GDT GAME#34 Habs vs Carolina 7pm Thursday Dec 28th

[Sir_Boagalott]

Good on Andy, his streak ended but he still remains hot.

 

I hated the non-response to the hit on Slaf.

 

I thought both penalties against the Habs at the end of the game were weak.  On the 1st penalty the guy was clearly chicken winging Armia's stick.  If the ref makes a call they should take both or none at all.

 

I tend to prefer Kovacevic to Barron because Barron is still young and needs to get better defensively.  Barron is better offensively but Kova is no slouch with O and he is way better on D.  Plus, Kova is taller and stronger, more physical and has a longer reach.  I'm uncertain if Barron will still be with the Habs in 3-5 years.  I'm thinking their future 3 rhd might be Reinbacher, Kova, and Mailloux.

[Habs Fan in Edmonton]

20 minutes ago, Sir_Boagalott said:

I'm uncertain if Barron will still be with the Habs in 3-5 years.  I'm thinking their future 3 rhd might be Reinbacher, Kova, and Mailloux.

 

I don't disagree, it will be interesting to see how things shake out on defense as they can't keep everybody. The emergence of Struble has made things interesting on the left side.  I really like Jordan Harris but I think he may end up being the odd man out on the left side. 

[Sir_Boagalott]

6 minutes ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

 

I don't disagree, it will be interesting to see how things shake out on defense as they can't keep everybody. The emergence of Struble has made things interesting on the left side.  I really like Jordan Harris but I think he may end up being the odd man out on the left side. 

 

Yep, if fully agree especially Harris.  It will be interesting and numerous people here have said not to trade any of the dmen until they know how good they are, which is insane.  The Habs have so many D prospects that they can't sit on them all forever and wait to see.  They will be forced to trade numerous of them before it is fully known which Dmen are best.

 

I've said this before that I believe even Guhle is in that same category of unknown if he'll still be around in 3-5 years. 

 

If Slaf is concussed and misses time remember that Guhle was the largest and toughest Habs player on the ice on that play.  Not only did Guhle not even touch Noesen he was actually the furthest player away from him.  In fact, other than the tiniest guy in the game i.e. Cole no other Habs even touched Noesen.  

 

Its absolutely pathetic that on that play I almost wished the Habs had veteran Giordano out there because he would had a superior response and would have at least tackled Noesen.

 

 

 

  

 

 

.  

[Habs Fan in Edmonton]

16 minutes ago, Sir_Boagalott said:

If Slaf is concussed and misses time remember that Guhle was the largest and toughest Habs player on the ice on that play.  Not only did Guhle not even touch Noesen he was actually the furthest player away from him.  In fact, other than the tiniest guy in the game i.e. Cole no other Habs even touched Noesen.  

 

Its absolutely pathetic that on that play I almost wished the Habs had veteran Giordano out there because he would had a superior response and would have at least tackled Noesen.

 

 

.  

 

That's why I think Arber will/should be around for a long time. He brings something that no other defensemen or forward brings to the team. He is the perfect 3rd pairing defensemen. The others can fight for the top 2 spots. 

 

I agree there will be trades and they can't sit on all the young "d" forever. It will be almost impossible to have them all develop before someone is traded. I trust Hughes to make good decisions. 

 

 

[Sir_Boagalott]

1 hour ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

 

That's why I think Arber will/should be around for a long time. He brings something that no other defensemen or forward brings to the team. He is the perfect 3rd pairing defensemen. The others can fight for the top 2 spots. 

 

I agree there will be trades and they can't sit on all the young "d" forever. It will be almost impossible to have them all develop before someone is traded. I trust Hughes to make good decisions. 

 

 

 

Last year I was kinda worried about how Hughes viewed Arber but on draft day he made that clear.  If he was planning on trading WiFi he wouldn't have drafted Florian that high.  I definitely disagree with 3rd pair and seems like the Habs management believes he's better than that.  i.e. if they thought his ceiling was only 3rd pair there'd be no need to send him down.  Their plan seems to be to give him a ton of minutes and improve some of his deficiencies to help him become a top 4 dman.

 

I absolutely agree with the brings something that no other player brings comment.  I tend to value players that are great at doing a particular thing.  That is another reason why I question if Guhle will be around in 3-5 yrs.  Sure, Guhle's all round game is better than Hutson, but he doesn't seem to have a specialty.  However, Lanes O game is off the charts so I'd value Hutson over Guhle.  

 

So far this year it seems like all they need to do is improve their PP and PK.  If they moved up from the bottom 10 into the middle of the pack they'd get more points.  If they could improve both and get into the bottom of the top 10 they'd likely be top 3 in their div.

 

 

 

 

 

[tomh009]

9 hours ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

I don't disagree, it will be interesting to see how things shake out on defense as they can't keep everybody. The emergence of Struble has made things interesting on the left side.  I really like Jordan Harris but I think he may end up being the odd man out on the left side. 

Left side has Guhle, Harris (who could also play RD), Xhekaj, Struble--and Hutson. Also Engstrom and Norlinder, who are less certain to make the NHL.

Right side has Reinbacher, Mailloux, Kovacevic and Barron, not quite as crowded.

 

One advantage Harris has is his ability to switch between LD and RD, which can be helpful in case of injuries. But, for sure, there are more players than there are seats. A good problem to have!

[Habs Fan in Edmonton]

7 hours ago, Sir_Boagalott said:

 

Last year I was kinda worried about how Hughes viewed Arber but on draft day he made that clear.  If he was planning on trading WiFi he wouldn't have drafted Florian that high.  I definitely disagree with 3rd pair and seems like the Habs management believes he's better than that.  i.e. if they thought his ceiling was only 3rd pair there'd be no need to send him down.  Their plan seems to be to give him a ton of minutes and improve some of his deficiencies to help him become a top 4 dman.

 

I absolutely agree with the brings something that no other player brings comment.  I tend to value players that are great at doing a particular thing.  That is another reason why I question if Guhle will be around in 3-5 yrs.  Sure, Guhle's all round game is better than Hutson, but he doesn't seem to have a specialty.  However, Lanes O game is off the charts so I'd value Hutson over Guhle.  

 

So far this year it seems like all they need to do is improve their PP and PK.  If they moved up from the bottom 10 into the middle of the pack they'd get more points.  If they could improve both and get into the bottom of the top 10 they'd likely be top 3 in their div.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think Arber's floor is as an excellent 3rd pairing defensemen who may be able to play up. I don't limit him as a 3rd pairing "D", time will tell whether he improves his defensive play enough to be a regular top 4 guy on a good team but he has the tools.  I agree they wouldn't have drafted Florian if they didn't think Arber would be around for a while.

 

I think Guhle will be around for a long time simply because his mobility is outstanding and his defensive game is there. I hope Hutson's offensive game translates to the NHL. It will be fun to watch the kids develop. 

"

[johnnyhasbeen]

Baron needs to go down. He makes way too many mistakes. WiFi needs to come up. We need a deterrent to stop people targeting our young players. Do you think Slaf gets creamed if WiFi is there? I don't . Baron and Harris are not in the big picture. 

Struble, Hudson, Mailloux, Ghule, WiFi, Matheson. That is our 6 that will be around in my opinion, and a damn fine core it will be. WiFi does not need to develop into top pairing. Bottom pairing is all that the future team will have open for him. Bring him up and stop the other teams from targeting the young guys and small guys. 

[GHT120]

16 minutes ago, johnnyhasbeen said:

... WiFi needs to come up. We need a deterrent to stop people targeting our young players ...

A young player does not I-M-O "need to come up" to fill a need ... he needs to be in Laval until whatever he was sent down to develop is sufficiently improved ... otherwise his potential may remain unfulfilled.

 

18 minutes ago, johnnyhasbeen said:

... Do you think Slaf gets creamed if WiFi is there? I don't ...

I do ... WiFi may get team-mates revved-up if he beats up the aggressor, and there is value in "team spirit" ... but I do not think it stops future "assaults" and making the fans feel better is of no value to the team. 

[DON]

12 hours ago, sim.on said:

Hope slafkovsky is okay.

Wouldn't surprise me if he sustained a concussion on the hit, he stayed down for a while.

 

I think I can say I've seen enough of Barron. He definitely has some solid offensive skills but the defensive gaffes are too much for me. 

I hope Slafkovski has learned a lesson and isnt hurt; Guhle seems to be doing better at avoiding getting smoked.

Barron just turned 22, has all of 76 NHL games under his belt and you want him gone already? 

[DON]

1 hour ago, tomh009 said:

Left side has Guhle, Harris (who could also play RD), Xhekaj, Struble--and Hutson. Also Engstrom and Norlinder, who are less certain to make the NHL.

Right side has Reinbacher, Mailloux, Kovacevic and Barron, not quite as crowded.

 

One advantage Harris has is his ability to switch between LD and RD, which can be helpful in case of injuries. But, for sure, there are more players than there are seats. A good problem to have!

Obviously several d prospects wont pan out, i think we can write off Norlinder. 

Mailloux, Hutson, Barron, Harris, Reinbacher, Engstrom, Xhekaj unlikely all turn out as fans hope, we can be sure of that.

 

But, seems nice deep group for sure and wonder which one gets dealt this year/next summer?

 

Seems too bad Harris couldnt have gone to the AHL or done a rehab stint there at least. 

[Habs Fan in Edmonton]

52 minutes ago, GHT120 said:

A young player does not I-M-O "need to come up" to fill a need ... he needs to be in Laval until whatever he was sent down to develop is sufficiently improved ... otherwise his potential may remain unfulfilled.

 

I do ... WiFi may get team-mates revved-up if he beats up the aggressor, and there is value in "team spirit" ... but I do not think it stops future "assaults" and making the fans feel better is of no value to the team. 

 

There is certainly value when a team member knows there is somebody that has their back. It may be hard to measure but there is value. 

[DON]

2 minutes ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

 

There is certainly value when a team member knows there is somebody that has their back. It may be hard to measure but there is value. 

It was a clean open ice hit, right.

Slavkovski duked down and stuck chin out, might be why no one went ape-shite also.

 

Dressing a goon hasnt helped the mighty Leafs any has it?

[Habs Fan in Edmonton]

4 minutes ago, DON said:

It was a clean open ice hit, right.

Slavkovski duked down and stuck chin out, might be why no one went ape-shite also.

 

Dressing a goon hasnt helped the mighty Leafs any has it?

 

I am not talking about that particular hit I am talking in general. 

 

You are not referring to Arber as a goon I hope. He is a far better better player now than Reaves has ever been. 

[alfredoh2009]

I have liked how well Xhekaj and Mailloux are playing in Laval. If the plan is to have them become a pair and to come up together to become a 2nd-pair with the Habs, I will be very happy about that.

 

===

RDS post-game commentators brought up the poor defensive zone coverage by Caufield and also how Caufield and Slafkovsky were affecting negatively Suzuki. I didn;t think they were that bad, but watching the replays they showed to make their point it was hard to deny.

 

The hit on Slaf was clean, MSL said he had been better at avoiding getting hit, and I think he also said that he wil learn form this or something like that: in other words, he didn't seem to think it was a dirty hit.

 

Habs kept up with CAR and could have surprised them if they had shown more intensity. Habs were to flat to my liking.

 

The 4th line played well. Harris and Struble played well. Anderson got a goal and played well. There were some positives 

[hab29RETIRED]

1 hour ago, DON said:

Obviously several d prospects wont pan out, i think we can write off Norlinder. 

Mailloux, Hutson, Barron, Harris, Reinbacher, Engstrom, Xhekaj unlikely all turn out as fans hope, we can be sure of that.

 

But, seems nice deep group for sure and wonder which one gets dealt this year/next summer?

 

Seems too bad Harris couldnt have gone to the AHL or done a rehab stint there at least. 

I don’t think the prospects are the ones to be moving.

From the current dmen, Guhle is untouchable.

 

i know what Harris and Savard are, and Savard would ideally be on the bottom pair hen we are good. but I don’t see either on this team when we are ready to compete. They are the ones to move - either this year or next year.

 

From the rest of the current dmen, Barron looks underwhelming defensively- but he is 22. No way I’d move him unless someone is really willing to overpay. 
 

I wouldn’t move Struble or wifi YET, There is no need to do move any our young dman until we know what we have. No idea whether Hutson or Reinbacher will need time in Laval. So why make room for either now? Hutson will probably get a look if his college season ends before we are still playing, but next year, we don’t know if he will be a full-time player yet.

 

i think at the deadline they can move one or two of Kovacevic, Savard, or Matheson, and I would IF someone overpays - there is no hurry to move them this year. I’d be a lot more reluctant to move any of the kids at this point. 
 

I wouldn’t let our current position in the standing sway me to keep the veterans, an move one of the kids to bolster the lineup for this year - I think we will fall back and still finish around 25 to 28.

[dlbalr]

14 hours ago, sim.on said:

Hope slafkovsky is okay.

Wouldn't surprise me if he sustained a concussion on the hit, he stayed down for a while.

 

I think I can say I've seen enough of Barron. He definitely has some solid offensive skills but the defensive gaffes are too much for me. 

 

Looks like Slafkovsky is a full go for practice today.

 

With Barron, it's still important to remember that he just turned 22.  For lots of d-men, they're not even sniffing the NHL until then.  Yes, he has a lot to work on defensively but from a development standpoint, he still has a lot of runway left to do that.

[dlbalr]

3 hours ago, johnnyhasbeen said:

Baron needs to go down. He makes way too many mistakes. WiFi needs to come up. We need a deterrent to stop people targeting our young players. Do you think Slaf gets creamed if WiFi is there? I don't . Baron and Harris are not in the big picture. 

Struble, Hudson, Mailloux, Ghule, WiFi, Matheson. That is our 6 that will be around in my opinion, and a damn fine core it will be. WiFi does not need to develop into top pairing. Bottom pairing is all that the future team will have open for him. Bring him up and stop the other teams from targeting the young guys and small guys. 

 

I still think that hit happens.  Let's say he was.  In the split second that Noesen has to line up that hit, does he have time to think to himself "wait a minute, Xhekaj is in the lineup so this could come back to bite me or a teammate later on"?  No, somewhere around the word 'minute' is when that hit was thrown.  Besides, Montreal had two big hits earlier in the game (Matheson and I think Guhle) that, while clean, weren't responded to so it stood to reason that a Carolina player was going to take advantage of the opportunity to throw a big hit should the opportunity present itself regardless of who was or wasn't in uniform.

 

Of your core 6, I noticed you don't have Reinbacher in there.  I suspect they have him in the long-term plans.  Interesting that you have Matheson there, it might not hurt to have one true veteran in the mix.

[tomh009]

Just now, dlbalr said:

Of your core 6, I noticed you don't have Reinbacher in there.  I suspect they have him in the long-term plans.  Interesting that you have Matheson there, it might not hurt to have one true veteran in the mix.

Matheson is 29, so he could be a fit for the Habs' contention window, should they decide that he is one that they want to keep. And Kovacevic is 26, still young for a D-man. Reinbacher, Mailloux and Kovacevic (or Barron) would be only three RD. On the left, though, johnnyhasbeen has five players (Struble, Hutson, Guhle, Xhekaj and Matheson) which is probably at least one too many.

[hab29RETIRED]

2 hours ago, dlbalr said:

 

Looks like Slafkovsky is a full go for practice today.

 

With Barron, it's still important to remember that he just turned 22.  For lots of d-men, they're not even sniffing the NHL until then.  Yes, he has a lot to work on defensively but from a development standpoint, he still has a lot of runway left to do that.

100% agree.

[Commandant]

Jordan Harris is 23 and has played less than 100 NHL games.  I agree that we should give Barron time to develop.  But why is he a guy who is still developping but we know what Harris is and he will never get any better?

[johnnyhasbeen]

6 hours ago, Commandant said:

Jordan Harris is 23 and has played less than 100 NHL games.  I agree that we should give Barron time to develop.  But why is he a guy who is still developping but we know what Harris is and he will never get any better?

Harris may develop, it is true, but how high do you put his ceiling? Steady third pairing?  

18 hours ago, tomh009 said:

Matheson is 29, so he could be a fit for the Habs' contention window, should they decide that he is one that they want to keep. And Kovacevic is 26, still young for a D-man. Reinbacher, Mailloux and Kovacevic (or Barron) would be only three RD. On the left, though, johnnyhasbeen has five players (Struble, Hutson, Guhle, Xhekaj and Matheson) which is probably at least one too many.

I see Reinbacher as being in development still in 2 years, replacing an aging Matheson on 3 years. He needs time still and then time to adjust in the AHL to our smaller ice.

[DON]

3 hours ago, johnnyhasbeen said:

Harris may develop, it is true, but how high do you put his ceiling? Steady third pairing?  

 

I see Reinbacher as being in development still in 2 years, replacing an aging Matheson on 3 years. He needs time still and then time to adjust in the AHL to our smaller ice.

Harris can skate very well, has OK puck skills, can play RH-d a bit, can defend OK and seems pretty smart. Why not 2nd pairing?

 

I am guessing Reinbacher wont spend too long in Laval. Wonder when his Euro season is over, as his team is pretty bad.

 

[Commandant]

Ceiling? Absolutely he could be top 4.  Of course ceiling doesnt mean he will get there.

 

But there is no guarantee Barron or any of the other prospects reach ceilings either.

[johnnyhasbeen]

On 12/30/2023 at 12:25 PM, Commandant said:

Ceiling? Absolutely he could be top 4.  Of course ceiling doesnt mean he will get there.

 

But there is no guarantee Barron or any of the other prospects reach ceilings either.

Well, let's wait and see. You and Don think top 4 I say plug. Let's revisit this in 2 years.