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Habs Fan in Edmonton

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Posts posted by Habs Fan in Edmonton

  1. 11 minutes ago, GHT120 said:

    It all depends upon what Guhle/Slafkovsky would ask for ... the concept is that as they have not yet fully established themselves they might accept less than they could ask for next summer if they have strong 24/25 seasons ... on the other hand, they might want to "gamble on themselves" and wait until their ELCs are complete ... but its worth at least asking.

     

    It's certainly worth asking. It's always tricky for a GM to decide whether to do a bridge deal to get a better idea of how good a player is or try and lock them up long term. It worked out great for Colorado signing Mackinnon to a 7 year contract after his ELC as he exploded in to one of the game's great players and was tremendous value but it doesn't always work out that way. Brad Marchand was another value contract for the team as his contract of 6.125M is great value for a guy scoring over a point a game BUT sometimes the player just wants the security of a longer term contract. It depends a lot on what the player wants. 

     

    Then you have Gallagher's contract, not so great value. I have faith in Hughes in this area though as contract negotiations is something he is pretty familiar with. 

  2. 34 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

     

    The same concerns were expressed about Hughes, though.

     

    I haven't studied Hutson, but Hughes is on a 92 point pace (!!!!). He is an absolute master. So he is probably not a fair comparable. What is reasonable might be to say that Hutson is the same kind of player as Hughes. I mean, if he came in and developed into a 70-point D man, I'd call that good, LOL.

     

    I think most would say that Hughes has elite skating ability which allows him to make up for any other deficiencies he might have. Hutson's skating is not quite the same level. I think you could say the same kind of player in that their offensive game dominates. Hutson needs to get stronger and he certainly could. 

  3. 44 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

    Interesting reference re: Panarin. This management team clearly has an eye on the Big Move that will kick-start the rebuild to the next level - it’s a question of timing. It might or might not be this summer,  but I would not at all be surprised if we do see some really major move(s) before October.

     

    Agreed, it is a question of timing.  They gain some salary space this year with Edmundsen, Alzner and Pearson coming off the books (approx 5.7M) although Monty's new contract at 3.1M kicks in. However they do gain a lot of space after next year with Petry, Allen, Armia and Dvorak all coming off the books (approx 12M) plus the cap is going up so a year from now they should have the funds for a big free agent acquisition if they want to go that route. The wild card is that a lot of the young defensemen will be coming off entry level contracts and will need raises. 

  4. 13 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

     

    Well, yes - I’m not denying that! Thank God we’ve been maximizing assets, because the team we have is garbage.

     

    This was probably an outlier game, i.e., an especially lacklustre performance from a team coming off a disappointing loss in EDM, missing its iconic coach, and with nothing to play for. Nevertheless, it was an abject lesson in how truly far away we are from being a serious team. 

     

    I wouldn't call it garbage. They just need some secondary scoring. They are headed in the right direction. I am not surprised that this game was a bit of a letdown as they put up a tremendous effort in Edmonton and were the better team in most of that game. 

  5. 6 hours ago, GHT120 said:

    I think Hughes has done exactly that ... BPA means the player that a team has ranked highest on their internal draft lists when their pick comes up, not the various "expert" rankings ... 

     

    Of course, the opinion of the BPA is going to vary from team to team, it might be the same when the pick is obvious (ie. McDavid, likely Celebrini) but it's not always obvious. 

  6. Evan's strength is in his hockey IQ/anticipation (his stick got in the way of many Oiler passes), his faceoff skills and work ethic. He did score 13 goals a couple years ago which probably had many of us thinking that his offensive game would have more to it than he has shown the last couple years but he hasn't been blessed with great linemates either. 

     

    His +/- is usually among the best on the team (some think that stat is useless, I think there is some merit to it). I think at this point in his career he is what he is, a very responsible 4th line center who you like to have out there when you are protecting a lead late in the game. He will never hurt you. 

  7. 36 minutes ago, DON said:

    How are Mailloux-Harris-Barron-Kovacevic-Engstrom valued by other GMs i wonder?

     

    Good question, I think Mailloux has the most value of that group and would get the most in a trade but he also has a lot of value to the Habs with his offensive skills. I think Engstrom is the sleeper of that group but obviously 1 or 2 of those guys will be gone at some point. Guhle, Arber and Reinbacher are likely the keepers and we need to find out if Hutson's skills are translatable to the NHL. I can see Barron being moved as I just don't think his defensive skills are good enough but his offensive skills might interest some teams. 

  8. 1 hour ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:

    Game stats show the usual Suzuki, Slafkovsky at the top but Xhekaj had an amazing game. 
     

    Game stats also continue to show that Matheson is either at the top of the stats or at the bottom. He never has a mediocre game, it’s either great or terrible. 
     

     

     

     

    Arber is a keeper!!  At some point the Habs will have a decision to make on what defensemen to keep and he is not going anywhere. 

  9. A very interesting top 15, makes me wish the Habs could trade up with the Winnipeg pick and have a 2nd one in the top 15. Again it shows how all over the place the picks are after Celebrini. Demidov looks like a ridiculous talent. I think he had Silayev at 13, have seen him #2 or #3 in some mock drafts, that is quite a difference. Parekh is a wild card, such amazing offensive skills. It will be a very interesting draft. 

  10. 4 minutes ago, DON said:

    6'3" 210lb Centre Cayden Lindstrom, must be already ranked pretty darn high on Habs scouting list.

     

     

    I hope so as I like Lindstrom. Size without skill is useless but if you can get both!! 

     

    You also don't need to be a monster. Suzuki is only 5' 11" but he is over 200 lbs and has excellent core strength and balance. He is hard to knock off the puck. A lower center of gravity is not a bad thing if you are strong. Certainly part of the reason Suzuki doesn't seem to get hurt much.  I would take another Suzuki in a heartbeat. 

     

  11. 1 hour ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

    Reading the earlier parts of this thread, it's clear that a lot of us were worried that HuGo had gone for size over skill. I was also bothered by the "W over C" aspect of the choice.

     

     

    I don't think a 17 year old can lead the Olympics in goals and be MVP playing on a big ice surface without having a fair bit of skill. I just think there was too much hype regarding Wright because he peaked early (declared a generational talent when he was 16).  He still may be a very good NHL player but the hype was a little much. 

     

    Obviously the Habs went with BPA instead of worrying about position. It's still early though. 

     

     

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