2020-21 State Of The Habs

[habsisme]

1 minute ago, dreegking said:

Byron was up last game. I guess they floated him out of hopes or curiosity if there would be takers. Hmm...

I think Drouin might just go to Taxi next. Any takers? 

he's one of our best players right now, i don't understand the hate for him

[electron58]

1 hour ago, habsisme said:

he's one of our best players right now, i don't understand the hate for him

Maybe because he disappears, when we really need him?

[MALMACIAN_CRUNCH]

9 minutes ago, electron58 said:

Maybe because he disappears, when we really need him?

Drouin does disappear from time to time, but he’s not alone in that department. I can think of a few players that have been far less productive so far this season (cough, cough, Tatar)

[electron58]

1 hour ago, MALMACIAN_CRUNCH said:

Drouin does disappear from time to time, but he’s not alone in that department. I can think of a few players that have been far less productive so far this season (cough, cough, Tatar)

Actually, Drouin, not so much this season, although he's not the guy I'd put out there when the game is on the line. More the last 2 seasons, specifically, the season we missed the playoffs by mere points. JD was completely invisible that year during the stretch run.  With Tatar, I think it is mostly PD dragging that line down. I think Tatar will do OK with JK & JA.  (at least I hope so) Somebody has to get JK going.

[H_T_L]

We now have games in hand on every other team in our division. Sure hope we don't come out flat on Saturday after a week off because we could be in 4th place by then.

[maas_art]

 

12 hours ago, MALMACIAN_CRUNCH said:

Drouin does disappear from time to time, but he’s not alone in that department. I can think of a few players that have been far less productive so far this season (cough, cough, Tatar)

14 hours ago, habsisme said:

he's one of our best players right now, i don't understand the hate for him

 

There's always a player or two who will get hate from this fanbase no matter what.   This year Drouin has been quite good - probably some of his best games since coming here - but the haters are still hating. It just makes the bias that much more obvious. He's a career .60ppg player who is 25 and some "fans" think you could put him on waivers and not lose him. 

Im not the biggest Drouin fan (I actually wanted someone else on that Suzuki-Anderson line to start the year) but I have no problem with how his season has gone so far. 

 

 

 

 

[habs1952]

14 hours ago, electron58 said:

Maybe because he disappears, when we really need him?

Right answer!!!! 

[CaptWelly]

2 hours ago, maas_art said:

 

 

There's always a player or two who will get hate from this fanbase no matter what.   This year Drouin has been quite good - probably some of his best games since coming here - but the haters are still hating. It just makes the bias that much more obvious. He's a career .60ppg player who is 25 and some "fans" think you could put him on waivers and not lose him. 

Im not the biggest Drouin fan (I actually wanted someone else on that Suzuki-Anderson line to start the year) but I have no problem with how his season has gone so far. 

 

 

 

 

This year he isn't scoring a lot , but he has been playing pretty darn strong defensively. He's been in good position breaking up plays and making good passes. I beleive once he starts scoring he'll score a few. He has the talent so it will come. 

To be truth full the one I'm most disappointed with is JK. 1 Goal with a lot of PP time and good line mates. So far this season his line mates have been carrying him. He has gotten a little better defensively. He still gets knocked off the puck to easy and when pressured gives up the puck or makes a bad pass. Also don't have him in the point position on the PP! He may actually need to watch the pp a few times, he usually looks lost out there. I thought at one time they were going to try him on the half wall like they used to with Chucky. Any way it seems if he is given a pass on his play a lot by the fans. Hopefully as the season goes on he gets stronger. I'd like to see more out of him. JK + 1ST for Crosby?

[habsisme]

40 minutes ago, CaptWelly said:

This year he isn't scoring a lot , but he has been playing pretty darn strong defensively. He's been in good position breaking up plays and making good passes. I beleive once he starts scoring he'll score a few. He has the talent so it will come. 

To be truth full the one I'm most disappointed with is JK. 1 Goal with a lot of PP time and good line mates. So far this season his line mates have been carrying him. He has gotten a little better defensively. He still gets knocked off the puck to easy and when pressured gives up the puck or makes a bad pass. Also don't have him in the point position on the PP! He may actually need to watch the pp a few times, he usually looks lost out there. I thought at one time they were going to try him on the half wall like they used to with Chucky. Any way it seems if he is given a pass on his play a lot by the fans. Hopefully as the season goes on he gets stronger. I'd like to see more out of him. JK + 1ST for Crosby?

I don't get why so many people are so high on KK. He COULD become good but right now he's pretty mediocre. He's only had short periods of playing good. But everyone on here think KK and CC are the next great thing. Damn right I'd trade KK for Crosby! IMO you've lost the plot if you wouldn't

[maas_art]

1 hour ago, CaptWelly said:

This year he isn't scoring a lot , but he has been playing pretty darn strong defensively. He's been in good position breaking up plays and making good passes. I beleive once he starts scoring he'll score a few. He has the talent so it will come. 

To be truth full the one I'm most disappointed with is JK. 1 Goal with a lot of PP time and good line mates. So far this season his line mates have been carrying him. He has gotten a little better defensively. He still gets knocked off the puck to easy and when pressured gives up the puck or makes a bad pass. Also don't have him in the point position on the PP! He may actually need to watch the pp a few times, he usually looks lost out there. I thought at one time they were going to try him on the half wall like they used to with Chucky. Any way it seems if he is given a pass on his play a lot by the fans. Hopefully as the season goes on he gets stronger. I'd like to see more out of him. JK + 1ST for Crosby?

Drouin is still right around that .60ppg this year but yeah, goal scoring has been an issue dating back to last year.  Still, i agree, he's been more involved defensively - if he could just take a little more abuse in the corners he'd be a much more complete player.  He's got room to grow but showing he can do so.

JK is one of those guys who you watch & say "this guy has the potential to be _____"  The question of course is whether he can.  Hockey is a game of inches & a few times every game he makes plays that are just so close to being perfect. His vision and hockey IQ are definitely elite.  He just hasnt been able to put them into action consistently.  And again, i dont know if he could.

I honestly dont think Pittsburgh is considering moving crosby but Id certainly think long and hard if they wanted JK + Byron + 1st for Sid. I would mostly consider JK untouchable because i think the return would be minimal for him right now but if that was what was being put out there?  Id definitely give it a hard think. 

 

[kinot-2]

Not one other team in the whole league gets a week off between games and they will play their final 41 games over 78 days.

[electron58]

10 hours ago, kinot-2 said:

Not one other team in the whole league gets a week off between games and they will play their final 41 games over 78 days.

It's gonna get busy.  All the more reason to rotate one defensemen through the entire defensive core. May as well do the same with 2 forwards. Don't want anyone to use the excuse that they were too "fatigued"

[BigTed3]

On 2/18/2021 at 2:17 PM, habsisme said:

I don't get why so many people are so high on KK. He COULD become good but right now he's pretty mediocre. He's only had short periods of playing good. But everyone on here think KK and CC are the next great thing. Damn right I'd trade KK for Crosby! IMO you've lost the plot if you wouldn't

Have to remember that JK's only 20 years old and doesn't even have two years of NHL experience under his belt. He looked pretty strong in the playoffs last year, and he is playing decent hockey to start the year this year, even though I agree with you that he hasn't been very consistent. If it were one season or even two seasons and there were no salary cap, I would also easily trade him for Crosby. The question is whether Crosby at his age and cap hit is worth it. Because 2 years from now, JK may be producing more than Crosby for the salary they make and 5 years from now, JK may be a top 6 center and Crosby could be retired. Yes, these are all hypotheticals, but they do need to be considered. It's not only about who is the better player now (because that's clearly Crosby), it's about how much you're paying them, who else you can fit under your cap as a result, how long you have control over their cap hit before they hit UFA status, and how likely they are to improve or decline going forward. When you ask yourself about those factors, many of them fall in JK's favor and you have to decide whether they cumulatively make it enough to turn down a trade for Crosby (or another veteran).

If you look at some other young high-profile picks in their first two seasons, you can see for example

 

- Jonathan Huberdeau: 117 GP, 59 pts

- Aleksander Barkov: 125 GP, 60 pts

- Nolan Patrick: 145 GP, 61 pts

- Mika Zibanejad: 120 GP, 54 pts

 

Compare that to JK, who has 49 pts in his first 130 games played despite mainly being in the bottom 6 and not getting fantastic wingers. Just a few players, but the point being that not every player is a PPG in their first two years and some of them still end up being strong players as they develop. JK started in the NHL as an 18 year-old and he was young for his draft year on top of that, so we need to remember that. If he had spent two years in the AHL or junior, he's only just be getting to the NHL now and we'd probably be saying that 7 points in 15 games for a 3rd line center isn't terrible.

Now it's absolutely possible that he ends up stalling and being something of a flop like Sam Bennett or Sam Reinhart or so on, but he's a smart guy with good vision and decent size. I think his floor is that he still ends up being a useful third line center. Maybe he's just a decent 2nd-line supporting cast player like RNH. But I don't think he'll be a total bust and there's still the potential there for him to be a top-line forward.

[kinot-2]

From today Until May 3rd, there are only 2 times that the Habs have 2 days off between games,

[Regis22]

This Team isn't maklng the playoffs this year .

The good start to the season gave us all false hopes .  

Same problems exist .

The D isnt good enough and still no # 1 C .

Suzuki started the year great but has tailed off .

Danault # 15 have done nothing .

 

[Regis22]

5 minutes ago, Regis22 said:

This Team isn't maklng the playoffs this year .

The good start to the season gave us all false hopes .  

Same problems exist .

The D isnt good enough and still no # 1 C .

Suzuki started the year great but has tailed off .

Danault # 15 have done nothing .

 

Danault AND  # 15 have done nothing .

[campabee82]

2 hours ago, Regis22 said:

Danault AND  # 15 have done nothing .

Not of an extreme statement don't you think after KK scored twice tonight even though one was wrongfully called back. Danault has not produced offensively but again there is more to hockey then producing points. He has been pretty solid defensively this year. The thing that cost us this game was once again our special teams. We are taking too many penalties (over half of which are unwarranted) and not killing enough of them off. Our PP is not shooting or is funneling through a single shooter. You can't score if you run the same single play over and over and over that is not working in the first place. We need more guys shooting instead of looking for Weber to blast it from the point only to miss the net completely. Our 5 vs 5 play has been as good as anyone's in the league it's our PK and PP. Perhaps it's time for another coach other than Muller to run it. 

[Regis22]

9 hours ago, campabee82 said:

Not of an extreme statement don't you think after KK scored twice tonight even though one was wrongfully called back.

Top 3 centres

Danault has zero goals and 6 assists

KK has 2 goals and 6 assists

Suzuki has 3  goals

And Joe Thornton had the same type of goal called back last week. At least the refs were consistent 

 

 

[campabee82]

1 hour ago, Regis22 said:

Top 3 centres

Danault has zero goals and 6 assists

KK has 2 goals and 6 assists

Suzuki has 3  goals

And Joe Thornton had the same type of goal called back last week. At least the refs were consistent 

 

 

6 points in 16 games for Danault while maintaining his defensive play, do you really expect more from Danault? If so you must not have been watching his play over the last 3-5 years cause he has never put up many points.

KK 8 points in 16 games is à 0.5 ppg player and considering he is 20 and played less than 150 NHL games, I would think your expectations for the kid are unrealistically high.

Suzuki has 12 points in 16 games so almost a PPG player, but yeah he sucks and is struggling (Insert eyeroll here)!

Look two of the three have less than 3 years NHL and the other one has never been an offensive power house. How about dialing back a bit on the criticisms and enjoy watching them grow as players.

[electron58]

Montreal dropped to 4rth place, only 11 points up on Senators.  Playing next 2 against Senators.  Could be only 7 points after next 2 games. Yeah, we have games in hand, but they don't mean much if we don't win them. Scary thing is, we start off like gangbusters every year, but then other teams adjust and we dive bomb. What's the common denominator here? I have to say it again, but it is CJ.  Am I wrong?

[caperns61]

3 minutes ago, campabee82 said:

6 points in 16 games for Danault while maintaining his defensive play, do you really expect more from Danault? If so you must not have been watching his play over the last 3-5 years cause he has never put up many points.

KK 8 points in 16 games is à 0.5 ppg player and considering he is 20 and played less than 150 NHL games, I would think your expectations for the kid are unrealistically high.

Suzuki has 12 points in 16 games so almost a PPG player, but yeah he sucks and is struggling (Insert eyeroll here)!

Look two of the three have less than 3 years NHL and the other one has never been an offensive power house. How about dialing back a bit on the criticisms and enjoy watching them grow as players.

Actually saying Danualt is playing well defensivley is not the case. He is 12 on the team in Plus Minus, he is missing all kinds of assignments in the defensive zone and certainly the offensive zone. Add to the fact he cannot score if his life depended on it.

Danaults wingers this year Gallagher  6 goals, Tatar 4 goals, Toffoli 11 goals, Danualt has 6 assists??????. 3 points in his last 10 games, 0 plus minus, playing with two really good wingers  every single night.I dare say, Tatar, Gallagher Toffili would be much better players without Danualt, Toffoli has already looked better playing with KK, Tatar looked much better with KK. 

 

[campabee82]

37 minutes ago, caperns61 said:

Actually saying Danualt is playing well defensivley is not the case. He is 12 on the team in Plus Minus, he is missing all kinds of assignments in the defensive zone and certainly the offensive zone. Add to the fact he cannot score if his life depended on it.

Danaults wingers this year Gallagher  6 goals, Tatar 4 goals, Toffoli 11 goals, Danualt has 6 assists??????. 3 points in his last 10 games, 0 plus minus, playing with two really good wingers  every single night.I dare say, Tatar, Gallagher Toffili would be much better players without Danualt, Toffoli has already looked better playing with KK, Tatar looked much better with KK. 

 

Fair enough but to include KK and Suzuki in his comment about Danault is rediculous. Also my feeling is Danault is having an identity crisis and his pride was hurt when Suzuki and KK played above him in the playoffs last year. He needs to find his way out and play better or request a trade IMO.

[Delirium79]

58 minutes ago, campabee82 said:

6 points in 16 games for Danault while maintaining his defensive play, do you really expect more from Danault? If so you must not have been watching his play over the last 3-5 years cause he has never put up many points.

KK 8 points in 16 games is à 0.5 ppg player and considering he is 20 and played less than 150 NHL games, I would think your expectations for the kid are unrealistically high.

Suzuki has 12 points in 16 games so almost a PPG player, but yeah he sucks and is struggling (Insert eyeroll here)!

Look two of the three have less than 3 years NHL and the other one has never been an offensive power house. How about dialing back a bit on the criticisms and enjoy watching them grow as players.

Couldn't agree with you more campabee82. Patience is a must with young players.

[Regis22]

Suzuki is now pointless in the last four games, has only one goal in the last 10 and is winning only 39.3 per cent of his faceoffs for the season. Kotkaniemi’s goal was only his second of the season and ended his 11-game streak without a goal. The Canadiens have only seven goals from their four centres this season: three by Suzuki, two by Kotkaniemi and two by Evans.

[campabee82]

3 hours ago, Regis22 said:

Suzuki is now pointless in the last four games, has only one goal in the last 10 and is winning only 39.3 per cent of his faceoffs for the season. Kotkaniemi’s goal was only his second of the season and ended his 11-game streak without a goal. The Canadiens have only seven goals from their four centres this season: three by Suzuki, two by Kotkaniemi and two by Evans.

Gallagher has 5 goals, Tatar has 4 goals, Weber has 2 goal and Chiarot has 1 goal and 4 points. These are supposed to be our top players who are supposed to lead our team. Instead of ragging on the young guys how about ragging on the guys who are actually supposed to be the team leaders and top players on the team?