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Post by NWTHabsFan on Mar 24, 2020 9:38:53 GMT -5
Off injured Joni Ikonen moving teams in the top Finnish league, Liiga. The positive is that his new team is much stronger than his old team KalPa. Now he just has to figure a way to stay healthy next season. The Habs hold his rights until June 1, 2021, so they need a good season out of him to see what he has. When he last came back from injury, he looked like a stronger and improved player. We shall see what the next season brings for him.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Mar 24, 2020 14:03:30 GMT -5
Good analysis. I agree that I would offer an ELC to both Hillis and McShane, despite the suggestion that only is offered a deal. If only one gets a deal, I expect they go with the safe pick of Hillis.
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Post by folatre on Mar 24, 2020 16:04:37 GMT -5
That was a good read, thanks NW.
None of them seem like good bets to make the league, but I would agree with the assessment that Hillis makes the most sense.
I do not follow it that closely, but apparently contracts are tight.
Given the chaos surrounding when teams will know about what trades they may make or what free agents they may sign, the league office could be tolerant this season and permit clubs to have 51 or 52 contracts as the upper limit.
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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Mar 25, 2020 9:54:30 GMT -5
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Mar 27, 2020 9:00:46 GMT -5
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Post by folatre on Mar 27, 2020 18:14:31 GMT -5
Jordan Harris is returning to Northeastern for his junior year of NCAA hockey. I believe that this is the right call. If a prospect as elite as Makar played two seasons at UMass, then it makes sense that a Jordan Harris calibre player should stay put for a third season. Harris has made really nice progress but he is a July birthday from 2000 and not the strongest kid physically so it is not a bad thing for him to turn pro at age 21.
It will be interesting to see what kind of an agreement Bergevin strikes with Romanov (Milstein). Given how Russian guys feels about the KHL (they obviously believe it is a step above the AHL) and how KHL compensation levels absolutely dwarf what young Russians on their ELC contract are limited to in the AHL, Bergevin lacks leverage here and in all likelihood Montreal will have to give Romanov an "out clause" in the contract the same way the Rangers gave Kravtsov.
Good for Hillis with those accolades from the OHL coaches. I am not overly optimistic that he possesses a clear NHL tool set, but he seems sturdy enough to hold his own in the AHL next season.
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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Mar 27, 2020 19:58:48 GMT -5
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Mar 27, 2020 20:15:48 GMT -5
Fully agree with Harris staying another year. He has made great progress from his two seasons removed from high school/prep school hockey. Stop rushing the kids. This and Caufield make sense.
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Post by Boston_Habs on Mar 28, 2020 8:17:31 GMT -5
Struble has a higher ceiling than Harris. Next year he should make enough of a jump to see if he's a real prospect. Very raw but I love his skill set - just not sure he really knows how to play the game!
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Post by Boston_Habs on Mar 28, 2020 8:20:22 GMT -5
Good analysis. I agree that I would offer an ELC to both Hillis and McShane, despite the suggestion that only is offered a deal. If only one gets a deal, I expect they go with the safe pick of Hillis. I agree although I like the description of McShane better. Guys that are solid across the board but not especially good at anything rarely make a big jump. |
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Apr 6, 2020 22:36:33 GMT -5
Our tall Danish goalie has decided to leave Swedish junior hockey and move to the OHL and play next season with Sudbury. A little easier to see him play and see how he stacks up.
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Post by Willie Dog on Apr 11, 2020 10:20:33 GMT -5
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Post by Habs_fan_in_LA on Apr 11, 2020 12:36:50 GMT -5
Fully agree with Harris staying another year. He has made great progress from his two seasons removed from high school/prep school hockey. Stop rushing the kids. This and Caufield make sense. Fully agree with giving Canfield another year. Don’t agree with Molson giving Bergevin another year. Can Molson give Bergevin a year in Russia? |
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Post by Willie Dog on Apr 11, 2020 15:38:51 GMT -5
Fully agree with Harris staying another year. He has made great progress from his two seasons removed from high school/prep school hockey. Stop rushing the kids. This and Caufield make sense. Fully agree with giving Canfield another year. Don’t agree with Molson giving Bergevin another year. Can Molson give Bergevin a year in Russia? Can we trade MB for Romanov |
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Post by folatre on Apr 11, 2020 15:43:02 GMT -5
Teasdale is a the kind of kid you cannot help but pull for. But I think that blogger is overstating things. Teasdale has not played a hockey game since May 2019 and he is a 21 year old with zero AHL games under his belt.
I am not saying he is never going to play in the NHL. I just think to suggest that he could make the team this autumn is very premature. Moreover, given the way things are shaping up with the calendar, there may literally be no formal preseason games or maybe at best 1-2 games for the vets to get in sync. Those conditions would hardly be favourable for a kid who will basically be at the bottom of the pecking order.
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Post by Willie Dog on Apr 11, 2020 17:59:54 GMT -5
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Apr 11, 2020 23:03:42 GMT -5
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Apr 11, 2020 23:07:09 GMT -5
Well, let’s see if he can play in the AHL first. A bit of a stretch to think he can be a camp sleeper. |
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Apr 13, 2020 8:41:46 GMT -5
A piece about Harris, his decision to stay at college, and keeping busy during the pandemic.
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Post by Habs_fan_in_LA on Apr 13, 2020 18:35:40 GMT -5
I do like Romanov (Markov lite) but he is a smallish, defensive, limited scoring, hits well potential 2nd tier player of which we have many. We have many promising young lower tier. We get excited every year about MB’s drafting acquisitions, less so about last years and even less about 2 years ago. |
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Post by BadCompany on Apr 14, 2020 10:59:10 GMT -5
I do like Romanov (Markov lite) but he is a smallish, defensive, limited scoring, hits well potential 2nd tier player of which we have many. We have many promising young lower tier. We get excited every year about MB’s drafting acquisitions, less so about last years and even less about 2 years ago. Other than being Russian, I don't think Romanov is anything like Markov. He's a much better skater than Markov ever was, and of course way more physical. Markov was cerebral to the point of being a hockey genius, whereas Romanov has a lot more natural physical skill. This isn't to diminish Markov, one of my favorite players of all time, but physically Markov was nothing special. Not fast, not physical, okay shot, not very strong. But he was just so far ahead of everybody else in terms of thinking the game. Very Gretzky-like in that way. Romanov reminds me more of a Jeff Petry. He's not as big as Petry - but he's also not small. He'll probably play in the 5'11, 190lbs range, which is more than enough. Moreso when you consider how freakishly strong he seems to be. Romanov is extremely mobile, especially laterally, and I think we're going to be surprised at his offense. Not in his first season, perhaps not for a few seasons, but like Petry I can see him maturing into a 40+ point player in the future. I am very high on him. I see top 2 potential in him. |
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Post by folatre on Apr 14, 2020 23:14:32 GMT -5
Good analysis, BC.
I can see elements of Petry. A neighbor of mine suggested Konstantinov, which seems like it could make some sense too, though my recollection of the Russian is that he was a physical monster kind of like Scott Stevens and while I know hitting is part of Romanov's game I do not think that he is quite that type of grizzly bear destroyer.
Maybe it is my bias for one of my favourite Habs from my childhood, I actually see a lot of Chelios when I watch Romanov play, in the sense that he plays the game the way a high energy todo terreno d-man should play it. The skating is there; the enthusiasm is there; there is enough size combined with great strength to bring plenty of physicality; there is a confidence with the puck. I am not saying that Romanov is going to be as good as Chelios, particularly in terms the points that Chelly put up in the 1980s, but for me they look a lot alike.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Apr 15, 2020 7:45:57 GMT -5
Norlinder and Frölunda make it official. He not only moves up to the SHL, but also to a top club. Should be great for his development.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Apr 15, 2020 8:00:32 GMT -5
I still think this waits until the Habs know what the league’s final decision is on whether to resume the regular season or not. Crazy (and greedy) that they have not made the obvious decision made by pretty much every other hockey league in the world, but that is the subject for another thread.
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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Apr 20, 2020 9:44:11 GMT -5
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Post by folatre on Apr 20, 2020 10:19:07 GMT -5
Lucky guy, those Swedes apparently have some access to rinks around their country. My son is dying to jump on the ice and blow off some steam.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Apr 20, 2020 13:02:36 GMT -5
Lucky guy, those Swedes apparently have some access to rinks around their country. My son is dying to jump on the ice and blow off some steam. Sweden is wide open, pretty well business as usual. They are adopting a total counter approach to the rest of the world on lockdown. But yes, lucky guy. It will feel a bit business as usual for him. |
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Post by seventeen on Apr 20, 2020 14:27:21 GMT -5
Well, if he contracsts Covid it won't be business as usual.
That's quite the gamble that Sweden is taking. They are a very logical people, so I suspect their thinking is that in the long, long run, the death count will be the same whether you go how Canada has, or how Sweden is doing it. Therefore, they don't want to damage the economy as much as most countries are doing, but it will certainly be at the cost of more lives, at least initially, and perhaps in the long run too. I have no crystal ball.
Sweden's covid graph seems to be flattening. One could say their 'strategy' is working or perhaps that's just the normal graph when you do less than you can. The downside is that they have had approximately the same deaths as Canada, with 28% of the population. From a statistical standpoint (not moral, of course), Canada's death toll is .0045% of the total population. Sweden's is .0164%, basically 4 times worse, but not a very large nominal number. They seem to have put a dollar number on lives and come to the conclusion it's cheaper to let people die than to hurt the economy. Kind of like those Detroit bean counters who decide a design flaw that kills a few people is preferable to correcting the design flaw.
The odds are still good that Norlinder won't contract Covid, but it is a riskier bet than being in Canada.
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Post by frozone on Apr 20, 2020 16:42:02 GMT -5
I work for a Swedish company, and from what I gather there is just less of a need to flatten the curve in Sweden. Their health care system is top notch and can handle a sharp spike.
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Post by GNick99 on Apr 21, 2020 6:58:22 GMT -5
Good analysis, BC. I can see elements of Petry. A neighbor of mine suggested Konstantinov, which seems like it could make some sense too, though my recollection of the Russian is that he was a physical monster kind of like Scott Stevens and while I know hitting is part of Romanov's game I do not think that he is quite that type of grizzly bear destroyer. Maybe it is my bias for one of my favourite Habs from my childhood, I actually see a lot of Chelios when I watch Romanov play, in the sense that he plays the game the way a high energy todo terreno d-man should play it. The skating is there; the enthusiasm is there; there is enough size combined with great strength to bring plenty of physicality; there is a confidence with the puck. I am not saying that Romanov is going to be as good as Chelios, particularly in terms the points that Chelly put up in the 1980s, but for me they look a lot alike. Petry, Chelios, Konstantinov, I like some of those names you mentioned in Romanov comparsion.  |
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