GDT GAME#62 Habs vs Ducks 10:00 March 3 2023

[Neech]

People were always mentioning Colorado as a destination for Drouin... I would just imagine what Lekky would say if they asked him about adding that floater.

[DON]

1 hour ago, Neech said:

People were always mentioning Colorado as a destination for Drouin... I would just imagine what Lekky would say if they asked him about adding that floater.

I would expect he would focus on Drouin's positives if asked, just "seems" too nice to crap on JD.

[tomh009]

5 hours ago, BCHabnut said:

I wouldn't be against it if the money and term was good. He a skilled, consistent .5 ppg player. He's back checking way more under St. Louis.

I am expecting Hughes and Gorton to make facts-based decisions, as you suggest here. Whether Bergevin made a poor trade or overpaid in the current contract really has no bearing on whether he should be offered a contract for next year, or for how much--the only things that should matter are what he brings to the team, and what it would cost.

 

That said, I  do think a new contract for him is unlikely, but the other factor will be which of the other forwards end up being traded in the summer.

[hab29RETIRED]

5 hours ago, tomh009 said:

I am expecting Hughes and Gorton to make facts-based decisions, as you suggest here. Whether Bergevin made a poor trade or overpaid in the current contract really has no bearing on whether he should be offered a contract for next year, or for how much--the only things that should matter are what he brings to the team, and what it would cost.

 

That said, I  do think a new contract for him is unlikely, but the other factor will be which of the other forwards end up being traded in the summer.

If you are trying to build a winning culture, but won’t be ready to win next year, do you really want Drouin? Is he going to be a good example for young players? We already have dead weight on the wing with the useless Hoffman, Armia, and a washed up Gallagher - all with zero trade value going into next year. Why add more dead weight??

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

9 hours ago, hab29RETIRED said:

If you are trying to build a winning culture, but won’t be ready to win next year, do you really want Drouin? Is he going to be a good example for young players? We already have dead weight on the wing with the useless Hoffman, Armia, and a washed up Gallagher - all with zero trade value going into next year. Why add more dead weight??

 

Let’s say for the sake of argument Drouin was willing to sign a 1-year deal for $1 million. Then do you keep him?

 

Looking at LW, I assume that CC and Slaf are locks. We then have Pitlick, Pezzetta, and RHP jockeying for the two remaining slots. Of those two, only RHP is a proper prospect; the other two are NHL placeholders. In pure hockey terms, is there any value in keeping Drouin at a rock-bottom rate as a bit of offensive depth? (I don’t know the answer; I’m asking).

 

Weirdly, most of our useless-as-boobs-on-a-bull wingers are on the right side. If he could play RW that might open up a spot for him on a cut-rate, no-commitment deal. But he’s Drouin, so he probably can’t. We’d likely be better off signing Gurianov for that purpose.

[hab29RETIRED]

1 hour ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

 

Let’s say for the sake of argument Drouin was willing to sign a 1-year deal for $1 million. Then do you keep him?

 

Looking at LW, I assume that CC and Slaf are locks. We then have Pitlick, Pezzetta, and RHP jockeying for the two remaining slots. Of those two, only RHP is a proper prospect; the other two are NHL placeholders. In pure hockey terms, is there any value in keeping Drouin at a rock-bottom rate as a bit of offensive depth? (I don’t know the answer; I’m asking).

 

Weirdly, most of our useless-as-boobs-on-a-bull wingers are on the right side. If he could play RW that might open up a spot for him on a cut-rate, no-commitment deal. But he’s Drouin, so he probably can’t. We’d likely be better off signing Gurianov for that purpose.

I think another team will be willing to give Drouin a $1m flyer and he will happily fly out of Montreal faster than than Richer did. Having said that I don’t know if Drouin’s pride will let him take a cheap $1m deal, unless he has matured from being the “character” guy that MB traded for🙄

 

Again, if you want to build the right culture, you don’t want guys like Drouin and Hoffman. You can have floaters like that as fillers if you have a very strong and experienced room. You don’t want that with th  number of kids we currently have, as well as guys like Roy who will be coming in for a a spot with Laval or us next year. I’d rather resign Gurianov, or other free agents.

[DON]

Not sure if Gurianov is any less frustrating a player (2g in 44 games)? From Dallas comments on his play anyways.

[Prime Minister Koivu]

2 hours ago, DON said:

Not sure if Gurianov is any less frustrating a player (2g in 44 games)? From Dallas comments on his play anyways.

I haven’t seen enough to form an overall opinion of him but my initial thoughts are that Gurianov constantly shoots the puck. 
 

Wonder if he would fit with Dach?

[tomh009]

3 hours ago, hab29RETIRED said:

I think another team will be willing to give Drouin a $1m flyer and he will happily fly out of Montreal faster than than Richer did. Having said that I don’t know if Drouin’s pride will let him take a cheap $1m deal, unless he has matured from being the “character” guy that MB traded for

$1M is still $1M, and you get to play NHL hockey.

 

Drouin's teammates and coaches say he trains harder than most others, and the effort is there on the ice, too. The results are what they are, but 0.5 points/game is still valuable.

 

And you really should not blame Drouin for Bergevin's actions.

[alfredoh2009]

6 minutes ago, tomh009 said:

$1M is still $1M, and you get to play NHL hockey.

 

Drouin's teammates and coaches say he trains harder than most others, and the effort is there on the ice, too. The results are what they are, but 0.5 points/game is still valuable.

 

And you really should not blame Drouin for Bergevin's actions.

Drouin has certainly put in an effort to improve and when he has been healthy it has shown.

Hoffman and Armia get away with not putting in the effort on this forum and I do not understand why 

I am happy that Drouin will not return to Montreal next season, it will be good for him 

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

On 3/5/2023 at 12:10 PM, alfredoh2009 said:

Drouin has certainly put in an effort to improve and when he has been healthy it has shown.

Hoffman and Armia get away with not putting in the effort on this forum and I do not understand why 

I am happy that Drouin will not return to Montreal next season, it will be good for him 

 

Hoffman and Armia are both garbage as well, don’t worry. 

[Commandant]

I havent seen anyone posting love for Armia or Hoffman.  They have certainly gotten their share of criticism too.

[alfredoh2009]

1 hour ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

 

Hoffman and Armia are both garbage as well, don’t worry. 

I am not worried, not a bit.

 

Just saying that Hoffman has been awful for a long time while Drouin has been playing better, yet Hoffman goes unscathed (Armia is hurt/sick, again)

[huzer]

On 3/5/2023 at 1:10 PM, alfredoh2009 said:

Drouin has certainly put in an effort to improve and when he has been healthy it has shown.

Hoffman and Armia get away with not putting in the effort on this forum and I do not understand why 

I am happy that Drouin will not return to Montreal next season, it will be good for him 

 

There aren't many posters bringing up Hoffman and Armia. It's the fairly consistent posting regarding Drouin that force discussions around him. Drouin is what he is. A highly paid, oft injured player, that can contribute in a secondary supporting role when healthy. I don't fault Drouin. He's a helluva better hockey player than I could ever hope to be. Drouin at this point represents the systematic failures of the Habs to ice a bonafide 1st line center in decades more than he represents his limitations as a hockey player. Even if he resigned for the Habs at league minimum, people will continue to hold him to that initial expectation.

 

On your last point, I agree. Drouin on another team, where there will never be the reminder of "1st line center" aspirations, will be good for him.

[alfredoh2009]

27 minutes ago, huzer said:

 

There aren't many posters bringing up Hoffman and Armia. It's the fairly consistent posting regarding Drouin that force discussions around him. Drouin is what he is. A highly paid, oft injured player, that can contribute in a secondary supporting role when healthy. I don't fault Drouin. He's a helluva better hockey player than I could ever hope to be. Drouin at this point represents the systematic failures of the Habs to ice a bonafide 1st line center in decades more than he represents his limitations as a hockey player. Even if he resigned for the Habs at league minimum, people will continue to hold him to that initial expectation.

 

On your last point, I agree. Drouin on another team, where there will never be the reminder of "1st line center" aspirations, will be good for him.

 

Honestly, I do not think he was brought in to be THE 1st line center. He was brought in to be the a point producing quebec-born player. When he had a good wrist shot and the will to play high tempo despite his smallish size.

 

Coaching and dreadful development put him in an impossible spot and injuries made him what he is. The one thing Drouin has always been is a "company man": always polite, generous of his time, available for interviews, never presumptuous or condescending, never complaining where he is in the line-up. If I missed any time he was any of these negative things, please remind me: but I am pretty sure he has always had a good attitude despite the odds in MTL

[huzer]

1 minute ago, alfredoh2009 said:

If I missed any time he was any of these negative things, please remind me: but I am pretty sure he has always had a good attitude despite the odds in MTL

 

Where did I say anything negative? I said this: A highly paid, oft injured player, that can contribute in a secondary supporting role when healthy.  Is he highly paid? Yes. Is he hurt often? Yes. Can he contribute? Yes. I never once mentioned his attitude or demeanor.

 

As far as the center comment:

 

LAVAL-SUR-LE-LAC, Quebec -- Jonathan Drouin will play center when the Montreal Canadiens open training camp later this week, and Alex Galchenyuk will not.

Coach Claude Julien and general manager Marc Bergevin each made it clear at the Canadiens' golf tournament on Monday that Drouin, who played wing for the Tampa Bay Lightning, will be at center when camp opens Friday. 

 

https://www.nhl.com/news/canadiens-will-play-jonathan-drouin-at-center/c-291003624

 

Yes. Bergevin goes on to deny he acquired him to be the 1st line center, so I'll just put that there before you call me out on it. Considering they put him there before they even hit the ice for his first training camp with Montreal is statement enough for me.

 

I'll move on now. Again, half the time, I feel you just thoroughly enjoy being contrarian and simply putting words in others mouths. 

[alfredoh2009]

26 minutes ago, huzer said:

 

Where did I say anything negative? I said this: 

A highly paid, oft injured player, that can contribute in a secondary supporting role when healthy.  Is he highly paid? Yes. Is he hurt often? Yes. Can he contribute? Yes. I never once mentioned his attitude or demeanor.

 

As far as the center comment:

 

LAVAL-SUR-LE-LAC, Quebec -- Jonathan Drouin will play center when the Montreal Canadiens open training camp later this week, and Alex Galchenyuk will not.

Coach Claude Julien and general manager Marc Bergevin each made it clear at the Canadiens' golf tournament on Monday that Drouin, who played wing for the Tampa Bay Lightning, will be at center when camp opens Friday. 

 

https://www.nhl.com/news/canadiens-will-play-jonathan-drouin-at-center/c-291003624

 

Yes. Bergevin goes on to deny he acquired him to be the 1st line center, so I'll just put that there before you call me out on it. Considering they put him there before they even hit the ice for his first training camp with Montreal is statement enough for me.

 

I'll move on now. Again, half the time, I feel you just thoroughly enjoy being contrarian and simply putting words in others mouths. 

 

I am not calling you out or anything, just chatting.

 

I thought I was polite in my answer to your post

 

Sorry, Bro!

[Commandant]

2 hours ago, alfredoh2009 said:

I am not worried, not a bit.

 

Just saying that Hoffman has been awful for a long time while Drouin has been playing better, yet Hoffman goes unscathed (Armia is hurt/sick, again)

 

There are a few people who defend Drouin, so Drouin gets talked about.   Some would like to see him back on a cheap deal and others wouldn't take him even if he's free.  So there are opposing views to this. 

 

Virtually no one is defending Hoffman.  Its not that he goes unscathed, its just that we all agree that he's a shit player and we all agree that if the Habs could dump him for future considerations, we'd do it just to save the cap space.   There is nothing to discuss when we all agree.