Official: Canadiens Sign Swedish Forward Mikael Johansson

[HabbiesMan]

If you havn't seen him play, then you can't judge him.

Period.

Now lets stop it with the "OMG GAINEY SIGNED A 5"10 PLAYER HES SO SMALL, omg! HE SUCKS"

OMG GAINEY SIGNED A 5"10 PLAYER HES SO SMALL, omg! HE SUCKS

[go_leafs_go11]

Isnt Sidney Crosby 5'10? Not to say that 5'10 players are great, but you can't judge a player by his size. Give this guy a chance, if he isn't good enough for the Habs then he won't play on the Habs.

He's ours and having him doesn't cost us the chance to sign any other players.

[Larry-Robinson]

I have a question that i would like for some posters in here to answer. Since we are so intent on bashing players, whether we have seen them play or whether we haven't, being the case with Johannsson. The question I pose is, What type of player(s) do you actually want to play and complete a roster where you won't ever bash or complain?

My second question is. How do you expect to acquire players via FA if we continually bash players and do stupid stuff like boo an anthem, boo our own players,?

What do you think that players are stupid or they don hear the talk or see the goings on in this city.

[Mauro-Biello]

Who cares.Let's get some real players here,instead of Andreas Dackell lite.This roster is full of 3rd and 4th liners,and # 5 and #6 d-men.I don't get the point of the constant signing of small minor league depth players.With BG in charge,this franchise is in deep trouble.Soon,we'll be happy with an 8th seed and 1st rd sweep if this management stays

what kind of statement is that :blink: . How about waiting for a real player instead of someone we totally don't need

Yes if we cannot sign "real" players, we should not sign anyone. And we should send all these 3rd and 4th liners and 5th and 6th d-men from Montreal to Hamilton, so we can get "real" players. And we should keep on waiting into the season for "real" players to come to Montreal while icing an incomplete roster.

Isnt Sidney Crosby 5'10? Not to say that 5'10 players are great, but you can't judge a player by his size. Give this guy a chance, if he isn't good enough for the Habs then he won't play on the Habs.

He's ours and having him doesn't cost us the chance to sign any other players.

I think Crosby is 6 feet 200lbs

[fourtrax]

The height comparisons are inapt. Yes, he's roughly the same height as Sidney Crosby. But hey, I'm 6'0'', so theoretically I'm better than Crosby, right?

He's a mediocre non-NHL smurf center with poor defensive skills (that's directly stated in the initial Habs I/O report) on a two-way contract. MMW, he will have little to no impact this season EXCEPT to take a roster spot away from a good prospect (either here or in Hamilton).

[alzimutg]

The height comparisons are inapt. Yes, he's roughly the same height as Sidney Crosby. But hey, I'm 6'0'', so theoretically I'm better than Crosby, right?

He's a mediocre non-NHL smurf center with poor defensive skills (that's directly stated in the initial Habs I/O report) on a two-way contract. MMW, he will have little to no impact this season EXCEPT to take a roster spot away from a good prospect (either here or in Hamilton).

Sadly we don't have that much good prospects in the farm.

[fourtrax]

Sadly we don't have that much good prospects in the farm.

I disagree. I don't think we have a clear idea of our prospect worth because of the incompetence of the previous coaching staff. We may turn out to have lots of good talent, or we may not. But we have to give ourselves the chance to find out.

[Twillightzone]

The height comparisons are inapt. Yes, he's roughly the same height as Sidney Crosby. But hey, I'm 6'0'', so theoretically I'm better than Crosby, right?

He's a mediocre non-NHL smurf center with poor defensive skills (that's directly stated in the initial Habs I/O report) on a two-way contract. MMW, he will have little to no impact this season EXCEPT to take a roster spot away from a good prospect (either here or in Hamilton).

Yes MJ is on the small side but a good player (have some feisty plays in him too) with good/great potential at age 23 (not that old more than 10 years to go). A report on Habs I/O says he is bad defensively??? WOW, sorry old boy but he isnt bad on anything tbh. His strong suite isnt defensive play but he isnt bad! Thats plain ridiculous Weep. If he manages to take a spot or not only time will tell but you sir seem very affraid of signing anything other than shall we say superstars? Is that correct? With your retoric everybody who isnt already playing or played in NHL are nobodys and not worth signing, why even have a draft then...

MJ is already a ordinary roster player in SEL so he is a pro, if he can step it one more step and help the Habs be good would you still be so negative? I wonder. Personally I am positive to this one but not convinced that MJ can make it, if he does great if not you really think he would stay in Hamilton? I sure dont (he is a regular in a pro league for men, not youngsters for crying out loud). Anyway Gainey (or whoever's in charge after the sell or no sell) have many things to do attend to no doubt about that and I think there lies the whole trouble of not any news about former roster players signing (the lack thereoff). All will come in due time (we hope). I understand your concern and all that but you have been so negative the last, oh I dont know 6 months or so in your posts that its not even funny. We all know you want to clean the house and get superstars. Any fool can say that.... to do it, well thats a whole other ballgame

Btw statements like yours isnt helping getting "real players" to Montreal, imo quite the contrary. This is a forum so of course we can all speak our mind and critizsize or whatever. BUT if you act like a monkey towards players or fellow humans you will not be liked, very simple. We all get frustrated from time to time but more often than not we dont act like I***** but there are to many negative birds around Montreal imo and that is a known fact for many players.

[Twillightzone]

thanks twillight. i've been waiting for you to weigh in on this signing.

Thanks bigsby. Happy to see that there was one that was curious on this new player (wich I happen to know a lot about) makes me smile

Also looking forward too (crosses my fingers) see MJ in the Montreal dress.

[js2]

Doesn't hurt to have another player with a two-way. If he turns out then great, if not then nothing is lost.

[fourtrax]

Thats plain ridiculous Weep. If he manages to take a spot or not only time will tell but you sir seem very affraid of signing anything other than shall we say superstars? Is that correct? With your retoric everybody who isnt already playing or played in NHL are nobodys and not worth signing, why even have a draft then...

I'm not afraid to sign unheralded players. But I am sick and tired of clogging up the roster with guys like this when we should be out looking for players around whom we can build. We already have no shortage of spare parts, second liners, and lower-tier players. What we're lacking is what Gainey has consistently failed to get us -- top-line talent.

[Hemsky83_09]

I'm not afraid to sign unheralded players. But I am sick and tired of clogging up the roster with guys like this when we should be out looking for players around whom we can build. We already have no shortage of spare parts, second liners, and lower-tier players. What we're lacking is what Gainey has consistently failed to get us -- top-line talent.

It will be interesting to see what happens when BG eventually leaves. Will the floodgates open and players line up to sign here?

[RedLightRonan]

Why are we complaining about Gainey making moves like this? The playoffs are still on, so no major trades can be made, and UFA season hasn't started, so we'll have to wait 'til July to sign a superstar that way. Therefore, the only things that could be happening right now are either

a. Minor signings

b. Nothing

People complain often enough about Gainey sitting on his hands, so I for one won't complain about him being proactive.

Btw, as of right now, the only centers signed for next year are Laps and Metropolit. Compare the after-effects of Lang's injury (utter collapse) to Datsyuk's (second-string offensive centers pick up the slack) - you can never have too much depth at center.

And honestly, given the numbers he put up in the SEL and the reviews I've read, he can't be any worse than Pleks was this season.

[Rocket-1]

Why are we complaining about Gainey making moves like this? The playoffs are still on, so no major trades can be made, and UFA season hasn't started, so we'll have to wait 'til July to sign a superstar that way. Therefore, the only things that could be happening right now are either

a. Minor signings

b. Nothing

People complain often enough about Gainey sitting on his hands, so I for one won't complain about him being proactive.

Btw, as of right now, the only centers signed for next year are Laps and Metropolit. Compare the after-effects of Lang's injury (utter collapse) to Datsyuk's (second-string offensive centers pick up the slack) - you can never have too much depth at center.

And honestly, given the numbers he put up in the SEL and the reviews I've read, he can't be any worse than Pleks was this season.

lol at people always bringing Pleks name (who was the best player on our team for 2 straight year before this season) to a guy who will most likely never gonna play in the NHL (at least on a regular basis)

First thing first.... can we agree on 1 thing? Are the Detroit Red Wings scout better than ours? (I'm waiting for the obvious answer....)

And then let's ask ourselves, why did they drop that project and why are we picking up left overs?

Anyway, he better do something good in the AHL, because he's gonna be a 90-100k cap hit no matter what.

[Larry-Robinson]

lol at people always bringing Pleks name (who was the best player on our team for 2 straight year before this season) to a guy who will most likely never gonna play in the NHL (at least on a regular basis)

First thing first.... can we agree on 1 thing? Are the Detroit Red Wings scout better than ours? (I'm waiting for the obvious answer....)

And then let's ask ourselves, why did they drop that project and why are we picking up left overs?

Anyway, he better do something good in the AHL, because he's gonna be a 90-100k cap hit no matter what.

I know he signed for just over a million (1.097 I think), but is there a cap limit in the AHL? I don't think so, and if he doesn't make the Habs so what, Bob would have picked him up for nothing therefore nothing to lose if he doesn't progress.

As with regards to Detroit scouts better tha ours, who's to say. It really depends on how they are handled once they get here in the AHL and NHL. Right now Detroit has been on a high for the past 10 years and law of averages says that they will come down. The only question to be asked then is to see how fast they can rebound. The only major difference I would say in the scouting team from the Habs to the Wings would be the overseas scouts. It seems that the scout(s) for the wings over there are either really good and got an eye for talent that no other scout can see, or they are as lucky as hell. It's probably a combination of the two.

The North American scouts, I would have to say that I haven't seen anything spectatular about the drafted players that the wings have drafted more so than any other NHL team for that matter. I know given the teams bottom draft pick in the first rounds, if you compare it to the other teams from position 15 to 30 their success rate is about 50/50 and on par with the rest of the NHL teams. There have been diamonds in the rough in late rounds for all teams, look at Halak, Plekanec, even Patrick Roy.

I look on Detroit, and other than the European players, who are the other players that stand out for them that have been drafted by them? The only players for me that come to mind are Draper, Osgood. Even Osgood was traded away and they were lucky enough to get him back. Detroit have been lucky enough to grab good players via trade and I think this is the other key component to Detroit's success over the long haul. I said it before and I'll say it again, Detroit was once a doormat for all the NHL teams, they wre sold to pizza king Mike Illich ( spelling may be incorrect) and things began to turn around under Jim Devellano (GM) before Ken Holland got them, he just continued on with the trend. It took 14-15 years to make that franchise to where it stands for the past 10 years, now I don't think Detroit will ever go back to being that bad, but they will return to the middle of the group in the NHL. The law of averages says so.

[pitbull12]

Lets hope this guy turns out to be a diamond in the rough...Seems like the only team that gets lucky with this type of thing is Detroit, but here is hoping. Even 15 goals from him in the NHL would help, heck I'll take 10.

[DA_Champion]

Lets hope this guy turns out to be a diamond in the rough...Seems like the only team that gets lucky with this type of thing is Detroit, but here is hoping. Even 15 goals from him in the NHL would help, heck I'll take 10.

If 10 goals in the NHL is what we want we can get that from Metropolit, Chipchura, White, Desharnais or Maxwell.

[DA_Champion]

For those saying roster spots don`t matter, Gainey is taking on huge amounts of little people onto roster positions.

Mikael Johansson

Danny Masse

Thomas Beauregard

Olivier Latendresse

We just brought back Andre Benoit.

For a real prospect like PK Subban he waited until the last minute, and unfortunately that looks like his dangerous plan with David Fischer. Gainey is all about waiting till the last minute.

[Max-Hab-Fan]

If 10 goals in the NHL is what we want we can get that from Metropolit, Chipchura, White, Desharnais or Maxwell.

Nothing against Johansson, but I love to see what Desharnais could do with Montreal.

[PatrickC]

But didnt little(5'11") Henrik Zetterberg also play in Swedish elite league? Drafted like 210th overall in 1999 by Detroit? Henrik's best performance in Swedish leagues was 15-16 goals and minus 2 defensive rating. He was a scrawny 178 pounds then, too.

I think Mikael could have much potential if he works hard and bulks up a little for the NHL. I remember little Paul Dipietro (5'8") did some toughening up when he played for the Habs and muscled up to 180 pounds. Paul was with the Stanley Cup-winning Habs in '93

[PatrickC]

I can't edit, so here goes again. Someone's been watching Mikael and must think he can skate well enough to become an NHL'er. We have to have some faith in the trainers and Hab's player development people. Rome wasnt built in a day, and I dont think any team will be dumping star players in our laps without paying a premium for those kinds of players. Sure we need some size up the front and middle, but they need to be able to skate, too.

[DA_Champion]

But didnt little(5'11") Henrik Zetterberg also play in Swedish elite league? Drafted like 210th overall in 1999 by Detroit? Henrik's best performance in Swedish leagues was 15-16 goals and minus 2 defensive rating. He was a scrawny 178 pounds then, too.

I think Mikael could have much potential if he works hard and bulks up a little for the NHL. I remember little Paul Dipietro (5'8") did some toughening up when he played for the Habs and muscled up to 180 pounds. Paul was with the Stanley Cup-winning Habs in '93

Detroit didn't discard Zetterberg.

[leafsbaby08]

I'm sick of people defending the small player signing by talking about the Detroit players. It's completely illogical to have any expectation whatsoever to think that he could turn out to be a Zetterberg or a Datsyuk. It's like a 1 in a 10000 chance. We need some big Canadian boys with heart and desire to WIN WIN WIN.

[utreder]

I'm sick of people defending the small player signing by talking about the Detroit players. It's completely illogical to have any expectation whatsoever to think that he could turn out to be a Zetterberg or a Datsyuk. It's like a 1 in a 10000 chance. We need some big Canadian boys with heart and desire to WIN WIN WIN.

I agree with you. I think this guy would be the best choice.

Zach Kassian

HT: 6'3"

WT: 205 lbs

POS: RW

Shoots: Right

ISS: #19

"A lot of observers are throwing Milan Lucic's around when they speak of Zack Kassian, right down to the fact Kassian's point and penalty minute totals this season are almost identical to Lucic's in his draft year.

"He's actually probably a little ahead of where Lucic was at that stage in his career," a scout said, "and who dreamed Lucic would end up being this good?"

Kassian is truly a heavyweight at the major junior level, but exhibits a good modicum of skill and scoring for a player of his size. His skating could be better, but it's not a detriment.

"He's a big, strong winger," another scout said. "For a guy that size, he shows you some good things."

But not always, particularly after a seemingly lackluster playoff this spring with the Peterborough Petes.

"His playoff makes you want to go back and check your notes," a scout said. "There should've been more desperation to his game in the playoffs."

THN Projection: Power Forward

THN has him going 16th overall and ISS has him at 19th. Canadian too.

[SteenIsThaFuture]

I'm sick of people defending the small player signing by talking about the Detroit players. It's completely illogical to have any expectation whatsoever to think that he could turn out to be a Zetterberg or a Datsyuk. It's like a 1 in a 10000 chance. We need some big Canadian boys with heart and desire to WIN WIN WIN.

Weep, I need one of your facepalms.