With the club opening its season Friday night at the Dunkin' Donuts Center, Murray now examines Providence's defenders, including eight blue-liners with a wide range of professional service time and two rookie AHL puck-stoppers.
Defensemen
Yury Alexandrov
"The first thing with Yury is we're battling to get through the translation part of things. But one thing about Yury, even though he doesn't speak English, we really feel that he has a good grasp and hockey knowledge, so even though you can't explain a drill to him in English, he grasps the concepts and he gets into it really good. Yury is a guy that really defends well with his stick. I don't know how much offensive output we'll see from him but I think defensively he's a guy that's real solid. Obviously he's played a couple years in the KHL, which is the Russian pro league, so hopefully that experience over there will allow him to step into the American League, not necessarily seamlessly, but hopefully it makes his transition a little easier."
Andrew Bodnarchuk
"Andrew is a guy that, going into his third year, I've kind of equated him a little to his partner from last year, Adam McQuaid, where Adam really took a hold of the team in a leadership role in his third year. I think that Andrew is actually, just in the little bit we've been around so far, doing that. And we're looking for big things from him, not only from a leadership side of things on and off the ice, but also with his play. His progression has shown that he should be a top defenseman in this league."
Ryan Donald
"Physical defenseman. I think we've come to realize that his calling is going to be as a defensive defenseman in bringing grit, bringing a nastiness to his game. He's a guy that is very well put together and he needs to use his physical attributes as far as playing physical, taking the body and keeping things simple out there, which I think he's kind of got that down as far as the way he approaches the game. He's a guy that is a free-agent signing, there is potential there and hopefully little by little he can get better all the time."
Alain Goulet
"Gou is a second-year player that spent the whole season here last year that we saw some improvement with, and hopefully he can continue that projection as far as getting better. In his second year, he should have a little more confidence, a little more poise out there and I think that he's a guy that can play the power play. He's not necessarily considered a top defenseman, but his plus-minus was decent and probably on the plus-side last year considering the team we had. He's a solid player that needs to continue to progress and get better all the time."
Steve Kampfer
"We saw Steve last year. He showed great maturity for a young guy coming out of college. Great poise, great confidence level and I think he carried that into this year's rookie camp in Boston. He's a young guy that, even though he's a rookie, I think we feel he's a guy we will probably lean on quite a bit this season."
Nathan McIver
"We're looking for Nate to come in here and bring some experience and veteran leadership. Nate plays with an edge and we're going to need that as far as physical presence on the backside. I think he's really kind of suited for that defensive style hockey. He's not necessarily a guy that's going to put up too many points, and I think he realizes that, and his focus is on being a good solid defensive defenseman that is going to be very hard to play against."
Jeff Penner
"Jeff's kind of in the same boat as Andrew Bodnarchuk. Jeff's not a guy necessarily that by nature is a leader but by being a third-year player and knowing and having had success with us in the last couple years as far as the way he played, earning a call up to the NHL last year, that I think his progression, not only for Jeff but also for the benefit of the team, he needs to, just like Andrew, show that these guys are a couple of top defensemen in this league."
Cody Wild
"Cody is a guy that has been tabbed as an offensive defenseman. I don't know that his calling might be in that direction. He's a real competitor. Blocked shots last year, which really surprised me. I wasn't expecting it. His defensive side of the puck was good and he blocked shots like crazy. To me that's making a commitment, making a sacrifice for his team. His offensive abilities are what they are. That is what he's supposed to be good at and we'll have to let those come through, but I think that what surprised us more than anything last year, not knowing him as well or not knowing what we had for expectations, he was solid defensively and even on some nights was playing as a shutdown defenseman. It's good that he can be multi-tasking basically out there."
Goaltenders
Matt Dalton
"With a year under his belt in the East Coast League, playing a full season, for the most part just playing is important for young guys, whether it be here or in the East Coast. He was in a dogfight all training camp here with [Adam] Courchaine and [Michael] Hutchinson and I think his experience has shown through and hopefully he brings that to his game. He's very athletic and active in the net."
Michael Hutchinson
"Big, tall goalie. Moves well from side to side, plays the puck well and he's poised with the puck. Obviously, being a rookie he's got some learning curve in front of him in terms of learning the league and the abilities of his opponents. He's looked very good through training camp, had a good year in juniors last year and I think that he's a guy that needs to play to get better and better and we'll see where he fits in as we go forward."
