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Habs claim Kale Clague


dlbalr

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The Habs have added some defensive depth with the claiming of Kale Clague off waivers from LA.  He's 23, has five points in 11 games this season, and is making just over the minimum.

 

https://www.prohockeyrumors.com/2021/12/canadiens-claim-kale-clague-off-waivers-from-kings.html

http://www.habsworld.net/2021/12/habs-claim-kale-clague-off-waivers/

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This could set up Norlinder returning to Sweden as well where he'll get more playing time (albeit in fewer games than what remains in Montreal's year).  I like Clague - I had him as Seattle's pick from the Kings in expansion and I think he has a bit of untapped upside.

 

While not announced yet, Laurent Dauphin has been sent down to make room on the roster.

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22 hours ago, dlbalr said:

This could set up Norlinder returning to Sweden as well where he'll get more playing time (albeit in fewer games than what remains in Montreal's year).  I like Clague - I had him as Seattle's pick from the Kings in expansion and I think he has a bit of untapped upside.

 

While not announced yet, Laurent Dauphin has been sent down to make room on the roster.

Same here, I've also had him on a few short-list of trade targets. For example, if I could pick from multiple teams in an hypothetical trade:

   * I would have traded KK for Dvorak, 1st draft pick in 2022, Niku and Clague any day.

 

These players fell on the Habs laps on waivers and with the extra cap room, and will make the Has better once the rebuild begins

Edited by alfredoh2009
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Clague is an interesting pick up.  He was pushed down the King depth chart after Sean Durzi arrived; from what I can tell he was their #8 defenceman not including injured veteran Sean Walker.  He's just in his 3rd season as a pro, and spent most of that time developing in the AHL with a few call ups the first two seasons. He's supposed to be very mobile, a good skater, and mindful enough defensively. He's only 6' 00 in size so he will struggle against larger opponents like all small-ish offensive blueliners do.  I think this is a good move, since he's a much better pro prospect than Corey Schueneman. I hope this move is not at the expense of Norlinder, as I would like to see him given more of a look with the Habs.

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Schueneman was just up as injury insurance with Niku and Petry unavailable.  He was sent down to make room for Hoffman's activation so he's already off the roster.  But with Niku due back soon, I think Norlinder's time with the big club (for now) could be coming to an end.  With the Habs playing to the end of April though, there's a shot he'd be able to go finish in Sweden and then be recalled to play a few games down the stretch.

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I'm watching the Nashville feed and I was certainly confused when they said that Clague was out the lineup tonight.  I figured they had made a mistake because I was pretty sure the Habs didn't have anyone with that name in their system.  

 

Seems like a great free pickup and it sounds like Clague is probably better than Niku.  I agree with the people saying they dont want to see Norlinder leave.  

 

 

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14 minutes ago, tomh009 said:

So, now we have picked up Wideman, Niku and Clague all for more or less free. Time to trade away all our expensive D-men?

Patience, Grasshopper, Patience. I don't want Mr. Gorton to rush into anything. 

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3 hours ago, tomh009 said:

So, now we have picked up Wideman, Niku and Clague all for more or less free. Time to trade away all our expensive D-men?

Chiarot gone of course and Kulak not in future plan.

Hope they keep Edmundson and doubt Petry can (or should?) be dealt.

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54 minutes ago, tomh009 said:

If the rebuild window is 3-5 years, that would make Petry 36-38 at that point. As much as I like him, it would make sense to trade him for youth, assuming he still has value.

 

It would be nice if Petry rounded into form a little bit, so that we could trade him for full value. 

 

There is little question in my mind that a Petry who plays anything like his normal self would command a king’s ransom from a contender and absolutely should be dealt as part of a rebuild. Whether the clown we are currently seeing out there can bring back a strong return is not as clear.

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Just not sure even Molson would allow Petry to be shipped out and be much worse than are now.

All sounds good to turn him into a 1st round pick an stuff but need a few quality vet NHLers on roster...even if tanking, dont you?

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17 minutes ago, DON said:

Just not sure even Molson would allow Petry to be shipped out and be much worse than are now.

All sounds good to turn him into a 1st round pick an stuff but need a few quality vet NHLers on roster...even if tanking, dont you?

My take is that he has handed over the driver's seat to Gorton for the time being, but we'll see how it turns out.

 

As for vets for leadership and stability, I would suggest Edmundson, Allen, Lehkonen -- and Gallagher if he does not get traded. Or Price if he is back. Or Byron, who likely doesn't have much trade value.

 

Overall, I would expect the average age to get much closer to 25.

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19 minutes ago, DON said:

Just not sure even Molson would allow Petry to be shipped out and be much worse than are now.

All sounds good to turn him into a 1st round pick an stuff but need a few quality vet NHLers on roster...even if tanking, dont you?

Not all players that will be traded as part of the rebuild will be traded by the deadline this season ... I expect pre-draft, summer 2022 and the 2023 trade deadline to all be important parts of the roster reconstruction ... if traded, Petry makes more sense (IMO) to move under those three than at the deadline ... unless the offer is exceptional.

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9 minutes ago, GHT120 said:

Not all players that will be traded as part of the rebuild will be traded by the deadline this season ... I expect pre-draft, summer 2022 and the 2023 trade deadline to all be important parts of the roster reconstruction ... if traded, Petry makes more sense (IMO) to move under those three than at the deadline ... unless the offer is exceptional.

 

I agree, I would very surprised if Petry is traded at the deadline this year. Chiarot is the obvious one followed by veterans that don't have a lot of term left. 

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On 12/6/2021 at 7:13 AM, DON said:

Chiarot gone of course and Kulak not in future plan.

Hope they keep Edmundson and doubt Petry can (or should?) be dealt.

 

Kulak is young enough and more of then mold that Gorton liked with the rangers.  So he may be someone they re-sign on a cheap deal.  He certainly wasnt in bergevin/ducharme's plans but we have no idea how the new regime sees him.

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1 hour ago, Commandant said:

 

Kulak is young enough and more of then mold that Gorton liked with the rangers.  So he may be someone they re-sign on a cheap deal.  He certainly wasnt in bergevin/ducharme's plans but we have no idea how the new regime sees him.

 

Poor Kulak. Normally when a new GM comes in, you get a new coaching staff. Not him. So he will still labour under DD’s dislike of what he brings until the season ends. The GM may believe in him, but Kulak really won’t know if he will get a shot at being more than the #6-7 guy until the Habs hire Vigneault. 

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Interesting ... looking at the 2012 fourth round, when Kulak was picked, and players with more than 100 games:

  • 93rd (Edmonton): Gustafsson (with Habs last season)
  • 95th (Columbus): Anderson (with Habs now)
  • 101st (Tampa): Paquette (with Habs now)
  • 105th (Calgary): Kulak (with Habs now)
  • 110th (Detroit): Athanasiou
  • 120th (Carolina): Slavin

 

A productive late draft round from today's point of view. Six of 30 players turned into NHL regulars, and four of those have played for the Habs in 2021.

 

The Habs' pick? Brady Vail. Played 49 AHL games, and a bunch in the ECHL.

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7 hours ago, tomh009 said:

Interesting ... looking at the 2012 fourth round, when Kulak was picked, and players with more than 100 games:

  • 93rd (Edmonton): Gustafsson (with Habs last season)
  • 95th (Columbus): Anderson (with Habs now)
  • 101st (Tampa): Paquette (with Habs now)
  • 105th (Calgary): Kulak (with Habs now)
  • 110th (Detroit): Athanasiou
  • 120th (Carolina): Slavin

 

A productive late draft round from today's point of view. Six of 30 players turned into NHL regulars, and four of those have played for the Habs in 2021.

 

The Habs' pick? Brady Vail. Played 49 AHL games, and a bunch in the

Why am I not surprised about the habs picks? Not many bonafide NHL’ers drafted between 2012-2018. 

We have what Lekhonan and Evans on our team from those years?

Caufield from 2019, and that’s about it. Anyone with a worse record than that?

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