maas_art Posted October 7, 2019 Report Share Posted October 7, 2019 8 minutes ago, campabee82 said: No not yet. Also the only way I see them calling up either Poehling or Evans is if they plan on playing them and sitting Thompson which at this point I don't think they are. I think they would sit Thompson for Poehling. What i dont think they would do is expose any of the bubble/reserve guys (Cousins, Folin, Reilly) to bring up Poehling at this point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
campabee82 Posted October 7, 2019 Report Share Posted October 7, 2019 6 minutes ago, maas_art said: I think they would sit Thompson for Poehling. What i dont think they would do is expose any of the bubble/reserve guys (Cousins, Folin, Reilly) to bring up Poehling at this point. me either just not sure if Cousins will be on LTIR or not Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HabsAlways Posted October 7, 2019 Report Share Posted October 7, 2019 29 minutes ago, maas_art said: i hope they decide what to do with the extra 'body' right now. I think they would rather have Poehling in the lineup but dont want to lose one of the reserves. Thompson has played well but he's only a short term solution. Poehling is the future - the team knows that. I wouldnt be surprised at all to see one of Reilly or Folin traded this week. But is Poehling the future 4th liner ... Unless they trade a top 9 forward or one gets hurt ... Poehling plays where? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claremont Posted October 7, 2019 Report Share Posted October 7, 2019 Need to see how some of the “plugs” play out and give Poehling some game time before the likely inevitable call up Previously someone said less than enthused with Weal - I’m less enthused about Lehkonen as of late Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arpem-can Posted October 7, 2019 Report Share Posted October 7, 2019 3 minutes ago, HabsAlways said: But is Poehling the future 4th liner ... Unless they trade a top 9 forward or one gets hurt ... Poehling plays where? another possibility is sending Suzuki down if he starts to struggle ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maas_art Posted October 7, 2019 Report Share Posted October 7, 2019 9 minutes ago, HabsAlways said: But is Poehling the future 4th liner ... Unless they trade a top 9 forward or one gets hurt ... Poehling plays where? When everyone is healthy the '4th line" centre is going to have two of: Byron, Weal, Suzuki, Armia or Lehkonen to play with. Yes, it will be limited ice time but I dont it would be detrimental at all to play Poehling on that 4th line with the sort of linemates he's going to have this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H_T_L Posted October 7, 2019 Report Share Posted October 7, 2019 2 hours ago, maas_art said: When everyone is healthy the '4th line" centre is going to have two of: Byron, Weal, Suzuki, Armia or Lehkonen to play with. Yes, it will be limited ice time but I dont it would be detrimental at all to play Poehling on that 4th line with the sort of linemates he's going to have this year. Agreed. It's not like he would be playing with Weise and Peca Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigTed3 Posted October 8, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2019 7 hours ago, maas_art said: I think they would sit Thompson for Poehling. What i dont think they would do is expose any of the bubble/reserve guys (Cousins, Folin, Reilly) to bring up Poehling at this point. 7 hours ago, arpem-can said: another possibility is sending Suzuki down if he starts to struggle ... If Cousins is hurt for a while, I see Julien sitting Suzuki before sitting Thompson. I can see him sitting Kotkaniemi before Thompson. Julien loves his vets and especially at center, he likes having guys he can lean on for face-offs, penalty kills, and late-game lead protection. I think he's much more likely to throw Poehling in and look for another less experienced player to take out to make up for it. Not what we might do as coach, but that's what I see him doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramcharger440 Posted October 8, 2019 Report Share Posted October 8, 2019 2 minutes ago, BigTed3 said: If Cousins is hurt for a while, I see Julien sitting Suzuki before sitting Thompson. I can see him sitting Kotkaniemi before Thompson. Julien loves his vets and especially at center, he likes having guys he can lean on for face-offs, penalty kills, and late-game lead protection. I think he's much more likely to throw Poehling in and look for another less experienced player to take out to make up for it. Not what we might do as coach, but that's what I see him doing. It will be interesting to see if he in fact does that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habs_Hockey_Nutz Posted October 8, 2019 Report Share Posted October 8, 2019 12 hours ago, BigTed3 said: If Cousins is hurt for a while, I see Julien sitting Suzuki before sitting Thompson. I can see him sitting Kotkaniemi before Thompson. Julien loves his vets and especially at center, he likes having guys he can lean on for face-offs, penalty kills, and late-game lead protection. I think he's much more likely to throw Poehling in and look for another less experienced player to take out to make up for it. Not what we might do as coach, but that's what I see him doing. I actually believe Thompson will become the 13th forward and that Poehling will be given the chance to move up the line-up... it is too early to give-up on Suzuki after just two games. Kotkaniemi isn't going anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H_T_L Posted October 8, 2019 Report Share Posted October 8, 2019 1 hour ago, Habs_Hockey_Nutz said: I actually believe Thompson will become the 13th forward and that Poehling will be given the chance to move up the line-up... it is too early to give-up on Suzuki after just two games. Kotkaniemi isn't going anywhere. If they call him up i'm thinking the same way. Would make zero sense to bring him up as the 13th forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maas_art Posted October 8, 2019 Report Share Posted October 8, 2019 3 hours ago, Habs_Hockey_Nutz said: I actually believe Thompson will become the 13th forward and that Poehling will be given the chance to move up the line-up... it is too early to give-up on Suzuki after just two games. Kotkaniemi isn't going anywhere. Agree. The thing that all of our young forwards have going for them (Poehling, Suzuki, JK) is that they are all two way players. Im not comparing them but they are in the mould of ROR, Datsyuk and Kopitar respectively. So i think all 3 will be given a chance by CJ. Moreso than say a guy who is pure skill and doesnt play a 200ft game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptWelly Posted October 8, 2019 Report Share Posted October 8, 2019 26 minutes ago, maas_art said: Agree. The thing that all of our young forwards have going for them (Poehling, Suzuki, JK) is that they are all two way players. Im not comparing them but they are in the mould of ROR, Datsyuk and Kopitar respectively. So i think all 3 will be given a chance by CJ. Moreso than say a guy who is pure skill and doesnt play a 200ft game. I agree and personally prefer solid two way centers over a pure skill center that doesn't put enough effort into a two way game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HabsAlways Posted October 9, 2019 Report Share Posted October 9, 2019 Appears Poehling had two brutal games in Laval. Poehling has one shot and is minus-4 through the first two games at AHL Laval. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maas_art Posted October 9, 2019 Report Share Posted October 9, 2019 2 minutes ago, HabsAlways said: Appears Poehling had two brutal games in Laval. Poehling has one shot and is minus-4 through the first two games at AHL Laval. The whole team has been bad save a couple of guys so far. Bouchard seems unimpressed. I dont think Poehling has been singled out but its kind of hard to call him up just yet when you see that. I suspect things will turn around soon & he'll be called up within the first 10 games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptWelly Posted October 10, 2019 Report Share Posted October 10, 2019 I have been rooting for Suzuki but at this point I think maybe they should send him down for a bit. Lets give Domi the most creative, Drouin and someone maybe even Weal he's fast and creative. I think they should bring up Poehling and maybe play him at wing like when he came up last year. He has size and can go to the net. Maybe Poehling on JK's wing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maas_art Posted October 11, 2019 Report Share Posted October 11, 2019 On 10/9/2019 at 6:54 PM, CaptWelly said: I have been rooting for Suzuki but at this point I think maybe they should send him down for a bit. Lets give Domi the most creative, Drouin and someone maybe even Weal he's fast and creative. I think they should bring up Poehling and maybe play him at wing like when he came up last year. He has size and can go to the net. Maybe Poehling on JK's wing. I think it comes down to: Will he play the minutes he needs here? In pretty much every game so far, we fall behind, Julien tries to shelter Suzuki, and he's dropped to the 4th line. He's a creative player, this is not helping him. Id be inclined to send him down (and probably keep poehling down there for a little bit). Id actually consider bringing up Evans (if Cousins cant play) whom i think is a little more NHL ready than Poehling or Suzuki (not nearly as high of a ceiling of course) and rejig the lines: Tatar - Domi - Gallagher Drouin - JK - Armia Lehkonen - Danault - Evans Byron - Thompson - Weal I think the forward lines will sort themselves out regardless of what Julien does (but i think its time to move Danault down the lineup a bit and give better wingers to Domi) The defense has me much more concerned. Mete-Weber is not cutting it as a first pair. I dont like Mete-Petry and I absolutely dont think Chiarot can handle first pair minutes, so i think you almost have to go with Kulak-Petry and Mete-Weber as 1st and 2nd pairs respectively. I dont know if they ( Kulak-Petry) can handle those matchups though. I think Mete-Weber would be an excellent second pair, but that exposes our LD weakness once again. Plenty of #4-6LD. And while i think Chiarot would be fine on the 3rd pair, he's hugely expensive for that role. Kulak - Petry Mete - Weber Chiarot-Fleury Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennifer_rocket Posted October 11, 2019 Report Share Posted October 11, 2019 34 minutes ago, maas_art said: The defense has me much more concerned. Mete-Weber is not cutting it as a first pair. I dont like Mete-Petry and I absolutely dont think Chiarot can handle first pair minutes, so i think you almost have to go with Kulak-Petry and Mete-Weber as 1st and 2nd pairs respectively. I dont know if they ( Kulak-Petry) can handle those matchups though. I think Mete-Weber would be an excellent second pair, but that exposes our LD weakness once again. Plenty of #4-6LD. And while i think Chiarot would be fine on the 3rd pair, he's hugely expensive for that role. Kulak - Petry Mete - Weber Chiarot-Fleury I agree that those would be better options. Chiarot might be expensive as a third pairing guy, but... We do have Alzner burning a hole in Molson's wallet playing in Laval, continuing to count for more than $3 million against the cap, so... It wouldn't be that bad by relative comparison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
campabee82 Posted October 12, 2019 Report Share Posted October 12, 2019 Lines and D pairings are back to last year's format. Biggest changes today are swap Weal with Suzuki and Chiarot with Kulak. Also Folin takes Fleury's spot for the third game in a row. Feels like CJ is in the hot seat and is getting desperate to get points. Plus the size of the third pairing makes sense against the heavy Blues. Glad to see they are leaving Suzuki in against the Blues as well feel like he just needs time and to find chemistry with our top players. Moving him to the 4th line doesn't hurt as much and gives him 2 good defensive players to help teach him how things are done in the NHL. Tatar - Danault - Gallagher Lehkonen - Domi - Weal Drouin - Kotkaniemi - Armia Byron - Thompson - Suzuki Cousins Mete - Weber Kulak - Petry Chiarot - Folin Reilly - Fleury Price Kinkaid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PuckPundit Posted October 12, 2019 Report Share Posted October 12, 2019 I saw the sub-heading "Jordan Weal moves up to top six" on Eyes on the Prize website. That tells me all I need to know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigTed3 Posted October 12, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2019 2 hours ago, PuckPundit said: I saw the sub-heading "Jordan Weal moves up to top six" on Eyes on the Prize website. That tells me all I need to know. No kidding. Weal seems to be the guy from the end of last year and early this year who is being overused the most at forward. He's a bottom 6 forward and probably a 4th liner. Disappointing to see him get so much PP time and now get into the top 6. I would personally use every other forward in the starting line-up on the PP ahead of him except for Lehkonen and Thompson, with Danault and Armia probably pretty close to being on par with Weal. The bigger concern for me, though, is the defence. As a whole, it's the weakest link on the team and we cannot continue to use Folin and Chiarot. Every year, it seems like Bergevin finds a replacement slowpoke grinder to fill out his D, and every year, Julien and Therrien have managed to play them above younger skilled guys. Nothing has changed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramcharger440 Posted October 12, 2019 Report Share Posted October 12, 2019 Suzuki for Weal.....Folin over Fleury.....that there is the same crap that sinks us every year, to scared to let the youth develop to much trust in the fringe players. there is no way at all that Weal is better than Suzuki in my eyes and what has Fleury done to get the bench for this many games? it is a waste! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maas_art Posted October 13, 2019 Report Share Posted October 13, 2019 8 hours ago, BigTed3 said: No kidding. Weal seems to be the guy from the end of last year and early this year who is being overused the most at forward. He's a bottom 6 forward and probably a 4th liner. You and i have discussed this a few times & honestly i feel like there's a chance he's a late bloomer. Incredibly small sample size but he's now played 21 games for montreal & has 12 points (5g, 7a) which is about 45-50 points prorated. Thats fringe top 6. Again, I TOTALLY understand why you think he's being overplayed - prior to coming to montreal he's been a (prorated) 20 point player, which is definitely bottom six, probably 4th line. But ive seen flashes of hockey IQ from him I do not expect in a bottom 6 forward. Im ok with giving him a bigger role. What sucks for me is demoting Suzuki to the 4th line. I get that its not a typical 4th line (with Byron there) but Thompson, while a great reliable defensive forward, is not what NS needs. Now, if they called up Poehling & you had a sheltered offensive line of Byron - Poehling - Suzuki, i could get behind that even though they were getting less minutes than they probably need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habberwacky Posted October 13, 2019 Report Share Posted October 13, 2019 I liked last nights line-up and believe Julien is doing a pretty good job managing the forwards right now. Thompson has played well whether beside Weal or Suzuki and we are in a good situation where Suzuki can be dropped down against some teams or during a game if he is struggling. A lot of the issue for me is the matchups we are drawing on our second line from night to night. Defensively I'm not sure how much more assessing needs to be done. Kulak needs to stay with Petry until the season is over or until Chiarot shows he is the better player which has not yet happened, Folin and Chiarot were effective playing a physical game against St. Louis and look like they could be an effective bottom pairing. If Reilly is number 7 then Fleury needs to go get some playing time. The only other option is to keep Fleury and Reilly until Juulsen is ready. I would be okay with getting Fleury a few more games in the bottom pairing, but I am not sure we can let him sit for too much longer. At this time I would be surprised to see Reilly on the team at the end of the season. We played a strong physical game against a big physical team last night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
campabee82 Posted October 14, 2019 Report Share Posted October 14, 2019 Well looks like the Habs coaches are at it again. Cousins is in Suzuki out for the Tampa game. I know Cousins needs game action but why not pull Weal or Thompson instead of Suzuki. CJ is going back to his experience over skill style of coaching we really need to get rid of him. Lines at practice were Tatar - Danault - Gallagher Lehkonen - Domi - Weal Drouin - Kotkaniemi/Suzuki - Armia Byron - Thompson - Cousins Mete - Weber Kulak - Petry Chiarot - Folin Reilly - Fleury Price Kinkaid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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