2021/2022 Lineup Ideas

[Commandant]

Kulak played on the Right and Niku on the left on Saturday.... but Niku seems to have more experience on the right. 

 

Maybe because it is a new system, they don't want to put too much on his plate and have him in his more natural position, where Kulak has been in this system longer and can play his off-side better right now.   That's my thought on why they are playing this way. 

 

Not surprisingly, Kulak's advanced metrics are once again amongst the best on the team even in this short sample size.  He simply doesn't get respect from this coaching staff though. 

[tomh009]

On 10/20/2021 at 4:41 PM, IN THE HEARTS OF MEN said:

Suzuki will be fine. Evans has shown when healthy that he is a capable C. Where lies the problem is KK was replaced by Paquette and now Perreault (a winger)

I know Perreault sucked on Saturday, but maybe he could yet score some goals this year. Maybe even match Kotkaniemi's five-goal production from last year. Maybe.

[alfredoh2009]

23 minutes ago, tomh009 said:

I know Perreault sucked on Saturday, but maybe he could yet score some goals this year. Maybe even match Kotkaniemi's five-goal production from last year. Maybe.

 

👓 scoring a hat trick really sucks 👓

[tomh009]

3 hours ago, alfredoh2009 said:

 

👓 scoring a hat trick really sucks 👓

It did for Detroit. 🤣 🤣 🤣

[titanfan]

On 9/6/2021 at 5:26 PM, titanfan said:

Which is why I can't understand why everyone is putting Caufield in on the first line.  Seriously?

 

He has played all of 10 regular season games.  He looked good.  But he hasn't even earned a roster spot yet, let alone the first line?

 

It would be great if he EARNS that spot, but he could just as easily be in Laval by the end of November.

 

And, let's be clear, I really like Cole.  I really do.  But he hasn't PROVEN anything yet.

 

Made it to November 1st...

[titanfan]

On 9/6/2021 at 7:10 PM, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

 

Yup. Caulfield will have to play his way out of a job.  He and Nick developed great chemistry and let's not forget he did it in the playoffs when time and space is harder to find. 

Paul Dipietro or Gilbert Dione anyone?

[titanfan]

On 8/16/2021 at 3:06 PM, alfredoh2009 said:

 

                            

💫 let's feed the hype machine 💫

                            

Yet earlier this afternoon

 

'and I restate my views from the beginning of the season that rushing Caufield and expecting him to be a 30g scorer this season was premature and unrealistic'

[alfredoh2009]

@titanfan .

let’s not get carried away. Caufield has shown more potential than DiPietro and Dione

 

closer to Lebeau for now and will get better

[alfredoh2009]

2 minutes ago, titanfan said:

Yet earlier this afternoon

 

'and I restate my views from the beginning of the season that rushing Caufield and expecting him to be a 30g scorer this season was premature and unrealistic'

Good find, if you look at that post from me, it follows others where I was making the point that we were getting carried away; and finished with this sarcastic remark of feeding the hype machine

 

it’s all good  

[titanfan]

On 9/7/2021 at 8:31 PM, alfredoh2009 said:

I am still reluctant to think of Caufield as the Habs best option to play on the top line. Not because I do not think he can play well and even win the Calder

 

far all the reasons expressed on the forum in the last few days, with regards to Habs prospect development, I much rather have:

Drouin-Suzuki-Toffoli

Hoffman-Dvorak-Gallagher

Armia-Evans-Anderson

Perrault-Paquette-Lehkonen

 

And Caufield starting in Laval unless he wins a spot on the NHL top-6 handsdown. I think that a short stint in Laval, playing top minutes and refining his game would be beneficial to him

 

But of course, I am probably the only one that thinks that

This made a lot of sense...

[alfredoh2009]

40 minutes ago, titanfan said:

This made a lot of sense...

Hey, did I jinx the kid? 

[GHT120]

 

• Mathieu Perreault (eye injury) as well as Brendan Gallagher (therapy day) and Jeff Petry (therapy day) were absent.
• Here are the forward lines and defense pairings featured by head coach Dominique Ducharme:

Monday, November 1 Practice
LW	C	RW
71 - Jake Evans	14 - Nick Suzuki	73 - Tyler Toffoli
68 - Mike Hoffman	92 - Jonathan Drouin	17 - Josh Anderson
61 - Artturi Lehkonen	28 - Christian Dvorak	40 - Joel Armia
55 - Michael Pezzetta	24 - Adam Brooks	13 - Cedric Paquette
LD	RD	G
8 - Ben Chiarot	27 - Alexander Romanov	35 - Sam Montembeault
77 - Brett Kulak	58 - David Savard
59 - Mattias Norlinder	20 - Chris Wideman / 15 - Sami Niku

 

Drouin back at centre?  

With Perreault out and Paquette suspended he and Evans are the only real options ... do they feel Evans doesn't have the offence they want as 3C (where he would be if Drouin stayed on the wing) or perhaps LW is better suited to a less than 100% Evans.

[alfredoh2009]

I think Drouin 2.0 will be fine at centre for a game or two

[hab29RETIRED]

3 hours ago, alfredoh2009 said:

@titanfan .

let’s not get carried away. Caufield has shown more potential than DiPietro and Dione

 

closer to Lebeau for now and will get better

If all Caufield turns to be is a Lebeau stature player, we are in deeper shit than I think we are.

[tomh009]

2 hours ago, GHT120 said:

• Here are the forward lines and defense pairings featured by head coach Dominique Ducharme:

Monday, November 1 Practice
LW	C	RW
71 - Jake Evans	14 - Nick Suzuki	73 - Tyler Toffoli
68 - Mike Hoffman	92 - Jonathan Drouin	17 - Josh Anderson
61 - Artturi Lehkonen	28 - Christian Dvorak	40 - Joel Armia
55 - Michael Pezzetta	24 - Adam Brooks	13 - Cedric Paquette
LD	RD	G
8 - Ben Chiarot	27 - Alexander Romanov	35 - Sam Montembeault
77 - Brett Kulak	58 - David Savard
59 - Mattias Norlinder	20 - Chris Wideman / 15 - Sami Niku

That is some serious blender action!

 

Am looking forward to seeing what Norlinder can do in a real NHL game. I had actually thought that he had returned to Sweden after being injured, but I see now that this is not the case.

[GHT120]

1 hour ago, tomh009 said:

... Am looking forward to seeing what Norlinder can do in a real NHL game. I had actually thought that he had returned to Sweden after being injured, but I see now that this is not the case.

Wouldn't mind seeing him in a few games ... but unless his play is immediately elite I don't want him to be kept around just because he is the best option they Habs have at the moment ... if Laval was an option that would be great but I do not believe it is and I want him playing lots of minutes in all situations ... not certain I even expect him to stick with the Habs next fall.

[alfredoh2009]

5 hours ago, hab29RETIRED said:

If all Caufield turns to be is a Lebeau stature player, we are in deeper shit than I think we are.

he is not better than Lebeau right now

[dlbalr]

14 hours ago, GHT120 said:

Wouldn't mind seeing him in a few games ... but unless his play is immediately elite I don't want him to be kept around just because he is the best option they Habs have at the moment ... if Laval was an option that would be great but I do not believe it is and I want him playing lots of minutes in all situations ... not certain I even expect him to stick with the Habs next fall.

 

I'm not sure if Laval could be an option for a conditioning stint since he's on injured reserve - I think it is.  That'd give him a few games to show whether or not he's worthy of a look with the Habs and if not, then he could be sent back.

[hab29RETIRED]

11 hours ago, alfredoh2009 said:

he is not better than Lebeau right now

Agreed that he is not as effective as Lebeau was in his full season, but a Lebeau was played a full season in the AHL, and tore it up there first - something the habs under MB have not let their prospects do. Having said, given the numbers Lebeau put up in a time of inflated scoring, if that’s the best we are hoping from Caufield as a finished product, we are screwed and May as well yank for 5 years. Lebeau was a complementary piece - best suited for the 3rd line in a good team - not an elite player we are hoping Caufield becomes.

[alfredoh2009]

23 minutes ago, hab29RETIRED said:

Agreed that he is not as effective as Lebeau was in his full season, but a Lebeau was played a full season in the AHL, and tore it up there first - something the habs under MB have not let their prospects do. Having said, given the numbers Lebeau put up in a time of inflated scoring, if that’s the best we are hoping from Caufield as a finished product, we are screwed and May as well yank for 5 years. Lebeau was a complementary piece - best suited for the 3rd line in a good team - not an elite player we are hoping Caufield becomes.

At this point in his career , Caufield is a complimentary scoring player at best

 

we all hope he will become THE top sniper on the team at some point in his career, but to expect him to be that right now is none sense 

[Neech]

16 hours ago, tomh009 said:

 

 

Am looking forward to seeing what Norlinder can do in a real NHL game. I had actually thought that he had returned to Sweden after being injured, but I see now that this is not the case.

 

Me too, I had him as a hopeful for next year.  I'm a bit leery of what joining this disaster squad will do for his development, better to have a full season in Laval.

[DON]

2 hours ago, Neech said:

better to have a full season in Laval.

Obviously not happening, but likely wouldnt hurt at all.

[Commandant]

On 11/1/2021 at 4:13 PM, titanfan said:

Paul Dipietro or Gilbert Dione anyone?

 

Comparing a guy who did things at age 20, who won the Hobey Baker, who set the US NTDP record for goals and is widely considered one of the top prospects in the NHL, to guys who were flashes in the pan and not top prospects, who did that at age 24 or 25 is not the same.

[titanfan]

16 hours ago, Commandant said:

 

Comparing a guy who did things at age 20, who won the Hobey Baker, who set the US NTDP record for goals and is widely considered one of the top prospects in the NHL, to guys who were flashes in the pan and not top prospects, who did that at age 24 or 25 is not the same.

You're right.  DiPietro and Dione were 2 whole years older and had amazing playoff runs that were crucial in the team winning a Stanley Cup.  And both played a full season with the Habs the next year.

 

DiPietro (22 years old) - 8 goals, 5 assists in 17 playoff games

 

Dione (22 years old) - 6 goals and 6 assists in 20 playoff games

 

Caufield (20 years old) - 4 goals and 8 assists in 20 games

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

This is getting ridiculous. The kid is a top prospect - that’s agreed upon by everyone in hockey -  and in fact the ONLY grade-A prospect in the organization. He was brought in straight from university hockey and parachuted into the playoffs, with zero time to marinade in the AHL. When we did that, I was quite skeptical, predicting that he would start strong and then tail off. Kids need to learn how to be pros, how to walk before they can run. CC had a stronger playoff than I expected and was a pleasant surprise.

 

Obviously, the kid couldn’t be sent down after that. But guess what? He tapered off, starting the season with 1 point in 10 games after having become gradually less noticeable during the playoffs. At that point, the team reverted to what it ideally would have done all along, i.e., have CC put in some development time in the AHL.

 

And for this, fans are now anointing him the new Gilbert Dionne or Paul DiPietro, another Habs developmental failure, at age 20.

 

Worse, some of the same fans who retroactively denounce the Habs for bringing up KK, Galy, Mete, and other prospects “too soon,” are now playing Chicken Little because we sent down Caufield. You can’t have it both ways, guys.

 

I have no problem at all with Caufield learning to dominate night-in and night-out in the AHL. This guy has never played more than 36 games in a single season and we expect him to be a first-line all-star NHL winger over 82 games and (in theory) playoffs? I think he has the potential to be something special, but throwing him to the NHL wolves is NOT the way to get him there.