G

Hey all,

I just recently read a little info on this guy and was curious what everyone's take was on him. The article I read was that he was gonna be cutting in on Spezza's icetime and Spezza was probably (maybe already has) been moved off his line to move Vermette up.

Spezza is on a good run, 7goals and 6 assists in last 13 games and I was wondering if this guy is really good enough to take away from the hot skates like that?

My inquiry is more on the Fantasy level... any info/opinions who be great

Thanks,
G

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Craven Morehead

Vermette plays hard every shift, and the points are coming around for him now. Spezza is a so talented offensively, but his defenseive aspect of the game is still a big flaw. He may comeback into the play in the defensive end, but he looks lost out there. Vermette on the other hand can play the penalty kill (as a rookie mind you) and is not a liability at times 5 on 5 like Spezza can be. However, in about 3-4 years, Spezza will be a superstar, so no worries for him there.

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bigbigjim

I know he's a natural centre but is Vermette not playing left wing right now? Antoine looks solid but I don't think Spezza is gonna have a big drop off in ice time. He's the future in Ottawa.

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Nasher

I like what Vermette does but Spezza is to good of a player not to become a superstar in this league.

G

Happy New Years everyone!

Thank you for the inciteful replies.... I too hold Spezza in high regard (as a whole) and thats why the brief article I read regarding Vermette suprised me.

Do you think he will make a Fantasy impact this year?

G

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Just a Fantasy hockey guy

Craven Morehead

Vermette's scoring is improving. He's starting to play more with some offensive players now because his defensive responsibility is great. Jacques Martin will give him more ice-time as the season progresses I think, but I wouldn't be picking Vermette as my first pick.

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hockey nut

That article I believe was before the Boston game and from what I saw, Spezza did see reduced ice time and Vermette did have more time than him in that game although I think it was fairly close.

It is excellent that he is getting more time on a potentially offensive line rather than on the 4th line and him with Havlat and Bonk could be awesome especially with the speed him and Havlat have, how do you stop that when the 3 all are working hard.

I must say though that it is very premature to use the term superstar for Spezza at this stage. I think he's a good player now and getting better and should definitely become a star in the league. I personally reserve the term Superstar for very few players, I think that the term is used far to easily by fans and the media. I think a superstar is someone who can make great things happen at any time, raises the level of play on his team and of course also leads a team to a very high level of success. At this time, I'm not sure that there are any players playing that do that but there are many stars in the league.

Superstars to me include the likes of Gretzky, Lemiuex, Orr and of course some others but if there are any playing right now, they don't stand out enough to qualify. Just an opinion from a hockey fan and if there are some playing right now it could be a very interesting discussion.