Habs Fan in Edmonton
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Posts posted by Habs Fan in Edmonton
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25 minutes ago, tomh009 said:
The "games above .500" would really be zero if you include the OT/SO losses ... and that applies to ALL divisions since no games were played between divisions.
Good point, I realized that later upon further analysis. My post was misleading. My bad.
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3 hours ago, Commandant said:
we keep talking about a weak canadian division, but then we look at divisions that had the three awful California teams, or others that had that awful Buffalo and Devils team, all of whom were worse than the worst Canadian team.
Also the next year, 5 of 7 Canadian Teams made the playoffs with the normal structure.
The Habs also beat Vegas, who won the cup soon after.
So that was a narrative at the time with the Canadian division was weak. But I'm not sure if it was true.
Good post, agree 100%. We beat a strong Toronto team, Winnipeg was a really strong team but they fizzled after beating Edmonton 4 in a row. I think they went downhill after the Scheiffle suspension (well deserved) and never recovered. And of course Vegas was really good, Tampa just too strong for everybody. The Canadian Division wasn't nearly as bad as some suggest. The Division itself was 35 games over 500 so far from the worst division.
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7 minutes ago, dlbalr said:
Here's the portion of note from it:
Thanks. Definitely sounds like Guerin was very interested,
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26 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:
I think if a player has back-to-back PPG campaigns at age 23 and 24, it’s reasonable to expect similar production at age 26. Last season (18 games) has to be a write-off due to mental health issues and injuries.
We will find out the answer pretty soon, I would be thrilled with a PPG.
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3 hours ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:
Let’s not allow the Habs’ 21st century history of lacking elite offensive talent to skew our expectations in a needlessly pessimistic direction. Point-per-game production is a fully realistic expectation for this player. He produced at that level in 2021 and 2022 on a team that was no stronger than this one; and he has been a PPG guy at other points in his career as well.
So IF he plays 82 games, then 80 points is a fair expectation.
Whether he can actually play a full season without missing significant time is much more questionable. He hasn’t done that since 2019.
60 points in 60 games would be my guesstimate of his overall production this season. But we should be slotting him in as a PPG player.
Over the course of his career Laine has scored 388 points in 480 games which is .81 pts/game and would work out to 66 pts. in 82 games.
Now being an optimist, if Laine stays healthy and Dach stays healthy and Marty can work his magic on a player who hasn't been mentally healthy then certainly 75-80 pts is not out of the question. I think Marty is a confidence builder and will play a huge role in Laine's success this year. Finding a good fit on the other wing will also be important (assuming Laine and Dach play together).
I find it interesting that in Laine's 1st 3 years he had more goals than assists whereas the last few years he has had more assists than goals. Perhaps his passing ability is somewhat under rated as we tend to focus on what a good shooter he is.
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43 minutes ago, dlbalr said:
Their GM suggests otherwise. https://www.startribune.com/neal-wild-wanted-laine-laine-did-not-want-wild/601135775
I agree they were an odd fit with their cap situation but it sounds like it was pretty close to getting across the finish line.
I can't pull up the article without registering but it does seem strange that a team with less than a million in cap space could pull off a deal when Waddell was pretty clear he didn't want to retain. I guess they would have to include some significant contracts. Certainly possible I guess if Guerin really wanted him.
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15 hours ago, dlbalr said:
Worth noting, it looks like Minnesota had a deal to get him earlier but Laine indicated he didn't want to go. Not sure if the Wild were on the NTC list or if he just made it clear through his agent that he didn't want to play there.
I don't think they had a deal, perhaps Minny expressed an interest but they have almost zero cap room. It would have taken a whole lot of juggling to take on his contract.
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19 minutes ago, Sir_Boagalott said:
Plus, Laine didn't have to waive his NTC to be moved to Montreal. It is a destination he wanted to play in.
Yes, he made it quite clear in the interview after the trade that he was happy to come here. I think his exact words were "it didn't take much convincing". The players seem happy to have him. I think Marty will be a great coach for him. Let's get going!!!!
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11 minutes ago, DON said:
We know his coach is biased, but sounds good to me
https://rg.org/news/hockey/olli-jokinen-oliver-kapanen-can-steal-a-spot-at-canadiens-camp
“He’s been too good for our league so far this preseason; playing like a dominant force in every single game. He’s been great offensively, scoring some goals, but also defensively and in the faceoff circle, which will be his biggest advantage going into Montreal. He’s the type of player you can put anywhere, because his hockey sense is very high.”
It does sound very good. Could the Habs have too many good centres in a couple years with Beck and Hage also coming up? What a nice problem that would be.
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17 hours ago, DON said:
Hopefully not any kids Habs will get to draft.
A WAY TOO EARLY 2025 NHL DRAFT TOP 5 RANKING | Scouts' Notebook - YouTube
Maybe with the Calgary pick if Florida misses the playoffs? Wishful thinking I know.
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Florida did ok for a light team but it proves that skill/IQ is more important than size but if you can get both it's nice.
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6 minutes ago, dlbalr said:
Generally speaking, Hockey DB rarely updates their heights/weights over the years which has led to some significant discrepancies. That said, this aligns with the height/weight from the Habs which might be a first.
I was watching Marinaro's podcast recently where he and McCagg were talking about Reinbacher and McCagg said he had definitely grown so it will be interesting to see how he measures up at camp.
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13 minutes ago, Commandant said:
Let's just give him a nickname
I suggest Popcorn..... cause his name is close to Orville Reddenbacher.
Good idea, but I like Orville as a nickname better, a good old fashioned name for an old school (maybe) type of defensemen.
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3 hours ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:
Oilers have no choice but to pay those guys.
Challenge will continue to be how to fill out the rest of the roster. Perhaps the cap goes up significantly
Agree on both points. Oilers had no choice but to sign Draisaitl. If he goes then McDavid likely goes.
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11 minutes ago, GHT120 said:
The VERY early guesses I have read for the 25/26 salary cap ceiling is a $5M increase to $93M ...
If that is correct then Hughes might end up looking like a genius for locking up his guys to long term contracts.
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8 minutes ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:
I expected a huge salary and 14 million a season is certainly that. I wonder how much McDavid will get then?I think the number is no surprise, I expect McDavid will get in the 16M range but that will depend to some degree on what happens to the salary cap.
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Draisaitl signs extension, no surprise.
https://www.tsn.ca/nhl/edmonton-oilers-sign-leon-draisaitl-to-eight-year-112m-extension-1.2168722
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17 minutes ago, BCHabnut said:
Ya. The puck skills and skating analysis were way off. His cuts are phenomenal. And the puck is glued do is stick skating speed maybe, but there's more to skating than speed. The dude is Denis Savard shifty.
I don't think the skating analysis was way off. No question he is shifty and his cuts are very good but speed has to count for something and he is no Cale Makar in that department. I think above NHL average is pretty accurate.
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7 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:
Fortunately, unlike with what Subban had to put up with, we have a coach who will not crap his pants every time the kid makes any sort of mistake (even if the kid reliably gets himself out of the trouble caused by his mistakes, as Subban did).
I agree 100%. I think Marty is the perfect coach for a young, smaller, talented player who wants to get better. Nobody knows better than Marty what it takes for a smaller player to survive and thrive in the NHL. Plus Hutson is such a smart kid that I expect he will learn quickly from his mistakes.
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1 hour ago, Commandant said:
If you call his puck skills average, I doubt your entire evaluation of Lane Hutson (not Don, i doubt Pronman)
I would have probably put his puck skills at above average and his shot as NHL average but I am no scout by any means.
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1 hour ago, DON said:
Maybe be like a Emelin/Romanov?
We can just hope Habs skills coaches can help improve or build up his game over next few years.
And that is the key, if Protz can improve his skating then he will be a very interesting prospect. Romanov was definitely a better skater at the same stage of his career but Protz is still young, has a great attitude and built like a tank. Improving his skating is what he needs to do.
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6 hours ago, DON said:
Armia, unlike Anderson can defend well and be on the PK at least.
Would be great to see Armia continuing to play same as he ended last season, with 3pts 12 shots in last 5 games.
Yes, Armia can do a lot of things. It will interesting to see what version of Armia we get this year. He had 17 goals in 66 games which is pretty decent. It is the last year of his contract so you would think he will be very motivated.
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Don't know what else to add. Another terrible tragedy because somebody decided to get behind the wheel while impaired and so many lives affected.
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17 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:
He scored 50 twice and was an absolute beast of a player - superstar calibre - when he did that in 1989-90. The problem was, he never came anywhere close to that level again. He could never be counted on to bring his 'A game' from night to night, let alone from year to year. That's why I say he was a second-line W. We now know that he had mental health issues, so I'm not blaming him, but the fact is, he was not the player he could/should have been and could not be relied upon to drive an offence. He was a supplementary piece. Muller, on the other hand, was the best non-goalie on the 1993 team - the key to the entire engine.
Richer was a ridiculous talent but inconsistent as you say. Muller is the kind of player you go to war with.
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Habs acquire Patrik Laine +2026 2nd for Jordan Harris
in Habs & Hockey Talk
Posted
That is the least of my concerns. He seems happy to be in Montreal, his teammates seem happy to have him. My only concern with Laine is staying healthy