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Post by NWTHabsFan on May 13, 2022 14:19:15 GMT -5
Despite high profile Habs like Suzuki, Caufield and Gally all turning down invites to play due to injury, the team still has five players, a bunch of ex-players/prospects, and three young draft eligible kids that Hughes and Vinny are there watching.
CAN - Josh Anderson “A”
USA - Jordan Harris
USA - Sean Farrell
FIN - Joel Armia
DEN - Frederik Dichow
Ex-Habs/prospects
SLO - Tomas Tatar
FRA - Tom Bozon
USA - Alex Galchenyuk
USA - Riley Barber
CZE - David Sklenicka
SWE - Max Friberg
SWE - Erik Gustafsson
Top Five 2022 Draft Eligible Prospects
SLO - Simon Nemec #5
SLO - Juraj Slafkovsky #20
CZE - David Jiríček #5
The tourney starts today. Several games in the books and more are underway. I will provide some updates on how our guys are doing.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on May 13, 2022 14:24:24 GMT -5
Anderson’s assist on Sillinger’s goal.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on May 13, 2022 14:26:29 GMT -5
Armia with an assist on Finland’s first goal. He has scored Finland’s fourth goal. Okay Joel, what’s up?
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Post by NWTHabsFan on May 13, 2022 14:41:53 GMT -5
Highlights from SLO who won 4-2 over FRA. Nemec #5 with an assist on the first goal, and Slafkovsky #20 with two assists including a puck that bounced off his shin to Tatar who buried it. That second French goal was a beauty.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on May 14, 2022 9:21:06 GMT -5
Forgot to add one other highly touted prospect, centre Marco Kasper, who plays for Austria is expected to go mid first round. He was Austria’s top centre in today’s loss to Sweden. He will almost assuredly fall in between the Habs two first round picks.
Dichow did not start today against Kazakhstan, as top goalie Dahm was in net for Denmark’s lopsided 9-1 win. Lots of games in the preliminary round, so I expect Dichow should get at least one start in similar to what they did in the Olympics.
Armia and Finland in action later today.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on May 14, 2022 10:28:33 GMT -5
Jiríček with a blast. His first world championship goal.
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Post by habsorbed on May 14, 2022 11:33:00 GMT -5
Hard to read much into players' performances in this tourney as the rosters may be even weaker than the last Olympics. Exhibit #1: Armia is filling the net; Exhibit #2: look at the list of ex-Habs - Chucky, Gustafson, Barber.
This is the Loser's tourney and more so this year than ever.
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Post by Tankdriver on May 14, 2022 21:54:14 GMT -5
Yeah the world's have definitely lost its luster and I don't know how to fix it. Maybe have them in September?
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Post by NWTHabsFan on May 15, 2022 7:13:21 GMT -5
Yeah, the timing does prevent a lot of NA based players to participate as the playoffs have just started. A lot of the top guys eliminated from the playoffs are also often too banged up to play. Most NHLers are really valuing the recovery and training aspect of a summer off season, so the lure of more hockey and international travel to participate is not always an attractive option.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on May 15, 2022 7:14:30 GMT -5
Josh Anderson had an assist and the GWG on a beauty tip today. Canada came back from an early 1-0 deficit to win 6-1 against Italy.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on May 15, 2022 11:01:31 GMT -5
Farrell forces the turnover in OT, and taps it to a streaking Luke Hughes who salvages the 3-2 OT win for USA over pesky AUT. Two NCAA kids combine for the winning goal.
Harris not dressed for the second straight game. With Jon Merrill (of all people) coming over as part of reinforcements for Team USA, Harris may not see any action.
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Post by habsorbed on May 15, 2022 12:50:27 GMT -5
Josh Anderson had an assist and the GWG on a beauty tip today. Canada came back from an early 1-0 deficit to win 6-1 against Italy. I was read the headline and thought maybe Josh is becoming the stud power forward, and then the story divulged the facts: we were playing Italy who only had 11 shots all game. But I am pissed off Harris ain't playing. I suppose this may give him motivation over the summer  |
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Post by seventeen on May 15, 2022 13:05:56 GMT -5
[I was read the headline and thought maybe Josh is becoming the stud power forward, and then the story divulged the facts: we were playing Italy who only had 11 shots all game. But I am pissed off Harris ain't playing. I suppose this may give him motivation over the summer Anderson would probably dominate the AHL too. (still my whipping boy) |
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Post by NWTHabsFan on May 15, 2022 13:10:36 GMT -5
Josh Anderson had an assist and the GWG on a beauty tip today. Canada came back from an early 1-0 deficit to win 6-1 against Italy. I was read the headline and thought maybe Josh is becoming the stud power forward, and then the story divulged the facts: we were playing Italy who only had 11 shots all game. But I am pissed off Harris ain't playing. I suppose this may give him motivation over the summer Anderson also had a 1+1 game against the USA in the pre tournament game, so he is playing well right now. The caveat is that you often have lopsided games at the Worlds, especially in the preliminary round. Harris played in that game but has been left off during the real games. I think they were holding some spots open in case NHL guys became available, and they are just adding three Wild guys in Boldy, Merrill and Hartman. |
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Post by seventeen on May 15, 2022 20:58:17 GMT -5
I'd play Harris ahead of Merrill, but then I'm not American.
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Post by BadCompany on May 16, 2022 7:19:22 GMT -5
Yeah the world's have definitely lost its luster and I don't know how to fix it. Maybe have them in September? Start the NHL season in September. Labor Day weekend. The marketing tie-ins with the unofficial end of summer would write themselves; close the cottage, open the arena, bye-bye heat, hello ice, etc.. End the season in May, have the draft on the May 2-4 weekend, UFA season starts June 1st (why do we do this on Canada Day??), everybody takes July off, training camps open in August. If you start in September, you end in May instead of June, which would free up a lot more players for the World Championships. And not just from teams that have been eliminated from the playoffs at the NHL level, but at the AHL and junior levels. Imagine, Wright versus Cooley, playing with and against men. It would become a premiere scouting event, and with most (if not all) NHL teams out of the playoffs it would be a way to maintain interest for more fans to follow "their guys". It would also maintain interest in the sport, at a time when most are starting to turn away from it. My thoughts anyways. |
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Post by Skilly on May 16, 2022 7:42:51 GMT -5
I agree with BC that there should be no hockey in June/July and this is the best way to ensure the WC is best on best. BUT I don’t think the IIHF nor the European Leagues want the WC to be best on best. I think they are quite happy that Austria, Latvia, France , etc all now have a fighting chance … the WC has always had next to no interest in North America but huge interest in Europe.
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Post by Tankdriver on May 16, 2022 8:29:19 GMT -5
Yeah the world's have definitely lost its luster and I don't know how to fix it. Maybe have them in September? Start the NHL season in September. Labor Day weekend. The marketing tie-ins with the unofficial end of summer would write themselves; close the cottage, open the arena, bye-bye heat, hello ice, etc.. End the season in May, have the draft on the May 2-4 weekend, UFA season starts June 1st (why do we do this on Canada Day??), everybody takes July off, training camps open in August. If you start in September, you end in May instead of June, which would free up a lot more players for the World Championships. And not just from teams that have been eliminated from the playoffs at the NHL level, but at the AHL and junior levels. Imagine, Wright versus Cooley, playing with and against men. It would become a premiere scouting event, and with most (if not all) NHL teams out of the playoffs it would be a way to maintain interest for more fans to follow "their guys". It would also maintain interest in the sport, at a time when most are starting to turn away from it. My thoughts anyways. Unfortunately the owners would rather push the season closer to x-Mas than september. They want to get as far away from College and NFL football as possible. That's why they don't start in September. |
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Post by NWTHabsFan on May 16, 2022 8:44:58 GMT -5
I agree with BC that there should be no hockey in June/July and this is the best way to ensure the WC is best on best. BUT I don’t think the IIHF nor the European Leagues want the WC to be best on best. I think they are quite happy that Austria, Latvia, France , etc all now have a fighting chance … the WC has always had next to no interest in North America but huge interest in Europe. I think you hit the nail on the head here. This event has been a very European centric event and has been coordinated with all their leagues being wrapped up. A best on best would be too CAN/USA dominated. They leave that for Olympics (in normal times) and the infrequent World Cups/Canada Cups. |
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Post by NWTHabsFan on May 16, 2022 8:48:11 GMT -5
Dichow got the start against Switzerland yesterday. He has had a few good international starts with the mens team including a very strong showing against the Russians at the Olympics and against Sweden in a friendly leading up to the selection of the world championship rosters. Yesterday was on the other end of the spectrum unfortunately as he gave up five goals in two periods and was pulled in the third as Dahm took over the crease. SUI ended up winning 6-0.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on May 16, 2022 12:29:48 GMT -5
Two assists for Josh in a 5-1 win over Slovakia, featuring three draft eligible prospects (Adam Sykora made his debut to join Slafkovsky and Nemec).
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Post by Andrew on May 16, 2022 13:08:00 GMT -5
[I was read the headline and thought maybe Josh is becoming the stud power forward, and then the story divulged the facts: we were playing Italy who only had 11 shots all game. But I am pissed off Harris ain't playing. I suppose this may give him motivation over the summer Anderson would probably dominate the AHL too. (still my whipping boy) Bold prediction, but I think JA has a 40+ goal season in him. Not sure when, but I think he'll have a late career Kreider-type year once our top 2 centers mature a little (presumably Suzuki and Wright). |
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Post by seventeen on May 16, 2022 14:01:09 GMT -5
Yeah the world's have definitely lost its luster and I don't know how to fix it. Maybe have them in September? Start the NHL season in September. Labor Day weekend. The marketing tie-ins with the unofficial end of summer would write themselves; close the cottage, open the arena, bye-bye heat, hello ice, etc.. End the season in May, have the draft on the May 2-4 weekend, UFA season starts June 1st (why do we do this on Canada Day??), everybody takes July off, training camps open in August. If you start in September, you end in May instead of June, which would free up a lot more players for the World Championships. And not just from teams that have been eliminated from the playoffs at the NHL level, but at the AHL and junior levels. Imagine, Wright versus Cooley, playing with and against men. It would become a premiere scouting event, and with most (if not all) NHL teams out of the playoffs it would be a way to maintain interest for more fans to follow "their guys". It would also maintain interest in the sport, at a time when most are starting to turn away from it. My thoughts anyways. Excellent ideas, but I'm sorry to tell you, BC, your chances of being hired by the NHL have just gone to zero. |
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Post by seventeen on May 16, 2022 17:25:42 GMT -5
Anderson would probably dominate the AHL too. (still my whipping boy) Bold prediction, but I think JA has a 40+ goal season in him. Not sure when, but I think he'll have a late career Kreider-type year once our top 2 centers mature a little (presumably Suzuki and Wright). Colour me zany but I'm having second thoughts about Wright. Yeah, I know all about the lost season, etc. I've read the stories about his dominance at the U18's and prior to that and how well he played as an under-ager at the WJC. The problem is that all those examples took place 2 years ago. What's happened recently? Well, he put up a decent draft year with 94 points in 63 games and was +23 on a fairly average team. That seems ok but here are the facts that bother me: He scored more goals in fewer games two seasons earlier as a 16 year old on a worse team. He got a lot more assists this past season, but that's likely a result of his teammates being better finishers, which brings me to.... He wasn't the leading scorer on his team. Sure, he was 2 years younger that that guy, Lucas Edmonds, who played 5 more games, but that guy had 19 more points. The next guy, 3rd on the team behind Wright, had only 7 less points, with 2 fewer games. He was a 20 year old and Edmonds was 20 as well, so both 2 years older, and probably on the same line together. But you want your guy to dominate. He didn't. Thirdly, another barometer I like to use is the playoff points production. Is it higher than the regular season? Has he taken a jump, when games mattered more? Or at least, produced at the same level. With Wright, his regular season goals per game was .51 and his ppg was 1.49. In the playoffs those same numbers were .27 and 1.27. I would love to know what the Habs scouting group thinks of him. There are a lot of good reasons to pick him, but a few warning signs. I'm getting a Filip Zadina feeling. |
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Post by habsorbed on May 16, 2022 22:43:14 GMT -5
Bold prediction, but I think JA has a 40+ goal season in him. Not sure when, but I think he'll have a late career Kreider-type year once our top 2 centers mature a little (presumably Suzuki and Wright). Colour me zany but I'm having second thoughts about Wright. Yeah, I know all about the lost season, etc. I've read the stories about his dominance at the U18's and prior to that and how well he played as an under-ager at the WJC. The problem is that all those examples took place 2 years ago. What's happened recently? Well, he put up a decent draft year with 94 points in 63 games and was +23 on a fairly average team. That seems ok but here are the facts that bother me: He scored more goals in fewer games two seasons earlier as a 16 year old on a worse team. He got a lot more assists this past season, but that's likely a result of his teammates being better finishers, which brings me to.... He wasn't the leading scorer on his team. Sure, he was 2 years younger that that guy, Lucas Edmonds, who played 5 more games, but that guy had 19 more points. The next guy, 3rd on the team behind Wright, had only 7 less points, with 2 fewer games. He was a 20 year old and Edmonds was 20 as well, so both 2 years older, and probably on the same line together. But you want your guy to dominate. He didn't. Thirdly, another barometer I like to use is the playoff points production. Is it higher than the regular season? Has he taken a jump, when games mattered more? Or at least, produced at the same level. With Wright, his regular season goals per game was .51 and his ppg was 1.49. In the playoffs those same numbers were .27 and 1.27. I would love to know what the Habs scouting group thinks of him. There are a lot of good reasons to pick him, but a few warning signs. I'm getting a Filip Zadina feeling. How have the other top prospects faired using your criteria? |
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Post by Habs_fan_in_LA on May 16, 2022 23:04:26 GMT -5
Colour me zany but I'm having second thoughts about Wright. Yeah, I know all about the lost season, etc. I've read the stories about his dominance at the U18's and prior to that and how well he played as an under-ager at the WJC. The problem is that all those examples took place 2 years ago. What's happened recently? Well, he put up a decent draft year with 94 points in 63 games and was +23 on a fairly average team. That seems ok but here are the facts that bother me: He scored more goals in fewer games two seasons earlier as a 16 year old on a worse team. He got a lot more assists this past season, but that's likely a result of his teammates being better finishers, which brings me to.... He wasn't the leading scorer on his team. Sure, he was 2 years younger that that guy, Lucas Edmonds, who played 5 more games, but that guy had 19 more points. The next guy, 3rd on the team behind Wright, had only 7 less points, with 2 fewer games. He was a 20 year old and Edmonds was 20 as well, so both 2 years older, and probably on the same line together. But you want your guy to dominate. He didn't. Thirdly, another barometer I like to use is the playoff points production. Is it higher than the regular season? Has he taken a jump, when games mattered more? Or at least, produced at the same level. With Wright, his regular season goals per game was .51 and his ppg was 1.49. In the playoffs those same numbers were .27 and 1.27. I would love to know what the Habs scouting group thinks of him. There are a lot of good reasons to pick him, but a few warning signs. I'm getting a Filip Zadina feeling. How have the other top prospects faired using your criteria? He has been walking on water for three years, but this year the soles of his feet are wet. He not a Bedard or McDavid or Crosby, but he is the best available This Year. I admit thinking that Drouin was as good (and outscored) MacKinnon in Halifax. I now know better. Stats are always nice but skill, speed, shot, size, attitude and the dreaded 200 foot game count for more than how badly you dominated weaker opponents in junior. I would be very happy with Wright and Firkus. We have an abundance of very young prospects in our system, more than we can use. Not all will make it. We have some talent in older guys too. When cap space and goaltending are addressed we will contend. Would love to see draft lady's reaction. It won't be the same as when Kotka was announced as #3 over Tkachuk. |
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Post by seventeen on May 17, 2022 1:28:30 GMT -5
How have the other top prospects faired using your criteria? Good question. There is some difficulty, especially with the European kids, because of the different leagues they play in, how much they're used, etc. In Logan Cooley's case, his D-1 year has goals and points per game of .55 and 1.04. His D year those numbers were .54 and 1.50 Matthew Savoie is difficult to compare because he played in the USHL his D-1 year and the WHL in his Draft year. But, anyways, here are his numbers. D-1 is .62 gpg and 1.12 ppg. His draft year with Winnipeg in the WHL, a better league, he posted .52 gpg and 1.38 ppg. Cooley didn't have any playoffs in which to report and Savoie is posting .75 gpg and 1.25 ppg in the 8 playoff games he's had so far. Better goals per game but worse ppg to date. Slafkovsky is impossible to gauge. One example we could look at is Nick Suzuki. His D-1 year he posted .32 and .60 goals and points per game. His draft year numbers were .69 and 1.48. That's the kind of improvement you like to see. With Wright, the shutdown of the OHL makes this really difficult, but to improve as much (or as little) as he did between his 15 year old season and his 17 year old season concerns me. The scouts who watched him will have a better idea compared to me just using some little data flags for my purposes. I'll have to trust the scouts and hope they make the right choice. Sure wish it was 2023. That would be a really easy decision. Or not. Bedard or Michkov? |
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Post by Boston_Habs on May 17, 2022 9:50:59 GMT -5
I agree with BC that there should be no hockey in June/July and this is the best way to ensure the WC is best on best. BUT I don’t think the IIHF nor the European Leagues want the WC to be best on best. I think they are quite happy that Austria, Latvia, France , etc all now have a fighting chance … the WC has always had next to no interest in North America but huge interest in Europe. I think you hit the nail on the head here. This event has been a very European centric event and has been coordinated with all their leagues being wrapped up. A best on best would be too CAN/USA dominated. They leave that for Olympics (in normal times) and the infrequent World Cups/Canada Cups. Nobody has ever really cared about the World Championships as it's always a leftover cast of NHL players. We need to get back to a normal schedule. Personally, I like the old 80-game regular season that basically runs from Oct 1 to April 1. That way you could have a SCF that wraps by the end of May or the first week of June at the latest. Those extra 2 games have the practical effect of pushing everything out by a week, but dropping them would have virtually no effect on the TV money (national and local), sponsorships, suite revenues, etc. It's just 2 less games of fans in the seats. |
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Post by habsorbed on May 17, 2022 9:54:51 GMT -5
How have the other top prospects faired using your criteria? Good question. There is some difficulty, especially with the European kids, because of the different leagues they play in, how much they're used, etc. In Logan Cooley's case, his D-1 year has goals and points per game of .55 and 1.04. His D year those numbers were .54 and 1.50 Matthew Savoie is difficult to compare because he played in the USHL his D-1 year and the WHL in his Draft year. But, anyways, here are his numbers. D-1 is .62 gpg and 1.12 ppg. His draft year with Winnipeg in the WHL, a better league, he posted .52 gpg and 1.38 ppg. Cooley didn't have any playoffs in which to report and Savoie is posting .75 gpg and 1.25 ppg in the 8 playoff games he's had so far. Better goals per game but worse ppg to date. Slafkovsky is impossible to gauge. One example we could look at is Nick Suzuki. His D-1 year he posted .32 and .60 goals and points per game. His draft year numbers were .69 and 1.48. That's the kind of improvement you like to see. With Wright, the shutdown of the OHL makes this really difficult, but to improve as much (or as little) as he did between his 15 year old season and his 17 year old season concerns me. The scouts who watched him will have a better idea compared to me just using some little data flags for my purposes. I'll have to trust the scouts and hope they make the right choice. Sure wish it was 2023. That would be a really easy decision. Or not. Bedard or Michkov? I looked at Nick's stats and there was little improvement between his last year junior and the year before. Meanwhile Lafrenier showed steady improvement each of his 3 years, and his overall improvement was about the same as Wright's between his first year and his last year. Sometimes I think Lafrenier is about to break out, but other times I think he'll be a mediocre 2C. Oh, and I see Slafkovsky got 5 SOG yesterday against Canada. Not sure the nature of the shots, could have been hard icings on the net - but hey, that's a skill if you can do it regularly  |
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Post by seventeen on May 17, 2022 12:35:26 GMT -5
I was paying attention to Slafkovksy and to Nemec especially. Slafkovsky is a tough call. He looks like he has plenty of speed and while he was muscled off the puck by Chabot a couple of time, the guy is still only 17 and Chabot is a 25 year old veteran. Slaf has no fears about attacking and holding onto the puck, which is good as is indicates confidence. I didn't see him doing much backchecking, so that part of his game can probably improve. The huge question with me regarding Slafkovsky is that he keeps reminding me of Jagr, who went 5th in his draft year. If he's 6'4", 218 lbs as a just turned 18 year old, how much stronger is he going to be at 21 and 25? He could be a beast. Nemec impressed me. He wasn't flashy at all, but he was the general on the PP at 18! And he was doing a good job of it. He puts the puck in the right places at the right time and moves it well. I wasn't able to get a good read on him defensively as I missed chunks of the game and I was also looking at some of the Canadian kids and at Slafkovsky. I really liked Nemec's poise. If he's even adequate defensively, he'll be a good pick (though not likely at #1). HE reminds me a lot of Evan Bouchard, but maybe with a little more upside.
Regarding Suzuki, one has to dig deeper sometimes to get answers to the question "why?". You are correct that Nick's D+1 year was muchthe same as his draft year, so the immediate impression is that he didn't get better. I asked myself, why?. Well, firstly the 2016 owen Sound Attack had 102 points and a goal differential of +120. The following year, they had 84 points and a goal differential of +42. Yet that following year, Nick had 31 more points than the next scorer on his team (in 11 more games, granted). So it would seem Nick's D+1 year, despite looking like he plateaued, probably was a better year because his team was so much weaker.
Anyway, that's my assessment. Also....my theory won't work in every case, but I have found over the years, it tends to help me evaluate the probability of a player succeeding more often than not.
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