Pre-Game Talk: 2023-2024 Habs Rookie Camp & Training Camp

[Rapala]

The talk about Beck being too good for the OHL is ridiculous. He has never dominated juniors. Let him do that like Suzuki did at 19. I want him to develop his confidence offensively. He won't do that in Laval or in Montreal at 19.

Who is saying that? I haven't read it. Beck came into this camp intending to make the team as Rob Ramage said he would. People saying Beck going back to Peterborough isn't an ideal doesn't mean he's too good for the OHL. What it does mean is the production we hope to see him improve on will be hard to come by on that club. Someone will probably make a move for him long before the post season but sooner would be better IMO. People want him to finish up like Suzuki but Peterborough aren't likely to be a contender at all.

 

[MasterD]

The talk about Beck being too good for the OHL is ridiculous. He has never dominated juniors. Let him do that like Suzuki did at 19. I want him to develop his confidence offensively. He won't do that in Laval or in Montreal at 19.

Dominating offensively is not his game. Patrice Bergeron didn't dominate the Q either.

 

[Rapala]

Would be kind of weird if a bubble guy like Pearson/Armia ends up as a top line winger for us, but the other lines are looking pretty good


Suzuki and Caufield play a two man game, so having a space maker like Pearson makes sense. Can also protect them a bit. It looks ugly on paper for sure, but in reality it could work

I don't think Pearson has the speed element that line needs to get on the forecheck. Anderson certainly does but his problem is a limited capacity to make a play once he gets there. Suzuki and Caufield are at their most dangerous when they turn pucks over in the Ozone. A good forecheck will help them do just that.

 

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

I don't think Pearson has the speed element that line needs to get on the forecheck. Anderson certainly does but his problem is a limited capacity to make a play once he gets there. Suzuki and Caufield are at their most dangerous when they turn pucks over in the Ozone. A good forecheck will help them do just that.

Pearson is slower than Armia and Armia is slow

 

[MasterD]

Bergevin messed this team up so bad with contracts, it hurts really hurts.

Contracts aside, we could easily bring in a guy like Beck if Gallagher, Armia, Evans weren't here. I'm the 1 person who likes Dvorak in his role on this board, but he could be replaced, too.

Hughes still has tons of work to do with this team.

 

[Rapala]

Pearson is slower than Armia and Armia is slow

They will get Sean Monahan, Kirby Dach or an outside chance of Newhook. I just can't see any other permutation making sense unless someone steps out of a shadow.

 

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

They will get Sean Monahan, Kirby Dach or an outside chance of Newhook. I just can't see any other permutation making sense unless someone steps out of a shadow.

My top 6 is Suzuki Caufield Dach Anderson Monahan and Newhook

Just hope any of the other plugs play in the bottom 6

 

[DramaticGloveSave]

Bergevin messed this team up so bad with contracts, it hurts really hurts.

Contracts aside, we could easily bring in a guy like Beck if Gallagher, Armia, Evans weren't here. I'm the 1 person who likes Dvorak in his role on this board, but he could be replaced, too.

Hughes still has tons of work to do with this team.

Well at least we can be patient with these guys. I really don’t get the Beck in the NHL thing. Let this guy continue to develop his offensive game.

 

[Tuggy]

Bergevin messed this team up so bad with contracts, it hurts really hurts.

Contracts aside, we could easily bring in a guy like Beck if Gallagher, Armia, Evans weren't here. I'm the 1 person who likes Dvorak in his role on this board, but he could be replaced, too.

Hughes still has tons of work to do with this team.

Agreed.

I think some underestimate the damage Bergevin did to this organization.

It's going to take years to repair.

Hughes has done a solid job so far, but lots of work left to do.

 

[26Mats]

If Heineman and Davidson can get a shot with Suzuki and Caufield, will Slafkovsky and Roy each get their chance?

Agreed.

I think some underestimate the damage Bergevin did to this organization.

It's going to take years to repair.

Hughes has done a solid job so far, but lots of work left to do.

Gallagher and Armia are the bad contracts.

But Bergevin also left us with:

Caufield, Suzuki, Anderson, RHP, Roy, Evans, Ylonen, (plus Toffoli and Lehkonen as trade chips),

Guhle, Xhekaj, Harris, Savard, Mailloux, Trudeau, Struble, (plus Chiarot, Kulak, and Petry as trade chips)

Montembault, Allen, Primeau.

 

[Ezpz]

There's no reason to even bring Beck in early and start the countdown to free agency/burn a year off his ELC when we're not competing. People thought sending Suzuki down was dumb but it ended up being for the best. Although ironically we missed the playoffs by two points and may have made them with Nick but would have missed out on Caufield.

 

[BaseballCoach]

Sadly I don't see an NHL future for Cayden Primeau. Six years after being drafted, he simply hasn't evolved or improved.

I'm ok with it if the brass have given up on Primeau and plan to waive him.

My only point is that if they have NOT given up, they should not take a chance with waiving him, while hoping he clears. It is not necessary to take that risk when there is an option that gives them more time to see what he can do.

 

[BaseballCoach]

I don't think Pearson has the speed element that line needs to get on the forecheck. Anderson certainly does but his problem is a limited capacity to make a play once he gets there. Suzuki and Caufield are at their most dangerous when they turn pucks over in the Ozone. A good forecheck will help them do just that.

Dvorak is a good forechecker and maybe could fill the gap for now until we get a stronger first line winger. The other benefit is that the Suzuki line will improve their +/- quite a bit with Dvorak playing LW. Significantly.

 

[Capitano]

Agreed.

I think some underestimate the damage Bergevin did to this organization.

It's going to take years to repair.

Hughes has done a solid job so far, but lots of work left to do.

If Heineman and Davidson can get a shot with Suzuki and Caufield, will Slafkovsky and Roy each get their chance?


Gallagher and Armia are the bad contracts.

But Bergevin also left us with:

Caufield, Suzuki, Anderson, RHP, Roy, Evans, Ylonen, (plus Toffoli and Lehkonen as trade chips),

Guhle, Xhekaj, Harris, Savard, Mailloux, Trudeau, Struble, (plus Chiarot, Kulak, and Petry as trade chips)

Montembault, Allen, Primeau.

Ya, maybe if we gave Bergevin another 9 years he would have turned the corner.

As for Hughes, he has done a good job managing assets but like Tuggy said there is a ton of work to do for this roster in order to be considered relevant.

 

[Tyson]

I'm ok with it if the brass have given up on Primeau and plan to waive him.

My only point is that if they have NOT given up, they should not take a chance with waiving him, while hoping he clears. It is not necessary to take that risk when there is an option that gives them more time to see what he can do.

Coach, I sincerely doubt there is a team willing to take on his 900K contract. No team will claim him.

 

[26Mats]

Ya, maybe if we gave Bergevin another 9 years he would have turned the corner.

That's not what I was saying. Bergevin wasn't the man to take the team to a cup. And, his overall teams always had the potential to be disasters. But he had enough good pieces such that, aside from the Armia and Gallagher contracts, it won't take years to recover.

We were a team built on vets that went to the finals, although they were lucky. Without covid, no finals. But then when Weber and Price went down there was no choice to rebuild. And MB certainly wasn't the person to do it.

 

[Tyson]

He was a 7th round pick so he has already beaten odds by even playing NHL games.

There have been some amazing talents come out of later rounds though. Markov, Ryder, Palat, Datsyuk to name a few. You are right though, the fact that he played some NHL games is commendable.

 

[Rapala]

Dvorak is a good forechecker and maybe could fill the gap for now until we get a stronger first line winger. The other benefit is that the Suzuki line will improve their +/- quite a bit with Dvorak playing LW. Significantly.

Mr. I had no idea you were even playing Dvorak? I don't see it. How could a good forechecker go unoticed for periods at a time?

 

[Ajhccwrs]

Any Scrims today?

 

[Capitano]

That's not what I was saying. Bergevin wasn't the man to take the team to a cup. And, his overall teams always had the potential to be disasters. But he had enough good pieces such that, aside from the Armia and Gallagher contracts, it won't take years to recover.

We were a team built on vets that went to the finals, although they were lucky. Without covid, no finals. But then when Weber and Price went down there was no choice to rebuild. And MB certainly wasn't the person to do it.

Fair enough. I wanted Bergevin fired rather than extended to start a rebuild but we just dug ourselves a deeper hole to climb out of, which is what we're currently experiencing.

Glad we agree that Bergevin wasn't the guy to take the team to a cup. You can't win without talent and he didn't do enough to support Price, and he also overvalued some players - like Petry for example.

As for contracts we were fortunate that Price and Weber called it quits otherwise we would be stuck in no man's land like a large portion of teams in the league.

Anyway, I'm hopeful for some of the prospects on this team. Bergevin deserves at least partial credit for being GM when they were drafted, but I'm glad he is not making any decisions about their futures that's for sure!

 

[Treb]

Any Scrims today?

There was one 2.5 hours ago. The next one is in 1.5 hour at 1PM EST.

 

[red devil]

There have been some amazing talents come out of later rounds though. Markov, Ryder, Palat, Datsyuk to name a few. You are right though, the fact that he played some NHL games is commendable.

There where always be incredible talents that come out of the later rounds you just hope that your team ends up with a few them in drafts that are close together so they can be on the same team.

 

[MasterD]

If Heineman and Davidson can get a shot with Suzuki and Caufield, will Slafkovsky and Roy each get their chance?


Gallagher and Armia are the bad contracts.

But Bergevin also left us with:

Caufield, Suzuki, Anderson, RHP, Roy, Evans, Ylonen, (plus Toffoli and Lehkonen as trade chips),

Guhle, Xhekaj, Harris, Savard, Mailloux, Trudeau, Struble, (plus Chiarot, Kulak, and Petry as trade chips)

Montembault, Allen, Primeau.

Price's contract. Weber.

 

[Nedved]

Monahan is an absolute beast. I hope he stays healthy for us this year. I just love the way he plays hockey.

 

[26Mats]

Price's contract. Weber.

Price and Weber contracts turned out great. Price was either still going to be worth 10.5M (as he proved in our cup run) or LTIRetire due to injury and come off the cap. Weber was either going to decline in his final years and have his contracted traded to a team that needed to get to the floor (because his salary was so much lower than his cap hit) or be LTIRerire due to injury. Those two contracts didn't hurt us, as I expected all along.

I am a hardcore Bergevin hater. But those contracts weren't the problem.