Don’t see why Hopkins couldn’t have at least a half-dozen 20-goal scorers next season. Offense won’t be an issue.HopFan16 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 20, 2019 7:18 pmI heard the opposite. Don't think he's coming back. I would expect an announcement soon.
Lot of talk about the defense lately, and for good reason, but not much about the midfield. Obviously Cattoni's loss is not as impactful as Foley's but he was still a guy who looked like he might be some kind of contributor, even with the two large caveats that his early goals were generally of the garbage variety and that you never know how someone will come back from a knee injury (see: Supinski, Drew).
That said, I have it on good authority that Concannon is coming back for a 5th year. To my eye he's looked incrementally better each year removed from the ACL in 2016. From 3 to 10 to 18 goals, I think it's fair to pencil him in for 20+ this season assuming good health. Someone floated the idea of moving him back to his natural attack, and while I wouldn't completely rule that out, I think it's far more likely he stays at midfield where they can run him through the box and get him on a shortie. If there's a candidate to move to attack from midfield, Forry Smith is my pick.
The 6'3'', lightning fast elephant in the room is one Evan Zinn, whose development I think is going to be pretty crucial to any hope of success for this team in 2020. The Jays simply need an alpha dodging midfield threat to take some pressure off Epstein behind the cage and Williams on the wing. If Zinn is given more opportunity on offense (and yes, shoots better than he did as a freshman), it could go a long, long way. DeSimone figures to round out the 1st unit. I assume the second unit will be comprised of some unpredictable mishmash of Keogh, Baskin, Stagnitta, Lilly, Degnon, and perhaps a freshman: Brunner, Schreiber, or a converted attackman (Angelus, Murphy, Krampf).
Faceoffs look to be in good shape.
Defense and goalie play remain the big question marks. That is shocking when defense should be, on paper, a strength of this team.
There will be a lot on the line this Spring. At this point, Hopkins is a solid top-ten team. Get that GAA to around 10 goals per game and I think the Blue Jays can make the Final Four.
DocBarrister