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Post by Habs_fan_in_LA on Aug 24, 2018 20:12:36 GMT -5
Here is a very thorough article talking about Kotkaniemi's skating stride, and likely what it will take to improve it. I think when you see prospects who can only get better with improved skating dynamics (McShane is another prime candidate this draft), it is really important as to why the Habs should have a dedicated skating coach similar to what the Leafs and Tampa do with highly-respected skating coach Barb Underhill. Her most impressive student has to be Point from Tampa, who was just an average skater when she started working with him. Now he is a roadrunner. I know the Habs have used Paul and Lucas Lawson at past development camps, but I am not sure if they have someone dedicated to working in the off season with prospects. Based on how guys like McCarron have not really seen any improvement in their stride in five years, they probably don't. www.habseyesontheprize.com/analysis/2018/8/24/17749254/analyzing-jesperi-kotkaniemi-skating-ability-video-breakdown-liiga-highlights-canadiens-top-25This is not the first time Bergevpin has told me how good our draftees are. They are almost all gone now. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Bergy told us how wonderful a center we drafted his first year and we blew through #1 draft choices year after year. Skating problems? I was a supporter of Corey Locke until we discovered his multitude of talents didn't include skating. Am I expected to believe Bergevin now? |
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Aug 25, 2018 9:43:34 GMT -5
This is not the first time Bergevpin has told me how good our draftees are. They are almost all gone now. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Bergy told us how wonderful a center we drafted his first year and we blew through #1 draft choices year after year. Skating problems? I was a supporter of Corey Locke until we discovered his multitude of talents didn't include skating. Am I expected to believe Bergevin now? Berg and his player development team leave me wanting more. Sometimes a lot more. I have no problem when we hear each year Berg and Timmins extolling the virtues of their latest draftees. That is to be expected. It really does not influence my armchair views on those particular prospects. I will like them or not based on what I have seen or read, not on Berg’s little post draft PR lines. But what we do to support those players after we draft them keeps me wondering. If a guy’s skating is holding him back, then it is not just good enough to have a few drills at development camp, and an exit interview with Lapointe telling the kid that skating is something a player has to work on over the offseason. Why wouldn’t the Habs hire a top-notch skating coach to work with a number of guys in a special camp over the summer? Why leave it up to the players? Hey McCarron and Rychel, we have arranged a skating camp for you early this summer for when you get back on the ice. This brings me to a little tangent about three bubble guys from the end of last season. Two are gone now, and one remains. I am referring to Carr, Rychel, and McCarron. The order is intentional. That is the order in which I ranked their effectiveness last season. Carr did wonders with what little ice time Julien gave him. He plays the “right way” in that he goes to the dirty areas, and he just seems to always work hard. And he gets rewarded with reasonable points for his limited usage and arguably his limited talent. Rychel is really sluggish on his skates. It holds him back, but he really sparked the offence at Laval when he came over. And that was on a putrid team that could sink no lower under mastermind Lefebvre. He also put in some honest shifts in his few games with the Habs. Reasonable enough fourth line or depth guy shifts, if only he could get a bit quicker. And that leaves Big Mac. He really regressed in every way last season. He was not effective with Laval. He has looked downright ineffective with the Habs in his last call ups. I am not sure what niche or what role he is trying to fill, but it just is not working right now...and has stalled for a few years now. And yet he is the one of the three that we still have. He still needs to get quicker, and this is five years after being drafted. The infamous 2013 draft where TT has said they did focus on drafting for size with a number of picks. Berg was trying to shake the image of being too small a team. Instead of talent, we went with mass. Another miss. While I am sure Berg means well, he just seems to make moves that are a step or six behind other teams and the league in general. So somewhere in the bowels of the Bell Centre, our player development staff and pro scouting gurus have felt that McCarron is the best of the three. We are talking about the big kid who lacks an effective first few strides and has become an offensive black hole. Well then, lock him in a rink all summer with someone like Barb Underhill until you can finally say...we have done everything we can, and his skating is now noticeably better or else conclude that it just never will be NHL quality. And move on from there. We have a better prospect pool right now. No doubts in my mind. I really like the skill sets of some of our recent draftees. But just think of how much better guys like JK, McShane and Fonstad could be with some dedicated skating coaching and development. Cam Hillis is working with Barb Underhill this summer, but that is because she works with the Guelph Storm, not because our player development folks arranged it. The game is all about speed, so let’s see a more concentrated effort by our team with deep pockets to help our prospects improve in that area. If I was king for a day... |
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Aug 25, 2018 10:37:45 GMT -5
Just a little update on a few of our Euro guys. Kotkaniemi is part of a U20 four nations event, and he scored in his first game. I will post a link to his highlights in that game a bit later.
Ylonen has played two exhibition Liiga games after coming back from a minor injury. He had an assist in his first game and a shootout goal in his second.
Romanov is back getting some preseason games with CSKA in the KHL rather than the VHL team he was playing with for the last four games. Seven week training camps...yikes. Who knows where he will end up. I just hope he gets regular ice time. 18 year olds need to play to further their development.
Olofsson has been playing for Timra and Ikonen is still recovering from knee surgery, and is out until Nov/Dec.
Samuel Houde is the first CHL prospect to see any preseason action. The others should come soon, although I expect most of our CHL guys should also be part of that Rookie Tourney in Laval in early September too.
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Post by seventeen on Aug 25, 2018 11:53:30 GMT -5
Here is a very thorough article talking about Kotkaniemi's skating stride, and likely what it will take to improve it. I think when you see prospects who can only get better with improved skating dynamics (McShane is another prime candidate this draft), it is really important as to why the Habs should have a dedicated skating coach similar to what the Leafs and Tampa do with highly-respected skating coach Barb Underhill. Her most impressive student has to be Point from Tampa, who was just an average skater when she started working with him. Now he is a roadrunner. I know the Habs have used Paul and Lucas Lawson at past development camps, but I am not sure if they have someone dedicated to working in the off season with prospects. Based on how guys like McCarron have not really seen any improvement in their stride in five years, they probably don't. www.habseyesontheprize.com/analysis/2018/8/24/17749254/analyzing-jesperi-kotkaniemi-skating-ability-video-breakdown-liiga-highlights-canadiens-top-25Unfortunately, this is another weakness of Bergevin's. He and Lamoriello would get along extremely well. Both very old school, focused on things that don't matter (facial hair in Lou's case) much more than factors that do (analytics, critical and wide thinking, great support staff). |
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Post by seventeen on Aug 25, 2018 11:59:34 GMT -5
Berg and his player development team leave me wanting more. Sometimes a lot more. I have no problem when we hear each year Berg and Timmins extolling the virtues of their latest draftees. That is to be expected. It really does not influence my armchair views on those particular prospects. I will like them or not based on what I have seen or read, not on Berg’s little post draft PR lines. But what we do to support those players after we draft them keeps me wondering. If a guy’s skating is holding him back, then it is not just good enough to have a few drills at development camp, and an exit interview with Lapointe telling the kid that skating is something a player has to work on over the offseason. Why wouldn’t the Habs hire a top-notch skating coach to work with a number of guys in a special camp over the summer? Why leave it up to the players? Hey McCarron and Rychel, we have arranged a skating camp for you early this summer for when you get back on the ice. This brings me to a little tangent about three bubble guys from the end of last season. Two are gone now, and one remains. I am referring to Carr, Rychel, and McCarron. The order is intentional. That is the order in which I ranked their effectiveness last season. Carr did wonders with what little ice time Julien gave him. He plays the “right way” in that he goes to the dirty areas, and he just seems to always work hard. And he gets rewarded with reasonable points for his limited usage and arguably his limited talent. Rychel is really sluggish on his skates. It holds him back, but he really sparked the offence at Laval when he came over. And that was on a putrid team that could sink no lower under mastermind Lefebvre. He also put in some honest shifts in his few games with the Habs. Reasonable enough fourth line or depth guy shifts, if only he could get a bit quicker. And that leaves Big Mac. He really regressed in every way last season. He was not effective with Laval. He has looked downright ineffective with the Habs in his last call ups. I am not sure what niche or what role he is trying to fill, but it just is not working right now...and has stalled for a few years now. And yet he is the one of the three that we still have. He still needs to get quicker, and this is five years after being drafted. The infamous 2013 draft where TT has said they did focus on drafting for size with a number of picks. Berg was trying to shake the image of being too small a team. Instead of talent, we went with mass. Another miss. While I am sure Berg means well, he just seems to make moves that are a step or six behind other teams and the league in general. So somewhere in the bowels of the Bell Centre, our player development staff and pro scouting gurus have felt that McCarron is the best of the three. We are talking about the big kid who lacks an effective first few strides and has become an offensive black hole. Well then, lock him in a rink all summer with someone like Barb Underhill until you can finally say...we have done everything we can, and his skating is now noticeably better or else conclude that it just never will be NHL quality. And move on from there. We have a better prospect pool right now. No doubts in my mind. I really like the skill sets of some of our recent draftees. But just think of how much better guys like JK, McShane and Fonstad could be with some dedicated skating coaching and development. Cam Hillis is working with Barb Underhill this summer, but that is because she works with the Guelph Storm, not because our player development folks arranged it. The game is all about speed, so let’s see a more concentrated effort by our team with deep pockets to help our prospects improve in that area. If I was king for a day... Simple answer, NWT (as you probably know). No one will criticize Bergevin for Carr or Rychel. The expectations were never high for them. But a first round pick? You know he's going to get the most rope, as is the case with every sports organization. They don't like failing and Bergevin doesn't need yet one more failure on his resume. Seeing the support they're giving McCarron, (little or none), they themselves don't seem to be working very hard to improve the situation. I agree totally with your comments. It proves once again that Bergevin simply doesn't know how to build an organization. It's sink or swim with him. |
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Post by folatre on Aug 25, 2018 17:24:23 GMT -5
What is the status of Montreal's relationship with Brampton? It seems like there are too many guys queuing up for the roster in Laval. And what does this mean for McCarron? If management does not believe that McCarron is good enough to play in Montreal, then is he really necessary in Laval?
I have to imagine that Bergevin has tried, unsuccessfully, to trade him for a pick and McCarron is probably balking at taking the deal that Shinkaruk just signed.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Aug 25, 2018 17:52:36 GMT -5
What is the status of Montreal's relationship with Brampton? It seems like there are too many guys queuing up for the roster in Laval. And what does this mean for McCarron? If management does not believe that McCarron is good enough to play in Montreal, then is he really necessary in Laval? I have to imagine that Bergevin has tried, unsuccessfully, to trade him for a pick and McCarron is probably balking at taking the deal that Shinkaruk just signed. They have not announced their ECHL affiliation yet, but they did last year in September even though the deal was signed earlier in the summer. With all the guys under NHL deals and AHL deals, they will have quite a few to send down to the ECHL. You are likely right on McCarron’s status. As an RFA, he does not have any real options though if he wants to play this season. I imagine that Berg was floating his name out at the same time as Rychel. He probably has not done much to get more than a one year deal somewhere above league minimum and well under $1M. |
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Aug 27, 2018 9:59:34 GMT -5
Here is a shift-by-shift video link for Kotkaniemi's game against the Czech Republic at the recent U20 Four Nations tournament.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Aug 27, 2018 10:08:48 GMT -5
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Aug 28, 2018 15:37:20 GMT -5
Very slow news time on the prospect front these days, as one would expect.
Romanov was back with the VHL (Russia 2nd) team today and had an assist...and 27 minutes of penalties!! He had 37 pim the entire MHL season last year. He now has been dressed for 10 pre season games (5 with CSKA in the KHL and 5 in the VHL), although he was on the fourth D pairing in a number of those CSKA games so not sure how much (if any) ice time he received.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Aug 31, 2018 9:17:36 GMT -5
Another shift by shift video for Kotkaniemi, from the second game he played in the U20 Four Nations Cup.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Sept 1, 2018 18:09:25 GMT -5
Romanov made the opening roster for CSKA in the KHL. It may only be 7th defender ice time, but it is a start.
Edit: He played 10 shifts and 7:40 of ice time, mainly in the third period. His coach is smartly sheltering his ice time, but at least he is playing against men in the top league and with a strong organization like CSKA. This will be interesting to watch how this evolves all season.
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Post by seventeen on Sept 2, 2018 13:46:15 GMT -5
Romanov made the opening roster for CSKA in the KHL. It may only be 7th defender ice time, but it is a start. Edit: He played 10 shifts and 7:40 of ice time, mainly in the third period. His coach is smartly sheltering his ice time, but at least he is playing against men in the top league and with a strong organization like CSKA. This will be interesting to watch how this evolves all season. Better initial indications than I expected. I was not a fan of this pick that high, but we'll see if Timmins and Co were justified. |
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Post by folatre on Sept 2, 2018 19:27:22 GMT -5
For a kid, earning a roster spot in the KHL is certainly a good sign.
The emergence of a serious talent in the Habs LHD prospect pool would be a godsend because there is not much there that I am excited about.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Sept 5, 2018 12:33:58 GMT -5
Some Tyszka highlights, who had some steady improvement in parts of his game last season. Let's hope he keeps the upward trend going. He is a LHD.
And a bit of a prediction about his development this season. We shall see.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Sept 5, 2018 12:35:39 GMT -5
Even though it is preseason play in the CHL, some of our new prospects (Hillis and McShane) are strutting their stuff already. It will be fun to see how they do at the Rookie Tournament this weekend.
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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Sept 7, 2018 11:51:51 GMT -5
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Sept 7, 2018 13:50:11 GMT -5
We shall see what the team does with Fleury. He is nursing a slight injury right now, so not sure if we will see him in action at Rookie Camp.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Sept 9, 2018 11:39:02 GMT -5
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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Sept 10, 2018 10:59:38 GMT -5
With Ryan Poehling and Nick Suzuki, #Canadien He has two of the top
19-year-olds in his organization in view of the next world's under-20
holiday season-not to mention Kotkaniemi (18 years old) #Pacioretty
*Translated from French by Microsoft
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Sept 10, 2018 21:50:52 GMT -5
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Sept 12, 2018 18:48:09 GMT -5
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Sept 13, 2018 15:37:00 GMT -5
Romanov with some nice hits in his CSKA game today. Kabooooom!!
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Post by Willie Dog on Sept 13, 2018 21:33:04 GMT -5
Romanov with some nice hits in his CSKA game today. Kabooooom!! Wow... nice to see that... |
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Sept 14, 2018 9:31:39 GMT -5
I am going to start to put Nick Suzuki stuff in this thread. He is a prospect after all, and a pretty good one. Lots of stuff out there on this kid!!
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Sept 15, 2018 12:06:29 GMT -5
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Sept 15, 2018 12:17:34 GMT -5
Ylonen was held pointless in his Liiga debut yesterday, but has two goals today. One was in front of the net on a rebound, and the most recent was a heck of a wrister snipe on the PP.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Sept 17, 2018 11:05:39 GMT -5
Here are Ylonen's two goals, his first Liiga goals/points.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Sept 21, 2018 9:59:42 GMT -5
Alexander Romanov played almost 14 minutes in today's game, his 9th in the KHL so far this young season. He has moved up from 7th defenseman to the third pairing in the last couple of games and his ice time has been trending upwards as well. His average has been 9 minutes on the ice over those 9 games, with the latest game being his most TOI this season. It sure looks like his coach at CSKA is sheltering him and easing him into play, which is exactly what you want to see with a rare 18 year old defender in the KHL.
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Post by blny on Sept 21, 2018 10:01:10 GMT -5
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