Player Discussion Alex Newhook

[salbutera]

They got rid of him because Bednar is an asshole.

I wouldn’t say that, Avs simply tried to force a square peg in a round hole by miscasting Newhook’s deployment - hoping he’d replace Kadri’s grit style game, which is not Newhook’s thing

 

[MadMslm]

The team has plenty of speed...he adds to it.

Who’s the speed on the team ?

Suzuki ? He made improvements to his skating but he doesn’t really have speed.

Caufield ? He’s an okay skater, but lacks explosiveness especially for his size.

Monahan ? He’s slow as hell.

Dvorak ? He’s skating in mud.

Gallagher ? He can’t make two strides without losing his breath.

Armia ? He skates like he’s carrying his Finnish national gear on top of him.

Dach ? He’s a good skater for his size, that’s for sure.

Other than Anderson, who really brings speed and explosiveness on the wings ? No one else. At least Newhook will contribute to that aspect and hopefully he does more than that if not that trade wouldn’t have done anything for us.

It’s always “he skates well for his size” or small players who don’t have that blazing speed or explosiveness. We barely have players up front who are great at it.

 

[Rob Sense]

Who’s the speed on the team ?

Suzuki ? He made improvements to his skating but he doesn’t really have speed.

Caufield ? He’s an okay skater, but lacks explosiveness especially for his size.

Monahan ? He’s slow as hell.

Dvorak ? He’s skating in mud.

Gallagher ? He can’t make two strides without losing his breath.

Armia ? He skates like he’s carrying his Finnish national gear on top of him.

Dach ? He’s a good skater for his size, that’s for sure.

Other than Anderson, who really brings speed and explosiveness on the wings ? No one else. At least Newhook will contribute to that aspect and hopefully he does more than that if not that trade wouldn’t have done anything for us.

It’s always “he skates well for his size” or small players who don’t have that blazing speed or explosiveness. We barely have players up front who are great at it.

You are talking about guys on the way out. Look at Matheson, Guhle, Ylonen, Dach, Caufield, Anderson, Slaf, Barron...and Suzuki is no slouch. They are not building around toughness that if for sure.

 

[yianik]

Pre season is a bit of a reality check for most of us.

It reminds me that most guys taken in the mid to late rounds are available there for a reason, despite what they might do against their peer group. And just in general a guy producing great may fall off a cliff when the quality of competition goes up a bit, as the deficiencies are highlighted.

At the same time alot of these guys have some real good abilities and if a few of them can overcome the deficiencies we could end up with a few good players to add.

Patience as always and I really believe we will have a few positive surprises as camp progresses.

 

[HabzSauce]

I wouldn't compare Drouin to Newhook mostly because of the difference in versatility. Drouin was a reasonable complementary scorer who did not play defense while he was on a line where others did the heavy lifting and other lines also threatened. Drouin could not contribute on lower lines, while Newhook can.

If Newhook is a 50 point player or less in 2-3 years the trade won't help the team. It's unlikely that the trade will hurt, though. It's certainly possible that one or both of those picks produces a significant player but it's not really likely. Even if the receiving team gets a good player it doesn't mean that is they guy Hughes would have taken. If a whole stretch of players in that part of the draft become stars the habs will have to revisit their scouting, and they probably should in any case.

And even if newhook caps out at around 50, we could still probably trade him for more than what we gave up.

 

[26Mats]

Who’s the speed on the team ?

Suzuki ? He made improvements to his skating but he doesn’t really have speed.

Caufield ? He’s an okay skater, but lacks explosiveness especially for his size.

Monahan ? He’s slow as hell.

Dvorak ? He’s skating in mud.

Gallagher ? He can’t make two strides without losing his breath.

Armia ? He skates like he’s carrying his Finnish national gear on top of him.

Dach ? He’s a good skater for his size, that’s for sure.

Other than Anderson, who really brings speed and explosiveness on the wings ? No one else. At least Newhook will contribute to that aspect and hopefully he does more than that if not that trade wouldn’t have done anything for us.

It’s always “he skates well for his size” or small players who don’t have that blazing speed or explosiveness. We barely have players up front who are great at it.

That was one thing about Pitlick I liked before he started taking all the dumb penalties: he brought speed to our lineup.

So, yes, I think that's one area Newhook could be useful. Hopefully Slaf will have some speed. Ylonen could also help increase our team speed.

 

[waitin425]

You are talking about guys on the way out. Look at Matheson, Guhle, Ylonen, Dach, Caufield, Anderson, Slaf, Barron...and Suzuki is no slouch. They are not building around toughness that if for sure.

How sure are you?

 

[Habs4Life]

Gotta get his trade value up, lol.

But he'll be fine on the 2nd line. He's under-rated offensively by many.

under rated? are you serious lol... This isn't junior hockey he has shown no signs of offense since joining the NHL... He is now 27 years old, when he will start producing?

 

[26Mats]

under rated? are you serious lol... This isn't junior hockey he has shown no signs of offense since joining the NHL... He is now 27 years old, when he will start producing?

He's played two seasons with us. In his first year with us he had 33 points in 56 games. That's scoring at a pace of 48 points in 82 games. Most people don't realize that. If you want to call a 48 points pace no signs of offense so be it. I think if he score 48 points (or more playing with good offensive players) we can move him for a decent asset.

If you watch him play he's vanilla. If you watch a highlight reel of all his goals, it is also vanilla. But the puck is going in the net just the same. He's not a flashy offensive player. But his tools of being good around the net, good in the corners, and able to make plays with his linemates allow him to be a player that can put up 45-55 points playing with offensive players.

BUT I don't like him leading a line as a center, given we have young offensive players that imo would better benefit from a more dynamic center (like Suzuki, Dach, and Monahan). So I have him on the wing in the top 9.

 

[dcyhabs]

You are talking about guys on the way out. Look at Matheson, Guhle, Ylonen, Dach, Caufield, Anderson, Slaf, Barron...and Suzuki is no slouch. They are not building around toughness that if for sure.

You can't choose the high end players who are available. I expect they would love to have more physical players, and they took the Xhekaj's and Slaf when they had the chance. Caufield was an obvious pick, Guhle should end up tough once he is mature, Anderson is tough enough, and most of the others were acquired in trade. All GMs overvalue size and physicality. That's not to say that it is not valuable, but it is only available with an overpay. If Dach and Barron were more physical they would not have been available.

The habs have a major problem identifying and developing physical players. They avoided Tkachuk, as pretty much everyone on this board advised at the time, when he was pretty much the perfect pick in retrospect. Lefebvre taught toughness exactly the wrong way and got most of the physical guys, like Tinordi and McCarron, concussed fighting minor league goons instead of learning to play and picking their spots. Xhekaj seems to have learned a bit this year, and he's letting others fight the guys trying to fight to make a reputation while he works on his hockey.

Teams have to do the best they can with the players available. They tried to get a Chara for years and ended up with a bunch of big D-men who didn't make the NHL. The habs have been aiming for a speed identity, too, and their team speed is fine but not exactly team-defining. The common factor for most of the guys the habs have coming up seems to be hockey sense, if anything.

 

[ChesterNimitz]

Who’s the speed on the team ?

Suzuki ? He made improvements to his skating but he doesn’t really have speed.

Caufield ? He’s an okay skater, but lacks explosiveness especially for his size.

Monahan ? He’s slow as hell.

Dvorak ? He’s skating in mud.

Gallagher ? He can’t make two strides without losing his breath.

Armia ? He skates like he’s carrying his Finnish national gear on top of him.

Dach ? He’s a good skater for his size, that’s for sure.

Other than Anderson, who really brings speed and explosiveness on the wings ? No one else. At least Newhook will contribute to that aspect and hopefully he does more than that if not that trade wouldn’t have done anything for us.

It’s always “he skates well for his size” or small players who don’t have that blazing speed or explosiveness. We barely have players up front who are great at it.

There's a reason we drafted 1 OA two years ago and 5 OA last year. Until we amp up our team speed we will remain irrelevant, except at the draft. Newhook is a good step in the right direction.

 

[YukonCornelius 5thOA]

How sure are you?

All you had to do was watch the opening night at the Bell Centre last year to see how much bigger the team had already got under the new management.

 

[MadMslm]

You are talking about guys on the way out. Look at Matheson, Guhle, Ylonen, Dach, Caufield, Anderson, Slaf, Barron...and Suzuki is no slouch. They are not building around toughness that if for sure.

I would have to disagree with you on that.

Slaf is not a fast skater, neither is Caufield and Suzuki. They might hit their top speed after some time, but players will rarely get the chance to hit that level in game time situations. They lack explosiveness. They’ll never beat defensemen with skating alone.

The reason this team might look faster is because if how mobile the defense finally is and their ability to execute breakout passes for rush offense.

The forward group in itself isn’t quick.

Dach is a good skater for his size, and I don’t take that away from him. Anderson is definitely the speed merchant on this team.

Ylonen is a fast skater, but he might not make the team.

Newhook does add something we are missing. We might not be as slow as we used to be, but I wouldn’t call us a fast team.

That was one thing about Pitlick I liked before he started taking all the dumb penalties: he brought speed to our lineup.

So, yes, I think that's one area Newhook could be useful. Hopefully Slaf will have some speed. Ylonen could also help increase our team speed.

I still remember Guy Boucher talking about how he would warn players about Paul Byron when watching videos of the habs PK. He would always tell his players to be careful when he’s on the ice because it could easily become a breakaway.

Hopefully Ylonen gets a chance, he didn’t do bad in limited amount of ice time and line mates quality he had. Same amount of points at EV as RHP with less ice time and lower quality teammates.

Slafkovsky skating isn’t bad for his size, and I hope the lost weight helped him add some explosiveness to his game.

There's a reason we drafted 1 OA two years ago and 5 OA last year. Until we amp up our team speed we will remain irrelevant, except at the draft. Newhook is a good step in the right direction.

Imagine if an NBA team only drafted players under 6’0 foot. Hockey is played on ice and we rarely draft players with a great skating ability. It’s just too important in today’s game.

I’m not Newhook’s biggest fan, but at least he brings some speed on the wings. The second he hits his third stride there’s so much explosiveness it can cause trouble to the opposition.

 

[ChesterNimitz]

Newhook does add something we are missing. We might not be as slow as we used to be, but I wouldn’t call us a fast team.
Imagine if an NBA team only drafted players under 6’0 foot. Hockey is played on ice and we rarely draft players with a great skating ability. It’s just too important in today’s game.

I’m not Newhook’s biggest fan, but at least he brings some speed on the wings. The second he hits his third stride there’s so much explosiveness it can cause trouble to the opposition.

Newhook’s speed will create more time and space for his lesser skating linemates akin to the way a wide receiver in football with elite speed can blow the top off a defence and create options for his offence. Newhook’s superior skating ability will have to be respected by opposing teams: something that very few of our other players can establish.

 

[HuGort]

Hughes paid an arm and leg for him so imagine he'd be good

 

[Rob Sense]

I would have to disagree with you on that.

Slaf is not a fast skater, neither is Caufield and Suzuki. They might hit their top speed after some time, but players will rarely get the chance to hit that level in game time situations. They lack explosiveness. They’ll never beat defensemen with skating alone.

The reason this team might look faster is because if how mobile the defense finally is and their ability to execute breakout passes for rush offense.

The forward group in itself isn’t quick.

Dach is a good skater for his size, and I don’t take that away from him. Anderson is definitely the speed merchant on this team.

Ylonen is a fast skater, but he might not make the team.

Newhook does add something we are missing. We might not be as slow as we used to be, but I wouldn’t call us a fast team.




I still remember Guy Boucher talking about how he would warn players about Paul Byron when watching videos of the habs PK. He would always tell his players to be careful when he’s on the ice because it could easily become a breakaway.

Hopefully Ylonen gets a chance, he didn’t do bad in limited amount of ice time and line mates quality he had. Same amount of points at EV as RHP with less ice time and lower quality teammates.

Slafkovsky skating isn’t bad for his size, and I hope the lost weight helped him add some explosiveness to his game.



Imagine if an NBA team only drafted players under 6’0 foot. Hockey is played on ice and we rarely draft players with a great skating ability. It’s just too important in today’s game.

I’m not Newhook’s biggest fan, but at least he brings some speed on the wings. The second he hits his third stride there’s so much explosiveness it can cause trouble to the opposition.

Ok you win. We are a obviously a slow team. I would just be careful when using words like "never" as these can comeback to prove you wrong.

 

[Rob Sense]

Ok you win. We are a obviously a slow team. I would just be careful when using words like "never" as these can comeback to prove you wrong.

 

[MadMslm]

Ok you win. We are a obviously a slow team. I would just be careful when using words like "never" as these can comeback to prove you wrong.

Fair enough.

I don’t think Suzuki created separation or beat that defensemen on speed. It was a great goal there’s no doubt about that, but look at how many strides it took him to reach max speed.

For Caufield, I don’t think McNabb expected that lob from, it wasn’t a play based on speed alone. Also, McNabb isn’t known for his stellar agility.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think Caufield or Suzuki are bad skater. I think they are both average, but they aren’t speed merchant and they lack the explosiveness to create that separation.

That’s something Anderson and Newhook have.

And it’s not about winning, you’re completely entitled to you opinion brother. I’m just sharing my perspective.

 

[Scriptor]

Newhook’s speed will create more time and space for his lesser skating linemates akin to the way a wide receiver in football with elite speed can blow the top off a defence and create options for his offence. Newhook’s superior skating ability will have to be respected by opposing teams: something that very few of our other players can establish.

Why didn't that work with Drouin who is supposed to be quick?

 

[Scriptor]

Fair enough.

I don’t think Suzuki created separation or beat that defensemen on speed. It was a great goal there’s no doubt about that, but look at how many strides it took him to reach max speed.

For Caufield, I don’t think McNabb expected that lob from, it wasn’t a play based on speed alone. Also, McNabb isn’t known for his stellar agility.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think Caufield or Suzuki are bad skater. I think they are both average, but they aren’t speed merchant and they lack the explosiveness to create that separation.

That’s something Anderson and Newhook have.

And it’s not about winning, you’re completely entitled to you opinion brother. I’m just sharing my perspective.

There is also a question of puck handling at high speed.

Suzuki and Caufield both do that and can appear quicker with the puck on their stick than others, all without actually being speed demons, by any stretch.

It's not just about pure speed.

Hutson isn't a speed demon either, but his ability to shift an opposing D like they were grounded in cement, and the resulting bursts of acceleration, without a high top end speed, still beats opposing Ds.

I think that HuGo claiming they were looking to add players with speed and skill should have been rephrased as adding players with speed OR skill?

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Drouin was quick? Maybe 5 years ago lmao

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Hughes paid an arm and leg for him so imagine he'd be good

What do you think full time young NHL players goes for lol we gave up a sherback and a delarose

 

[rik schau]

What ways, since you didn't miss it?

Everyone besides you apparently knew,check the history.

 

[ChesterNimitz]

Why didn't that work with Drouin who is supposed to be quick?

You have to want to use/apply that speed.

 

[Scriptor]

Everyone besides you apparently knew,check the history.

Ok. So, now you really appear not to know and are spouting $hit through your yapper. Either that, or you're being a prick for no reason.

You can't tell me what the initial injuries were -- that you supposedly know and everyone knew -- when we traded for him just because you don't want to tell me?

WTF!?

Living up to your handle on this site you HUGE Kunt!