GDT: Rookie tournament- Canadiens vs Bruins 3:30 EST (YouTube)

[417]

Roy isn't the fastest skater but his ability to process the game and ending up in the right spots on the ice, at the right time, is very good.

 

[NewDef]

Guys like Roy and Heineman will thrive with better players. They need some experience at the next level (ahl) but they have what it takes, the good habits and abilities are there to play that nhl tempo and grind.

Mailloux needs a lot of polishing but D always needs work on the D side. That combination of size, toughness and offense is hard to find and is worth taking the time. Buuuut, man he is so not ready... AHL will help with lots of reps... Habits, good D is good habits. Scan, gap & risk management, positionning... they're not physical abilities. I love coaching def because it's so effective to teach these habit, you see the results right away. Coaching offense is a lot tougher, somehow it has to be there to make it bloom.

Strubble was'nt bad at all for a first game in a while. Likely fringe nhl but one that will be usefull. Could be a physical 6d. Think Kovacevic?

Miller / Dobes did good enough to show promise as legit prospects.

Trudeau I really like. Seen him at the end of the season with the Rocket and looked reeaaally good. He has a shot at 5/6d in 2 years if he continues his progression. He's responsible, thinks the game well, has got a good tool chest and size.

Mesar, meh. The play is too fast (processing) for him already it seems.

Kidney needs to full up. He knows it and that's why he plays small. Great flash but it seems what he'd like to do is hard to apply in big boys high speed traffic.

Man, if Simoneau was 6'... fn bulldog with skills that guy.

It's good to see hockey again and see our prospects. It was not structured play and that's likely why some guys did not shine as well as they would with good structure. Still, i'll probably pick a few plays here and there for my Pee-Wee B boys. There were some excellent basic plays (that small pass from Roy on Mysak's goal) and some really good exemples on what not to do (Mailloux will be my star here )

 

[Tyson]

With Struble and Trudeau appearing to be strong LD prospects this will make things interesting sooner rather than later.

 

[NewDef]

That player that blooms but you don't need is really nice asset to have. Then one can get position of weakness players with position of strength assets. Been a while we've had anything worthy of trading to get valuable players!

The team will be good but not a real playoff team until the core matures together, a top goalie pair emerges and some strategic moves to complement the core are done.

With Armia/Evans/Dvorak/Gally/Sadly Monahan too gone, and likely Roy, Heineman, Beck in, they would be one top FA + a couple of good trades to fill in the ranks with quality young veterans away from real contenders (if the current core keeps progressing like we can expect).

Having the ability to make these trades is going to be key.

Thrilling times for the educated fans.

 

[Guess]

Not exactly Habs related, but seeing Bedard get a hat trick and Fantilli with 5 points dominating the rookie tournament really hurts.

 

[River Meadow]

Not exactly Habs related, but seeing Bedard get a hat trick and Fantilli with 5 points dominating the rookie tournament really hurts.

tbf, Reinbacher looks like he could easily become our 3rd or 4th dman in a few yrs who just logs a ton of minutes.. that is super useful, especially in the playoffs.

 

[Guess]

tbf, Reinbacher looks like he could easily become our 3rd or 4th dman in a few yrs who just logs a ton of minutes.. that is super useful, especially in the playoffs.

For sure, but we're sorely lacking in high end forwards. No likely elite no1 D, no 1G, no true 1C/1F so we still got a lot of work to do.. Sometimes it feels like the team is cursed to only draft well in bad years

 

[NewDef]

Yeah, how I wish they got 1st oa this year instead... or at least top 3... Reinbacher is gonna be a stud but... getting a Bedard/Fantilli type player changes everything.

 

[Habano]

Let's face it, we will regret picking Mesar over Kulich for a long time.

Agreed. When I as upset that they didn't take Kulich instead, I was told Mesar was the next Plekanec. Hopefully others see in him something that I'm completely missing.

 

[ReHabs]

Not exactly Habs related, but seeing Bedard get a hat trick and Fantilli with 5 points dominating the rookie tournament really hurts.

They were picked ahead of us. Unless you wanted the Habs to trade up to 3OA, I don’t think it’s a fair thing to lament.

Now, Benson looking like a tiny stud out there — that burns my gizzard lemme tell you. And when Michkov comes over… or Dvorsky…

We needed offensive skill more than anything and after two drafts we still don’t have it. Reinbacher was a worthy prospect at 5OA so I hope he turns out as good as he can be to make up for the fact we skipped on some very good and very needed attacking prospects…

 

[WeThreeKings]

Agreed. When I as upset that they didn't take Kulich instead, I was told Mesar was the next Plekanec. Hopefully others see in him something that I'm completely missing.

Whoever told you that never saw Mesar play.

Mesars game is skating, hands and playmaking. He also has a quick release that he can get off in traffic.

Everyone gets mad when we don't draft skill and then we draft skill and get mad about that too. Mesar was a fine pick for the late first round and writing a kid off in one year is just so stupid.

Chill out.

 

[CheldishGamibno]

Roy, Simoneau, Mysak, Tourigny and Struble were probably the best players yesterday, I don't think they should play tomorrow to get any chance of injury. Let them prepare for the main camp.

I've heard a lot of "Mesar has the puck!... loses the puck..." Reminds me of a poule pas de tête but I see the potential, still young.

Great game by Miller and Dobes friday

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

With Struble and Trudeau appearing to be strong LD prospects this will make things interesting sooner rather than later.

Much more so for Struble as his physical skillset is so much better than Trudeau's. I think Struble has a legitimate shot as a nasty 2nd pairing dman in the NHL whereas Trudeau looks more like a depth D man at the NHL level or a NHL/AHL tweener.

 

[Rapala]

One minute of silence for @Bombshell11 Who put Mesar 2nd overall in 2022 draft for no particularity reason

@CristianoRonaldo:
One minute of silence for us, the fans, because the geniuses in charge took him, before Kulich...

Damn @Bomshell11 has way too much influence.

 

[Rapala]

Much more so for Struble as his physical skillset is so much better than Trudeau's. I think Struble has a legitimate shot as a nasty 2nd pairing dman in the NHL whereas Trudeau looks more like a depth D man at the NHL level or a NHL/AHL tweener.

I'm very high on Struble I only watched the first period but he's definitely more of a calming influence than Trudeau who plays a different type of game. It was one of the reasons I brought up the question of who to play Mailloux with in this game. At the time I was expecting Trudeau to play. But now going into tomorrow's game I would kind of like to see what Reinbacher can do with Struble as Reinbacher would be more inclined to join the play on that pairing than he was doing with Trudeau.

 

[Matthew McConaughay]

Much more so for Struble as his physical skillset is so much better than Trudeau's. I think Struble has a legitimate shot as a nasty 2nd pairing dman in the NHL whereas Trudeau looks more like a depth D man at the NHL level or a NHL/AHL tweener.

Trudeau reminds me of a Wideman.

 

[Tyson]

Much more so for Struble as his physical skillset is so much better than Trudeau's. I think Struble has a legitimate shot as a nasty 2nd pairing dman in the NHL whereas Trudeau looks more like a depth D man at the NHL level or a NHL/AHL tweener.

In fairness to Trudeau I think it's way too early to write him off. He was Laval's most reliable Dman as a barely 20 year old. He turns 21 in October.

 

[Hannibal]

And Trudeau has a legit underated physical side! Dude can throw them pretty good.

 

[Rapala]

Let's face it, we will regret picking Mesar over Kulich for a long time.

Big mistake by HuGo but who actually recommended this it's a bloody problem it wasn't overturned by the time they hit the podium IMO.

 

[Rapala]

In fairness to Trudeau I think it's way too early to write him off. He was Laval's most reliable Dman as a barely 20 year old. He turns 21 in October.

Not the same type of player and they actually complimented each other well when I saw them playing together in Laval.

 

[Junohockeyfan]

Big mistake by HuGo but who actually recommended this it's a bloody problem it wasn't overturned by the time they hit the podium IMO.

Mesar was selected because of his nationality (matching Slaf's). That was a mistake when Kulich was still on the board and the higher ranked prospect with size.

Much better showing for Mailloux. Still lots of work to do in his own zone. But he's got some serious tools including speed. I would like to see at least 2 x years in Laval. No need to rush him.

 

[Rapala]

Mesar was selected because of his nationality (matching Slaf's). That was a mistake when Kulich was still on the board and the higher ranked prospect with size.

Much better showing for Mailloux. Still lots of work to do in his own zone. But he's got some serious tools including speed. I would like to see at least 2 x years in Laval. No need to rush him.

There are no assurances that either one of them will be great but it did seem like drafting for familiarity.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

In fairness to Trudeau I think it's way too early to write him off. He was Laval's most reliable Dman as a barely 20 year old. He turns 21 in October.

Oh, I'm not writing him off at all. I just don't see top 4 potential but he may very well be a solid 3rd pairing player. Average skating and slightly undersized for a dman are huge limitations and make rising any higher in the lineup very difficult especially with no plus traits even if he is solid all around. There is no doubt that he has NHL potential but I think that it is very unlikely to happen in Montreal at least not in a long term scenario.

Trudeau reminds me of a Wideman.

I think he has the potential to be a more solid defender but in terms of his upside/downside from 5th to 7th D I agree.

 

[JC Superstar]

Roy, Simoneau, Mysak, Tourigny and Struble were probably the best players yesterday, I don't think they should play tomorrow to get any chance of injury. Let them prepare for the main camp.

I've heard a lot of "Mesar has the puck!... loses the puck..." Reminds me of a poule pas de tête but I see the potential, still young.

Great game by Miller and Dobes friday

The translation for "poule pas de tête" is "Scott Gomez".

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

Whoever told you that never saw Mesar play.

Mesars game is skating, hands and playmaking. He also has a quick release that he can get off in traffic.

Everyone gets mad when we don't draft skill and then we draft skill and get mad about that too. Mesar was a fine pick for the late first round and writing a kid off in one year is just so stupid.

Chill out.

Agreed, he went right around where he was projected to go. I think the organization drafted him with more of a direct speed game in mind where he could attack defenders and collapse defences on the rush. He is too perimeter and east/west right now but that can absolutely be changed/fixed and writing him off is just a childish hot take.