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2022-23 NHL Discussion Thread


tomh009

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3 hours ago, GHT120 said:

I just had a horrible thought ... Leafs flame out in first round again (THAT isn't the horrible thought) ... Dubas gets fired, maybe Shanahan too (That isn't it either) ... Arizona wins the draft lottery (disappointing but not horrible) ... here it is ... the new Leafs GM addresses their salary cap issues by trading Matthews to Arizona for the first overall pick and takes Bedard ..............

Oof.

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9 hours ago, GHT120 said:

Problem is it will also cost cap space this season and next season, when HuGo could use the flexibility.

Yeah, it hurts, but I don’t see us making the playoffs this year or next year. After that, it depend on how the drafting and development has gone. By than we only have Price, Gallagher and Armia as our bad contracts.

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9 hours ago, hab29RETIRED said:

Yeah, it hurts, but I don’t see us making the playoffs this year or next year. After that, it depend on how the drafting and development has gone. By than we only have Price, Gallagher and Armia as our bad contracts.

I agree it is not an impediment to the playoffs ... but it restricts HuGo's ability to take on contracts (or be the middle-man) to get assets or perhaps even take advantage of an unexpected opportunity to get a good young player.

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Canucks are 0-4 and have blown four leads. Boudreau calls them mentally weak and afraid of winning. I always enjoy it when the fanbase here in Van melts down, but even I'm feeling sorry for them at this point...

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15 hours ago, Plutarch said:

Florida's worst nightmare is happening. Ekblad down for a prolonged period. Their d core now looks realllly rough. Liking that 1st.

 

Moved to LTIR today but it's believed to be shorter-term, not season-ending.

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16 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

Canucks are 0-4 and have blown four leads. Boudreau calls them mentally weak and afraid of winning. I always enjoy it when the fanbase here in Van melts down, but even I'm feeling sorry for them at this point...

Have you watched their games? Why are they imploding with leads?

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2 minutes ago, Plutarch said:

Have you watched their games? Why are they imploding with leads?

 

I haven't watched - I have a hard enough time finding the time to watch the Habs - but I follow the commentary and analysis fairly closely. Quite a few observers have noted that their game changes completely when they have a lead, suggesting a team that lacks confidence and 'tries not to lose' rather than trying to keep pushing and win. Others note that Demko has been OK but not otherworldly. Like the Habs with Price, they depend on him to be otherworldly and the team is built on that assumption; their defence is a tire-fire apart from Hughes, as it was last season. Finally, by universal consensus, Bo Horvat and JT Miller have both played poorly, such that what should be a team strength at C has been more of a weakness. 

 

The good news is that Pettersson is playing well, by all accounts. But Van is a high-pressure market and this thing could spiral disastrously very soon if they don't turn it around.

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12 minutes ago, Plutarch said:

Have you watched their games? Why are they imploding with leads?

Lousy D like ours.

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Further to this - good analysis here What's next for Canucks after disastrous start? (msn.com)

 

When you look at Fenwick it becomes clearer: the Canucks have been better with Miller, Boeser, and Pearson on the bench than on the ice. When you couple possession stats with the fact these players are getting a disproportionate number of offensive zone starts compared to defensive zone starts, it’s a grave concern.

 

Best players gotta be your best players...

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9 minutes ago, DON said:

hmm

 

 

weird how Slafkovsky is in-town to enjoy the city but other prospects have to travel by bus and live on an AHL salary... I hope he doesn't become a spoiled entitled brat.

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1 hour ago, alfredoh2009 said:

weird how Slafkovsky is in-town to enjoy the city but other prospects have to travel by bus and live on an AHL salary... I hope he doesn't become a spoiled entitled brat.

 

Not certain who you are referring to ... Guhle, Harris and Xhekaj are all earning their NHL salaries ... and all, including Juraj, will earn their AHL salary if/when they are demoted ... and I expect they would spend more time on the Metro than buses.

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2 hours ago, GHT120 said:

Not certain who you are referring to ... Guhle, Harris and Xhekaj are all earning their NHL salaries ... and all, including Juraj, will earn their AHL salary if/when they are demoted ... and I expect they would spend more time on the Metro than buses.

 

Those three are clearly making an impact and looking, so far, like legit NHLers. They're also older than him by a range of 1-3 years. Slaf, by contrast, has looked more like a kid who is learning, not unlike how KK looked when he came up: a nice play here or there, nothing particularly noteworthy, getting praised for just surviving, basically. It's not clear the team would be markedly worse without him. That's what leads to some concern about whether he is getting "top pick treatment" and being gifted a spot.

 

I don't like coaches saying things like he's used to having the puck more and now has to get used to not having it as much. That's basically saying he has to learn how to be a bottom-6 forward. I don't want him learning how to be a bottom-6 forward. I want him adjusting to the smaller ice, learning how to be a pro, learning how to function as an independent adult, and kicking ass on the ice. Better to do that in the AHL IMHO, and come up here when he has nothing more to learn down there.

 

16 minutes ago, GHT120 said:

 

 

 

 

Yeah, I saw that - gotta love it! Just when you think the hockey nickname is completely dead, along comes something like this. Hope it catches on.

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51 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

... I don't like coaches saying things like he's used to having the puck more and now has to get used to not having it as much. That's basically saying he has to learn how to be a bottom-6 forward ...

 

I disagree ... I think it means that he has to get used to not being so dominant that he owns the puck and that team-mates are expected to give it back to him as quickly as possible when he does pass it off ... he likely has to learn to "play without the puck" offensively ... how to find the open spaces when others have the puck ... even how to be the "distraction" sometimes to help others get open ... on bottom six lines he may well get to handle the puck more then he would in the top six because of the comparative talent levels.

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59 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

... Yeah, I saw that - gotta love it! Just when you think the hockey nickname is completely dead, along comes something like this. Hope it catches on.

 

It was a surprise and so very nice to see.

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6 hours ago, alfredoh2009 said:

 

weird how Slafkovsky is in-town to enjoy the city but other prospects have to travel by bus and live on an AHL salary... I hope he doesn't become a spoiled entitled brat.

The comment was about why Slafkovsky is being placed with a billet family... precisely to avoid having him "enjoy the city" too much at 18

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It’s also true that our farm team is in Laval so I don’t think there is anything spoiled about getting comfortable enjoying the city. Even if he were to be demoted, he can still do so. 
 

I also believe the thing that he will enjoy the most in his new setting will be the home cooking, comfortable bed and a more natural home-like setting to live in. There‘s absolutely nothing wrong with that.

 

In fact judging by the quote, it would seem as though Xhekaj and Harris would be more worrisome in terms of “enjoying the city” too much. Considering they are young, downtown and sharing a place by themselves. 
 

Nothing to se here concerning Slaf. As PMAC stated, it’s actually likely beneficial for him to be billeted, regarding the concern of him becoming spoiled.

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I’m great with him being billeted. I remember when Price came here, Gainey just left him - a kid barely out of Anahim Lake!! - to his own devices living in a condo in Montreal’s Old Port. Judas Priest. It’s a miracle Price survived. This is a vast improvement.

 

My concern is more that Slaf is being gifted a bottom-6 roster spot on the KK model, rather than being sent to properly learn how to dominate in the A.

 

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31 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

I’m great with him being billeted. I remember when Price came here, Gainey just left him - a kid barely out of Anahim Lake!! - to his own devices living in a condo in Montreal’s Old Port. Judas Priest. It’s a miracle Price survived. This is a vast improvement.

 

My concern is more that Slaf is being gifted a bottom-6 roster spot on the KK model, rather than being sent to properly learn how to dominate in the A.

 

I have no particular reason to think this ... but I suspect he may go down next week ... The Rocket have 6 straight home games starting next Wednesday and don't go back on the road until a game November 11th ... it will give him some time to adjust to the new team and settle in to his new "billet."

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3 hours ago, xXx..CK..xXx said:

Nothing to se here concerning Slaf. As PMAC stated, it’s actually likely beneficial for him to be billeted, regarding the concern of him becoming spoiled.

 

I agree, I don't worry at all about Slaf being spoiled, this was a kid who moved away at 15, lived on his own and did his own cooking. He has never been coddled like a lot of young hockey players.  He will be fine. 

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2 hours ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

 

I agree, I don't worry at all about Slaf being spoiled, this was a kid who moved away at 15, lived on his own and did his own cooking. He has never been coddled like a lot of young hockey players.  He will be fine. 


Agreed on these points, and added to this he’s having to earn his ice time and improving just about every game.

While not dominating obv, he is also not a drain at all.  
 

A stable home environment will only help, and possibly minimize distractions while

optimizing rest/recovery.

This is a marathon with him, not a sprint.

 

I also agree with above comment that it will help keep him from being distracted by the fun of Montreal. It is one of the funnest cities in the world.

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On 10/13/2022 at 7:31 PM, Helmethead said:

Lheky gonna be the best last round fantasy pick ever for me!!

Even more so now that Landeskog is gone for 12 weeks.

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This is far too thin to be a trade rumour ... but what (??????) could POSSIBLY have kept Kent Hughes away from the first team picture (they take at least a couple each season) but hot & heavy trade talks. 😉

 

*****************************

EDIT: Pierre McGuire just mentioned on TSN690 that he and a friend were in Providence, RI last night to take in an exhibition game between Brown and Harvard ... Kent Hughes was there to watch Sean Farrel (and perhaps some other scouting) ... so he may not even have been back in Montréal this morning.

*****************************

 

 

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