bobby
-
Posts
585 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by bobby
-
-
Still, Nick Petrecki seems so much like Mike Komisarek at the same age, its hard to see him not becoming a left handed version of big Mike at the NHL level as well. They are both from N.Y., both went to the EJHL and won top rookie award, both played the following year in the USHL and developed reputations as big hitters and shut down defenders, both highly recruited NCAA prospects, both with big shots and untapped offensive potential......Komisarek was listed at 6-4, 225 for the 2001 draft but he was 19 at the time. Petrecki, at 17, is listed at 6-3, 213. B). If they come out of the draft with another Mike Komisarek with the 12th overall pick, I would have no complaints.
-
I suppose the underperformance by the 2007 draft eligible players at the U18 is offset somewhat by the fact that an unusual number are excelling in the USHL (against mainly older competition), along with Patrick Kane, Sam Gagner, Jakub Voracek, and Zach Hamill (top scorers against mostly older comp) in the CHL. That is unusual as well.
7 draft eligible USHL players scored as many or more points this year as Kyle Okposo did a year ago in the league. Including a defenseman, Colby Cohen.
-
Yeah, as things sit it looks like the Habs will have to look at future role players and complementary pieces out of this draft. It looks like Van Reimsdyck might be out of their reach in terms of a trade up, he may be at the head of the class after the U18 tournament. If the dropoff after the top 9 or 10 players is widely perceived, that would really devalue their #12 pick as well.
The more worrisome thing might be the way Rivet (and a few other ex Habs) are thriving elsewhere. Former coaches as well. That isn't going to make it any easier to convince Souray or Markov to stay in Montreal, and it will make it more difficult to attract replacements for any F.A. they do lose.
-
Draft is always unpredictable at the best of times, but if you look at this year's crop, it is hard to find much to get excited about after the top 10 or so. I think the "expert" may be right in this case. I was optimistic about the draft until I saw what happened at the U18 tournament.
As an example, Angelo Esposito is generally regarded as a top 10 pick this year, but he isn't any different than Ben Maxwell who the Habs got in the late second round last season. Matter of fact Maxwell was much more impressive at the U18s a year ago than Espo was this season.
-
Apparently he is a huge Habs fan and would love to play for us. I think he is some sort of free agent this year.
Anyone seen him play? His stats aren't overly impressive. A third liner if the third line is more offensive?
No idea about his cap hit either.
What makes you think he is a Habs fan? Reading his bio, he says the person he would most like to meet is George Bush. Loves Nashville for the C&W music and southern hospitality. Not the sort who would be dying to relocate to Montreal by the sound of it..
-
Buying out Samsonov means wasting all the money they saved by sending Theodore to Colorado, basically. But then so does paying him to sit on the bench or play in the minors.
As it sits, Aebisher will be gone next season without ever earning the 2 mill or so per season he cost, and another 3.5 goes down the toilet for Samsonov. That pretty much negates any savings from dumping Theo. -
Hartnell can, and has, played all three forward positions. He was a center in junior. He is younger than Mike Komisarek and already has played about 500 NHL games. I think he was team captain in Nashville when he was 20 or so.
edit - He was team captain in junior as a 17 year old, but not in the NHL yet.
-
Hartnell makes more sense than Daniel Briere to me. He is big, tough, and versatile. It is like the difference between Samsonov and Bonk. Both earn about the same amount of money, and neither is producing offense like they did in the past, but because Bonk has more aspects to his game he can still contribute, and no one is cursing the day they hired him. But I think that Hartnell would cost as much as Samsonov or Bonk, easily. He will sign for 3.5-4 million per year, I think. But if they lose Souray and a couple of others, that wouldn't be unreasonable with the salary cap increasing this year. Hartnell would be a great role model for fellow P.A. alumnus Kyle Chipchura, as well as other young players in the system. He always gives a full effort and doesn't shy away from the dirty work. He would be more useful than Kovalev, I'm sure.
-
To add insult to injury, in the words of one draft analyst, "The dropoff after the top 10 is like a chasm.....". Montreal drafts 12th.
-
Not nearly as many as mid first rounders. Especially in what is looking like a very weak draft. I've never seen the U18 dominated by underage players to the extent it was this year. The best Russian, Canadian, and a lot of the American players were 16 year olds. Top end prospects for the upcoming draft were consistently overshadowed by younger teammates. So, no late 1st rounders have ever become good-great players?At the time of the deal, the Rivet trade looked pretty good from a Montreal point of view. At this point is looks like a giveaway. Plus it isn't going to be lost on Rivet's fellow free agents in Montreal and around the league how much better things turned out for him once he left the team.
-
2007 draft class took a BIG hit at the U18 WC. Most of the best players on nearly all of the teams were underage for the upcoming draft. First round draft picks are going to be tossed around like nickels this year, I think.
To make matters worse, the pick Montreal got for Craig Rivet (who is playing like Raymond Bourque in San Jose) is disappearing off into the distance as the Sharks march through the playoff rounds.
It llooks like any return they get for Rivet will have to come from Josh Gorges. -
Marky, if he was Danny Bryar from Flin Flon, do you honestly think his name would pop up in every free agent thread on the board? Do you really think that knowledgable habs fans would be saying "What the team really needs is a 5-10, 180 pound, soft, one dimensional forward, who will be 30 years old to start next season. Pay him ANYTHING, just get him here!"? :? How much different is he from Koivu, Plekanec, Grabovski, or even bleeping Corey Locke? Locke is around the same size, had some huge junior seasons comparable to Briere, and his stats in the AHL this season as a 22 year old are similar to what Briere did in the AHL at that age. Same for Grabovski.
-
Posters here want to give Briere $6 million or $7 million per year mainly because he is French Canadian. Otherwise they would be saying it would be ridiculous to pay an undersized 30 year old who has only had a couple of good seasons in his career that much. They would say "look at Samsonov, Briere is no different than him.....yada, yada....". There is no gaurantee he would want to come in any event. Andre Savard offered Pierre Turgeon and Martin Lapointe even more money than St. Louis and Boston wasted on them when they were UFAs a few years back. Neither wanted to play in their home province. Can you imagine Savard's legacy if he had thrown away another $30 million or so of George Gillet's dollars on those two?
-
Just to expand on the USHL thing, Sam Gagner scored 46 points in 56 games there a year ago. One year later in the OHL he scores 118 points in 53 games
. He finished second in scoring for Sioux City to Phil DiSimone who had 53 points in 60 games. DiSimone is back this year and has 72 points in 58 games. Second leading scorer on the team MAX PACIORETTY has 64 points in 58 games.I have to think that a USHL point is worth as much as an OHL point, or a QMJHL point.
-
THE DANIEL BRIERE CASE : IF BUFFALO LOSES IN THE 1ST OR 2ND ROUND, IT COULD BE GOOD FOR HABS (PROVIDED WE HAVE THE MONEY OF COURSE) :
Based on the first game, forget about Briere, go after Chris Drury or Dainius Zubrus. B)
-
No, moron, give him a chance to develop into a team leader. Briere was on the ****ing waiver wire a few years back. It isn't like the team hasn't tried in the past to buy their way to success. Kovalev, Samsonov, Linden, Juneau, Audette, McKay, Perreault, Turgeon. Those all worked out smashingly well.
What exactly is the difference between Briere and Samsonov of a couple years back? The fact that Samsonov had a much better career to that point and was a year younger?
-
Briere had played 200 NHL games and had 100 points at the age of 24.
Plekanec has 150 NHL games and has 75 points so far in his career. Plus he lost a potential NHL season to the lockout. That is pretty damn close between the two of them. Pleks is about 25 pounds heavier, but otherwise they are very similar.
-
I doubt that Briere leaves, he is very much a product of the system there. Tomas Vanek had a reputation as one of the worst defensive players in the league, and he is a +47
. Jason Pominville was never anything special and suddenly he looks like an All Star. At least Drury has been consistent wherever he has played and has the reputation for durability and leadership. I would be upset if the Habs signed Briere because his numbers would take a big dive and he wouldn't be as good a two way player as Tomas Plekanec. Pleks has just as much talent and he is a lot sturdier, as well as being 5 years younger. I think the days of signing players like Briere in order to appease a certain segment of the fan base and media are gone. Thank God. 
-
Yeah, you pretty much have to look at the group of players taken as a whole in any given draft. Looking back at the Habs history, it was the exception more than the rule when they picked their best prospects with their earliest picks.
It's not cheaper to live in Russia than North America. Moscow is like the 3rd most expensive city to live in.And in Quebec, foreign(non-North American) workers are subject to lower tax rates.
I don't think that either Emelin or Valentenko play or live in Moscow. Can't argue about the respective cost of living in the countries, but given the recession that occured in Russia recently, it seems strange that the cost of living would be higher than it is here. I beleive that foreign workers are also taxed in their home country, so even if they pay less in Quebec than a native, they probably have to pay more overall.
-
Maxim Mayorov did not make the final Russian U18 roster. If he was cut and not injured that is bound to cause his draft status to tumble.
-
Well, I seriously doubt that Emelin is making anywhere close to $1 million a season in Russia at the age of 20. Probably around $150k per season, max. Still that is more than he could make in the AHL, and the cost of living in Russia is probably a fraction of what it would be in North America. As a foreign worker he would have to pay higher taxes here as well, I believe.
-
I would have no problem offering rookie max, they both looked better than most of the first rounders they played against at the WJC. The sticking point is probably the two way contract, since the AHL salary is only about 1/10 of the NHL salary. Generally if a player can play regularly in the NHL they are worth the 900k or whatever the rookie max is. But if they are borderline, the team is better off to keep a minimum wage guy on the team and send the max player to the AHL. This works out to the advantage of the kid who signed the lower contract since he can be sitting on the bench in the NHL for $450k per season, while the guy with the higher contract is busting his ass in the AHL for around 90k per season.
-
Actually in rereading the new draft rules, it appears that #20 might be the highest possible position for the pick they got from the Sharks. Again assuming that SJ loses their first round matchup with Nashville and none of the regular season division winners makes the final four. Pretty tall order...
-
I'm really curious about the two russian DMEN, I was please to see how they played at the WJC but thats all I've seen of them.
That is the only time I've seen them play as well. But the scouts and coaches who choose the National Team in Russia would be watching them all the time, and they seem to consider them the best of their age group at the position. Russia is conventionally considered the #2 hockey country in the world behind Canada, so that amounts to pretty high regard.
Looking ahead to 2007 draft
in Habs & Hockey Talk
Posted
I have to believe that Alex Plante will turn out to be a solid NHL player as well. He has pretty much identical numbers to Karl Alzner with the Hitmen, plus he is 8 months younger and substantially bigger. In limited viewing, I haven't seen the terrible defensive play that some ascribe to him. He certainly isn't as smooth a skater as Alzner, but for a guy who is 6-5, 220 pounds, he gets around pretty well.
The combination of size and offensive production that Plante and Colby Cohen posess certainly makes it worth the gamble to see if their defensive play comes around.