The rookies on D

[H_T_L]

These kids are turning heads in the early going and are the talk of the town. How impressive was Guhle last night playing over 24 minutes? That was more minutes than Letang and Petry BTW.

We were all worried about that much youth on our PK, but they've done the job. Considering how they've handled the PP's of the Leafs Caps and Pens, how can you not be impressed?

[campabee82]

1 hour ago, H_T_L said:

These kids are turning heads in the early going and are the talk of the town. How impressive was Guhle last night playing over 24 minutes? That was more minutes than Letang and Petry BTW.

We were all worried about that much youth on our PK, but they've done the job. Considering how they've handled the PP's of the Leafs Caps and Pens, how can you not be impressed?

I always thought that Guhle was going to be a more mobile Weber but I was thinking long term not 4 games into his rookie season lol. I was never really a fan of Harris but he has been great as well this year. I think the 2 biggest surprises so far have been Xhekaj and Kovacevic, I had never even heard of either of these guys until Xhekaj showed up at training camp last year then it was like, well he is ok but is he even going to make the NHL? Kovacevic I was told tops out at a 2nd and more like a 3rd pairing guy by Jets fans. Both of these guys have been great surprises. Our D was often brought up as a weak spot before entering the season due to the lack of experience but the poise and skill all 4 of these guys have is phenomenal. It will be interesting to see what happens when Eddy and Matheson return. I don't think you can take either of Harris or Guhle out of the lineup and Xhekaj and Kovacevic might force HuGo to move on from Wideman early or run 8 D.

[H_T_L]

Sidney Crosby played 15:58 of even strength hockey on Monday night. Of that 15:58, 13:33 came against Guhle.

In those minutes, the Canadiens had a 21-8 advantage in shots towards the goal, 11-3 advantage in shots on goal, a 10-6 advantage in scoring chances, and a 2-0 advantage in goals.

[maas_art]

2 hours ago, H_T_L said:

These kids are turning heads in the early going and are the talk of the town. How impressive was Guhle last night playing over 24 minutes? That was more minutes than Letang and Petry BTW.

We were all worried about that much youth on our PK, but they've done the job. Considering how they've handled the PP's of the Leafs Caps and Pens, how can you not be impressed?

Guhle is also playing those minutes next to Savard.  I dont want to dump on him because I think he is a good guy and i think he's a serviceable NHL dman but a 1st pairing guy he is not.  Guhle's incredible play is even more impressive when you realize that.  

[H_T_L]

8 minutes ago, maas_art said:

Guhle is also playing those minutes next to Savard.  I dont want to dump on him because I think he is a good guy and i think he's a serviceable NHL dman but a 1st pairing guy he is not.  Guhle's incredible play is even more impressive when you realize that.  

Yup. Savard is often referred to as the black hole of advanced analytics, but Guhle has made that pairing work IMO

So far he's making MB look like a genius drafting him

[H_T_L]

Can't forget Harris in this conversation and the X man has also exceeded expectations. Both seem to be thriving under MSL. It's true that MB gets credit for drafting them, but would they be getting this chance to develop under his management? Based on his record,,,, doubtful. Both he and/or Timmins had a much better idea when drafting D at least. 

[claremont]

1 hour ago, H_T_L said:

These kids are turning heads in the early going and are the talk of the town. How impressive was Guhle last night playing over 24 minutes? That was more minutes than Letang and Petry BTW.

We were all worried about that much youth on our PK, but they've done the job. Considering how they've handled the PP's of the Leafs Caps and Pens, how can you not be impressed?

4 games in - certainly impressive so far but there will be some valleys to offset their current peaks - all part of the learning and maturation process. I am not surprised by Guhle. I saw what Braden Schneider who was drafted 1 position behnd Guhle in the 2019 draft, did for the NY Rags last year, so I thought the Habs Brass must have seen something in Guhle's game to warrant his draft position. HIs development year in the WHL with the Oil Kings also illustrated strong play.

Harris seems to be about where I believed he would be given his NCAA career, gets the basics of puck movement, strong skater and is efficient. I certainly like the versatility of both Guhle and Harris to play the right side if needed. Kovacevic - I simply need to see more of him before I comment.

The X-man will be a crowd favorite not just for his story on never giving up, but for his man hands and Sherriff attitude. He will take some dumb penalties in the Domi like tradition and will be caught occasionally flat footed but for a 5-6 pairing and depth d-man, not sure we should really expect much more. At least he seems to give us some upside a la Ben Chiarot. 

1 hour ago, campabee82 said:

I always thought that Guhle was going to be a more mobile Weber but I was thinking long term not 4 games into his rookie season lol. I was never really a fan of Harris but he has been great as well this year. I think the 2 biggest surprises so far have been Xhekaj and Kovacevic, I had never even heard of either of these guys until Xhekaj showed up at training camp last year then it was like, well he is ok but is he even going to make the NHL? Kovacevic I was told tops out at a 2nd and more like a 3rd pairing guy by Jets fans. Both of these guys have been great surprises. Our D was often brought up as a weak spot before entering the season due to the lack of experience but the poise and skill all 4 of these guys have is phenomenal. It will be interesting to see what happens when Eddy and Matheson return. I don't think you can take either of Harris or Guhle out of the lineup and Xhekaj and Kovacevic might force HuGo to move on from Wideman early or run 8 D.

I hope you are right on for Wideman - he's a great PP puck mover along the blue line but that's really the only dimension I see. Wideman's stats and Corsi etc. may be better, but my eyes tell me he isn't that solid in the D zone. I hope Barron or even Mailloux can replace Wideman in the long term beyond Eddy and Matheson (both lefties),  but that's wishful thinking.  The left side of our D looks quite strong in competition - Matheson, Guhle, Harris, Xhekaj, Edmundson, Norlinder, Trudeau, Hutson (3 assists in 3 games at Boston Terriers), that we might consider moving Edmundson, and/or 1 of Guhle / Harris plays the right side. 

[Regis22]

27 minutes ago, H_T_L said:

Can't forget Harris in this conversation and the X man has also exceeded expectations. Both seem to be thriving under MSL. It's true that MB gets credit for drafting them, but would they be getting this chance to develop under his management? 

Doubt it . He probably wouldnt have traded Petry and would still be trying to make the playoffs because anything can happen 

 

[H_T_L]

6 minutes ago, Regis22 said:

Doubt it . He probably wouldnt have traded Petry and would still be trying to make the playoffs because anything can happen 

 

And maybe sold the farm chasing after Letang.

[kinot-2]

I'd rate them  (1) Ghule, (2) Harris, and (3) the Jack-guy. 

[maas_art]

12 minutes ago, kinot-2 said:

the Jack-guy. 

interestingly, his teammates have been calling him "wifi" because his last name reminds them of the password for their home wifi networks. lol

[ramcharger440]

1 hour ago, maas_art said:

interestingly, his teammates have been calling him "wifi" because his last name reminds them of the password for their home wifi networks. lol

LOL! love it he is one of those players that teamate's love he is big he hits but he can still play the game and if he has to he can defend them too!

[HARBORSPORT]

8 hours ago, H_T_L said:

Yup. Savard is often referred to as the black hole of advanced analytics, but Guhle has made that pairing work IMO

So far he's making MB look like a genius drafting him

you used "MB" and "genius" in the same sentence

 

 

and I know it's early yet, but I too am impressed with the younguns'

[H_T_L]

1 minute ago, HARBORSPORT said:

you used "MB" and "genius" in the same sentence

 

 

and I know it's early yet, but I too am impressed with the younguns'

Yeah. It's almost like using Leafs and Cup in the same sentence.

[maas_art]

15 hours ago, H_T_L said:

Yeah. It's almost like using Leafs and Cup in the same sentence.

[BigTed3]

On 10/18/2022 at 8:30 PM, H_T_L said:

Yeah. It's almost like using Leafs and Cup in the same sentence.

 

9 hours ago, maas_art said:

Was thinking more about the Leafs players sinking putts directly into the cup come May.

[electron58]

1 hour ago, BigTed3 said:

Was thinking more about the Leafs players sinking putts directly into the cup come May.

[ramcharger440]

So I am fairly sure we all like our crop of rookies on D this season they are doing a good job so far an they all seem to be progressing quite well! there will be bumps in the road but that is to be expected. Eddy looks like he is on the verge of returning soonish so my question is this do we move him? there are teams out there that are hurting already and he is an established D man. Do we bundle him with a forward we want gone to make cap space so we could pick up someone that may come up or do we wait till the deadline knowing his back may go out again which I think could ruin his value down the road. We are not looking at winning this year and I worry about his back and how long it will last I am pretty sure we could find a taker and if we could get rid of say a Hoffman with him that would be pretty awesome and when the deadline comes along Hugo may be able to pull a sweet deal out of it.

[AH64]

2 hours ago, ramcharger440 said:

So I am fairly sure we all like our crop of rookies on D this season they are doing a good job so far an they all seem to be progressing quite well! there will be bumps in the road but that is to be expected. Eddy looks like he is on the verge of returning soonish so my question is this do we move him? there are teams out there that are hurting already and he is an established D man. Do we bundle him with a forward we want gone to make cap space so we could pick up someone that may come up or do we wait till the deadline knowing his back may go out again which I think could ruin his value down the road. We are not looking at winning this year and I worry about his back and how long it will last I am pretty sure we could find a taker and if we could get rid of say a Hoffman with him that would be pretty awesome and when the deadline comes along Hugo may be able to pull a sweet deal out of it.

I would love for something like this to happen. 

[kinot-2]

Total Time on Ice among rookie defencemen this season Canadiens 370:22 Rest of NHL 699:49

[jennifer_rocket]

Not sure how accurate it is, but I saw a social media post on IG today that stated the total TOI for Montreal's rookie D this year is sitting around 450 minutes. The rest of the NHL combined? 800-something minutes. That's pretty neat from a prospect development perspective. Feels like Harris, Guhle, and Xhekaj are doing well and I'm glad to see them being given a solid opportunity with the big club.

[BigTed3]

11 minutes ago, jennifer_rocket said:

Not sure how accurate it is, but I saw a social media post on IG today that stated the total TOI for Montreal's rookie D this year is sitting around 450 minutes. The rest of the NHL combined? 800-something minutes. That's pretty neat from a prospect development perspective. Feels like Harris, Guhle, and Xhekaj are doing well and I'm glad to see them being given a solid opportunity with the big club.

Kovecevic is also technically a rookie. Came into this season with only 4 NHL games to his name. So 4 rookie D men combined.

[jennifer_rocket]

11 minutes ago, BigTed3 said:

Kovecevic is also technically a rookie. Came into this season with only 4 NHL games to his name. So 4 rookie D men combined.

That's pretty cool. I've been happy with the opportunities our younger players have received in the NHL so far this season. Which will be massively important to my interest in the team overall. I absolutely would not be watching this team at all this season if it was too much "veteran presence" throughout the lineup. At some point in the season... maybe the 40-50 game mark... I will be hopeful that we can ship out some of Hoffman, Dadonov, and Drouin to make room for some additional rookies at forward. Will be interesting to see how the young forwards play in Laval this season and who earns that opportunity to play with Montreal.

[Regis22]

https://awinninghabit.com/2022/10/26/montreal-canadiens-which-defencemen-sit/

Montreal Canadiens: Which Defenceman Will Sit When Veterans Return?

[BigTed3]

10 minutes ago, jennifer_rocket said:

That's pretty cool. I've been happy with the opportunities our younger players have received in the NHL so far this season. Which will be massively important to my interest in the team overall. I absolutely would not be watching this team at all this season if it was too much "veteran presence" throughout the lineup. At some point in the season... maybe the 40-50 game mark... I will be hopeful that we can ship out some of Hoffman, Dadonov, and Drouin to make room for some additional rookies at forward. Will be interesting to see how the young forwards play in Laval this season and who earns that opportunity to play with Montreal.

I know many here don't like Drouin, but I actually enjoy watching him play. He definitely bails out on contact at times, but I think the effort is otherwise there (i.e. I see him hustling back on D and moving his feet) and he's one of our best puck carriers. I can live without Hoffman, Dadonov, Dvorak, Pitlick, Wideman, and Savard though. Would love to see RHP and Ylonen get a call-up at some point. Would love to see Pezzetta get in some games over some of those guys I listed above. But yes, like you, I'm enjoying watching the young guys. At least it feels like we're moving towards something in the future, as opposed to the MB regime, where we would be watching the likes of Murray and Bouillon and Schlemko and Merrill fail and having no hope for the future either.