GDT: Rookie Tournament: Canadiens vs. Sabres (7PM ET on RDS.ca & YouTube)

[Estimated_Prophet]

Mailloux and Roy were one of the worst players they don’t have a chance to make the team.

If we didn’t already know Reinbacher was going back in Switzerland, i’d say he has a better chance to make the team than Mailloux just by his type of game, already mature.

Roy was easily one of our best players and you can't take anything from a game like this.

 

[Boss Man Hughes]

I thought Trudeau was good in the offensive zone and terrible in the defensive zone.

 

[Treb]

Roy was easily one of our best players and you can't take anything from a game like this.

While I do agree Roy is one of our best fwd prospects, Roy was not one of the best players tonight.

 

[WeThreeKings]

I really don't like Houle. He's got too much Lefebvre in him. Two years in a row he's telling Mysak what he can't be.

 

[SOLR]

That game was enough to tell me that Mailloux has no chance to make the NHL this season and needs a full season in the AHL

More like 3 - it's no surprise. Mailloux played very little in the past 4 years. I'm not down on him, he just needs to play a lot in the AHL to adjust to the pro game and bring back his game instincts.

 

[SOLR]

The result of this game was pretty much predictable in advance, Buffalo might have the best prospect team in the NHL right now...saw some good things, but also some limitations, all expected.

Savoie, Benson, Kulich and Rosen are all superior to our forwards (maybe a debate Rosen vs. Mesar, but Rosen seems to be developing better thus far). And Savoie is certainly the kind of player we don't have in our prospect pool at forward. Kulich and Savoie are probably close to the NHL in this order - although I would like to see Savoie (selfishly) bring home a WJC for Canada he might make the Sabres early as a firestarter (and Buffalo lacks this in their lineup).

Kulich is ready for promotion in the main lineup.

 

[NotProkofievian]

Yet other teams are able to put together basic plays. I'm not buying it. It's pretty evident we lack talent up front.

Teams in lower leagues are more able to put plays together than Montreal. In the SHL, KHL, this goes without saying, but even in lower leagues than that like the VHL, you can see much better tactical execution.

Has nothing to do with talent, these are players who never had an NHL future and never will, but they still know where they're supposed to be and how to execute basic plays.

We've seen some improvement under Marty, but he still has a ways to go yet.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

While I do agree Roy is one of our best fwd prospects, Roy was not one of the best players tonight.

I disagree, he showed the highest skill level.

These games are meaningless and dumb as they are unstructured and difficult for high IQ players to play in because teammates are not where they are supposed to be. He easily was the most advanced player on the team when the puck was on his stick. Fast skaters tend to stick out more in these games but the pro potential was more evident in Roy than any other forward on the team tonight as he made a handful of beautiful passes and showed a deft touch while stickhandling as well as a couple of great puck possession/protection sequences.

It is the subtle things in these games that you have to look for. There were others that were more obviously noticeable but he was head and shoulders the most impressive when he had the puck.

 

[TopC0rner]

Mailloux often lost defensively. Needs intensive D classes.

Mailloux lacks hockey sense imo. Last year, in the OHL, he didn't make the smart plays but his physical skills still let him be a dominant player in junior hockey. I don't think his D can really improve because his reads are slow.

 

[SOLR]

I disagree, he showed the highest skill level.

These games are meaningless and dumb as they are unstructured and difficult for high IQ players to play in because teammates are not where they are supposed to be. He easily was the most advanced player on the team when the puck was on his stick. Fast skaters tend to stick out more in these games but the pro potential was more evident in Roy than any other forward on the team tonight as he made a handful of beautiful passes and showed a deft touch while stickhandling as well as a couple of great puck possession/protection sequences.

It is the subtle things in these games that you have to look for. There were others that were more obviously noticeable but he was head and shoulders the most impressive when he had the puck.

He clearly has a pro-quality to his game, that being said I would make sure that he has the time to develop into a mould of a player that is more than a 3rd-4th line winger. We have a baby Ryan Kesler here, let's not f*** it up.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

Mailloux lacks hockey sense imo. Last year, in the OHL, he didn't make the smart plays but his physical skills still let him be a dominant player in junior hockey. I don't think his D can really improve because his reads are slow.

He has a lot to learn and only has half of the junior experience that other prospects his age have so you shouldn't rush to conclusions. This type of game that we saw tonight is extremely difficult for dmen to play in as without structure and support it is easy to make catastrophic mistakes/decisions. As a former dman I hated tryouts because my hockey IQ was nullified by the complete absence of structure. Taking an extra second to make a pass due to the lack of support is e recipe for disaster.

He clearly has a pro-quality to his game, that being said I would make sure that he has the time to develop into a mould of a player that is more than a 3rd-4th line winger. We have a baby Ryan Kesler here, let's not f*** it up.

He is almost a carbon copy of Tyler Toffoli at the same age.

 

[MadMslm]

I disagree, he showed the highest skill level.

These games are meaningless and dumb as they are unstructured and difficult for high IQ players to play in because teammates are not where they are supposed to be. He easily was the most advanced player on the team when the puck was on his stick. Fast skaters tend to stick out more in these games but the pro potential was more evident in Roy than any other forward on the team tonight as he made a handful of beautiful passes and showed a deft touch while stickhandling as well as a couple of great puck possession/protection sequences.

It is the subtle things in these games that you have to look for. There were others that were more obviously noticeable but he was head and shoulders the most impressive when he had the puck.

I think Roy was okay. Nothing more than that, but I understand why some could be disappointed in his performance tonight.

He’s definitely more effective than flashy, and most of his work on the ice comes from sound positioning or entering open space mixed with good puck placement.

Personally, I didn’t see any forward better than Beck during that game. He was quick, smart and always hustling. Rarely fumbled the play when the puck was on his stick. Multiple plays wouldn’t have taken place in the offensive zone without his work in the neutral zone or on the boards. He’s just head and shoulders above any other forward in that prospect pool.

I think he lost like 4 faceoffs on like 14-16 taken, which is pretty crazy.

I really don't like Houle. He's got too much Lefebvre in him. Two years in a row he's telling Mysak what he can't be.

Felt like Mysak had a pretty good game. If he wants to have success he needs to play hard every shift. Even if he doesn’t have a big upside, it’s sad to see Houle force him into a chair.

Though, I understand that Beck and Kidney takes priority over him. Hopefully he’ll get more ice time than he got lost year in the AHL.

 

[Habbietat]

pretty obvious were gonna run into lack of high end talent, frustrating considering its been the problem for the last couple decades

 

[NotProkofievian]

He has a lot to learn and only has half of the junior experience that other prospects his age have so you shouldn't rush to conclusions. This type of game that we saw tonight is extremely difficult for dmen to play in as without structure and support it is easy to make catastrophic mistakes/decisions. As a former dman I hated tryouts because my hockey IQ was nullified by the complete absence of structure. Taking an extra second to make a pass due to the lack of support is e recipe for disaster.

Maybe you just didn't have very high hockey IQ?

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

Maybe you just didn't have very high hockey IQ?

lol

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

I think Roy was okay. Nothing more than that, but I understand why some could be disappointed in his performance tonight.

He’s definitely more effective than flashy, and most of his work on the ice comes from sound positioning or entering open space mixed with good puck placement.

Personally, I didn’t see any forward better than Beck during that game. He was quick, smart and always hustling. Rarely fumbled the play when the puck was on his stick. Multiple plays wouldn’t have taken place in the offensive zone without his work in the neutral zone or on the boards. He’s just head and shoulders above any other forward in that prospect pool.

I think he lost like 4 faceoffs on like 14-16 taken, which is pretty crazy.



Felt like Mysak had a pretty good game. If he wants to have success he needs to play hard every shift. Even if he doesn’t have a big upside, it’s sad to see Houle force him into a chair.

Though, I understand that Beck and Kidney takes priority over him. Hopefully he’ll get more ice time than he got lost year in the AHL.

Beck lost the puck almost every time he challenged a defender which is his biggest weakness. He looked good because of his skating but was well below Roy's level of stickhandling, passing and distribution.

I am a big Beck fan but he needs to do some serious work with Nicholas on his puck protection and stickhandling. He is way too easy to poke check which forces him to either go way wide or cut across the top early which is just too predictable.

As far as indicators of offensive potential at the NHL level Roy was in a tier by himself above all of our forwards tonight. Roy attacks the middle much more effectively by controlling space and keeping defenders guessing and off balance, Beck demonstrated what will get him to a bottom six role which is fine but he needs to make significant improvement to get to where Roy is as far as being a top six NHL candidate.

This thread has already become ridiculous with the horrible hot takes (not referring to you) and it wouldn't be so irritating if it wasn't so damn predictable.

 

[NotProkofievian]

Beck lost the puck almost every time he challenged a defender which is his biggest weakness. He looked good because of his skating but was well below Roy's level of stickhandling, passing and distribution.

I am a big Beck fan but he needs to do some serious work with Nicholas on his puck protection and stickhandling. He is way too easy to poke check which forces him to either go way wide or cut across the top early which is just too predictable.

As far as indicators of offensive potential at the NHL level Roy was in a tier by himself above all of our forwards tonight. Roy attacks the middle much more effectively by controlling space and keeping defenders guessing and off balance, Beck demonstrated what will get him to a bottom six role which is fine but he needs to make significant improvement to get to where Roy is as far as being a top six NHL candidate.

This thread has already become ridiculous with the horrible hot takes (not referring to you) and it wouldn't be so irritating if it wasn't so damn predictable.

Roy is the prospect I'm most excited to watch in the pros this year. He's done everything he can at the junior level, and his offensive potential is sky high.

I think Beck's path to the top 6 will be based on being the most responsible guy who can also contribute offensively. His skating, defensive play and shot will get him better wingers than his offensive talent would otherwise dictate. Call him a ''montreal first line center'' lol.

 

[SOLR]

Roy is the prospect I'm most excited to watch in the pros this year. He's done everything he can at the junior level, and his offensive potential is sky high.

I think Beck's path to the top 6 will be based on being the most responsible guy who can also contribute offensively. His skating, defensive play and shot will get him better wingers than his offensive talent would otherwise dictate. Call him a ''montreal first line center'' lol.

You forgot to trademark "montreal first line center", let me run to the trademark office.

Montreal First Line Center (tm 2023, all rights reserved)

 

[Le Barron de HF]

Here are some of my thoughts after watching it on replay:
- Despite the six goals against, I liked what I saw from Dobes.
- Trudeau was one if not our best player. His pro experience definitely showed.
- Thought Roy was invisible in 1st half but got better in 2nd half, still expect more though
- Mysak seemed to be faster than before
- Kidney and Farrell both showed flashes of smart sneaky play but was disappointed by lack of impact. Kidney didn't do much at 5 on 5
- I liked what I saw with the puck from Reinbacher
- Heineman plays an NHL type game, good positioning and reads
- Beck may have had 2 assists but did not like his game; forced passes and pointless dipsy doodles that lead nowhere. A guy like Danault didn't try shit like that in MTL, dunno if he had to learn his limitations as a prospect and cut that crap out gradually. It's an exhibition game but I have high expectations for him do expect more from him

 

[dcyhabs]

Do we have any better forwards than the guys he was playing with at this level?

I expect we’ll have players who play better together in a week or two, and having Dach or Suzuki as a centre would be a lot better.

Typical Roy game, though. People are bashing him for only scoring one.

 

[WeThreeKings]

pretty obvious were gonna run into lack of high end talent, frustrating considering its been the problem for the last couple decades

I mean yeah pretty obvious a team that's been rebuilding 2 years would have less than a team who has been tanking for 12 years straight.

 

[rickthegoon]

Just like the actual training camp where the vets will be stretching and playing it safe for the season......some of these prospect are stretching and playing it safe and save themselves for training camp. No one wants to get injured and miss training camp for these meaningle

Good point from @Milhouse40 ; definetly had the same feeling about players floating around like this was a meaningless practice scrimage. That came as a disappointing surprise; aside from Beck who played f.s.a. all game , as a whole, the group came in flat, no real sense of emergency to their game.
The kids from Buffalo came in like they wanted to be noticed by their management.
‘Standouts were Beck, Trudeau, Dobes, Simoneau.
Even with a few fumbles, I think Reinbacher looked really good. The kid is the real deal and looks like he has the high quality ( think Hilti as opposed to Ryobi ) tool set.
Roy and Heinmean will look a lot better when they play with NHL guys; they have skills that show better when they play with equally talented players.
I put a bunch of kids in the same basket: Mysak, Mesar, Kidney, Farrell, Davidson…..these guys are all very long term projects , Farrell being my biggest disappointment last night. If that is what a #4 scoring leader in the NCAA looks like ?
Baby WIFI looked ok with his limited ice time; better skater than what I expected, just wished he was more aggressive.
Did not see or hear Guindon’s name before the last 5 seconds of the game.
Poor Mailloux looked like a dear staring into headlights, completely overwhelmed. If he wasn’t a high draft pick, with last night’s game, he would probably be cut right after the tournament and not be invited to the real training camp.
But that being said, I do believe we have a better prospect pool than what we have seen in ages.
It’s just one game, and I expect a lot of these kids to pick it up when they get a chance to play NHL level exhibition games.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Is there another game tonight

 

[Matthew McConaughay]

Is there another game tonight

Yes, against the Bruins.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

Based off the 1 game there isn't an NHL prospect there.

That's 1 game, though.

Anyone who's says a non goalie played well aside from Trudeau and Tourigny, they're lying to you.

Dobes made some huge saves. Habs could have easily lost this game 10-3.

Beck showed flashes, but ultimately there wasn't much going for him. Same with Roy and Heineman.

Mailloux was lazy on a back check and cost the Habs a goal. Easily the worst play of the game. Had he skated harder would have gotten the icing.

Reinbacher didn't look good, but he's 18 and just because you're top 5 pick doesn't mean you'll automatically be better than other prospects who were also picked fairly high and have more years of pro experience than you.


Boston's prospect pool is obviously much weaker, so the Habs should look a bit better against them. You hope anyways.