Jump to content

Habs biggest need?


puck7x

Recommended Posts

We kind of discussed this in the Guerin/Hatcher thread but I'll re-start the discussion...

What is the habs biggest current need? What type of player do we most need to add to the team? I'd make this topic a poll , but I'd prefer that people posted replies instead of just voting...

So what is it?

- Big-sized top-2 line centre?

- #1 D-man?

- Power Forward winger?

- Big physical d-man?

- other?

In the Guerin thread I choose Hatcher ahead of Guerin ... But in this case I'd take the big-centre. That imo is the habs biggest glaring need at the moment , a huge skilled top centre who is good defensively (can go head to head with other top lines) , can put up decent stats , and takes lots of pressure off of koivu ...

Though a #1 d-man would be real nice... But you could say we already have one in Markov , but 2 is still better then 1. (Look at the wings and Avs , they've each got loads of #1 d-men) ...

The habs actually need alot of things , hopefully our prospects pan out and fill these needs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So what is it?

- Big-sized top-2 line centre?

- #1 D-man?

- Power Forward winger?

- Big physical d-man?

- other?

- Big-sized top-2 line centre?

Well, to answer that we must look at the youngsters we have coming up in the next couple of years.

We don't really have any large skilled center that could play on the top 2 lines with the exception perhaps of Cory Urquhart. The more I look at this kid, the more I feel he could be a second-round steal. If he fills up his frame well (like 6'2'', 210lbs) while furthering his skills, we could have a great second line center.

There's always Hossa, who's big and somewhat skilled, but our little logjam at center and our lack of big wingers will force him to play the wing. And there's Kilger, but as much as I like him, unless he ends up being a very late bloomer, he's nothing more than a third liner.

However, since we already quite a few promising prospects at center, I wouldn't be too worried about that position in the future. Koivu is one of the very good centers in the league, Higgins might not be as big (or talented) as Thornton but he plays with the same desire, and there's always Plekanec, Urquhart , Locke, Hossa, and Lapierre (who could very well end up as our large defensive third-line center).

#1 D-man?

Markov is our current number 1 guy, and is still young. We all agrre that Komisarek will be the number 1 very soon. Hainsey might be a little behind now, but he has the skills and desire to be number 1 too.

Add to that the offensive likes of Beauchemin, Korneev, and Shasbym and the defensive likes of Archer, O'Byrne, and Linhart. Also add some current vets like Souray and Rivet, and we should be just fine. All the kids wont make it, but we only need one or 2.

- Power Forward winger?

Bingo. We have a lot of skills coming but very few of our prospects have skills and size. Kastytstin isn't small, but he isn't big either. And Perezhogin is a little smaller.

Hossa doesn't have what it takes to be a power forward. Our only hope if Ferland, who's become quite a pleasant surprise in the last couple years. He went from being a complete "never will be" to a "hey, this guy ain't too freaking bad". But he still has a long way to go before making it, and his lack of skating really hurts his chances. This kid has to watch some old Andreychuk tapes.

If we need something, that's it. However, I wouldn't pay a fortune to get a big skilled winger. Maybe try to steal one, like Vancouver did with Bertuzzi.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well it's a tough call but currently I'd say we need both a big physical top pairing d-man and a power forward type for one of the top two lines.

Komisarek will eventually be the d-man we need but realistically he's probably 2 years away from contributing at the level we'll need. I DO NOT want to watch Rivet fill that role in the meantime.

We don't have a real big up and comer as a power forward which is unfortunate considering they take longer to develop too. But this is an area we can fill through signings if need be. With Zednik, Hossa, Bulis and Higgins all probably going to be ready with the next 1.5 years I'd say that this isn't a pressing need. I do understand that none of these players is the big physical player that some guys want but let's face it...there are only a few guys like Bertuzzi in the league. There are only about 5-8 wingers of note, currently in the NHL, who would fill what we want. All I'd like to see is guys with grit and okay size.

So for this year, with our offense being what it is and our defense thin and inexperienced I'd like to see a good, solid, physical defensive d-man. One who doesn't turn the puck over like Rivet, Breezy and Dykhuis.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Big-sized top-2 line centre?  

Bingo! That would get a lot of pressure off Koivu, Higgins may be ready sometime next year but he'll probably be moved to the wing and he wouldnt produce much anyway. Hossa I would never put in center because he is too lazy, Bulis lacks the offensive talent to be a top 2 CENTER, not winger, Perreault and Ribeiro... Well theyre Perreault and Ribeiro LOL.

I dont believe we really need much size, we have some decent sized guys coming up. Minnesota, NJ(Not anymore), COL and Anaheim werent big teams either(Actually Minnesota was the smallest team).

But what they had was desire and guys who are strong on stakes. Sakic and Forsberg are about 5'11 bother(Forsberg a bit more, Sakic a bit less), but that doesnt stop Sakic from scoring or Forsberg from dominating physically.

Higgins is almost 6' 200 pounds and hes a pest, hell be fine. Perezhogin is the same size(not smaller like somebody mentionned) and Savard mentionned he was like Zednik, strong on his skates and we know Zednik is impossible to move even though hes 5'11 1/2 and 200 pounds(like Zogs and Higgins). Kastsitsyn will have absolutly no problem, hes plays like Gaborik, with tremedous desire. Ward is big, Hossa is big, Hainsey and Komisarek are big, Beauchemin has a mean streak and is a stay at home defensemen, Quintal is big, Rivet is a ######, Brisebois is a pussy, Souray is big, Bulis Kilger and Dwyer are big. Koivu, Zednik, Markov and Sundstrom are strong on their skates, so I see no problem there. But I just want a big center so he can hit, get into the opponents faces, skate into the goaly, skate through a defensemen and give some support to Koivu.

Defense, wingers, goaltending, we're fine,

Center: OUCH.

sakiqc edited: i fixed the quote

[Edited on 2003-7-9 by sakiqc]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

...Higgins is almost 6' 200 pounds and hes a pest, hell be fine. Perezhogin is the same size(not smaller like somebody mentionned) and Savard mentionned he was like Zednik, strong on his skates and we know Zednik is impossible to move even though hes 5'11 1/2 and 200 pounds(like Zogs and Higgins). Kastsitsyn will have absolutly no problem, hes plays like Gaborik, with tremedous desire. Ward is big, Hossa is big, Hainsey and Komisarek are big, Beauchemin has a mean streak and is a stay at home defensemen, Quintal is big, Rivet is a ######, Brisebois is a pussy, Souray is big, Bulis Kilger and Dwyer are big. Koivu, Zednik, Markov and Sundstrom are strong on their skates, so I see no problem there. But I just want a big center so he can hit, get into the opponents faces, skate into the goaly, skate through a defensemen and give some support to Koivu.  

Defense, wingers, goaltending, we're fine,

Center: OUCH.

:lol::clap::lol::clap::lol::clap::lol:

'...He's big, he's also big, that guy's big, this other guy has a mean streak, he's a ######, that guys sucks, this guy's big, that guy's big...'

:lol::clap::lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Habs need a guy like Mats Sundin. He has size, skill, positive leadership and he produces on a very constant basis. He's someone around who the GM can build his team.

It's not easy to take a model from the leafs team hehe.. but i have to recognize anyway the fact he is a solid fundation. Too bad if the GM wasn't able to build something good around him :P

It's desapointing, because Koivu is far better than Sundin despite his size IMO. Who knows what the Habs would have look like if Saku wasn't injured in 1997? He would have won (maybe) the Art Ross! Maybe the Habs would have solidified the team around him and kept Turgeon, Recchi, Damphousse, Bure, Corson, Tucker, Savage!! But no! Saku Koivu felt, and the whole organisation in the same time :(

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues...0000451997.html

If Koivu remains healthy, he would have become, in his 2nd NHL year, one of league superstar. The organisation would have at this time build the team around him.

Lines today, if we had the same players than in 1996:

Turgeon Koivu Recchi

Bure Damphousse Savage

Rucinsky Tucker

Stevenson Thornton

Malakhov Quintal

Brisebois Rivet

Theodore

Thibault

But.. if Houle don't trade almost all this player, we wouldn't have finish that low in the standings and get Komisarek... and maybe few others like Hossa, Perezhogin, Kastsitsyn, Higgins.

Maybe it was good finally :?- lol

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Put Koivu with guys like Mogilny and Roberts and he'll get about 100 points.

Koivu already produces almost as much as Sundin while playing with average to weak wingers, although Sundin does play with the likes of Hoglund, Renberg, and Tucker (I love Tucker but he's not first line material).

Zednik is the best winger Koivu has had since Recchi, and after him it was Savage and Rucinsky, who are both doing winders without Koivu :guru:

Koivu is very much underrated (even more than Brind'Amour was), but unlike Sundin he's not much of a goal scorer so he does need some good wingers to play with.

Personnally, I still don't think we need to go after a big center. If we have good stong wingers, guys like Koivu, Plekanec, and maybe even Ribeiro and Locke will be just fine. And there's always Urquhart who already has great size at his young age, and if he improves on whatever he needs to improve on, he good be our strong center.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Gainey probably knows, as any other good hockey mind knows, that franchises are built from the net out. IMO, the Habs have a very good netminder in Theodore. The next to come is the very goo (or great) D who can dominate games while playing up to 30 minutes a game. Lidstrom in Detroit, Chelios in his prime, Scott Stevens in his prime, Larry Robinson, Ray Bourque etc. The reason why these D are so important is their ice-time. The amount of ice-time Rivet gets is a sign of the Habs' weakness on D. For the Habs to reclaim their rightful place in the upper echelons of the NHL then Markov, Komisarek and Hainsey have to ALL pan out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...