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Forward Depth: Youth vs Veteran


Trizzak

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Do you think this team would benefit from internal competition amongst the youth, or with the steadying hand of a veteran player?

Take the team as it is now:

Mike Cammalleri / Tomas Plekanec / Erik Cole

Max Pacioretty / Scott Gomez / Brian Gionta

Mathieu Darche / Lars Eller / Andrei Kostitsyn

Travis Moen / David Desharnais / Ryan White

Ignoring differing opinions of line combos, and assuming Eller is healthy to start the season, who would you rather fill the remaining depth forward spot(s) - a youth (Palushaj, Enqvist, Blunden, Trotter) or a UFA veteran (Ryan Johnson, Chris Clark, Brad Winchester)?

I am leaning towards signing a UFA who knows his role, feels a niche need (faceoffs, toughness) and won't complain about playing 41 games or fewer. I think I'd rather have a character guy come to the rink with pom poms on than have talented youth get limited ice time and potentially slow down their development.

Where do you side: youth or veteran?

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As usual with me, it depends. I think there are young-ish guys in the system who wouldn't necessarily benefit a ton from going back to Hamilton. Blunden and Engqvist come to mind there, though I suppose Engqvist in an offensive role could help round out his development a little. If one of those two shows they can handle it, I'd go that route. Of course, if the right fit is there in terms of a veteran, you can never go wrong that way. My preference would be to see them to the tryout route to have all their bases covered.

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This is a real interesting discussion. I guess you have to look at it like a gamble; look at Brad Marchand, he started the year as a fourth liner only to elevate to near the top of the Bruins depth chart by the end of the playoffs. If you get a UFA who's content in that fourth line role, you're pretty much locking yourself into getting that result from the plkayer. If you have a younger, hungry player looking elevate himself higher you may get unexpected production from the lower lines.

I'd prefer to have a younger player on the bottom lines to push those on the 3rd line.

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Good Question/Topic.

I am always pulling for younger players in the AHL, like Engqvist or Palushaj to get a real shot with Habs, but if that means they only get very limited ice time, they are likely better to stay in AHL and play key roles with top minutes.

But instead of signing a retread player, i would prefer to see a Conboy play, who most likely would be fine with limited minutes and do fine on a line with White and whomever as 4th line centre, and let Engqvist/Palushaj/Trotter be call ups for injuries.

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The only problem with Conboy is that he is a 4th liner...in Hamilton. Yes, he'll fight (not all that well though) but he brings very little else to the table. If the Habs are serious about trying to develop him into more than a fringe 5 minute a game half-enforcer, I'd expect him to see regular top-6/9 minutes with the Bulldogs. If they go for a tough-ish guy, it'll be Blunden given his waiver situation and the fact he has a little NHL experience.

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Youth do have a higher chance of moving up in the depth chart because they are young and still have much room for unexpected development... but there is equal chance they will crumble under the pressure.

I love the idea of developing players from within your own organization because i think they would be more loyal too the team and consitancy in the lineup is something i think all fans value and I definitely count myself on the youth bandwagon for that reason and if ownership shows that kind of loyalty too its players i believe that would help and future FA talks in the future :)

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I think it is important to have a nice mix of youth and vets....what I hope to see for forwards:

Mike Cammalleri / Tomas Plekanec / Erik Cole

Max Pacioretty / Scott Gomez / Brian Gionta

Andrei Kostitsyn / Lars Eller / David Desharnais

Travis Moen / / Ryan White / Mathieu Darche

UNLESSS....we can trade Kostitsyn for Pahlsson, Samuel . He was amazing with Moen for the Ducks and then we can give Palushaj the shot he deserves or even Blunden.

Mike Cammalleri / Tomas Plekanec / Erik Cole

Max Pacioretty / Scott Gomez / Brian Gionta

PALUSHAJ / Lars Eller / David Desharnais

Travis Moen / PAHLSSON / Ryan White

Mathieu Darche

That puts 5 young young players as forwards with 7 vets. A nice mix IMO.

On the defense I like these pairings:

Markov - Yemelin

Gorges - Subban

Gill - Weber

Spacek

3 vets on the left and 3 young players on the right.

And obviously we have one of the best young tenders in the game!

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I think you've hit on an interesting name in Pahlsson though moving Kostitsyn for him would be nothing short of ridiculous on the Habs' part. Pahlsson has regressed a lot in recent years and is more or less a 4th line/PK guy now; at $2.65 million for this year, that's pricey. As the Habs have cap space and are looking for a 4th line C, that could be a fit. Given that contract though, the asking price should be quite cheap.

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I think you've hit on an interesting name in Pahlsson though moving Kostitsyn for him would be nothing short of ridiculous on the Habs' part. Pahlsson has regressed a lot in recent years and is more or less a 4th line/PK guy now; at $2.65 million for this year, that's pricey. As the Habs have cap space and are looking for a 4th line C, that could be a fit. Given that contract though, the asking price should be quite cheap.

I think a lot of people here are overlooking Willsie, Trotter and Woywitka.

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I think a lot of people here are overlooking Willsie, Trotter and Woywitka.

I believe Willsie will be in the AHL all year, if injuries are limited and Trotter will see time but he won't be a regular unless he makes a leap.

Woywitka has the best chance but I think he was picked up as more of an insurance role in case, Yemelin, Weber and Diaz or even Spacek regress or do not make a smooth transition too the NHL level.

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I think a lot of people here are overlooking Willsie, Trotter and Woywitka.

If the spot to fill is a 4th line C though, none of these guys fit the bill. Trotter was converted to the wing a few years back, Willsie is only a winger, while Woywitka is a d-man.

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I have Willsie as the 22nd man on the roster if they should go that far. The only guy I see that could unseat him would be Blunden. The young guys don't fit because they need reps which they won't get sitting on the bench . Maybe your are right though and the Canadiens only carry a 21 man roster, which would keep Willsie as a veteran fill-in on the dogs. I think Trotter has to play on third line or up, so I think he will be relegated to callup duty unless he can crack opening day line-up.

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Did Trotter ever play for Boucher? Just wondering because he has to clear waivers to be sent to the farm, and we all know how much Boucher loves his Bulldog teammates/Habs rejects

If that happened I think they would need too rename Tampa Bays affiliate time to Bouchdogs or something :P

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Did Trotter ever play for Boucher?

Just wondering because he has to clear waivers to be sent to the farm, and we all know how much Boucher loves his Bulldog teammates/Habs rejects

If my memory serves me correctly, he played in Europe when Boucher coached. He has some talent, I just don't know if his strenghth and skating will play in the NHL. My hope is that we have a positive reason for bring him back.

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Did Trotter ever play for Boucher?

Just wondering because he has to clear waivers to be sent to the farm, and we all know how much Boucher loves his Bulldog teammates/Habs rejects

Yes, yes he did. When Boucher coached Hamilton in 2009-10, Trotter had his best pro season (77 points in 75 games).

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*facepalm* well it was fun while it lasted Brock!

Stevie is putting together a nice team over there. I hope Wyman gets a fair shot. On the Canadien side, I believe Woywitka becomes the 7th D if both the two imports don"t make the big club. As for the center dilemma, centers would move up and likely White would become the other center.

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I think Woywitka might make it as the 23rd roster spot... last year, the Habs carried 8 d-men when they were healthy enough to have 8 D, I think they might do the same this year with Woywitka in the Picard role.

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Fair enough that Pahlsson is not worth a Kostitsyn but go after draft picks too then.

I guess I"m think of an addition by subtraction.

1. frees up more cap space. I would like to have some money at the deadline and get a player or two fow half price.

2. Attitude promlems gone.

3. UFA anyways

Mainly, I want Moen, White and Pahlsson as a line though, lol

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1. frees up more cap space. I would like to have some money at the deadline and get a player or two fow half price.

Mainly, I want Moen, White and Pahlsson as a line though, lol

The trade would free up like 1 million and we have around 4 million in cap space atm, there are articles (and another thread) about questioning if that is too much.

That would be an entertaining line though :P

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Fair enough that Pahlsson is not worth a Kostitsyn but go after draft picks too then.

I guess I"m think of an addition by subtraction.

1. frees up more cap space. I would like to have some money at the deadline and get a player or two fow half price.

2. Attitude promlems gone.

3. UFA anyways

Mainly, I want Moen, White and Pahlsson as a line though, lol

I honestly don't think they need to move Kostitsyn to get a guy like Pahlsson, nor do I think they want to. For the first time in a long time, the Habs have legitimate offensive depth. If (when?) a winger in the top-6 goes down, I know I'll feel a lot better seeing them plug Kostitsyn in there than a Darche or Moen. I can understand why some want to move Kostitsyn but as I said in my note in the Desharnais piece on the site, enjoy having the offensive depth while you can. It'll surely come in handy at some point.

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