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2018-19 NHL General Discussion Thread


dlbalr

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39 minutes ago, JoeLassister said:

Is anyone here following the Flames closely ?

Trying to figure out who's the gonna be the #1 goalie for the reminder of the season???

 

Rittich seems to be playing better and getting more starts, but its not significant maybe 55% vs 45%

 

I wouldn't be surprised to see the flames go after a goalie at the deadline, Jimmy Howard or someone like that

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21 hours ago, Commandant said:

 

Rittich seems to be playing better and getting more starts, but its not significant maybe 55% vs 45%

 

I wouldn't be surprised to see the flames go after a goalie at the deadline, Jimmy Howard or someone like that

Crap.

 

I want to trade Talbot in my Fantasy because he's on the 45% side as well  as Koskinen gets 55%, maybe even 65-35 right now.

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I had actually proposed a Scherbak/Zykov trade last month when Zykov was still in Carolina.  The Habs won't be putting in a claim for him - they don't have the roster spot (and with Armia coming back soon, we're not far from Montreal needing to trade/waive a player).

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44 minutes ago, Habopotamus said:

I figured the roster spots would be an issue. I also wouldn't care if Chaput was put on waivers though

 

 

Considering how much Julien seems to trust him, I don't think it will be Chaput.  My guess is either Hudon or Peca (would his contract scare teams off?) will be the casualty.

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20 minutes ago, dlbalr said:

 

Considering how much Julien seems to trust him, I don't think it will be Chaput.  My guess is either Hudon or Peca (would his contract scare teams off?) will be the casualty.

Ya, you're right. I've personally always liked Hudon, but i mean to see him on waivers, isn't going to hurt that much. 

 

He's probably being shopped pretty heavily right now 

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10 hours ago, dlbalr said:

 

Considering how much Julien seems to trust him, I don't think it will be Chaput.  My guess is either Hudon or Peca (would his contract scare teams off?) will be the casualty.

 

What is the veteran situation in Laval? Is waiving Deslauriers an option?

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23 hours ago, Trizzak said:

What is the veteran situation in Laval? Is waiving Deslauriers an option?

 

Right now, they have multiple slots open.

 

320+ (max 5): Froese (inj.), Grenier, Ouellet (Alzner's up on recall and Despres was recently released - those were the other two)

260-319: Shinkaruk

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52 minutes ago, dlbalr said:

 

Right now, they have multiple slots open.

 

320+ (max 5): Froese (inj.), Grenier, Ouellet (Alzner's up on recall and Despres was recently released - those were the other two)

260-319: Shinkaruk

 

Waive Deslauriers it is!

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with 10 games to go before the all star game, the CH is fighting for a playoff spot, getting better results than Dallas, Minnesota, Anaheim; and enjoying renewed success much like Buffalo.

 

It is undeniable that the CH has turned the corner and is on the right track towards building a contender, but they are at the glass half full/empty point, lukewarm not hot, winning but not dominating. 

 

Here is my question: what would it take for this year's team to move to the top 10 group and become a cup contender for years? Compared to other teams, what would make the CH a dominant team 2/3rds of the league?

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47 minutes ago, alfredoh2009 said:

with 10 games to go before the all star game, the CH is fighting for a playoff spot, getting better results than Dallas, Minnesota, Anaheim; and enjoying renewed success much like Buffalo.

 

It is undeniable that the CH has turned the corner and is on the right track towards building a contender, but they are at the glass half full/empty point, lukewarm not hot, winning but not dominating. 

 

Here is my question: what would it take for this year's team to move to the top 10 group and become a cup contender for years? Compared to other teams, what would make the CH a dominant team 2/3rds of the league?

 

I'll defer to the experts,  but the obvious thing is that they need Price to be Price, and they need better D, especially LD.

 

They need Kotkaniemi to evolve into a 70-80 point game-controlling pivot. I like Domi, but I believe his game has tailed off discernably since the hot start, and I have trouble seeing him as a #1C in the playoff grind. Guys like Poehling and Suzuki are obviously blue-chippers who will help, but then again they will be supplanting guys like Byron who will be entering the downside as they develop their NHL careers.

 

No matter how you slice it, it's hard to see them being built on anything other than the Vegas method of rolling four lines and contending due to depth rather than top-end talent. This is why significant upgrades on the blueline are so important. Right now, the Tavareses and Stamkoses of the world will make the difference in a long playoff series. I think this is partly because players like that can outclass everyone on our blueline except Weber.

 

The fact that Weber is 33 may also turn out to become a structural problem. It will depend on how he ages. But if his game slips a notch or two, that could make a huge difference to the prospects for this generation of Habs.

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Personally I have a feeling that Domi and Drouin will get it done for the Habs in the playoffs. Drouin we have already seen what he’s capable of, being Tampa’s best player and Domi just seems like the kind of guy that turns it on during the playoffs like Gallagher.

 

Price has been looking great lately like the Price of old and if Weber can play like he did the last playoff(arguably the Habs best player). Also if some of there secondary scoring like Shaw/Lehkonen/Byron can chip in I think Montreal can make some real noise in these playoffs.

 

Obviously they have to make the playoffs first and with how tight it seems right now, that could be a real problem but I could see the Habs upsetting a few teams if they make it.

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19 minutes ago, Scott462 said:

Personally I have a feeling that Domi and Drouin will get it done for the Habs in the playoffs. Drouin we have already seen what he’s capable of, being Tampa’s best player and Domi just seems like the kind of guy that turns it on during the playoffs like Gallagher.

 

Price has been looking great lately like the Price of old and if Weber can play like he did the last playoff(arguably the Habs best player). Also if some of there secondary scoring like Shaw/Lehkonen/Byron can chip in I think Montreal can make some real noise in these playoffs.

 

Obviously they have to make the playoffs first and with how tight it seems right now, that could be a real problem but I could see the Habs upsetting a few teams if they make it.

Secondary scoring and the Price/Weber tandem is what we are now: a wild card playoff team.

 

What would it take to make the CH a perennial contender, able to dominate games?

 

I keep going back to our line up, try projecting our prospects into a 2020-2021 lineup with some expected production from 20 year olds... That will be exciting but hardly make the CH a cup contender.

I which we could trade for a top-10 LD first rounder from the last 3 seasons or an equivalent 25-27 year old that would make the defense more tight. I would also like see our top-6 centers become point-producing machines.

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30 minutes ago, Scott462 said:

Personally I have a feeling that Domi and Drouin will get it done for the Habs in the playoffs. Drouin we have already seen what he’s capable of, being Tampa’s best player and Domi just seems like the kind of guy that turns it on during the playoffs like Gallagher.

 

Price has been looking great lately like the Price of old and if Weber can play like he did the last playoff(arguably the Habs best player). Also if some of there secondary scoring like Shaw/Lehkonen/Byron can chip in I think Montreal can make some real noise in these playoffs.

 

Obviously they have to make the playoffs first and with how tight it seems right now, that could be a real problem but I could see the Habs upsetting a few teams if they make it.

 

Nothing wrong with dreaming, but saying that our team could squeak in as a wild card and then "surprise" people is some distance from saying that it's a contender. In fact it's another way of saying it's NOT a true contender. Teams like Tampa are not telling themselves, "let's just make the playoffs and see what happens." They are saying, "anything less than a Finals appearance will be a disappointing performance for our team." That's what a contender is.

 

Drouin is a bit of a wild-card. He has the skills and the physical power to be a difference-maker, and you can see that he has made progress, but he is still prone to dumb-ass plays of the kind that can kill a team, and to foolishly trying to do too much. Does he have the brains to ever really bear down and get the absolute maximum out of his potential? The jury is still out. But any team counting on him to be The Guy over four playoff rounds is almost comically off track.

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The forward depth, both now and going forward seems to be a strength that this team will have going forward.  Assuming Kotkaniemi's development, they should certainly have the centre strength to compete, and the ability to roll a number of young and talented forwards will continue to give teams fits.  This is valuable in a playoff series as you can wear a team down by continuing to roll speed, speed, speed on them.

 

They need to improve the Power Play, that is obvious.  Not sure if this is coaching or personnel.  They need a guy with an elite LH one-timer who can play at the right circle opposite Weber to give them more options. 

 

Price needs to continue to play well. He seems to be doing better since the start of December. 

 

The defence should be fine on the Right side with Juulsen, Brook and Fleury ready to move up in future years. 

 

Romanov being one of the best defencemen at the World Juniors has been very encouraging for the Left Side. I think he will be an NHLer but the question is now if he can be a top pair guy.  Walford and Tsyzka are also playing well in the WHL, but they could be the next Morgan Ellis or Darren Dietz who can't translate CHL 

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I just have a good feeling if we make the playoffs this year we can make a good splash. Our division and the eastern conference in general is stacked with really good teams and everything has been very close. 

 

Montreal is one point behind Boston who is third and five points behind Toronto and a lot of people consider those two teams contenders. Tampa is in a world by themselves(Kucherov my goodness he’s having a year) but we had a pretty tight game with them recently where Niemi played badly. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that this team could do damage.

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5 hours ago, alfredoh2009 said:

 what would make the CH a dominant team 2/3rds of the league?

1 excellent LH d-man and a prospect or two who can become impact players. Even with only 2 top-4 d-men they are tied for 12th in the league

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45 minutes ago, DON said:

1 excellent LH d-man and a prospect or two who can become impact players. Even with only 2 top-4 d-men they are tied for 12th in the league

So, we are one player away? That seems too good to be true.

 

If this is the case, there is no point in trading Petry (as I've suggested)

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15 hours ago, alfredoh2009 said:

So, we are one player away? That seems too good to be true.

 

If this is the case, there is no point in trading Petry (as I've suggested)

Petry is 31, but also is on a career year pace, he is signed for this year and 2 more, but also has NMC and 15 team no trade clause. But, Weber is #1 RH d-man and that wont change soon and we all hope Juulsen can become a solid #2 RH d...but would he be able to play 18-20minutes/game if Petry was dealt and then who would fill Petry's offensive role?

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