Punkned Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 There's a thing I don't understand. BG said after the Dogs won the Calder cup that 3-4 (or was it more) of these guys are NHL-ready. But looking at this summer moves, I wonder how many NHL rooster spots are really opened for the young guns: We have 3 established center: Koivu, Plekanec, Smolinski. So guys like Chipchura or Grabovski would have to steal Lapierre's spot on the fourth, sending Lapierre back to Hamilton... We have 4 right wingers: Ryder, Kovalev, A.Kostitsyn, Kostopoulos We have 4 left wingers: Higgins, Latendresse, Lahti, Bégin So wingers from the farm will have to outplay Kostitsyn, Lathi or Kostopoulos to earn a regular spot (most likely Kostitsyn or Lahti, as the pospects we have need more ice time than a fourth line's time...) If guys like Chips, Grabs, Locke, D'Agostini, and other are NHL-ready, why not give them a real chance to make the big club? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexstream Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 Cracking a rooster spot is easier than cracking a rooster egg... IMO, there is no spot left for the youngsters, BUT, some can impress and kick a vet out. Remove Lahti, add Murray on the 4th, switch Begin to the 3rd (who's learned to be disciplined) Put Lapierre as a fix as the 4th C. So Ferland, Chips, Grabs, Lahti, etc actually have to STEAL that spot... as opposed to "earn" it. Actually, the only spot in shabble is Murray's... but there, I won't be surprised if Ferland gets it from the get go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easy Ryder Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 There is still plenty of time to figure day 1 club but i can assure of one thing day 1 and day 82 will not be the same club. Bob did what every othe rGM should do, hype his prospects but not give them the job.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMMR Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 There are also injuries as well as the 13th forward spot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeLassister Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 Cracking a rooster spot is easier than cracking a rooster egg... IMO, there is no spot left for the youngsters, BUT, some can impress and kick a vet out. Remove Lahti, add Murray on the 4th, switch Begin to the 3rd (who's learned to be disciplined) Put Lapierre as a fix as the 4th C. So Ferland, Chips, Grabs, Lahti, etc actually have to STEAL that spot... as opposed to "earn" it. Actually, the only spot in shabble is Murray's... but there, I won't be surprised if Ferland gets it from the get go. I don't really wish Ferland in our roster (i have a good feeling on D'Agostini but i'm the only one here... ) but Lapierre said in an interview that Ferland was the closest to the NHL in the Bulldogs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tokyohabs Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 D'Agostini will probably do another Hamilton year, no? Plus, 3-4 guys might mean some d-men as well. Not all the available roster spots might be forwards. And as Easy points out, game 1 to game 82 can entail a lot of changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habitforming Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 Ferland didn't sign yet did he? Actually, I don't care ...what does Ferland bring to the table? Another fourth line player, yeah, that's what we need. Why give a spot to him when we have TALENT in the system with no spot to play in? As for D'Agostini, I love his game and he will get a call up this season for sure; although he has every intention of stealing a roster spot this fall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Nasty Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 (edited) A roster spot doesn't mean they will play every game. The team can carry 3 extra players. Also there are the injuries. We will see a lot of young players playing a lot of NHL games...we just won't see 4 new guys playing 82 games each. Out: Bonk, Samsonov, Johnson, Perezhogin, Rivet, Souray...we may even see Murray get the boot. In: Hamrlik, Smolinski, Kostopoulous, Gorges and maybe Lahti (Gorges and Lahti may not get a regular roster spot either). If my math is correct then that is 3-4 new spots available already. I would argue that that is too many. You lose a few guys with injuries and suddenly dipping into your 7th "new guy". It is safe to assume that Lapierre and Kostitsyn have already made the team. Then you add Latendresse, Higgins, Komisarek, Plekanec, even Ryder and you have an extremely young team. Edited July 18, 2007 by Mr. Nasty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punkned Posted July 18, 2007 Author Share Posted July 18, 2007 A roster spot doesn't mean they will play every game. The team can carry 3 extra players. Also there are the injuries. We will see a lot of young players playing a lot of NHL games...we just won't see 4 new guys playing 82 games each. Out: Bonk, Samsonov, Johnson, Perezhogin, Rivet, Souray...we may even see Murray get the boot. In: Hamrlik, Smolinski, Kostopoulous, Gorges and maybe Lahti (Gorges and Lahti may not get a regular roster spot either). If my math is correct then that is 3-4 new spots available already. I would argue that that is too many. You lose a few guys with injuries and suddenly dipping into your 7th "new guy". It is safe to assume that Lapierre and Kostitsyn have already made the team. Then you add Latendresse, Higgins, Komisarek, Plekanec, even Ryder and you have an extremely young team. Yeah, seen that way there are enough rOster spots advailable... can't wait to training camp... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habitforming Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 A roster spot doesn't mean they will play every game. The team can carry 3 extra players. Also there are the injuries. We will see a lot of young players playing a lot of NHL games...we just won't see 4 new guys playing 82 games each. Out: Bonk, Samsonov, Johnson, Perezhogin, Rivet, Souray...we may even see Murray get the boot. In: Hamrlik, Smolinski, Kostopoulous, Gorges and maybe Lahti (Gorges and Lahti may not get a regular roster spot either). If my math is correct then that is 3-4 new spots available already. I would argue that that is too many. You lose a few guys with injuries and suddenly dipping into your 7th "new guy". It is safe to assume that Lapierre and Kostitsyn have already made the team. Then you add Latendresse, Higgins, Komisarek, Plekanec, even Ryder and you have an extremely young team. There is no way they bring up a young player and have him as the extra guy for the bulk of the season. It makes no sense at all to sit them and stall their development when the could be playing big minutes in the AHL and developing further. They either play regular shifts or don't play in the NHL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Iron Lung Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 Injuries, trades, benchings, slumps, the flu, etc... those facts of life ensure auditions for some youngsters at various points in the season. I am looking forward to seeing Corey Locke when he gets his eventual call-up. Andrei Kostitsyn was my boy last year... he's gonna have some fun this year with a full-time job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saskhab Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 You notice that you included 2 members of the Bulldogs Championship team in your roster? Lapierre and A Kostitsyn could easily be part of the 3-4 NHL "ready" players Bob was talking about... so we could only be talking about 1 other NHL ready player. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhfarber Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 not to mention the fact that Gainey also made reference to O'Byrne's ability to make the team out of camp which adding to Kostitsyn and Lapierre makes 3 AHL graduates on the roster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chips Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 What excites me is the potential that exists on our depth charts. We have kids in every category that could jump up and play any night in the NHL thats confidence that you can bank on and not every team in the league can boast that kind of critical man power in the farm system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prime Minister Koivu Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 What if we trade away a current roster player and a prospect... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShortHanded Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 What if we trade away a current roster player and a prospect... we're deep enough to do that, but who??? Lemme guess: Ryder and someone... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chips Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 What if we trade away a current roster player and a prospect... This will happen; specially if we are contending in a good position for a playoff run. Expect it come the trade deadline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShortHanded Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 This will happen; specially if we are contending in a good position for a playoff run. Expect it come the trade deadline. or possibly sooner than that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BTH Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 You notice that you included 2 members of the Bulldogs Championship team in your roster? Lapierre and A Kostitsyn could easily be part of the 3-4 NHL "ready" players Bob was talking about... so we could only be talking about 1 other NHL ready player. Yep. What Bob said was perfectly true - Kostitsyn, Lapierre, O'Byrne (who Bob believes to be ready and we're talking about a quote from Bob so it's pretty damn relevant) and then there are three maybes, Grabovski, Ferland and Price. I don't think Ferland will ever make our team and Price will probably next season. Grabovski, who knows. I don't think we'll ever have a center spot open for him but maybe he'll play LW for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfposi Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 Yep. What Bob said was perfectly true - Kostitsyn, Lapierre, O'Byrne (who Bob believes to be ready and we're talking about a quote from Bob so it's pretty damn relevant) and then there are three maybes, Grabovski, Ferland and Price. I don't think Ferland will ever make our team and Price will probably next season. Grabovski, who knows. I don't think we'll ever have a center spot open for him but maybe he'll play LW for us. Ya, Grabs will likely play wing. Seems like Carbo like having 2 centers on each line for face-off prowess. Grabs is an exciting player to watch and makes things happen with his speed and creativity. I see Kovalev hands on this kid...but much much faster. The only downside is his size. He has been injured several times, but if he continues to mature and buid strength, he can be a VERY valuable player. I truly hope we see a Lil'#### - Grabs - Big'#### line one day soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BTH Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 Grabovski reminds me of Ovechkin. The way he plays a lights out, fireball style. What he doesn't possess is Ovechkin's aggressiveness and possibly his finish either. I know Grabovski is great at creating chances but I haven't seem him finish too many of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chips Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 Grabs and Little Kosts; have a future in the new NHL; They can survive I'm certain they will contribute sooner than we we think. Lit. Kosts will light it up in Hamilton next season. Can't wait for him to get going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tokyohabs Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 Grabs and Little Kosts; have a future in the new NHL; They can survive I'm certain they will contribute sooner than we we think. Lit. Kosts will light it up in Hamilton next season. Can't wait for him to get going. Hope so. Seems tailor-made for their respective success. Being our resident Chips fan, what is your take on him grabbing a roster spot? Strengths? Weaknesses? Is what he brings to the table needed by the Habs now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chips Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 (edited) Hope so. Seems tailor-made for their respective success. Being our resident Chips fan, what is your take on him grabbing a roster spot? Strengths? Weaknesses? Is what he brings to the table needed by the Habs now? To be honest. I think he needs another year in Hamilton and a few games in Montreal through the season. Then the following year could be his first full season. I watched him play in Hamilton during the Calder cup run. He was very impressive. Taking many of the big faceoffs and his line was a big reason why any momentum that the opposition tried to mount was stopped! A very good two-way game. If we need a call up that is reliable, he would be my choice. He has a presence on the ice and his leadership abilities will grow next season in Hamilton. I'd like to see him contribute on the score sheet at a higher pace. He has moments and games that he dominates in points but I think he will continue to improve on this as well. If he grew a bit more and put on some weight to improve his physical game it would only add to his value; but he carries himself well on the ice and is a stand up physical leader in the corners and in front of the net. He needs to mature and in time this will be a reality, but that kid has experienced much in his short career. From Team Canada, to the responsibilities as a Captain, to a member of the Calder Cup WINNING bulldogs. He needs to be challenged cause this kid responds well and the next challenge for Chipper is the NHL. The final call will be made by Carbo and Gainey. Carbo was in Hamilton to watch the bulldogs win the Calder. He knows first had what Chips can bring to a teams chemistry and he is a big part of the clubs future. And I will be a happy camper the day Chipper puts on a Habs Jersey for our Beloved Canadiens; he will make us proud. Edited July 19, 2007 by Chips Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tokyohabs Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 Thanks for the analysis. We hear a lot about him, but wanted to know a bit more than the occasional youtube clip. Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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