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Prospect Info: Riley Kidney, LHC, Gatineau Olympiques (QMJHL ), 63rd overall

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Habs Halifax said:
He's a star in terms of Q quality. Can't ask for better development but three areas he need to improve at are skating, shot power, and added muscle if he wants to make an impact in the pro game. He has the hockey IQ and vision.

Imagine if we drafted him 5 years ago? Our Pool is deep today but it wasn't 5 years ago and he would be pumped up even more back when. Best to stay humble with projections and let the kid prove us wrong.

B+ prospect on the cusp of grade A IMO.
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Well said, completely agree with you.

I don’t see him being an NHLer unless he gets alot stronger and improves his skating. If he can fix those deficiencies, and depending how much he corrects them, who knows.. As you mentioned the IQ and vision are there.
 
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JGRB said:
Well said, completely agree with you.

I don’t see him being an NHLer unless he gets alot stronger and improves his skating. If he can fix those deficiencies, and depending how much he corrects them, who knows.. As you mentioned the IQ and vision are there.
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It's tough evaluation for us to make but it's reality. We see so many guys disappoint so it's best to stay humble with projections. Next hurdle is when he turns pro and if he looks good in the AHL out of the gate, we have sometime of value here!

The pro game is a major jump for a guy like Kidney. Points in the Q is nice to see but someone like Roy looked better even in development camp. Got to have muscle and strengths in other areas and I'm sure Kidney is smart enough to know that.
 
Habs Halifax said:
It's tough evaluation for us to make but it's reality. We see so many guys disappoint so it's best to stay humble with projections. Next hurdle is when he turns pro and if he looks good in the AHL out of the gate, we have sometime of value here!

The pro game is a major jump for a guy like Kidney. Points in the Q is nice to see but someone like Roy looked better even in development camp. Got to have muscle and strengths in other areas and I'm sure Kidney is smart enough to know that.
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Don't let him get lost. If he needs 30 games in Trois-Rivieres to work on improving his north-south inside game, then do it.
 
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BaseballCoach said:
Don't let him get lost. If he needs 30 games in Trois-Rivieres to work on improving his north-south inside game, then do it.
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Laval needs center depth. I think the need him but he might start out as the 3rd or 4th center. Hopefully they can surround him with good players who have size and can draw attention. Putting two smaller or soft wingers with him might not turn out well IMO.
 
The question is with players like kidney is how bad does he want to play in the NHL. How much is he willing to train and sacrifice. How hard is he willing to push to build himself. Because right now all I see is a kid who can destroy the Q but doesn’t have the personality to play with the big boys ( barring some type of physical miracle )
 
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gillings said:
The question is with players like kidney is how bad does he want to play in the NHL. How much is he willing to train and sacrifice. How hard is he willing to push to build himself. Because right now all I see is a kid who can destroy the Q but doesn’t have the personality to play with the big boys ( barring some type of physical miracle )
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Pretty much agreed on my part. I highly doubt he sees extended time in the NHL. Of course, I hope he proves me wrong though. He seems like a good kid, I'm rooting for him, I'm doubtful he plays for the Canadiens.
 
gillings said:
The question is with players like kidney is how bad does he want to play in the NHL. How much is he willing to train and sacrifice. How hard is he willing to push to build himself. Because right now all I see is a kid who can destroy the Q but doesn’t have the personality to play with the big boys ( barring some type of physical miracle )
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I'm not sure how you can evaluate that at all. There is no way, for anyone outside of himself, his friends or his family, to know if he has the personnality for it or not.
 
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Sam de Mtl said:
I'm not sure how you can evaluate that at all. There is no way, for anyone outside of himself, his friends or his family, to know if he has the personnality for it or not.
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I’m sorry but some people have very good intuition and people reading skills. I have seen improvements in his body language since being drafted and signed that would indicate he is growing to the AHL level. But after that I’m just not sure he has the IT factor to play very physical games in the NHL. Crouton ( Drouin ) for example only got to the NHL based on skill, which he has much more of than kidney. Also, droning ( drouin ) shows classic signs of wanting to play hockey but not at all wanting to sustain a physical effort to play in the bigs. His body doesn’t like it, he hates the refs, he hates when someone hooks him and doesn’t get called. To make the NHL you have to have the mentality of f*** it I’ll do whatever it takes even get pounded into the birds night after night. Your body shows signs of your mentality and right now even though kidney is improving he will have to step up his Beast inside in order to translate his skills on a nightly basis.

Salfkovsky, for example, showed he was willing to do whatever it took to play in the NHL take hits etc etc, but his mind started to weaken over time from getting crushed, his confidence lowering. He started to show classic signs of this is to hard and I don’t know what to do next which is why in my opinion they shut him down for the season.
 
gillings said:
The question is with players like kidney is how bad does he want to play in the NHL. How much is he willing to train and sacrifice. How hard is he willing to push to build himself. Because right now all I see is a kid who can destroy the Q but doesn’t have the personality to play with the big boys ( barring some type of physical miracle )
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I thought that too before his interview in Lapresse, he seems like a very confident kid who sees himself as an NHL star.
 
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He's so intelligent. I dont think his skating or thin frame or His shot will have that much of an impact on if he can make it or not because thats all stuff that you can work on. He's the perfect example of a player thats they really needs to take it slow and let him develop. My main concern with him is not even that important, its just that I dont see any room for him on the Habs with our center Line and thats a really good problem to have
 
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K2MyEverest said:
He's so intelligent. I dont think his skating or thin frame or His shot will have that much of an impact on if he can make it or not because thats all stuff that you can work on. He's the perfect example of a player thats they really needs to take it slow and let him develop. My main concern with him is not even that important, its just that I dont see any room for him on the Habs with our center Line and thats a really good problem to have
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So...Wayne Gretzky 2.0 basically.
 
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K2MyEverest said:
He's so intelligent. I dont think his skating or thin frame or His shot will have that much of an impact on if he can make it or not because thats all stuff that you can work on. He's the perfect example of a player thats they really needs to take it slow and let him develop. My main concern with him is not even that important, its just that I dont see any room for him on the Habs with our center Line and thats a really good problem to have
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Things always change faster than we think in hockey.
 
Wateredgarden said:
I thought that too before his interview in Lapresse, he seems like a very confident kid who sees himself as an NHL star.
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Link?

Stompin Paul Peller said:
3 points per game average since the trade is crazy.

Things I am anxious to see this year
1. Farrell this spring
2. The Draft
3. Kidney in camp next September. Mailloux also.
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4. Whole medical team fired
 
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Gotta love the improvement curve.

If we don't use him in a trade this summer, will be exciting to see how he navigates the transition to pro hockey.
 
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Miller Time said:
Gotta love the improvement curve.

If we don't use him in a trade this summer, will be exciting to see how he navigates the transition to pro hockey.
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Watched a bit yesterday, I don't think he can learn anything in the Q he's ready for the next level.

He can easily protect the puck it's gonna be interesting to see if he can keep that up vs pros.
 
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WeThreeKings said:
I don't think they are trading one of their only pro ready prospect centers.
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Im certainly not advocating that they do... I'd prefer seeing him stay in the mix with us for the next 1-2 yrs before making him a trade chip

But, C is probably our deepest forward org depth chart from a U25 perspective

Suzuki - Dach - Evans
Beck - Kidney - Kapanen - Davidson - Mysak... (Plus Roy, Farrell & Mesar who all have spent time at C)


And Kidney's great progression since draft & massive productivity quite likely will make him coveted by other GMs in trade negotiations.

If PLD or any other NHL C is the trade target, I could see kidney being a part of the package going the other way.
 
Team_Spirit said:
Watched a bit yesterday, I don't think he can learn anything in the Q he's ready for the next level.

He can easily protect the puck it's gonna be interesting to see if he can keep that up vs pros.
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His game reminds me of RNH in juniors...

Similar frames, similar 200ft acuity, similar compete level.

RNH was already in year 2 of his NHL career, so can't compare output (he was also a #1 pick), but if Kidney does translate his game to a top 6 NHL level, I'd bet his NHL progression & play closely resembles the nuge
 
Miller Time said:
Im certainly not advocating that they do... I'd prefer seeing him stay in the mix with us for the next 1-2 yrs before making him a trade chip

But, C is probably our deepest forward org depth chart from a U25 perspective

Suzuki - Dach - Evans
Beck - Kidney - Kapanen - Davidson - Mysak... (Plus Roy, Farrell & Mesar who all have spent time at C)


And Kidney's great progression since draft & massive productivity quite likely will make him coveted by other GMs in trade negotiations.

If PLD or any other NHL C is the trade target, I could see kidney being a part of the package going the other way.
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PLD is NOT coming here via trade unless it's for SPARE parts and a late 1st.

There is NO reason to trade for him, We aren't ready to compete for atleast another 2 years.

we NEED to tank last, this and next year. Sorry.
 
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