Jeff Halpern

[Guest Carey_Price]

There's no doubt that this is a good signing for the price he came at, but not too sure if i like this move. Like many have already expressed, that 3rd line position could have been taken by a younger player. Nonetheless, we all wish you a great and healthy season. Welcome to the habs jeff!

[Habs-101]

There's no doubt that this is a good signing for the price he came at, but not too sure if i like this move. Like many have already expressed, that 3rd line position could have been taken by a younger player. Nonetheless, we all wish you a great and healthy season. Welcome to the habs jeff!

Im definitely ok with this signing, I really dont think it takes any time away from youngsters- well it does- but not valuable time, who is fighting for a roster spot? realistically, Patches, White, Avtsin, Desharnais, three of these guys are guys who 99% of habs fans want to see become top 6 forwards, they are all still young let them play top 6 minutes in Hamilton one more season, Darche and Halpern are both likely gone next year anyways, and if one of the youngsters is ACTUALLY ready, Darche will likely be sent down (waivers) to accomodate, this signing is a great idea... cant have too much depth, the only player I see it affecting is White, who plays a completely different role then Halpern, I think White is competing again Pyatt and Moen...

[HabbiesMan]

Lets call him the Pern.

[Bean-Counting-Hab]

Lets call him the Pern.

It's a fine idea, but could this create confusion with a certain assistant coach?

[Die-Hard-Hab]

This doesnt mean no young players won't make the team, it just decreases their chances so they have to work harder at camp. It creates competition and Halpern would be a better fit than say White, Halpern is defensively responsible and it will free up time for Pleks on offense.

Interesting stats from HIO

Halpern had 47 blocked shots last season, which would have ranked him 3rd among Montreal forwards, behind only Pleks’ 63 and Moen’s 51 and 11 more blocked shots than Lapierre.

– Halpern averaged 2:24 of PK time per game in Tampa last season, which would have ranked 2nd behind only Pleks’ 2:44 among Montreal forwards.

– Halpern’s FO% of 51.6% would have lead Montreal.

So tell me would a youngster be able to fill that role? I know we all want them to have a shot but do we want to be worse of a team just so we can have some rookies play.

[Walrus26]

This doesnt mean no young players won't make the team, it just decreases their chances so they have to work harder at camp. It creates competition and Halpern would be a better fit than say White, Halpern is defensively responsible and it will free up time for Pleks on offense.

Interesting stats from HIO

Halpern had 47 blocked shots last season, which would have ranked him 3rd among Montreal forwards, behind only Pleks’ 63 and Moen’s 51 and 11 more blocked shots than Lapierre.

– Halpern averaged 2:24 of PK time per game in Tampa last season, which would have ranked 2nd behind only Pleks’ 2:44 among Montreal forwards.

– Halpern’s FO% of 51.6% would have lead Montreal.

So tell me would a youngster be able to fill that role? I know we all want them to have a shot but do we want to be worse of a team just so we can have some rookies play.

100% spot on.

Why on earth would we want to bring a prospect up only to limit their ice time and moan harshly at them when they don't light the lamp / check like a train in line with "expectations" - let alone make a game-losing error?

Also, I'd think that our forward prospects would find it easier to flourish playing on the wing without the added responsibilities that come with the C position.

Solid move - welcome aboard, Jeff.

[Rondalsf]

20 goals on the 3rd 4th line with the Habs..playing a defensive game....

Besides if that miracle ever happens it has to be Lapierre that gets 20 goals (so we can watch somoene eat their jersey).

I'm always torn...good vet, but takes away ice time from the youngsters.

Realisticly neither will happen. I'll bet my appetite on it.

[frostyHAWK]

Realisticly neither will happen. I'll bet my appetite on it.

we will give lappy rockets if it means you eat a jersey

[Big-Ted]

This doesnt mean no young players won't make the team, it just decreases their chances so they have to work harder at camp. It creates competition and Halpern would be a better fit than say White, Halpern is defensively responsible and it will free up time for Pleks on offense.

Interesting stats from HIO

Halpern had 47 blocked shots last season, which would have ranked him 3rd among Montreal forwards, behind only Pleks’ 63 and Moen’s 51 and 11 more blocked shots than Lapierre.

– Halpern averaged 2:24 of PK time per game in Tampa last season, which would have ranked 2nd behind only Pleks’ 2:44 among Montreal forwards.

– Halpern’s FO% of 51.6% would have lead Montreal.

So tell me would a youngster be able to fill that role? I know we all want them to have a shot but do we want to be worse of a team just so we can have some rookies play.

I am among those who questioned the value of the Halpern signing in lieu of the rookies we have who are potentially ready to come up this year. I will say that for the price we signed him, he should be well worth the value, but the stats you quoted are fairly meaningless to me with the exception of the face-off winning percentage. A player's blocked shot total has more to do with his SH ice time more than anything, so that players who don't play the PK are unlikely to have high shot block totals. I don't think any of us would pick out shot-blocking as one of Pleks' best skills and I don't think we would necessarily say he is the best shot-blocker on the team. I think that stat is much more useful with respect to defencemen. Similarly, PK time is more a measure of how many penalties a team takes and how a coach chooses to use his players. As an example, two years ago, Alex Kovalev played a lot of PK time for a long stretch, but I don't think we'd say he was among our best defensive players. The face-off numbers have been fairly good for Halpern over his career and that will be one thing that helps us out quite a bit. That was one area the Habs struggled with quite a bit last year.

However, when it comes down to it, I still would have liked to see a younger player get a shot. Even without Halpern, we have a wealth of players who can play center (Gomez, Pleks, Laps, Boyd, Eller, Cammy, Pouliot, Pyatt, etc have all played center at one point or another in their careers) and I don't see why a rookie couldn't get a crack at a 3rd or 4th line spot. There will be time to sign a veteran later on in the season if we need to. With Darche and Moen already occupying roster spots, adding Halpern really takes away from the chances of identifying players who can contribute to the team for more than 2-3 years. The same thing occurred last year and if it hadn't been for the unusual wealth of injuries, we may never have seen what a guy like Tom Pyatt could do for us. I believe Halpern will be a useful player for us this year but I do question what this move says about the Habs organization and its persistent inability to develop forwards to their maximum potential.

[RSD]

I am among those who questioned the value of the Halpern signing in lieu of the rookies we have who are potentially ready to come up this year. I will say that for the price we signed him, he should be well worth the value, but the stats you quoted are fairly meaningless to me with the exception of the face-off winning percentage. A player's blocked shot total has more to do with his SH ice time more than anything, so that players who don't play the PK are unlikely to have high shot block totals. I don't think any of us would pick out shot-blocking as one of Pleks' best skills and I don't think we would necessarily say he is the best shot-blocker on the team. I think that stat is much more useful with respect to defencemen. Similarly, PK time is more a measure of how many penalties a team takes and how a coach chooses to use his players. As an example, two years ago, Alex Kovalev played a lot of PK time for a long stretch, but I don't think we'd say he was among our best defensive players. The face-off numbers have been fairly good for Halpern over his career and that will be one thing that helps us out quite a bit. That was one area the Habs struggled with quite a bit last year.

However, when it comes down to it, I still would have liked to see a younger player get a shot. Even without Halpern, we have a wealth of players who can play center (Gomez, Pleks, Laps, Boyd, Eller, Cammy, Pouliot, Pyatt, etc have all played center at one point or another in their careers) and I don't see why a rookie couldn't get a crack at a 3rd or 4th line spot. There will be time to sign a veteran later on in the season if we need to. With Darche and Moen already occupying roster spots, adding Halpern really takes away from the chances of identifying players who can contribute to the team for more than 2-3 years. The same thing occurred last year and if it hadn't been for the unusual wealth of injuries, we may never have seen what a guy like Tom Pyatt could do for us. I believe Halpern will be a useful player for us this year but I do question what this move says about the Habs organization and its persistent inability to develop forwards to their maximum potential.

I think the PK stat is used to point out that he would probably sub-in for Plekanec during the PK, meaning Pleks won't have to see as much PK time and therefore, waste energy that could be used in the offensive zone. I believe we'll still see a guy like Pyatt get his 3rd/4th line ice time. Halpern just helps us with defensive zone faceoffs and the pk (if he ends up being good at the pk). If he can win faceoffs, then it can go hand in hand with the pk. Win a faceoff and shoot the puck out of the zone.

[flames4eva]

I am among those who questioned the value of the Halpern signing in lieu of the rookies we have who are potentially ready to come up this year. I will say that for the price we signed him, he should be well worth the value, but the stats you quoted are fairly meaningless to me with the exception of the face-off winning percentage. A player's blocked shot total has more to do with his SH ice time more than anything, so that players who don't play the PK are unlikely to have high shot block totals. I don't think any of us would pick out shot-blocking as one of Pleks' best skills and I don't think we would necessarily say he is the best shot-blocker on the team. I think that stat is much more useful with respect to defencemen. Similarly, PK time is more a measure of how many penalties a team takes and how a coach chooses to use his players. As an example, two years ago, Alex Kovalev played a lot of PK time for a long stretch, but I don't think we'd say he was among our best defensive players. The face-off numbers have been fairly good for Halpern over his career and that will be one thing that helps us out quite a bit. That was one area the Habs struggled with quite a bit last year.

However, when it comes down to it, I still would have liked to see a younger player get a shot. Even without Halpern, we have a wealth of players who can play center (Gomez, Pleks, Laps, Boyd, Eller, Cammy, Pouliot, Pyatt, etc have all played center at one point or another in their careers) and I don't see why a rookie couldn't get a crack at a 3rd or 4th line spot. There will be time to sign a veteran later on in the season if we need to. With Darche and Moen already occupying roster spots, adding Halpern really takes away from the chances of identifying players who can contribute to the team for more than 2-3 years. The same thing occurred last year and if it hadn't been for the unusual wealth of injuries, we may never have seen what a guy like Tom Pyatt could do for us. I believe Halpern will be a useful player for us this year but I do question what this move says about the Habs organization and its persistent inability to develop forwards to their maximum potential.

I here you... then again if your management you may look at the balance between RFA's and vets on the current team including Halpern and think your team is still relatively young. I count 11 RFA's as of now (according to Capgeek.com).

[4beforeorr]

I like this guy, and if he can make a positive contribution to our faceoff win percentage, then that gives us more oppertunity to control the play, which should also put us more into an attacking style (puck possesion) team. Unlike last year where we spent too much time being attacked, ( thats just 5 on 5). He's good defensively, and can chip in on the scoring as well. My only concern would be his durability. If you look at his injuries over his carreer, he's missed quite a few games due to left knee injuries, and also had surgery to his right knee. So, i believe a healthy Jeff, will be a positive addition for 600k. Here's to ya!

[Big-Ted]

I think the PK stat is used to point out that he would probably sub-in for Plekanec during the PK, meaning Pleks won't have to see as much PK time and therefore, waste energy that could be used in the offensive zone. I believe we'll still see a guy like Pyatt get his 3rd/4th line ice time. Halpern just helps us with defensive zone faceoffs and the pk (if he ends up being good at the pk). If he can win faceoffs, then it can go hand in hand with the pk. Win a faceoff and shoot the puck out of the zone.

I would like to see Pleks need to play less on the PK, although admittedly, he is also one of our best penalty killers. If you look up and down the line-up though, we have enough guys who could play short-handed: Plekanec, Pyatt, Moen, Halpern, Gionta, Gomez, Lapierre, Boyd, White. Not really sure what Eller is like on the penalty kill. With the roster we have, I'd like to see Pyatt, Boyd, Halpern, and Lapierre be the 4 guys who step up defensively. They are all decent skaters and can play an aggressive style. All of those guys can also play center in case the other guy gets tossed out of the face-off circle. I think it would be acceptable to have Plekanec and Moen or Gio and Gomez also rotate through the PK though, especially if we are short-handed a lot in a game. But using those first 4 guys the most saves the top two lines for scoring and even strength, and I'd like to see JM come back with those top two lines on short shifts to try and catch the other teams off guard more this year. We've shown we can be the type of team that can sit back and attack opportunistically, but I think if we are to have a realistic shot at winning our division, we need to be more aggressive and use our speed against the bigger teams to take advantage of slow defence and draw penalties.

[Habcup]

After thinking a little I agre that this guy is a good pickup. His defensive ability may allow Plek to focus more on offensive duties.

[leafer4lifer1]

He will wear number 15 this year according to Montreal Canadiens Twitter.

[Telly_39_s_1]

He will wear number 15 this year according to Montreal Canadiens Twitter.

Jeff Halpertrolit?

[RSD]

How dare he!

...

[ColRouleBleu]

How dare he!

...

what? take réjean houle's number?

[RSD]

what? take réjean houle's number?

sorry I thought this was the Gomez thread...my mistake...

[habz]

notype"] Decent Player but another small player We need some size up front or with teams like the flyers come playoffs we will get pounded like the last 2 times we have faced them in the playoffs

[kristinoem7]

what? take réjean houle's number?

Rejean Who(ll) ? My number 15 is Bobby Smith.

<b>notype"] Decent Player but another small player We need some size up front or with teams like the flyers come playoffs we will get pounded like the last 2 times we have faced them in the playoffs

How big do you want them? He's 6 feet.

[kristinoem7]

<b>notype"] Decent Player but another small player We need some size up front or with teams like the flyers come playoffs we will get pounded like the last 2 times we have faced them in the playoffs

Yeah, but that's the same team that beat both OV's Caps and Cros'es Pens in the playoffs. Two 7 games series and losing Markov along the way just took it's toll on the Habs. I think with this pickup we have added depth and will have a stronger team this season.

[Habcup]

<b>notype"] Decent Player but another small player We need some size up front or with teams like the flyers come playoffs we will get pounded like the last 2 times we have faced them in the playoffs

Who are the UFA that are left willing to be paid less than $1MM that are "good" and big?

[Big-Ted]

Who are the UFA that are left willing to be paid less than $1MM that are "good" and big?

The best answer to that question would have been Bill Guerin. Big guy, plays in the corners and in front of the net and has been able to score his whole career. Debatable what his production will be like without Crosby, but I think he would have been a solid veteran to have in case AK or Pouliot faltered. At this stage, I believe he would have signed for something in the 1 million range. Obviously now there is no cap space for him nor is there an evident roster spot, but he is one of the few players left who I think would have been an upgrade of sorts for the Habs.

[S-Bah]

what? take réjean houle's number?

No that's Bobby Rousseau's old number.