Sir_Boagalott

2 quick Sens goals in under 50 secs sunk the Habs. Harvey Pinard had a great chance with 5 secs left but the Sens goalie came up with a big save.

That was a nice goal, and great timing with under 1 min left in the 2nd. It almost makes me wonder if Norlinder never learns to be a solid defender if he could be converted into a winger? He definitely has offensive flair.

It is funny to see a dman score on a wrap around. That certainly isnt common but it does happen once in a while. Didn't 1 of the Habs dmen do it last season? I vaguely recall that happening, where someone scored on a wrap around and I couldnt see their # and as soon as I did I was shocked at the play. Thx for the game link!!

I dont think thats a big concern. I agree with what @Meller93 said. Plus, I heard that he has been criticized for not shooting enough, but 2 yrs ago he did play with Hall for half a season. I think part of that was due to Hall being a "star" player with a much better shot than Dvorak. ex: if playing with a sniper like OV, you might think to give him the puck vs shoot yourself type scenario. However, for some reason, Dvorak and Hall didn't really gel. Dvorak had decent #'s with Hall, but he should have done better.

For me, I think they should easily be a Wildcard playoff team. However, exactly as you mentioned, if the Habs win their regular season series against the Leafs, Bruins and Bolts, they might be able to pull 1 of those 3 teams down into the wildcard spots which could lift the Habs up into the top 3 of their division. Those 3 teams are likely better than the Habs, but if those teams have any injuries the Habs might surprise everybody and end up being a top 6 team in their conference. That will only happen if they manage to win their series against 1 or all of those 3 teams. Those 3 series will be vital and every 1 of those games should be viewed as playoff games.

He went 4-4 in SO last year. Thats why I've been saying that he's a SO specialist, and he's got numerous OT goals too. He does seems to be an absolutely perfect fit, because surprisingly; it seems like he'll help all special teams. i.e. PP, PP, OT, SO, faceoffs, and even have a puck moving dman effect. He should be linked with Edmundson. That is a valid point, but he is definitely under rated, and after 1 season with the Habs he'll be rated more properly. i.e. he'll have way better linemates with the Habs than with the Yotes, so it shouldnt be a surprise to see him hit new career highs. It's not just defensive awareness either - watch his goal highlights. He basically does the same thing in the offensive zone too. i.e. he seems to be highly adept at being a good "wingman"; where he knows to position himself for puck support purposes. ex: wherever 1 of his linemates has the puck he's often 10-15 feet off to side of them and in the middle of the ice and wide open, so if his linemate gets into any trouble he is an easy pass option for them. Honestly, his scoring seems too low, but that should increase. Over an 82 game season he's average 22-23g over the last 2 seasons. Last year he got 17, but but he had 5 multi goal games. How many players that get under 25 goals and get over half of their goals in multi goal games? That seems highly unusual to me, I would think players with that many multi goal games could get close to 30. Also, his 1 shot totally reminds me Anderson's. i.e. the puck comes near their stick, and they just rip into a dangerous wrist shot. He has an almost identical 1 timer wrist shot that Anderson has, and Josh gets close to 30 g/yr. Another similarity to Anderson is how he gets off decent hard shots in tight to the crease. Toffoli is also good at that too.

The 1st part of the rumour regarding him retiring seemed potentially plausible, but the 2nd part of him playing hockey in another league seemed highly suspect to me. That part didnt really make any sense. i.e. if there is something about hockey that triggers him, he'd likely have to quit playing hockey entirely. If his trigger is related to Montreal or the Habs, he could just play for another NHL team and not play in any games against the Habs.

That is interesting and I cant help but wonder what Drouin's issue is. Since the moment he left I've always said that depending on what the exact reason there is no guarantee that he will ever return to hockey. I imagine that its related to a traumatic event that causes depression, anxiety and/or CPTSD. If thats the case hockey could be a severe trigger for him and he might have to stop playing to ever heal.

I dont recall Vegas really doing that. Vegas had most of their goals from faceoff wins and their dmen scoring. Ultimately, in the playoffs if you get to the Finals you only face 4 teams so there are only 4 coaches that you have to outsmart. Then there is the issue of a Coach knowing what needs to be done, but not having the right players to be able to do it. The Vegas Coach might have figured out dump n chase but didnt have the right guys to do it. Their team wasnt designed to play like that. I'm not 100% convinced that MB big slow dmen plan is a great idea and I'm pretty sure a dump and chase team could circumvent that concept.

Geez, after watching these highlights I'm almost wondering if he might even be the puck moving d-man the Habs need? Sure, he doesn't play defence but he seems decent at moving the puck up the ice. I loved the assist at 1:27.

Thx!! Thats another thing that confuses me when I see clips of him. He looks so damn good it seems insane how he was over looked for an entire draft and was drafted in the 3rd rnd in his 2nd year of eligibility. That just seems absurd and makes no sense. I have think of the Seinfeld ep where Kramer is the Karate champ because his class is full of children. It makes me wonder about the level of competition Norlinder is playing against. He pulls off some great moves so flawlessly that it seems as if he could do it 99 times out of 100. It seems so natural to him that it does look like there is a strong chance that he should be able to do it in the NHL.

Oh, you mean like a team with big slow d-men that keep the other teams forwards to the outside can likely be easily countered by a dump and chase team? (Ssshhhh!!)

Wow, you rate him that high; thats great to hear. It's hard for me to know what to think of Norlinder. I've seen a bunch of clips of him where he looks amazing and is dancing around players with the puck. However, I have no idea what level of competition he is playing against in any of those clips. ex: a really good AHLer should be able to dance around guys who can barely make the OHL, but that obviously doesn't translate to being able to pull off those moves against NHLers. Being able to do that against NHLers is what matters.

Its hard to say for sure, but I think they are in a much better place to make the playoffs then not, especially when you consider their issues over the last few seasons. Numerous of their issues that were previously making them a bubble team per se seem to have been fixed. The acquisition of Dvorak should be big. ex: he will improve their PP, PK, he's way more offensive than Danault, and he's likely good in OT, and be a shooter in any SO too. i.e. for several years the Habs were losing points stupidly, they had a bunch of games where they should have won but they ended up with 0 or 1 point. With Dvorak, they should win more of those games, so they should be able to finish several points higher than the previous years where they barely missed the playoffs. That itself should put them in the playoffs. Similarly, the same idea with Allen too. Another big part of their bubble team issue was a lack of a decent backup G, and thats been fixed. i.e. they've had Allen for 1 season, and made the playoffs. If and when Price cant play they have a much better chance at wining those game with Allen then without him. The Habs have had a crap ton of 1 goal games, that they've lost; along with tied games that they lose in extra time. A lot of those 1 goal loses should now be ties, and most of their tie games should now be games they win. Its not like every time they dont make the playoffs that they have been way off the mark. Usually, when they fail to make the playoffs, its only by 2-3 games. Dvorak and Allen should help them win numerous of those really close games where in previous years they lost those games and missed the payoffs by 4-6 pts. Then there is the Caufield co-factor as well. He should be at a minimum a 30 goals scorer, if not close to 40 or more. Having him play for an entire season should also be a huge help to make the playoffs.

Well, it depends on how they play the lines; but if they use the traditional 1st line gets 22+ mins I think I'd like to see: Drouin / Suzuki / Caufield (1st scoring line) Hoffman / Poehling / Anderson (2nd scoring line) Toffoli / Dvorak / Gallagher (checking shutdown line) Lehkonen / Evans / Armia However, if they play all 4 lines avg 15mins +/- 1:30mins; I'd do this: Toffoli / Suzuki / Anderson Hoffman / Dvorak / Gallagher Drouin / Poehling / Caufield Lehkonen / Evans / Armia My reasoning: crystal meth. No, but I think if Suzuki's ceiling is 70-80 pts he will get that without playing with Caufield. Same with Caufield, he should get the same amount of pts not playing with Suzuki. If you split them up their linemates should get more points than they would not playing with them. ex: Poehling might get 60 pts playing with Caufield, but wont get anywhere close to 60 playing with anyone else. Theres so many combos that could be done, and that would totally work, but which combos will maximize all players output? Getting the maximum amount of points out of every player is the trick.

It's hard to say what the exact problem is; and I dont think its all one or the other, its a combo of both. i.e. rushing guys too quickly, or taking forever with them. ex: rushed kk and Chucky, and taking too long with Poehling. It was interesting when Bouchard left Laval because he made a comment that he dint like how the Habs developed players. I would love to hear him say more about that. I'm actually impressed with whoever does the pro scouting; because they seem to have a knack at targeting players that do what the Habs need. Plus they seem to be decent at determining who's the best a X skill and the most underrated and cheapest to acquire. It's funny because I dont think the Habs are very good at drafting, but MG seems to excel at pick collecting; and being really good at using those pics in other trades. Who? Totally kidding, but ya who could possibly forget to mention Caufield.

I honestly dont get why anybody was nervous regarding the younger Tkachuk. If anybody is bored try doing what I did: Google NHL brothers, there are at least 3-4 sites with great lists. Then go through the lists and open up the older brothers player profile page. 1st look at what draft position the elder brother had, then check the younger brothers. If their draft positions were within 5 spots of each other, then check to see if the older brother went directly from Junior into the NHL, if yes how was their rookie year? Then check if the younger brother went directly into NHL and look at their rookie year - and it will be on par with the older brothers. Under that exact criteria, there are lots of examples where more often than not, the younger brother is actually the better player. Great ex: Sylvain, drafted high and went directly into NHL had a really good rookie year, it was no fluke that Pierre was drafted high and went directly into NHL too and had a really good rookie year, and the younger brother turned out to to be the better Turgeon. Check it out, its wild, and there are lots of other examples of that. Under that identical scenario drafting the younger brother is 1 of the safest picks you can possibly have.

Exactly! I just watched numerous vids of his goals over the last several seasons. (this vid was in dlbars link) and this 1: Dvorak is likely a downgrade defensively to Danault but he is way better at PP, PK, and he even looks to be good in OT plus be a shootout specialist too. All of those areas needed serious work and he should improve them all. He should help them win more of those close 1 goal games. He seems to have impressive offensive hockey IQ and when he doesn't have the puck. i.e. he seems have a knack for constantly moving around a lot and with intent and purpose of getting himself open to shoot or set up plays. i.e. some C's move around a few feet and wait for something to happen. However, it seems like Dvorak understands the who, what, when, where, and how, plus sometimes why to move around a lot to create or cause something to happen. He seems to have a decent shot thats accurate, a fast release, good at deflecting, and has a great backhand. For some reason there is something about him that reminds me of Toffoli. I'm thinking he might exceed expectations similar to Toffoli. I think Dvorak should get 50+ pts and possibly over 60 pts. I believe he'll be a great fit and if he plays with Gally I could see Dvoarak increasing Gally's g's to 35+/yr and 25-30 a/yr for 60-65pts/yr. i.e. Gally playing with a more offensive minded C could probably get 10 more pts/yr - and for the next 4 years.

Yes, that was likely discussed as reported. However, that doesn't mean that kk has to honour what he discussed with Wadell. Like I've said, kk will probably hold out until the off season just to see how many points he can get this year, and if kk gets close to 50 pts he will probably want a long term contract that starts with a 7. If that happens, Wadell will completely regret giving the offer sheet and will let kk walk after 1 year. I wont be surprised if that happens. Hypothetically, if you were a GM what would you think of kk singing with Canes? i.e. Habs drafted him way above where he would have otherwise been drafted, Habs gave him special treatment and played him in NHL as an 18 y/o. Then kk is purposely impossible in contract negotiations and stabs Habs in spine by signing a contract with Canes. I doubt theres many GMs that believe kk is team player. A lot of the GMs would be smart to want nothing to do with him. I tend to agree that it likely wasnt Hoffman's signing but Armia's along with Byron's contract too. @dlbalr wasnt wrong with saying kk should probably get 2-2.5mil for what he has accomplished so far. However, another hypothetical scenarion where you are the #2 C on a team, how much money would you believe you are worth? i.e. would you really sign for less than what 2 4th line wingers get paid? In that sense it isnt entirely unrealistic if kk wanted over 3.25mil that those 2 4th line wingers get. I think that was a huge part of the problem.

I fully agree, and I believe that Dvoraks #'s with the Habs can only improve. Apparently, he is a decent PK - so he should help improve that too. No matter what happens, if kk does become a 50-60 pts guy, on the Habs Dvorak could become a 50-60 pts guy too. However, if both of them do become 50-60 pts guys, kk will probably want 7-8mil/yr; whereas Dvorak would probably ask for 5-5.5 mil. i.e. if kk gets close to 50 pts with the Canes next year, do you think he will sign for $4 mil/yr? I bet he'd want a raise on his 6.1 mil. Plus, I disagree with people that are saying Dvorak is a short term plan. He's signed for 4 years, and I get the impression that a) he will work out great for those 4 years, and b) I imagine that he'll probably be resigned and for a reasonable amount. While it sucked losing Danault and kk, the interesting thing is that both of them were negative value players. i.e. they both wanted more $ than what they are really worth. Dvorak is likely an equal value to positive value player who should get a minimum of 45+ pts for his 4.5mil. In a salary cap environment - having a collection of players with that mindset is a win.

Well, I didnt say instantly i.e. as a rookie. There was a log jam of young Centres and he was sorta being buried so a roster spot needed to open up for him or he'd likely end up being traded. With Suzuki, kk, and Evans it was sort of a problem. In hindsight, it probably would have made more sense if 1 of the years kk played in the NHL been spent in the AHL and Poehling should have had that NHL opportunity. The draft being a strong year is another reason not to acquire a C and have Drouin play C could have been interesting. ex: keep the picks and just move Drouin to C. If they suck and miss the playoffs their picks would get better. Plus, theres a log jam of Wingers so the Habs might have been able to the good ole 2 birds 1 stone thing by simply moving Drouin to C - that would help alleviate that problem because they'd instantly have 1 less winger. However, @The Chicoutimi Cucumber's comment about stabilizing C is a great argument too. That is an excellent point and a potential explanation as to why Drouin didnt work out at C. Even with or without Dvorak; Drouin wouldnt likely be 2nd but 3rd C vs #1. Suzuki is unarguably the #1 C. That could potentially make a huge difference for Druoin.

I agree with that, but I am conflicted and not sure what my opinion is yet. On one hand, Dvorak is a decent pickup to replace KK; the cost isnt overly high especially considering his salary and contract for 4 years. However, I was sorta hoping to see Poehling get a much larger opportunity. Also, I recently read an article where Drouin claimed he was looking forward to playing Centre again. I sorta thought that was funny, but then again, he would have more talented wingers so that should have to work out way better than before. I think the same with Dvorak too and I'll be shocked if he gets the same amount of points that he got with the Yotes. He'll probably have career highs with Habs because his new linemates are way better than who he played with on the Yotes. I can picture him getting 20+ g and 25-30 A with the Habs.

Ah, ok, that makes more sense. Thanks for that link. That confused me because I always thought it was more compensation, but it goes by player salary. However, the compensation should probably also take into account draft position too.

Wow eh, I'm kinda surprised they let kk walk. I honestly always thought it was dumb that the Habs drafted him in the 1st place, when Tkachuk was unarguably the better choice. Silly question, but did the compensation change? I always thought that the team losing the player would get 2 1sts and a 2nd or possibly 3rd rnd pick vs 1 1st and 1 3rd. That compensation doesn't seem like enough. ex: what GM wouldnt give up a 1st rnd pick + a 3rd rnd pick thats placed 10th-30th to steal a top 5 pick from another team? Oh well, it will a lot of fun to watch Gally beat the crap out of kk every time the Habs face the Canes.

Thx for all the clarifications. I was hoping that would be ilegal. However, I still have a feeling their was tampering on the Canes part. ex: there is probably a good chance that after the Cup Final when kk returned to Finland - and before the free agency started, that he was in contact with numerous Fins that play for the Canes, and they tell him that Wadell wants him so dont sign with Habs. However, that would be impossible to prove without having access to kk's phone records and emails.