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GAME#50 Habs vs Knights 7:00 Jan 18 2020


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10 hours ago, BCHabnut said:

Lehkonen is too good to trade imo. His point production is such a small part of his game. His contracts will never be huge because of he doesnt put up numbers but his play away from the puck is almost perfect. His trade value would likely not match his value to the team as a 3rd liner.

 

Excellent post, you captured my thoughts about Lehkonen perfectly.  His value would be more understood on a contending team. Pretty much a perfect 3rd line player. 

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2 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

 

Indeed. That said, whenever he gets a scoring chance, I automatically assume it's not going in, and this is a safe assumption. Lehks is thus a frustrating guy on a team with an eviscerated top-6, because he's not one of those tweeners who can move up and down the lineup and produce - he's an old-school checking forward. Nothing wrong with that at all. In the 1980s he'd have been a prospective Selke candidate.

 

Fair point, he creates more chances than most because of his speed and work ethic. If he had more of a scoring touch he would easily score 30 goals a year and his paycheque would be much higher. Like any player, do you get good value for the money you pay?  Given everything Lehkonen does I think the answer is yes. 

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1 hour ago, Commandant said:

With 11 goals already.  Hes more than a fourth liner.  Hes a perfect third liner 

I said 4th because on this bubble team he would not play ahead of Tatar, Domi or Drouin on LW 

or Gahlagher, Kovalchuk on RW

 

On a stacked cup contender I am not sure he plays higher 

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The thing is, Lehkonan just might end up on the 4th line. We have a week off then a month till the trade deadline to see what kind of run we can go on... we have 17 games left until the deadline (4 vs playoff spot competition) My guess is we need to go 12-5/ 11-6 to have a realistic chance and need to win those 4 games in particular. The good news is we have only 1 back to back left for the season.

I envision a healthy line up possibly looking like

 

Tatar Danault KOVALCHUK 

Domi SUZUKI Gallagher

Drouin KK Armia

LEHKONAN Poehling Cousins

 

Byron Thompson Weal

 

- sorry to all the Domi @ C guys but to me we are better with Suzuki at C and Domi utilizing his speed off the W

-Poehling is looking to good to send back down although odds are he will be a casualty to him being waiver exempt.

-I have us trading Byron and Thompson as I would be shocked if Thompson is brought back next year. Keep in mind both Byron and Thompson are wearing an "A".

 

 

That's a very solid line up as long as Kovalchuk continues to play at an "elite" level.

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That may be true in this lineup.

 

But i think it shows that when healthy, most teams, not even the cup contenders are as deep at wing as this team is. 

 

It needs more top end talent, but the amount of 2nd/3rd line wing talent is huge and yes some guys like Byron can be moved. 

 

The problem, of course, is that winning teams aren't typically built on the wing, they are built at C and D, where we aren't good enough in top end talent at C, and on LD.  That and Price has let the team down at times this year. We see the wins when he plays well.

 

As for Domi, he scores more at C... as we saw with his six-game goal streak, and we saw all of last year. 

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They have to decide who the centers are moving forward, 

 

Domi as just mentioned does much more damage at center ice

 

Domi

Suzuki

Danault

KK  

 

Poehling is playing well on the wing 

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1 minute ago, alfredoh2009 said:

Kk to Laval, Domi as 3C

 

 

I'm no fan of KK, but they're not sending him down.

 

Domi is an interesting case. A dynamic offensive player, much more productive at C, and gives you the offence of a legit top-6 C. But his defensive coverage and decision-making is sketchy. (We could say the same of Suzuki, but he hasn't been in the league five years, like Domi. In the case of Mad Max, you have to think that what we see might be what we get in this regard).

 

A really good team, then, probably would not have Domi at C...yet his value at W is more limited. Much as I like the kid, then, it's possible that he will turn out to be one of those guys who is well-suited for weaker teams, i.e., teams that are willing to accept significant holes in a centreman's game because they need the production. That's different from a team built on the classic Cup-winning mold of strength down the middle.

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10 minutes ago, alfredoh2009 said:

Kk to Laval, Domi as 3C

 

 

Once again, I'm glad you aren't GM of this team.

 

You don't send the kid down who is earning his ice time in the NHL at 19.  If he wasn't playing, it would be different.

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As per Marc Dumont on the Athletic, if I am in Bergevin’s seat I am gauging the trade value of all of our pending ufa and rfa players. Eg., what is Domi looking for in a new contract? If he is seeking a number that I don’t like, as GM I’m looking for a major return. Similarly, I would start the auction on Kovalchuk, Thompson etcetera.  What about Tatar? What would be a good enough offer to let him go? What if miraculously we are within 3 points of a playoff spot, do we suddenly become buyers? Bergevin needs to have decisions made now so that he is ready at the deadline.

As much as I think a mini-sell off would be the best for our long term future I can’t help hoping for a playoff spot and the continued renaissance of Kovy 2.0 in a Montreal jersey. For once, I’m glad that i am not the GM 

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17 minutes ago, Commandant said:

The superbowl weekend will be a big one in determining where to go... florida and columbus, two.teams we need to gain ground on

 

Florida has been hot, all of a sudden they are ahead of the Leafs. Habs will have to get really hot to get there, not impossible but the odds are not good. Getting Armia back certainly helps. 

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3 hours ago, Chris said:

Poehling is playing well on the wing 

But keeps getting plastered into boards at least couple times/game. But do love mix of his good skating, skill and size.

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2 hours ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

 

Florida has been hot, all of a sudden they are ahead of the Leafs. Habs will have to get really hot to get there, not impossible but the odds are not good. Getting Armia back certainly helps. 

 

The odds aren't good... but like I've said before, I'll cheer for them to win (and not tanking) until they are completely out. 

 

Getting Armia back helps, and as I said in another thread, they are likely to get Drouin, Gallagher and Byron back soon too, 

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Winning is the best option imo. even if they miss the playoffs  by a game or two. If they can play the wave attack with a healthy line up and convince themselves that they can compete, that confidence and a tweak or two may be all that's needed. I hate the tank option.

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10 minutes ago, BCHabnut said:

Winning is the best option imo. even if they miss the playoffs  by a game or two. If they can play the wave attack with a healthy line up and convince themselves that they can compete, that confidence and a tweak or two may be all that's needed. I hate the tank option.

So basically what they've been trying the last 2 season 🤔

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2 minutes ago, Habsfan89 said:

So basically what they've been trying the last 2 season 🤔

Yes. 2 years ago, my complaint was that there were no impact players at any position in their prospect pool. This is no longer the case. They have a top 5 ranked prospect pool by most knowledgeable analysts. Stay the course I says.

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1 minute ago, BCHabnut said:

Yes. 2 years ago, my complaint was that there were no impact players at any position in their prospect pool. This is no longer the case. They have a top 5 ranked prospect pool by most knowledgeable analysts. Stay the course I says.

 

Nope

 

If bergevin cant snap his fingers and make an instant cup winning team from scratch that means hes the worst gm in nhl history and this team is doomed forever.  No patience at all.

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38 minutes ago, Chris said:

How long is patient? 

 

8 years not enough? 

 

MT and CJ systems are almost identical, it doesnt work with a small perimeter teams. 

 

Weve been over this multiple times...

 

Then plan changed in 2018..  the first MB team was ripped up and a new team is being built after that point 

 

You keep bringing up 8 years... ignoring the fact that the entire plan changed at that point... hence Max, plekanec, markov, galchenyuk, eller, and others all being moved on. Changes were also made in development with Bouchard being brought on.

 

You can keep bringing up 8 years but you ignore that the first 6 years which resulted in a contender (multiple division titles, a final four appearance) that couldnt get over the hump changed course when things fell apart in in 17-18 season

 

We are in the middle of the second season of the reset.  According to insiders Molson made the call to instruct Bergevin to change directions that year, so he sees it as year 2, so should we.

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56 minutes ago, BCHabnut said:

Yes. 2 years ago, my complaint was that there were no impact players at any position in their prospect pool. This is no longer the case. They have a top 5 ranked prospect pool by most knowledgeable analysts. Stay the course I says.

I had mentioned that next year is the year they need to go in for a cup run. If we can resign Kovy and add a playmaking D to go along with the rookie Romanov, this could be a really good team.

I think a package of Byron, lehkonen and Poehling could land us a top LD.

 

When's the last time Montreal had 3 lines that can score on their team? That could happen if Kovalchuk comes back.

 

Tatar/Danault/Kovalchuk 

Drouin/Domi/Gallagher 

Suzuki/Kotkaniemi/Armia 

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46 minutes ago, Habsfan89 said:

I had mentioned that next year is the year they need to go in for a cup run. If we can resign Kovy and add a playmaking D to go along with the rookie Romanov, this could be a really good team.

I think a package of Byron, lehkonen and Poehling could land us a top LD.

 

When's the last time Montreal had 3 lines that can score on their team? That could happen if Kovalchuk comes back.

 

Tatar/Danault/Kovalchuk 

Drouin/Domi/Gallagher 

Suzuki/Kotkaniemi/Armia 

 

Agree, that's 3 good looking lines. I guess it depends on what it would cost to resign Kovalchuk, don't think you would go for more than 1 year. 

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23 minutes ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

 

Agree, that's 3 good looking lines. I guess it depends on what it would cost to resign Kovalchuk, don't think you would go for more than 1 year. 

Yeah but he is still getting paid by LA is he not from the buy out? So maybe he re  ups in Montreal for less on a 1 year deal plus team option for a  2nd year.

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8 minutes ago, Habsfan89 said:

Yeah but he is still getting paid by LA is he not from the buy out? So maybe he re  ups in Montreal for less on a 1 year deal plus team option for a  2nd year.

 

He is on LA's cap.   He is not getting paid.... he choose to forego the money on a mutual contract termination... but the cap hit remains cause he's 35+.

So he gave up like 10 million just to get out of LA, and he's only made back about 400,000 of that on his Habs contract. 

 

1 year deal makes the most sense... he can get like 4 million in salary and you can add bonuses to the contract as long as its 1 year.  

There is no such thing as a team option in the NHL.... its either a 1 year deal, or a 2 year deal... no option years. 

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