.

It's not the number I concentrate on, but where the player is relative to the rest of the team.

I'd actually feel more comfortable with a player who was -5 and finished second best on his team, over a player who was +10 and finished near the bottom of his team.

Last season Jasper was -23 which was the worst on the team. The two closest were -19 and -11.

I'm sure Fox is very aware of this and many other stats, so if he has signed him, he'll see the benefits of how he fits in to our plan.

Doesn't stop me from being concerned though, until I've seen him play for us a few times.

Regards

Doom

I would usually agree, but year prior he's 3rd best on his team in Czechia, so I can't see it being a direct issue with his defensive play, sounds like a bad situation which he obviously wasn't happy in. His DEL time he was never quite as skewed either so it definitely feels like something was just all wrong in Vienna.

Apparently their coach was very negative trying to hit teams on a break, so not much opportunity to play offense with sustained o zone pressure.

His Czechia figures are good and his DEL aren't bad (very good points, poor +/-).

I guess the question is, was the drop off last season due to wrong place at the wrong time or age starting to catch up with him and impacting his speed?

If he has signed for us we'll find out in a few months time, but obviously I'm hoping it's the former.

Regards

Doom

[ginger]

With Jasper it's the +/- which is my main concern.

It's not the number I concentrate on, but where the player is relative to the rest of the team.

I'd actually feel more comfortable with a player who was -5 and finished second best on his team, over a player who was +10 and finished near the bottom of his team.

Last season Jasper was -23 which was the worst on the team. The two closest were -19 and -11.

I'm sure Fox is very aware of this and many other stats, so if he has signed him, he'll see the benefits of how he fits in to our plan.

Doesn't stop me from being concerned though, until I've seen him play for us a few times.

Regards

Doom

I would usually agree, but year prior he's 3rd best on his team in Czechia, so I can't see it being a direct issue with his defensive play, sounds like a bad situation which he obviously wasn't happy in. His DEL time he was never quite as skewed either so it definitely feels like something was just all wrong in Vienna.

Apparently their coach was very negative trying to hit teams on a break, so not much opportunity to play offense with sustained o zone pressure.

His Czechia figures are good and his DEL aren't bad (very good points, poor +/-).

I guess the question is, was the drop off last season due to wrong place at the wrong time or age starting to catch up with him and impacting his speed?

If he has signed for us we'll find out in a few months time, but obviously I'm hoping it's the former.

Regards

Doom

Again though, his numbers in the DEL need to be put in team context. Both years his team are poor, getting relegated in his season prior to going to Czechia. Lowest scorers and highest number of goals conceded - overall goal difference was -100 on the season. Multiple guys with terrible +/-, and he still puts up 30 points on a team that won 8 games all year.

He then goes to a comparable league, and puts up good numbers. I've got a feeling he's that borderline player of being high end in DEL2/EIHL, but will only get picked up by struggling teams in tier 1 European leagues.

[Doom]

Just thinking what we've still got to sign, excluding Brits and spares.

1 import defenceman - no rumours to date, but wouldn't be shocked if it's Diffley.

5 import forwards - Jasper rumoured to have signed and would guess Balmas as well. Leaving 3 import forwards, of which I'd expect at least one and possibly two being first line quality.

We need a couple of centers, although Jasper might be pencilled in to play that role.

I'd be concerned if Balmas, Jasper and Juusola were considered all our first line signings and the remainder are 2nd or 3rd line players.

I wonder how many are already in the bag.

Regards

Doom

[ginger]

I'd say 2 unknowns on forwards as Seitz also rumoured.

[Doom]

I'd forgotten about the Seitz rumour.

Although his NCAA numbers are nothing to write home about, he did perform very well for Coventry last season.

It's unusual for Fox to make a move like this, so if Seitz has signed, Fox must have really liked something he saw in his game.

Regards

Doom

[ginger]

I'd forgotten about the Seitz rumour.

Although his NCAA numbers are nothing to write home about, he did perform very well for Coventry last season.

It's unusual for Fox to make a move like this, so if Seitz has signed, Fox must have really liked something he saw in his game.

Regards

Doom

He's good. Quick, really good vision and can finish. Maybe a little green on his defensive game, but 1st year pro so not overly surprised at that

[ginger]

So 2 signings to be announced this week, at least 1 tomorrow. I assume it will be Seitz and Jasper given the lack of other rumours out there. I don't think they are the 2 Fox is referring to in the update yesterday however. No idea on those, Diffley seems to be strongly linked but nothing on him from the usual reliable accounts on X.

I did see a couple of posts from an account that appears to have got some sources (been ahead of the game on a few signings around the league), that suggests we were talking with a player with KHL and Swiss experience. No name, so not sure if he's one of the two Fox mentions but fingers crossed. I've done some digging and got what I think is the most likely name, but all guess work so wouldn't be the most helpful share considering not really based on anything solid. If it is the guy I think it might be, then we will look on paper to have a very solid forward group