GDT: Montreal Canadiens vs Toronto Maple Leafs (7PM EST)

[Tyson]

So far, no rookie looks like they deserve a spot except Heineman.

Heineman looks very good. The SHL does a good job of developing players

 

[malcb33]

I get that this is pre-season, but that was a boring game to watch. The Habs looked unorganized and lacked intensity. No one really looked great IMO.

 

[dinodebino]

Between being played on his off-wing and being anchored with garbage linemates, they've done nothing to put Slafkovsky in a position to succeed so far.

Simple : they want to have different looks. They are not looking for production. They are looking at how he manages it against real pros. Tonight was just a filler role though. No planning in this one. Drouin got sick last minute, they put the kid’s jersey up in the locker room.

I suspect that if a vet can’t start the season on the wing, he’ll get a look. If everybody is healthy, he’s off to Laval.

 

[Nedved]

The funniest saddest about the meltdown is that Wright isn't NHL ready either. Neither are Cooley or Nemec. Nobody was in this draft. People are super high on Beck, but he's being sheltered a bit.

Slaf on the other hand. Not sheltered. Tonight he had 0 offensive zone starts. It's not a rounded %, it's 0 shifts or faceoffs started in the offensive zone The other 4 with the same: Armia, Pitlick, Shue and Wideman. MSL is using Slaf as if he was an NHLer tasked with sheltering the none-AHLer on the roster.

time will tell, but I think wright has looked like an nhl player and he played with eberle and Schwartz. He created space all night and seemed awkward at moments, but you could see him adapting as the game went on. feels like they want to give him a chance…

 

[Habs]

I get that this is pre-season, but that was a boring game to watch. The Habs looked unorganized and lacked intensity. No one really looked great IMO.

that was an awful collection of hockey players out there today, no doubt. I wonder why they even dressed a team that bad. Its sad that the Toronto team , who are also awful, made us look even worse

 

[LV426]

Michkov will be drafted into the Russian military and TSN will be publishing articles about how he's the clear cut 1st overall

.....and we'll jump all over it like a fat kid on a candy bar.

 

[WinterLion]

The guys that looked most ready to me were:

Harris
Ylonen
Heineman

 

[Rapala]

Looking at our lineup pre-game I think I got exactly what I expected. Surely it's time for some cuts and to start putting some coherent pieces together.

 

[the]

Good for us that the next game is tomorrow or else it would be a long few days.

 

[Sam de Mtl]

Boring game, but not a whole lot of NHL players. Leafs are in a different position where they try a bunch of 4th liners/tweeners in the hope of finding someone to make them deeper. While our guys were AHL fodder or really young prospects with a distinct lack of experience.

The PP was horrendous, but then again no player on it should be on an NHL powerplay normally.

Heineman and Mesar looked best in this sad bunch of fellas at forward. Slaf is a little bit behind the play. He will need seasoning. I think the AHL would be a good place for him to be.

On defense Xhekaj looked pretty good, although he seemed to be a little bit overwhelmed by the speed at times. I expected him to have more adjustment to make though, if he doesn't make the NHL, he is still much closer than i expected, which is nice to see. He could look dominant in the AHL where the forwards are slower.

Harris is looking like the most NHL ready player at defense. Poised, good passer, good feet. I think he starts in the NHL. Barron shows some skills but is underwhelming at times. NHL or AHL? I don't know, but i feel he will need to improve on the job and can do that the same way in the NHL as the AHL as his issues isn't with speed or size, but with decisionmaking, which won't improve more in the A anyway.

 

[HabsCowboysOwn]

I hope they send our best prospects down to Laval this year and keep all the mediocre vets and scrubs on the main team. I'd rather see them thrive in a winning environment than be a part of that mess we'll have going on here cause it'll be ugly. Easily on par with last year.

 

[Rapala]

Good for us that the next game is tomorrow or else it would be a long few days.

No one will bash the Kid in that one.

 

[HostileCapSpace]

Looking at our lineup pre-game I think I got exactly what I expected. Surely it's time for some cuts and to start putting some coherent pieces together.

Nah, I want to see more of Bourque-Schnarr-Condotta!

 

[rahad]

Another long season for the habs.

 

[dinodebino]

I know it’s just 2 games but in those 2 games, he looked slow, lost, made a lot of turnover, couldn’t maintain his position in the defensive zone and did not create anything offensively. Oh… and when he did shoot, his shot didn’t even look dangerous.

Ok it’s only 2 games, but he looked like an average player at best.

Oh… and at no time did we see an once of anticipation for his part.

It’s just two game ok. But was it asking too much of a 1st overall to at least look good ?

At 18? Yep. Go look at recent 1st overalls who entered the league at 18. Same stuff if you’re not generational.

You guys are expecting too much from any 18 year old rookie.

Another long season for the habs.

And it’s fine.

 

[1909]

People are forgetting that some vets are still injured - Edmundson, Suzuki, Anderson - a d that it is just the beginning of the pre season schedule. Six games still to go over two full weeks. Lots of time to get ready for the season.

And I thought 90% of the folks on this board said that they were ready for a tanking season.... Bullshit as usual. Be patient for God sake.

 

[Tyson]

At 18? Yep. Go look at recent 1st overalls who entered the league at 18. Same stuff if you’re not generational.

You guys are expecting too much from any 18 year old rookie.


And it’s fine.

Well said.
We are too hard on our prospects.

 

[dinodebino]

time will tell, but I think wright has looked like an nhl player and he played with eberle and Schwartz. He created space all night and seemed awkward at moments, but you could see him adapting as the game went on. feels like they want to give him a chance…

They don’t have a lot of options either at centre. I see Wright making it for sure.

On the wings here, the payroll is up the wazoo with guaranteed contracts, contracts no one wants. We will suffer like this for another season at least.

 

[HabsCowboysOwn]

Which homeless shelter did François Gagnon get his suit from? Holy crap!

That's Maison du Père's 2022 fall collection for sure

 

[dinodebino]

People are forgetting that some vets are still injured - Edmundson, Suzuki, Anderson - a d that it is just the beginning of the pre season schedule. Six games still to go over two full weeks. Lots of time to get ready for the season.

And I thought 90% of the folks on this board said that they were ready for a tanking season.... Bullshit as usual. Be patient for God sake.

Bien dit.

 

[HostileCapSpace]

Just realized the Jets were in Montreal tomorrow. That dreadful line-up tonight makes more sense...

 

[dinodebino]

Good for us that the next game is tomorrow or else it would be a long few days.

I hope they have more vets tomorrow. Oh wait! Belzile needs to get his obligatory five games before Laval’s camp! I forgot.

Well at least I got to make my phone connect with my Samsung TV for the game (girlfriend had The Control tonight). Y faut s’qui faut!

 

[HostileCapSpace]

People are forgetting that some vets are still injured - Edmundson, Suzuki, Anderson - a d that it is just the beginning of the pre season schedule. Six games still to go over two full weeks. Lots of time to get ready for the season.

And I thought 90% of the folks on this board said that they were ready for a tanking season.... Bullshit as usual. Be patient for God sake.

I'm ready for the tank but still wish our D prospects were ahead where they are now. Not impressed. Really missing Romanov... but that's me.

But as far as the tank is concerned, bring it on. And send down whoever is not ready, no worries.

 

[1909]

Depth at centre is very shallow. Habs have only 4 NHL caliber centermen : Suzuki, Dach,Dvorak and Evans. Pitlick can play sometimes and Monahan is a question mark. Not much help in Laval. The rest are too young - Beck, Mesar, Kidney or Mysak.

 

[Rapala]

And it’s fine.