I understand the want/need for depth especially given last year but this is too many guys that need to be playing decent minutes. Need some moves here KH
EDIT:
Also didnt get to watch. Who looked good/bad?
I watched the game and here are my quick assessments of only the players who I believe the team and the fans have realistic hopes of one day being part of the Canadiens in the future:
Norlinder: For an experienced player who showed so much promise during the main team's exhibition games and should have been a dominant player against this level of competition, Norlinder was largely ineffective and unnoticeable. His play can best be described as disinterested.
Trudeau: As some here have posted, it was just an all round bad game ( really bad) for this young defenceman. He gave away the puck on multiple occasions which directly led to goals against, made poor reads all over the ice and allowed opposing forwards to beat him to the net also resulting in goals against. As the game progressed, Trudeau tried too hard to make up for his errors which only compounded his ineffectiveness. It was only one game and nothing too much should be read into his unexpectedly poor performance. This kid has enough talent to play in the NHL.
Struble: One of a number of players last night who surprised me with their overall effectiveness. Struble was one of the team's most efficient/steady defencemen. He displayed strong skating, strength on his skates and good physicality. He killed penalties. He sealed off opposing players effectively and generally made the right read in all three zones of the ice. Along with
Bisson, Struble was Laval's best defenceman.
Mailloux: For his first professional game, I thought Mailloux played as well as I had expected. As I have often posted, because of his lost development time, it will take Mailloux time to adjust to the pace of the game at the AHL level. Just as he had jitters at the start of the development camp, it will take him time to become comfortable at this level. Nevertheless, Mailloux made few errors defensively, made the right reads, closed the gap aggressively and displayed a level of conditioning that was much improved over what I witnessed during his final year at London. Offensively, Mailloux was not engaged as much as I had hoped for and didn't carry the puck as often as this team needed. He did make several high end offensive plays including setting up
Kidney for a great scoring opportunity which Kidney rang off the post. Mailloux was not on the first power play unit, which I found surprising, as both Norlinder and Farrell were largely ineffective manning the points. I suspect that as Mailloux gains confidence, his offensive skills will emerge. Finally, If I was managing the team, I would tell this kid to stop trying to be the team's policeman on the ice. It's nice that he stood up for his teammates and even engaged in a fight, but that is not his game. The team was two goals behind and needed his offensive prowess on the ice and not in the penalty box. This kid needs to be spoken to. Before he gets hurt again.
Roy: This kid displayed great hands and scored the nicest goal of the game. Roy's offensive vision and skills are elite and his anticipation makes up for his obvious lack of end to end speed. The question remains whether those skills will translate well at the next level where the game is played at a much faster pace .
Kidney: As I earlier posted, this young player, who was playing his first professional game, was surprisingly effective if not impressive. Kidney showed much better speed and puck carrying abilities than what I expected. He showed anticipation, skill and a level of quickness which allowed him to create more offensive chances than most, more experienced Laval forwards. I had to check several times as to who the #21 was playing for Laval. If his progression and development continues, this kid makes the NHL. Easily.
Heineman: Similarly to Norlinder, after a series of strong exhibition games with the senior team, I was expecting Heineman to have a much more positive presence against this level of competition. He didn't. Similarly to
Farrell, Heineman was largely ineffective and unnoticeable. Both were outplayed by players on the Rockets last night who are projected to be career AHLers (or at best, fringe NHLers). It was, however only one game, so any final conclusions about these two players, or, for that matter, any other players referenced in this post, should be held in abeyance.
Just my thoughts.
