GDT: Toronto @ Laval Rocket | Dec. 7th, 3 PM
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How about Roy and Mailloux ?I've watched most Laval games this year and Beck and Engstrom are the best players of that team. The're both amazing
Farrell is extremely disappointed. What really happens to him ? His stats in NCAA is quite good, no ?
How does Condotta not get an assist on that winning goal?
Edit never mind I just saw Condotta won the draw without ever touching the puck was that some Beck warlock shit going on or what?
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Roy is fine but his skating and commitment are not good enough to be a top 6 Player at the next level.
Mailloux is awful, he's been bad 90% of the season, he's a pp specialist imo.
Farrell can't skate and to weak on the puck.
Hey Pascal....Arseneau should never sit
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In my opinion, yes, I can't find an area where I would say he suck. If Phillip Danault can be, I don't see why Beck wouldn't.
I believe both Beck and Engstrom will be part on the Montreal opening lineup next year joining Hutson and Slafkovski.
Kapanen & Mailloux will be pushing as well...
Plus Reinbacher & of course Demidov
When's the last time we had 6 rookies with a legit shot at earning an opening night roster spot!
To put these six rookies, you have to get rid of 6, and no immediate returns in trades.
Armia and Dvorak should be gone. Maybe trade Savard. Hughes work another miracle and find a way to move Anderson and get something back.
Beck has been awesome in this game. Wow
This is by far the most talented Laval team yet (there were good moments a few years ago, but it was mostly on account of strong veteran performances).
It does feel like there are quite a few future NHLers on this team. Beck, Mailloux and Engstrom look like sure bets. Roy, Tuch and maybe Davidson look like they have strong odds to be in there somewhere as well.
This is by far the most talented Laval team yet (there were good moments a few years ago, but it was mostly on account of strong veteran performances).
It does feel like there are quite a few future NHLers on this team. Beck, Mailloux and Engstrom look like sure bets. Roy, Tuch and maybe Davidson look like they have strong odds to be in there somewhere as well.
This was the second of back to back games against a strong and heavy Toronto team which saw the Rockets play a more complete game. In the first game, which Toronto won in a shootout, I thought Laval was at times overpowered by a heavier Toronto side. For the second game against Toronto last night, Laval made one line up change, inserting Arseneau for Farrell. This move had a cascading effect of adding additional size to the Laval forwards and moving Kidney to Beck's line. Besides the immediate advantages of the size/weight that having Arseneau brought, it provided Beck with a superior winger, Kidney, who, in this writer's opinion, has surprisingly passed Farrell (and other's) on Laval 's depth chart.Beck has been awesome in this game. Wow
This is by far the most talented Laval team yet (there were good moments a few years ago, but it was mostly on account of strong veteran performances).
It does feel like there are quite a few future NHLers on this team. Beck, Mailloux and Engstrom look like sure bets. Roy, Tuch and maybe Davidson look like they have strong odds to be in there somewhere as well.
Here is my assessment of the play of our prospects in second of the back to back games against Toronto.
Statistics sometimes are deceiving, but last night, with two goals and an assist, the statistics clearly confirm the level and impact of Beck's play. The game was a showcase of Beck's skills and potential as he was noticeable almost every shift. The cornerstone of Beck's game is and will always be his skating prowess, with and without the puck. Beck has top end speed; quickness and agility. Last night he carried the puck with speed, he was first on the puck, he forechecked effectively, he cut off the ice to Toronto skaters and backchecked with purpose. Beck's skating created time and space for himself and his line mates as Toronto defenders had to respect his speed. It was interesting to note that the Toronto announcer commented about Beck's skating ability. You would have to be blind to not notice this kid's skating.
Beck also showed his play making ability and vision where he made multiple skillful passes which created scoring chances and Laval's first goal by Engstrom. That backhanded pass showed Beck's his high potential when he will be playing with superior skaters at the next level who will have skating and skill to take advantage of his play making ability.
I have often commented over the past two years about one of Beck's greatest attributes: his shot. Whether stationary or off the rush, I often saw Beck over power OHL goalies. Now, he's doing it to AHL goalies. Soon it will be NHL goalies.
Beck continued to show his physicality last night, being strong along the boards and throwing some heavy open ice checks. This kid brings an element of sandpaper along with his offensive skills.
Finally, Beck was a bit more successful in the faceoff circle, winning more faceoffs than he lost. But it's still not a strength.
Davidson had another quiet game and again, despite playing with Beck, didn't create much offensive push. He remained an effective forechecker, provided his line with some physicality, simplified his game in the defensive zone and made a few nice offensive plays, including what should have been a tap-in for Beck. But he wasn't able to create the time and space that would have allowed him to use his excellent shot. That inability was reflected in Laval not using Davidson much on their power play. For Davidson to have success at the next level, he needs to get quicker.
Kidney's steady development was reflected in the team's decision to elevate him to play with Beck, replacing Farrell. As I noted above, Kidney has now clearly passed Farrell as a prospect. going forward. Kidney is much stronger than Farrell, has equal skating ability and has greater offensive vision than Farrell. One of the main reasons Laval took Farrell of Beck's line was his inability to recognize and react quickly enough when Beck was bursting into open ice and fail to give him the puck. If Farrell can't react quickly enough at the AHL level, he has no chance to do it at the NHL level. Kidney processes these opportunities much quicker. Last night Kidney showed: good acceleration; surprisingly above average straight forward speed ( including once beating a Toronto defenceman wide off the rush) and creative play making ability and anticipation (vision) which created scoring chances for both himself and his line mates. Bottom line, Kidney was noticeable, for good reasons. If this kid's development continues unabatedly, I think he pushes for an NHL job before the end of next year. Hard to believe after how feeble he looked last year.
Florian Xhekaj had another less than stellar game. This dip in his performance was reflected in a lessening of his overall ice time and his removal from Laval's penalty killing unit. While Xhekaj had his moments flashing his good forward skating ability, physicality, strength on the puck and strong net presence, his lack of footspeed / quickness prevented him from being much of a factor in last night's game. He also remains largely hopeless in the face-off circle.
This was Tuch's second game back after his lengthy absence from injury and his rustiness still showed. While Tuch occasionally flashed his superior skating ability and his strong forecheck /physical play ( which led to Arseneau's game tying goal), he largely had a quiet game.
Roy had a fair game where he was much more engaged than in the previous Toronto game. Roy skated harder, made multiple creative passes that created good scoring chances, was creative on the power play and even backchecked with enthusiasm. Roy has NHL level hand skills but only AHL level skating. If he can gain that all too elusive additional step, he will play, and play well at the next level.
Mailloux had a stronger second game against Toronto as he was much steadier in the defensive zone using his size and reach to blunt attacking Toronto forwards trying to reach the Laval net. Mailloux was strong along the boards and in front of his net and was generally able to control opposing forwards. Mailloux was also active in the other two zones by successfully pinching off threatening offensive rushes in the neutral zone and keeping the puck in the offensive zone. Offensively, Mailloux made several excellent stretch passes that created offensive rushes, made a number of creative plays on the blueline, had a couple of good rushes and took several shots from the blueline and the top of the circle that got through blocking opposing players. Negatively, Mailloux did make a couple of bad reads in the defensive zone, made several questionably plays on the power play and failed to transport the puck effectively on the power play. Mailloux seems to be addicted to the drop pass: skating past his blueline with the puck, slowing down as he skates through the neutral zone and then coming to almost a full stop as he approaches the opposing blue line before dropping the puck to a trailing teammate. I don't know whether its a designed play or a lack of confidence, but it rarely works in the AHL and won't work at the NHL level.
Engstrom was clearly Laval's best defenceman last night and a strong argument could be made that he was Laval's best player. He showed great skating/mobility/speed, creative play making ability and offensive awareness. Offensively, he has now rightly replaced Mailloux on Laval's power play simply because he can do what Mailloux can't: transport the puck consistently into the offensive zone. Engstrom played in all game situations and was noticeable almost every shift. He could easily have had multiple goals and was an offensive threat all night long. He still takes too many high risk chances which I think is probably a reflection of his correct recognition that he is a notch above most AHL players he is facing. Engstrom still needs to get stronger. But once he does, this kid is playing in the NHL. He probably could play for Montreal right now and not be embarrassed.
It was another good game for Trudeau. He skated well, made a number of good rushes, played confidently in his defensive zone, was aggressive and largely successful in keeping the puck in at the opposing blue line, made a number of excellent passes in the offensive zone and continued to play a strong physical game. Trudeau is still prone to an occasional turn over, but those overt gaffs are becoming rarer and he is playing with greater discipline and avoiding those unnecessary penalties after the whistle that were hurting the team earlier in the season. Trudeau and Kidney are the two players who have grown the most this young season. Like Kidney, if Trudeau's development continues at its current pace, he will play in the NHL.
