Pre-Game Talk: Game 1 Preseason Habs vs. Philadelphia (Monday Sept. 23 – 7PM ET) RDS

[Jaynki]

My lineup

Slaf-Suzuki-Caufield
Laine- Dach- Armia
Newhook- Kappy-Roy
Gally- Evans- Anderson
Pezetta
Trade Dvorak

3 left shot and 9 right shot. Might be a problem.

 

[Vachon23]

Mailloux, Kappanen , Roy
It's no joke yeah

Timmins finally got some good draft just before getting fired

 

[Catanddogguitarrr]

Dvorak and Evans emotive feeling right now :

 

[Pompeius Magnus]

Dach and Laine already starting to look comfortable makes me real hopeful for what comes next. These two could be really big for us.

 

[the]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1838398336153354532

As much as I wish we could get rid of Donkey and Gallagher, I think Dvorak or Evans are getting dealt soon. I've said this for awhile.

Don't expect something big in return but that's beside the point. We simply need to free up some spots.

 

[morhilane]

Mailloux, Kappanen , Roy
It's no joke yeah

First draft with Lapointe in charge of scouts (replacing Churla).

 

[Boss Man Hughes]

2 expansion drafts in 4 or 5 years could really f*** this team out of really good players.

They would lose a player each time and Hughes may be able to use draft pick(s) to get a team to claim a good player but one that is surplus to requirements.

 

[Shred]

Kapanen is a top 6 fwd prospect, f*** the third line, Olli was right

He wasn't jokinen about that one

 

[Sagikev]

First draft with Lapointe in charge of scouts (replacing Churla).

No kidding, I think Lapointe has been huge for us. He sounds and looks like a bro (like Bergevin) but so far so good for sure

 

[Rapala]

I really like how we look more active on the forecheck

I liked how we didn't get hemmed in even more.

Dach and Laine already starting to look comfortable makes me real hopeful for what comes next. These two could be really big for us.

Got up and down the rink with no groin or hamstring issues it's a good evening of work.

 

[Kosseca]

Dvorak and Evans emotive feeling right now :

View attachment 909117

Dvorak should feel like that, Evans is safer I think. He can play 4C and Beck will need a season in the AHL. you also dont want to go with 2 rookie C at the same time...

 

[Vachon23]

Best news of the night…

The chicken wings count in pre season !!!!

https://x.com/i/web/status/1838403496523051461

 

[red devil]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1838399008374473052

 

[Vachon23]

No kidding, I think Lapointe has been huge for us. He sounds and looks like a bro (like Bergevin) but so far so good for sure

Bergevin was actually a good scout

Just not a good manager

 

[morhilane]

Hutson played the most, with 20:42 minutes. I expect Matheson TOI to drop...which might be good.

 

[Catanddogguitarrr]

Dvorak should feel like that, Evans is safer I think. He can play 4C and Beck will need a season in the AHL. you also dont want to go with 2 rookie C at the same time...

Evans moves his feet more. I like him more that Dvo to be honest. Evans brings more to the table but Habs can improve and have better, next year with Beck. Let's see next game with Beck in the line-up and watch that game.

 

[expy]

Glad I was able to get Desjardins tickets for this game. Probably the best game of this season. :p

Kapanen was legit, Hutson was magic.

 

[Boss Man Hughes]

Malatesta for Dvorak? Tell me, what did Columbus do to you? Did Waddell eat your dinner or what?
James is a great player, tough, aggressive, fast. Such a dynamo.

He's nothing special but still too much for Dvorak.

Bergevin was actually a good scout

Just not a good manager

He wasn't good at evaluating players when he was Habs GM.

 

[FLHabs]

They would lose a player each time and Hughes may be able to use draft pick(s) to get a team to claim a good player but one that is surplus to requirements.

Yea I hope Hughes will be able to work some magic because 7-3-1 or 4-4-1 means either 2 of the young Ds will be gone at some point or they lose one D and one of the top 6 stud

 

[the]

Timmins finally got some good draft just before getting fired

It's no coincidence that our more recent picks are doing well the moment Bergevin left.

 

[Rapala]

Silky Kapanen 57% on the dot our boy Dvo 43%
Just sayin' given people were pumping Dvo's tires for his prowess on face offs.

 

[Andrei79]

What a cool game. Can't say anything too bad about anyone.

Xhekaj was really physical. God I'm glad he's back and healthy.

Dach's skating looked better than I expected. Was way more physical than I expected too. Some nice passes.

Newhook looks like he's continuing his upwards trend. A few of us commented how he improved his hockey IQ down the stretch and it seems he's still adding parts to his game.

Laine is super skilled. Damn.

Hutson had magical moments. His one big issue is getting beat by speed. He'll need to adapt his gap to his weaker straight away speed. He's relentless though. I really want him on PP1.

Mailloux needs to polish his game. It's still rough around the edges. He could work on his agility as well.

Roy is smart and has great puck skills, but man his skating is not where it should for a high end player. It speaks volume to his hockey IQ that he's able to produce without many of the skating skills most top 6 players have.

Looking forward to seeing how Tuch develops this year. Skating, strength, positioning are there. He'll be a good fit with all the big players on the team if he makes it.

Barron looked better than his usual tire fire self. A few bonehead mistakes but not as bad as previous years. Didn't shy from physical play, which is very important for him.

Anderson wasn't bad at all tbh.

Heineman has NHL upside but it's tough to know how high. The physical tools are there. He's a north south player with shot and physicality which I like quite a lot. He's not very smart offensively though which I think will limit him.

My coup de coeur was by far Kapanen though. Holy shit is he smart. High IQ and absolutely relentless. Beautiful punch turns as well used to great effect to create space for himself and others. If he plays more like these he needs to stay.

Easily the best training camp we've in like a decade up to now. Man I still remember the absolute disaster that was the 2021-2022 training camp. Were more at a point where management will have to make really tough decisions at every position.

 

[FLHabs]

No kidding, I think Lapointe has been huge for us. He sounds and looks like a bro (like Bergevin) but so far so good for sure

I think it shows how smart HuGo are. They could've just cleaned house and canned the complete old regime, but they know how to see who can bring what to the team. They have that real CEO mentality

 

[Saundies]

Laine looked good for missing all that time.

Game 1 (of the preseason, no less) but hopefully the plan on PP1 isn't to try to force that one-timer all year ala the Weber years. He got some great chances, but we need to work to free him up at least before looking to him.

Hutson/Kapanen/Heineman/Primeau all looked good to me as well. Plenty of others, too, but they stood out.

 

[Rapala]

Laine looked good for missing all that time.

Game 1 (of the preseason, no less) but hopefully the plan on PP1 isn't to try to force that one-timer all year ala the Weber years. He got some great chances, but we need to work to free him up at least before looking to him.

Hutson/Kapanen/Heineman/Primeau all looked good to me as well. Plenty of others, too, but they stood out.

He was pumped for it as was Dach.
They may struggle a bit the next time out it happens quite often to players coming back after long lay offs.
The "sophmore" outing is always tougher.