2024-2025 Laval Rocket discussion thread

[alfredoh2009]

If the Habs rely on a couple of rookies next season to make the playoffs, I will be utterly disappointed.

By that time, they should have a solid top-6 and an established top-4; Kapanen, Beck, Mailloux should see managed minutes as they learn to play in NHL.

 

[GHT120]

3 hours ago, Commandant said:

Development is the goal not winning in the AHL, and the fact is that the players would only miss regular season AHL games, of course they would field their strongest team in the playoffs.

I agree that development is the goal ... but there is at least an argument to be made, if not accepted, that the prospects competing together to chase the regular season championship has a certain developmental value.

[Commandant]

19 minutes ago, GHT120 said:

I agree that development is the goal ... but there is at least an argument to be made, if not accepted, that the prospects competing together to chase the regular season championship has a certain developmental value.

 

Do they really chase a regular season championship?  I think, much like the NHL, the goal is the Calder Cup not the AHL equivalent to a President's trophy. 

[GHT120]

16 minutes ago, Commandant said:

Do they really chase a regular season championship?  I think, much like the NHL, the goal is the Calder Cup not the AHL equivalent to a President's trophy. 

I think the players do both, unless management decides to "take to foot off the pedal" for the regular season.

[dlbalr]

2 hours ago, alfredoh2009 said:

If the Habs rely on a couple of rookies next season to make the playoffs, I will be utterly disappointed.

By that time, they should have a solid top-6 and an established top-4; Kapanen, Beck, Mailloux should see managed minutes as they learn to play in NHL.

 

Are they going to be relying on them to make the playoffs?  Not as primary pieces, no.  (Though I suspect one rookie, Demidov, will be heavily relied on from the get-go.)  But relying on them as a supporting cast, that could be fair.  They're about to let two centres go so there's clearly a path for Beck to be a regular next season.  And they can be in the NHL with managed minutes; look at how they're handling Heineman.  Personally, I think he and Beck could be linemates next season with Beck being eased in at 10-12 minutes a night, just as they've done with Heineman this year.

 

Mailloux is a bit less certain as they could opt to re-sign or replace Savard.  One way they can help make the determination of whether or not they need to add an external piece is to properly evaluate Mailloux at the NHL level.  But that means regular NHL playing time, not calling up Lindstrom for the next two months.  It's a matter of taking the time now to do the evaluations over guessing about their readiness in the summer, making moves accordingly, and then reacting if things don't go as they guessed it might go in training camp based on their AHL play.

 

1 hour ago, GHT120 said:

I think the players do both, unless management decides to "take to foot off the pedal" for the regular season.

 

I think injuries could play a role in that as well.  They're pretty banged up at the moment and it's showing as they are getting outplayed right now.  Barring some players returning soon, they're going to fall out of the chase for first overall.

[DON]

2 hours ago, alfredoh2009 said:

If the Habs rely on a couple of rookies next season to make the playoffs, I will be utterly disappointed.

By that time, they should have a solid top-6 and an established top-4; Kapanen, Beck, Mailloux should see managed minutes as they learn to play in NHL.

 

But, 1986 Habs had (i think) 8 rookies on the roster. So it 'can' work out OK.

[GHT120]

2 minutes ago, DON said:

But, 1986 Habs had (i think) 8 rookies on the roster. So it 'can' work out OK.

That it did once doesn't mean it is a good plan.

[Commandant]

5 minutes ago, GHT120 said:

That it did once doesn't mean it is a good plan.

 

Which is why getting key guys as many NHL games as possible down the stretch is important so the players have an extra head start for next year, and the team has a better evaluation of them at the NHL level. 

 

There is no point in playing the RHP and Lindstroms of the world in the NHL down the stretch, that still weakens Laval and provides limited benefit to development of Beck/Mailloux in the NHL

[DON]

12 minutes ago, GHT120 said:

That it did once doesn't mean it is a good plan.

No, but have a couple rookies playing key minutes or roles might not hurt.. say Demidov on the PP, Beck 3rd line centre and Reinbacher on the PK.

[GHT120]

18 minutes ago, DON said:

No, but have a couple rookies playing key minutes or roles might not hurt.. say Demidov on the PP, Beck 3rd line centre and Reinbacher on the PK.

I expect that Demidov will be in the Top 6 and on one of the PP units ... other than that I have no expectations of any of the potential rookies ... hopes, but not expectations (BTW ... not saying you were setting expectations).

[alfredoh2009]

46 minutes ago, DON said:

But, 1986 Habs had (i think) 8 rookies on the roster. So it 'can' work out OK.

Well, Dobes or Primeau are no Patrick Roy 😁

[alfredoh2009]

53 minutes ago, dlbalr said:

 

Are they going to be relying on them to make the playoffs?  Not as primary pieces, no.  (Though I suspect one rookie, Demidov, will be heavily relied on from the get-go.)  But relying on them as a supporting cast, that could be fair.  They're about to let two centres go so there's clearly a path for Beck to be a regular next season.  And they can be in the NHL with managed minutes; look at how they're handling Heineman.  Personally, I think he and Beck could be linemates next season with Beck being eased in at 10-12 minutes a night, just as they've done with Heineman this year.

 

Mailloux is a bit less certain as they could opt to re-sign or replace Savard.  One way they can help make the determination of whether or not they need to add an external piece is to properly evaluate Mailloux at the NHL level.  But that means regular NHL playing time, not calling up Lindstrom for the next two months.  It's a matter of taking the time now to do the evaluations over guessing about their readiness in the summer, making moves accordingly, and then reacting if things don't go as they guessed it might go in training camp based on their AHL play.

 

 

I think injuries could play a role in that as well.  They're pretty banged up at the moment and it's showing as they are getting outplayed right now.  Barring some players returning soon, they're going to fall out of the chase for first overall.

that is we’re you start getting into lots of “if this, if that”.

This season, I would prefer for Mailloux, Beck to focus on raising their performance in the AHL. The same way Suzuki was asked to dominate in the OHL playoffs and to improve his pace, to play with a higher pace.

I will be happy if the play in the NHL this season, but that would mean the Habs suck, and that they are playing the future instead of looking tk

improve the current NHL core… I am tired of that.

[hab29RETIRED]

2 hours ago, DON said:

But, 1986 Habs had (i think) 8 rookies on the roster. So it 'can' work out OK.

There were actually more than 6 rookies that year - although, not all of them were officially rookies until the following season, since they didn’t have enough regular season games with Montreal.

 

Some of those rookies were critical to the cup run and two of them - Roy and Lemieux were Conn Smythe candidates, with Roy obviously winning the Conn Smythe.

 

The rookies played a key role in that run - Roy, Lemieux, Skrudland, Momesso (got injured and was never the same after that), Dahlin (was a one year wonder Calder candidate), Richer (got injured), Lalor, Rooney, Maley and Kordic.

 

that was an example though of 5 or 6 young players being part of the Calder cup winning team the year before in Sherbrooke - including the hard shooting but at times couldn’t hit the side of a barn demoted Gaston Gingras.  Claude Lemieux also won a junior championship if I remember correctly the same year before winning the cup in 85-86.
 

So there is something to be said about giving the kids a chance to experience meaningful pressure games in the minors as part of their development, which is what I’d want Beck, Roy, Mailloux, and Reinbacher (assuming he is healthy), to play in the playoffs with Laval. Having said that, I’d want to give them as many NHL games as we can to evaluate them against NHL players and to provide them with feedback on what they need to work on over the summer. 
 

The goal is to build a Stanley Cup contending team in Montreal. A Laval playoff run should be seen as an opportunity to give these kids a chance to play high pressure, meaningful games, as well as get used to playing more games that come with a deep playoff run, and learn what it takes to win. That is why I’d want them in Laval - for the development opportunity and learning what it takes to win in the playoffs.  Otherwise, I don’t give a rat’s ass about a Calder cup win. I certainly don’t give a damn about finishing first overall in Laval.

 

lots of Calder cup winning teams are won by career AHLers, and that’s not what we need to develop. Hell, the 84-85 Calder cup winning team had Gaston Gingras, who was bounced from the NHL to the AHL, and then he returned to win a cup and have a couple more NHL seasons. He sucked at  D, but had a booming shot, albeit a usually inaccurate shot. I don’t want Mailloux to be Gingras, I want him to develop into a legit dependable NHL RHD. To do that he needs NHL reps to figure out what he needs to work on.

 

 

[alfredoh2009]

9 minutes ago, hab29RETIRED said:

There were actually more than 6 rookies that year - although, not all of them were officially rookies until the following season, since they didn’t have enough regular season games with Montreal.

 

Some of those rookies were critical to the cup run and two of them - Roy and Lemieux were Conn Smythe candidates, with Roy obviously winning the Conn Smythe.

 

The rookies played a key role in that run - Roy, Lemieux, Skrudland, Momesso (got injured and was never the same after that), Dahlin (was a one year wonder Calder candidate), Richer (got injured), Lalor, Rooney, Maley and Kordic.

 

that was an example though of 5 or 6 young players being part of the Calder cup winning team the year before in Sherbrooke - including the hard shooting but at times couldn’t hit the side of a barn demoted Gaston Gingras.  Claude Lemieux also won a junior championship if I remember correctly the same year before winning the cup in 85-86.
 

So there is something to be said about giving the kids a chance to experience meaningful pressure games in the minors as part of their development, which is what I’d want Beck, Roy, Mailloux, and Reinbacher (assuming he is healthy), to play in the playoffs with Laval. Having said that, I’d want to give them as many NHL games as we can to evaluate them against NHL players and to provide them with feedback on what they need to work on over the summer. 
 

The goal is to build a Stanley Cup contending team in Montreal. A Laval playoff run should be seen as an opportunity to give these kids a chance to play high pressure, meaningful games, as well as get used to playing more games that come with a deep playoff run, and learn what it takes to win. That is why I’d want them in Laval - for the development opportunity and learning what it takes to win in the playoffs.  Otherwise, I don’t give a rat’s ass about a Calder cup win. I certainly don’t give a damn about finishing first overall in Laval.

 

lots of Calder cup winning teams are won by career AHLers, and that’s not what we need to develop. Hell, the 84-85 Calder cup winning team had Gaston Gingras, who was bounced from the NHL to the AHL, and then he returned to win a cup and have a couple more NHL seasons. He sucked at  D, but had a booming shot, albeit a usually inaccurate shot. I don’t want Mailloux to be Gingras, I want him to develop into a legit dependable NHL RHD. To do that he needs NHL reps to figure out what he needs to work on.

 

 

excellent post. That is my thinking too, but in many less words. 
I do not care much for fringe prospects that do not project to much in the NHL; I care less about the career AHLers on the  Rocket.

But there are two to four prospects I want to see improve in a meaningful way : Beck, Mailloux, Roy and Reinbacher 

[hab29RETIRED]

14 minutes ago, alfredoh2009 said:

excellent post. That is my thinking too, but in many less words. 
I do not care much for fringe prospects that do not project to much in the NHL; I care less about the career AHLers on the  Rocket.

But there are two to four prospects I want to see improve in a meaningful way : Beck, Mailloux, Roy and Reinbacher 

All four of them also need to get in some NHL games THIS year as part of their development. I want them to get the playoff experience in Laval, but also get in the maximum NHL games, while retaining their AHL playoff eligibility.

[dlbalr]

2 hours ago, alfredoh2009 said:

I will be happy if the play in the NHL this season, but that would mean the Habs suck, and that they are playing the future instead of looking tk

improve the current NHL core… I am tired of that.

 

I hate to break it to you but that's exactly what's about to happen.  They're out of the playoffs and will be selling off potentially four roster players in the next 2.5 weeks.  While they're sniffing around on another Dach/Newhook type of deal that would see them look to add to the core, those types of deals are generally likelier to happen in the offseason, not now.  In the meantime, they'll focus on trying to develop part of the future core with likely extended looks for Beck and Mailloux at some point in the stretch run.  In essence, they're working to improve the core, just going about it a different way than you'd prefer.

[JoeLassister]

3 hours ago, DON said:

No, but have a couple rookies playing key minutes or roles might not hurt.. say Demidov on the PP, Beck 3rd line centre and Reinbacher on the PK.

Unless he's pure fire at next years training camp, I'll be dissapointed if Beck ends up as our 3rd line C.  I wish they'd bring in someone much better for that role. 

[alfredoh2009]

39 minutes ago, JoeLassister said:

Unless he's pure fire at next years training camp, I'll be dissapointed if Beck ends up as our 3rd line C.  I wish they'd bring in someone much better for that role. 

Agreed 

[alfredoh2009]

39 minutes ago, JoeLassister said:

Unless he's pure fire at next years training camp, I'll be dissapointed if Beck ends up as our 3rd line C.  I wish they'd bring in someone much better for that role. 

Can’t wait for next season of “the rebuild” on crave! What a cliff hanger ! 

[hab29RETIRED]

5 hours ago, DON said:

But, 1986 Habs had (i think) 8 rookies on the roster. So it 'can' work out OK.

They also had Gainey and Robinson. We don’t have anyone that approaches that type of championship experience.

[Habs Fan in Edmonton]

On 2/17/2025 at 3:40 PM, Commandant said:

 

Florian should be recalled over Beck ans Mailloux?

 

Insanity.

 

He's not a dominant AHL player, he's a fourth liner there, sometimes a third liner.  He's not ready and would be eaten alive in the NHL. 

 

Actually one guy who might deserve a look is Jared Davidson. His skating might never be NHL level but he has worked his butt off down in Laval and has had a very good year. I wouldn't mind seeing if he looks badly out of place. I think he has paid his dues and deserves a cup of coffee at the NHL level. 

[dlbalr]

19 minutes ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

Actually one guy who might deserve a look is Jared Davidson. His skating might never be NHL level but he has worked his butt off down in Laval and has had a very good year. I wouldn't mind seeing if he looks badly out of place. I think he has paid his dues and deserves a cup of coffee at the NHL level. 

 

Agreed, he has earned a look.  They need to get a sense of his skating and how much of an issue it might be.

[Commandant]

23 minutes ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

 

Actually one guy who might deserve a look is Jared Davidson. His skating might never be NHL level but he has worked his butt off down in Laval and has had a very good year. I wouldn't mind seeing if he looks badly out of place. I think he has paid his dues and deserves a cup of coffee at the NHL level. 

 

I can agree on that.  I don't think he will be an NHL player, but there is no harm in giving him a look at the NHL level given the production and the fact that the Habs will soon be playing meaningless games (from their perspective). 

[tomh009]

3 hours ago, hab29RETIRED said:

They also had Gainey and Robinson. We don’t have anyone that approaches that type of championship experience.

Really, does any team today?

[hab29RETIRED]

5 minutes ago, tomh009 said:

Really, does any team today?

No, just making the point that when you have that kind of leadership, you can bring in as many rookies as they did that year. They also had vets like Green, Walter, Smith, Naslund, and Carbo.

 

We already have a VERY young team. I see Suzuki as having slightly more experience than Carbo did, but otherwise, I dint see our vets even measuring up to any of the other veterans we had. Savard has one a cup, but isn’t even close to the player Robinson was in 1986. He’ll, he isn’t even the Robinson that went to the Kings.

 

Gallagher may be comparable to what Walter was in 86’, but otherwise we don’t have any high calibre top 6 vets.

 

it would be nice if we prior to the start of next year we can get an experienced RHD that isn’t to old to be part of the future core, and a guy who is capable of being a legit 2nd line centre for at least 2-3 years. I still think Dach can be part of the future core, but I doubt if it’s going to be at centre. Newhook looks like a third liner. The plan better not be to HOPE that Hage and Reinbacher/Mailloux to be ready to START the season in those roles.