Dalhabs Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 11 hours ago, DON said: New 4th line centre. Lucas Condotta recalled by the Montreal Canadiens (habseyesontheprize.com) I hope he can keep up his nhl goals/game ratio.. 😁 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 3 hours ago, Prime Minister Koivu said: While we don’t have any projected star forwards in the system (maybe Slafkovsky) but we might have a star defensive group in the making. We also seem to have a new first line winger. Well a new, old, unproductive, winger that is - Anderson Slafkovsky is playing great on the top line why bring the boat anchor back? The D is underrated (as a work in progress) because of the lack of a marquee name, i.e., a top-10 pick that commentators can focus on. But the Hughes era has been defined so far by wave after wave of defensive prospects coming in and looking good. Meanwhile, Reinbacher, Hutson and Mailloux are waiting in the wings. So, yes. It’s going to be an elite D corps. The projection that the Habs will peak at “pretty good” is nevertheless reasonable given the lack of impact FWs. That being said, would this be the prognosis if Dach and Newhook had been healthy and had nice, developmentally progressive seasons in the way that Slaf has? So frustrating to have promising players sidelined for months. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GHT120 Posted January 25 Author Share Posted January 25 *** IF *** HuGo wants prefers to leave Condotta in Laval, and are willing to take on a contract, there may soon be another cheap option at 4C Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commandant Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 1 hour ago, GHT120 said: *** IF *** HuGo wants prefers to leave Condotta in Laval, and are willing to take on a contract, there may soon be another cheap option at 4C Condotta is 26 years old. Id rather keep the contract spot than worry about leaving him in Laval. There isnt much more hes gonna develop there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GHT120 Posted January 25 Author Share Posted January 25 44 minutes ago, Commandant said: Condotta is 26 years old. Id rather keep the contract spot than worry about leaving him in Laval. There isnt much more hes gonna develop there. The "*** IF *** HuGo wants prefers to leave Condotta in Laval" was more to support Laval winning the remainder of the season than for his development ... I expect some contracts will be leaving between now and the deadline, and not all will involve "take backs" ... the question would be how many contract slots they feel they need between now and July 1st. I would have preferred Ruzicka but: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomh009 Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 Right. Hughes decided that Ruzicka did not fit into the Habs' plans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GHT120 Posted January 25 Author Share Posted January 25 1 minute ago, tomh009 said: Right. Hughes decided that Ruzicka did not fit into the Habs' plans. I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commandant Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 The Habs have a higher waiver priority, so they didn't want Ruzicka if he went to Arizona. That tells me they don't plan on using the contract spot on Bonino either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hab29RETIRED Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 6 hours ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said: The D is underrated (as a work in progress) because of the lack of a marquee name, i.e., a top-10 pick that commentators can focus on. But the Hughes era has been defined so far by wave after wave of defensive prospects coming in and looking good. Meanwhile, Reinbacher, Hutson and Mailloux are waiting in the wings. So, yes. It’s going to be an elite D corps. The projection that the Habs will peak at “pretty good” is nevertheless reasonable given the lack of impact FWs. That being said, would this be the prognosis if Dach and Newhook had been healthy and had nice, developmentally progressive seasons in the way that Slaf has? So frustrating to have promising players sidelined for months. I think it’s still too early to say that we will even have a real good D, let alone elite. Never know with young players. I’m really hopeful about Hutson, unsure if Reinbacher will just be a second pairing guy and have heard Mailloux described as potential 2nd pairing to 7th dman. Just too early. i remember when Kurvers first came up the talk was Habs have another college dman that is even better than Chelios. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlbalr Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 5 hours ago, Commandant said: The Habs have a higher waiver priority, so they didn't want Ruzicka if he went to Arizona. That tells me they don't plan on using the contract spot on Bonino either. I don't think anyone will take Bonino. He has struggled this season and the Rangers are opting to carry Jake Leschyshyn - a fringe winger - instead. That says a lot. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 17 hours ago, hab29RETIRED said: I think it’s still too early to say that we will even have a real good D, let alone elite. Never know with young players. I’m really hopeful about Hutson, unsure if Reinbacher will just be a second pairing guy and have heard Mailloux described as potential 2nd pairing to 7th dman. Just too early. i remember when Kurvers first came up the talk was Habs have another college dman that is even better than Chelios. A sober corrective, my friend. I think my ground for optimism rests, not on any one specific player or prospect, but on the fact that we have an almost ridiculous number of promising young defencemen both in the Show and in the minors. It’s true that if we misidentify key guys, like Ottawa did when they committed to Redden and let Chara walk, we will screw it up. But the critical mass of talent is surely there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfredoh2009 Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 13 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said: A sober corrective, my friend. I think my ground for optimism rests, not on any one specific player or prospect, but on the fact that we have an almost ridiculous number of promising young defencemen both in the Show and in the minors. It’s true that if we misidentify key guys, like Ottawa did when they committed to Redden and let Chara walk, we will screw it up. But the critical mass of talent is surely there. I agree with you, although I would not qualify the number of picks as ridiculous but just disproportional with regards to the number of forward prospects. Normal for picking BPA at the draft and a situation I expect to be corrected through trades. I am not too worried about misidentifying key guys. It is part of the process and any mistakes would even out with some unexpected homeruns Dach and Newhook are such examples where to other teams felt that those players would not work out for them and traded them to the Habs. Habs have not fully benefited from having those players due to injuries which is cause for concern: talent level is one thing, actual on-ice performance is what counts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfredoh2009 Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 I hadn't realized how well Monahan is doing this year. Here are the stats for the forwards and based on this I would say that a 1st round pick for Monahan is a fair return to be expected: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GHT120 Posted January 26 Author Share Posted January 26 37 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said: ... if we misidentify key guys, like Ottawa did when they committed to Redden and let Chara walk, we will screw it up. But the critical mass of talent is surely there. In fairness to Muckler (which is not something I really want to do), Chara was not going to re-sign with Ottawa after they, in Chara's mind, screwed over Hossa (i.e., settled an arbitration case and then traded him). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfredoh2009 Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 48 minutes ago, GHT120 said: In fairness to Muckler (which is not something I really want to do), Chara was not going to re-sign with Ottawa after they, in Chara's mind, screwed over Hossa (i.e., settled an arbitration case and then traded him). yes, that is true Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DON Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 Dvorak 59.9% on faceoffs, i didnt know he was doing that well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfredoh2009 Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 10 minutes ago, DON said: Dvorak 59.9% on faceoffs, i didnt know he was doing that well. LOL! ole ole Dvo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomh009 Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 19 minutes ago, DON said: Dvorak 59.9% on faceoffs, i didnt know he was doing that well. Based on naturalstattrick: Dvorak 57.9% (52.5% last season) Stephens 56.2% Monahan 55.5% (54.0%) Evans 54.2% (54.1%) Suzuki 54.0% (47.0%) Dach 37.5% (38.2%) Newhook 33.0% I don't know who is giving our centres face-off training, but it's working. Dvorak, Evans and especially Suzuki are far better at this than they used to be--and the Habs are now sixth-best in the league for face-offs, up from 25th last season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GHT120 Posted January 26 Author Share Posted January 26 34 minutes ago, DON said: Dvorak 59.9% on faceoffs, i didnt know he was doing that well. Shame for him (obviously) to be done for the season, but also with that sort of faceoff success some team might have made a decent offer at the deadline (albeit likely also taking back a bad contract to get a better return). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prime Minister Koivu Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 No hockey for a week and it might be a good idea to send Xhekaj back to Laval so that he can play there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlbalr Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 1 hour ago, Prime Minister Koivu said: No hockey for a week and it might be a good idea to send Xhekaj back to Laval so that he can play there. They didn't send him down but they did send Condotta down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 1 hour ago, Prime Minister Koivu said: No hockey for a week and it might be a good idea to send Xhekaj back to Laval so that he can play there. It bothered me a bit that MSL left him out against the Pens. Coupled with the extended demotion, it really suggests he sees Wifi as a marginal D-man at this point. And maybe that’s all he is, but I’ve been a believer in the kid and see him as more than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prime Minister Koivu Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 26 minutes ago, dlbalr said: They didn't send him down but they did send Condotta down. That probably means Xhekaj is staying I would guess. 26 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said: It bothered me a bit that MSL left him out against the Pens. Coupled with the extended demotion, it really suggests he sees Wifi as a marginal D-man at this point. And maybe that’s all he is, but I’ve been a believer in the kid and see him as more than that. I was also thinking about the positive impact that being paired with Mailloux has had on the both of them. Keep them together all year and maybe we have a stud D pairing in the making - and they would be together for a decade. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GHT120 Posted January 28 Author Share Posted January 28 1 hour ago, dlbalr said: They didn't send him down but they did send Condotta down. 1 hour ago, Prime Minister Koivu said: That probably means Xhekaj is staying I would guess. The Rocket don't play until Wednesday (then Fri/Sat, all at home) ... I suppose the Habs ***could*** still send Xhekaj down for those games but not do the paperwork until the last minute, followed by a quick recall, as a sign of "respect" (i.e., we are not demoting you, we are just getting you ice-time) ... as opposed to Condotta, who was always a "call-up" and more susceptible to "cap management" ... I DO NOT expect they will, just theorizing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GHT120 Posted January 28 Author Share Posted January 28 1 hour ago, Prime Minister Koivu said: I was also thinking about the positive impact that being paired with Mailloux has had on the both of them. Keep them together all year and maybe we have a stud D pairing in the making - and they would be together for a decade. That is a different scenario, and one I hope HuGo are at least willing to consider ... this is still a rebuild after-all ... *** if *** they feel that would be in the long-term interests of both players, and thus the team, then it should be a possibility. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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