JianYang
Registered User
- Sep 29, 2017
- 19,104
- 18,165
It looks like the goaltending might regress hard. Monty hasn't looked really good so far, and Allen has a history of playing very badly if he plays more than a game a week.
I'd really like to see Slaf either play second line in the NHL or first line in the AHL, but we'll see. It was a terrible year to have 1OA in that sense because there is pressure (fans, ego, agent, player) to play him in the NHL, and certainly not to let him go back to Europe. Slaf would have been better off getting picked 3rd or 4th, or 10th in a stronger draft.
I have no clue about Lindstrom yet. Norlinder has looked better and he did his time in the AHL. Barron looked good the end of last year but not so good this year. It's weird how consistently the habs expect guys to grab jobs in pre-season and how consistently those guys abjectly fail to do so. Norlinder would be an exception except I don't think he was expected to really be an option.
I'd be happy if the team picks fifth as long as Slaf, Guhle, Newhook, and Monahan are healthy and play lots of minutes. I suppose that implies that they wouldn't play too well unless the goaltending absolutely tanked which is possible.
The goaltending may well "regress" but I don't look to the preseason as any indicator of this.
The preseason is just about seeing young prospects in camp. If there are clearly open spots available on the big squad, that can get interesting too.... But aside from that, there's just not too much to look into.
I've seen far too many surprises in camp that fizzle out during the course of the season, and far too many poor showings in the preaseon that mean nothing when the regular season starts.