Laval Rocket: Laval Rocket at Charlotte Checkers 7:00 pm RDS/Flo

[The Real Timo]

I think Xhekaj is the only forward in Laval that I wouldnt trade. Inthink he could become a bottom 6 forward.
But there is no future top 6 forward for the NHL in Laval right now.

Been saying this for a while... Hughes has built nothing in terms of forward pipeline. His only option is to trade and hope that he gets off sitting on his hands this summer and actually does something that will inject some scoring beyond the first line into the lineup. And some muscle, FFS!

 

[Catanddogguitarrr]

I think the team played much better yesterday. They were able to put on a lot of pressure, and we should be happy that the pressure was applied by guys like Roy and Kappanen, the team relief on its youth. Fowler was a much more effective goalie than Primeau at least for this series, and Reinbacher was an effective d. Engstrom skates like the wind. It helps him gain the zone, he'd benefit from a better shot. Beck showed a lot of tenacity, he wanted to win.

I didn't notice Xhekaj much. Maybe he was playing injured or less confident against a stronger team.

The forwards on this team were fully healthy as far as I know, but the D were missing several. That last goal against might not have happened if Trudeau rather than Hayes were playing.

Things are going ok at Laval. I liked their playoffs run. And their regular games too. The young and promising prospects did well, this is all that matters.

 

[rien]

And Aebischer. The goalie we had for Theodore in the trade. He wasn't bad but wasn't that good too. Theodore was better.

Pourquoi Cristobal Huet s'habille aux Habits St-Eustache? Parce qu'il n'aime pas les habits chers (Aebischer).

 

[Kojo]

What happened there? Who is to blame for this debacle? Primeau did well until he didn't, the head coach looks like he has no clue. Roy didn't perform as well as expected. They need to be better.

They all looked bad.

 

[Habs]

After watching this fun playoff run, they should trade reinbacher or maillox and move up In this draft for a C. Tank one more year, next year's draft is the one we need to be top 5 in. The Pens are so good at this, they will get McKenna

I don't see Reinbacher moving the needle for us either way, if he can be packaged up do it.

 

[Tyson]

Been saying this for a while... Hughes has built nothing in terms of forward pipeline. His only option is to trade and hope that he gets off sitting on his hands this summer and actually does something that will inject some scoring beyond the first line into the lineup. And some muscle, FFS!

Let's see..in his 3 years he has added two top 6 players in Slaf and Demidov.
Go back and look at the pipeline Bergevin built in 10 years before criticizing Hughes. There is also a promising center in Michael Hage who is developing into a great prospect.

 

[Rapala]

I think Xhekaj is the only forward in Laval that I wouldnt trade. Inthink he could become a bottom 6 forward.
But there is no future top 6 forward for the NHL in Laval right now.

I though Florian Xhekaj was trash against Charlotte a total non entity...
Owen Beck was much better IMO.

 

[Captain Mountain]

Let's see..in his 3 years he has added two top 6 players in Slaf and Demidov.
Go back and look at the pipeline Bergevin built in 10 years before criticizing Hughes. There is also a promising center in Michael Hage who is developing into a great prospect.

And frankly, most AHL teams don't have forwards like Roy or Beck.

Most top-6 forwards don't spend much or any time in the AHL.

 

[Tyson]

And frankly, most AHL teams don't have forwards like Roy or Beck.

Most top-6 forwards don't spend much or any time in the AHL.

You are % spot on. You do see young D and young Goalies spend more time in the AHL but forwards generally move up faster.

 

[Tyson]

I though Florian Xhekaj was trash against Charlotte a total non entity...
Owen Beck was much better IMO.

Xhekaj played on the PK, took important face offs. Let's remember that he was used on the 4th line.
This is not to take anything away from Beck but to call the youngest forward on Laval trash against Charlotte I vehemently disagree.

 

[Rapala]

Xhekaj played on the PK, took important face offs. Let's remember that he was used on the 4th line.
This is not to take anything away from Beck but to call the youngest forward on Laval trash against Charlotte I vehemently disagree.

He was a unable to play at the same level he gave us all season long. As far as his PK goes it's not like Charlotte were successful against anyone and yes he took draws but that's all I will say about that.
Vehement or not he was disappointing against Charlotte and it's not like he played anything other than the 4th line all season long. I'm not down on him long term I'm just saying he could have been better...
much better.

 

[Tyson]

He was a unable to play at the same level he gave us all season long. As far as his PK goes it's not like Charlotte were successful against anyone and yes he took draws but that's all I will say about that.
Vehement or not he was disappointing against Charlotte and it's not like he played anything other than the 4th line all season long. I'm not down on him long term I'm just saying he could have been better...
much better.

What player wasn't disappointing in this series?
I also think he was told not be draw the ire of the refs (neutered a bit). He is learning.

 

[dauv]

Draft a goalie in every draft is the best strategy.

I would even go further and say every draft you need to draft at least c, rd and G

 

[Nicko999]

Let's see..in his 3 years he has added two top 6 players in Slaf and Demidov.
Go back and look at the pipeline Bergevin built in 10 years before criticizing Hughes. There is also a promising center in Michael Hage who is developing into a great prospect.

Slaf and Demidov were top 5 pick. And even then, Slaf is a bit underwhelming for a 1st overall (i understand the bad draft played a role but it is what it is).
Hutson, the scouts did hit a home run so kudos to them.

And frankly, most AHL teams don't have forwards like Roy or Beck.

Most top-6 forwards don't spend much or any time in the AHL.

None of the youngsters or veterans were close to being a PPG in the AHL. The depth is there but there is a serious lack of talent up front. There is no forward of Kulich's caliber.

 

[dauv]

Cant blame Fowler for that last goal, Hayes with the failed clearing attempt caused that goal, Fowler went to play the puck at the same time Hayes dived so no chance at all.

A successful season overall for the farm, they just missed fuel at the end with all the injuries.

On the bright side:

-Dobes graduated

-Reinbacher came back after a knee surgury and played a signifiant amount of games for a couple of weeks, will he be ready next camp? We will see, but he isnt far from NHL ready.

-If Engstrom can clear some questionnable mistakes at times, we got a good NHLer there IMO, the skating/puckhandling combo is top 4 material. He had good playoffs from the games I watched and cut on those mistakes, so its promising.

-Mailloux got injured at some point, but had a good end of season, we will see what Hughes will do this summer, but I think hes got NHL potential.

Up front its thinner, but still some interesting players... I would say that Kapanen needs to bulk up if he wants a spot in the line-up next year, more finishing would be nice too.

Beck isnt ready, but I like his speed, motor, compete, needs to get stronger as well.

Xhekaj had a nice progression through the year, Im not expecting him to be ready next fall, but definitely someone who will crack the line-up at some point on the bottom 6.

Roy had some up and down, still needs to develop better consistency.

Davidson needs to add an extra gear to his skating.

Alright thats about it, dont know what Hughes will do this summer, but I presume we will see alot of action, stay tunned!

thank you for the detailed report

 

[Tyson]

Slaf and Demidov were top 5 pick. And even then, Slaf is a bit underwhelming for a 1st overall (i understand the bad draft played a role but it is what it is).
Hutson, the scouts did hit a home run so kudos to them.


None of the youngsters or veterans were close to being a PPG in the AHL. The depth is there but there is a serious lack of talent up front. There is no forward of Kulich's caliber.

Two consecutive 50 point seasons and he is only 21. He isn't generational but I can see him developing into a 70-80 point player. Underwhelming? You can say that but no way is he not going to blossom into a great winger.

 

[schwang26]

For sure. Carey Price he is not.

I still think hes hella overrated by people around here.

In comparison, Dobes looked like crap early in his ahl career plus he had the benefit of a full season before play playoff games. Let’s wait and see what a full season brings.

 

[Captain Mountain]

None of the youngsters or veterans were close to being a PPG in the AHL. The depth is there but there is a serious lack of talent up front. There is no forward of Kulich's caliber.

There are years when there isn't a prospect of Kulich's caliber in the AHL. That's kind of my point, the top-6 forwards drafted by management haven't spent any time in the AHL, that's were they're hoping to fill out the bottom 6 from.

Last year was the first year Montreal started to add serious depth prospects to the AHL and this was the first year where they actually had depth in that area and didn't call absolutely everyone up. Laval was also incredibly deep, which is why production was depressed. There's still more guys with NHL upside on Laval than most AHL teams, just probably not top-6 forwards. And even then you can see a guy like Roy follow a Verhaege-like path to the NHL. Its just unlikely.

Having depth allows you to be patient.

 

[schwang26]

I was super disappointed of course, but when you lose that many defencemen, Dauphin, and Simmoneau, it’s pretty hard for a team to be competitive. Plus, Primeau (who should have carried them) ended up failing. They had a fantastic season and some draftees had great production.

 

[Treb]

Been saying this for a while... Hughes has built nothing in terms of forward pipeline. His only option is to trade and hope that he gets off sitting on his hands this summer and actually does something that will inject some scoring beyond the first line into the lineup. And some muscle, FFS!

How many forwards drafted 2022 and onwards would you have expected to have graduated to the NHL?

 

[LaP]

I think Xhekaj is the only forward in Laval that I wouldnt trade. Inthink he could become a bottom 6 forward.
But there is no future top 6 forward for the NHL in Laval right now.

Beck first AHL season is very similar to Plekanec 1st AHL season.

It was Plekanec D+2 and it is Beck+3 but Plekanec had much more pro experience than Beck at this point and the age difference was not huge just 8 months age difference.

Plekanec 1st AHL season

Season : 77GP 19G 46P +5
Playoffs : 13GP 3G 5P

Beck 1st AHL season

Season : 64GP 15G 44P +10
Playoffs : 13GP 2G 6P

I think the worst thing we could do atm is overreact. If there's a possibility to acquire a strong top 6 in the middle of his 20ies for picks and young players fine but i would not trade young players for guys close to 30 or over 30.

Just last year most Jays fans were like there's nobody in AAA they all sucks and this season they finally gave Barger a chance and he is looking pretty damn good so far.

 

[LaP]

How many forwards drafted 2022 and onwards would you have expected to have graduated to the NHL?

None unless they were top 10 picks. Also blaming a GM for not finalizing a rebuild in 3 years is pretty ridiculous. At most an outstanding draft should yield 3 nhl players. A good draft two. So 3 drafts means maximum 9 NHL players or more likely 6. People act like KH should have found an entire team ... People act like the rebuild is over trade all picks and sign every players over 30. We'll have 7 top 100 picks this draft. No top 10 but still good drafting power. People overreact like usual.

 

[rickthegoon]

After watching this fun playoff run, they should trade reinbacher or maillox and move up In this draft for a C. Tank one more year, next year's draft is the one we need to be top 5 in. The Pens are so good at this, they will get McKenna

I don't see Reinbacher moving the needle for us either way, if he can be packaged up do it.

Seriously????? With all this bunch of kids accomplished last year you are proposing for a tank year ?

 

[ChesterNimitz]

He was a unable to play at the same level he gave us all season long. As far as his PK goes it's not like Charlotte were successful against anyone and yes he took draws but that's all I will say about that.
Vehement or not he was disappointing against Charlotte and it's not like he played anything other than the 4th line all season long. I'm not down on him long term I'm just saying he could have been better...
much better.

Florian’s lack of quickness was exposed against the speed/ pace that Charlottes presented. As I have noted, unless Florian gets quicker, he will struggle with the even faster pace he will encounter at the NHL level.

But let’s remember we are dealing with a 20 year old who’s playing his first year of professional hockey.

This kid still has considerable promise.

 

[LaP]

Let's see..in his 3 years he has added two top 6 players in Slaf and Demidov.
Go back and look at the pipeline Bergevin built in 10 years before criticizing Hughes. There is also a promising center in Michael Hage who is developing into a great prospect.

Jury is still out on many other guys. It's not rare at all to see guys figuring it out at 22-23 and even 24. All those guys in the AHL were 21 and younger. Only guys who were 22 the whole season were Davidson and Tuch. They were all pretty green.

There's no elite talent there but we already knew that elite talent is usually drafted top 10 and don't play in the AHL. I mean at 21 years old Mike Matheson did 20 points in 54 AHL games +14 and was eliminated in the 1st round.. At 22 Petry did 24 points in 41 AHL games -6 and was eliminated in the 1st round. At 21 Kris Draper did 35 points in AHL 67 games -13 and was eliminated in the 1st round.

The whole the all sucks none of them will play in the NHL is just stupid overraction. We got two middle of the 1s round picks this draft unless KH is stupid like many fans and trade the picks for an over the hill vet or a guy who doesn't move the needle that gives us two chances at a Caufield / Guhle type of player.