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Like the player, but he should be taking a night off here and there.
why?
Like the player, but he should be taking a night off here and there.
Couldn’t agree more EP, well said!
Kulak is pretty under appreciated by people right now for whatever reason, but he’s a great bottom pairing guy that is fairly paid.
why?
consistency , but thinking of it, when romanov goes up to the second pairing, he will play less minutes and should be better overall game after game.
Nobody would be my guess.
I'm not following as much as so many other astute armchair GM's. So that is why I put the question out there,yet no one can supply any reasonable comparisons?
Kulak is the ideal #7 dman.Take any guy who is under 1,5m and play regularly with there team and they will probably make the same job. There is a lot of name
Like the player, but he should be taking a night off here and there.
Kulak is the ideal #7 dman.
If he is playing well and is our 2nd youngest dman in the srarting lineup, why would we bench/rest him?
Mete will play when there is an injury but he is clearly our 7th best dman, the only thing he does better than Kulak is skate and Kulak is a very good skater.
I meant in terms of his play. His contract is too expensive for what he brings. He's fine on the bottom pair for now, but by the deadline, we need to make an upgrade.not at 1.85M for a team that has no cap space. Juulsen (out of our signed players) would have been better at league min of 700K but it would hurt him since he needs to play. Next year Kulak gets paid 2.2M, good agent, so that will likely hurt our chances of moving him as we will need to free up cap space from somewhere.
not at 1.85M for a team that has no cap space. Juulsen (out of our signed players) would have been better at league min of 700K but it would hurt him since he needs to play. Next year Kulak gets paid 2.2M, good agent, so that will likely hurt our chances of moving him as we will need to free up cap space from somewhere.
I think Mete might be slightly better offensively and defensively, Kulak had only 7 pts last year.
there career so far,
Mete - 22 years old - 171-4-27-31 +27
Kulak - 27 years old - 220-8-29-37 +7 (+3 before this season)
i think many on the board have given up on Mete but I still think he can easily be a solid bottom pairing.
I respectfully have to disagree here.
Mete is a liability in his own end once possession has been established as he is entirely useless on the boards and in front of the net. There are things I like about him but he is just too weak and his shot is downright embarrassing which renders him relatively impotent in the offensive zone.
He is a luxury to have as a 7th dman but I don't like him as a regular on a contender. Kulak checks too many boxes that Mete may never check.
As you know I think stats are often grossly misleading and this example is one that I would site. The eye test for me said that Mete was easily behind Kulak in the depth chart. Kulak is a late bloomer and is a nearly perfect fit on the bottom pairing, the key for him is consistency which is directly related to his confidence. It does seem like Kulak has taken another step with his confidence starting in the bubble and carrying over to this season. I don't think Mete's upside will ever be as effective as Kulak's current play.
Just by curiosity, which box Does Kulak check ?
Bergevin done good job rebuilding Habs. I think some average fans get a bit impatient and ripped him. But hardcore fans could tell the difference
It would be a much shorter list if it contained the areas in which he doesn't check a box. When he is on his game there aren't many boxes that he doesn't check. He has the physical tools to be a 2nd pairing dman but I am not certain that I see him maintaining enough consistency to be a long term 2nd pairing solution.
Mete on the other hand has glaring holes even when he is at his best as he ineffective on both special team units and gives up the blueline far too easily as well as being a non factor in his own end once possession is established and a non shooting threat in the Ozone making him predictable and ineffective.
Julien/MB's decision to play Kulak over Mete should have been obvious to most. As long as Kulak doesn't lose the confidence that he has built, Mete's only avenue to playing time is via injuries.
Mete is versatile and is an elite skater with decent hockey IQ and heknows the system well. This makes him an ideal 7th dman in Montreal. If he wants to be more than that it will almost certainly be elsewhere on a weaker group as he has a stable of superior prospects knocking on the door behind him.
I don't hate him as a player at all, I just think that our depth has pushed him to the fringe. I suspect he would look good playing with Romanov.......just not as good as Kulak.
Kulak is the ideal #7 dman.
Oooh I think Kulak is better then Mete It’s just that Kulak dosen’t check a lot of box either
No, that's Mete. Kulak is a NHL D man. Big boy, skates well, plays physical. He's starting to figure out the consistency part and it shows. He's way better than just some 7th guy. Not many teams have depth like that.
A NHL D has to play D first and not be a liability physically in their own end. Kulak checks that box off, Mete does not. Look at what the Habs did to Hughes over 3 games. Play with the puck and play without the puck!
Kulak is not just some 7th guy. That's ridiculous based on the flashes of top 4D and solid bottom pairing he has showing us right now.
Kulak is all but physical. He loose a lot of is puck battle along the board and in front of the net. He dosen’t hit either. Even Ouellet was more physical then him (and that’s probably why it’s him they used in PK in playoff). I agree for his skating though. And flash on the top 4 a lot of player can have good flash for a short period of time especially if your pair him with a guy like Petry.
He’s ok as #6, I don’t have any problem with that except his cap hit but he’s not Edmundson/Chiarot. They are physical and they play on PK. They have a role on a team and that’s not the case with Kulak and that’s what I like the less with him.We don't agree. Kulak is not just some 7th guy. That's massive deflation on his ability. I think you are overlooking how NHL teams loves those big guys that skate well.
Kulak is probably going to be like a Edmundson or Chiarot... that's his track if he continues to be reliable with his assignments. He has not even played a full season yet. You just wait till he get more and more comfortable.
He’s ok as #6, I don’t have any problem with that except his cap hit but he’s not Edmundson/Chiarot. They are physical and they play on PK. They have a role on a team and that’s not the case with Kulak and that’s what I like the less with him.
A more stable role ? He’s playing 13 minutes by game and he start 70 % of those minutes in the offensive zone. I agree that it’s the best role for him but the reality it’s that we can put a lot of player in that role and they will look good.Wait a little longer with Kulak. We didn't see a full season last year cause he was not consistent and he's off to a good start in a more stable role this season. There is a shit load of guys that figure things out in the age 25-30 range.
We need our D to stay big and mobile and Kulak is part of that. Mete is useless if he is not putting up 30+ pts and moving the puck for us. And Mete/Romanov is not a good fit IMO.
A more stable role ? He’s playing 13 minutes by game and he start 70 % of those minutes in the offensive zone. I agree that it’s the best role for him but the reality it’s that we can put a lot of player in that role and they will look good.