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Speculation: Undrafted FA Thread (NCAA/CHL/Euro) II

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EXPOS123 said:
I

You are probably right, but it is still a wrong approach. You can never stop trying to get better -if there is a player out there that is better than yours and you can get him for free, you go for it.

As much as everyone is getting besides themselves at how great our prospect pool is, the reality is while it is improved, it is still middle of the pack

i find it hard to believe they would rather keep guys like Verbeek or Pezetta than sign Steeves, but whatever.

Imho, it is wasted opportunity
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I don't think it's a wrong approach.

For sure they haven't shut the door on looking for undrafted FA's. I just dont think they're as aggressive in that front as they may have been before.

In the last few years, Habs have been slowly implementing their own prospects into the line-up, whether in the NHL or AHL.

Over the last 2-3 years, we've seen the pro debuts of Kotkaniemi, Suzuki, Evans, Vejdemo, Fleury, Primeau, Brook, Poehling, Romanov, Teasdale, RHP, Khisamutdinov, Hillis.

They just signed Caufield and we know they'll be signing Harris next year if he doesn't opt to test free agency (which I don't think he will). We can also expect Norlinder to be signed next year.

So while I'm sure Habs are looking at undrafted FA's, they probably prefer focusing on the players they've been investing for years since they have so many and all of them are coming in waves now.
 
Keep in mind we had to let go of Fonstad & McShane because of contract limits and we intentionally drafted college kids in the later rounds this year to give us some more space to make contract decisions.

They will only be in on college UFAs who will either accept a ATO or AHL deal.. unless they believe there is true NHL upside there.
 
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They will sign some because they have to, they didn't have an ECHL team, now they will, though I would expect many of them to be on AHL contracts and from the Q. But the NCAA just ended for all but 4 teams, give it a little time to see if they are indeed after anyone this year. The problem is you have to have ice time for your guys. Without Harris in Laval next year we will need someone there. Fleury needs waivers next year so they may trade him if he can't crack the roster (not saying he can or can't)

You have Brook, Fairbrother, Leskinen who I assume will be there. Ouellet as the vet. Bisson and Schueneman I would think will be there. Guhle, Harris and maybe Struble could all join the team at the end of the season. Then there's Norlinder.

So on defense we could have a big influx coming at the end of the season so they need to be real careful about spots on the blueline depending on what their plans are. As I know some will say Harris won't sign but I suspect the Habs know if he will or won't and if he won't he'll be traded in a package at some point.

We do need another goalie maybe two if Allen gets picked in expansion. They have Dichow with no team but since he's played so little who knows if they want him in the ECHL or just let him play in a Euro league next year or two even. Dobes should spend the next few years in the NCAA. With Primeau and McNiven they will need an ECHL goalie unless its' Dichow. There are several interesting ones in the NCAA, the best one though is still playing though he's small for a goalie but had an unreal season.

With Caufield, Ylonen, Poehling, Teasdale, RHP, Khisamutdinov, Pezzetta, Hillis, Vejdemo, they don't have much coming in the next 12 months. There's Stapley, Gorniak, if they sign him. I assume Ikonen isn't signed. There's Tuch who in a year maybe he's ready to turn pro and go to Laval, he certainly will have the size, strength part. A good enough year and they likely would want him signed. There's Olofsson who has to be signed in 14 months so how next year goes for him, I assume he gets signed.

I still hope they sign Primeau's brother, MB seems to want to get bigger and he's a big boy and I would think he would sign to play with his brother although he can return for his Senior year as this was his first really good season so I don't know if he wants to turn pro or not.
 



North Dakota will be a different team next year.

Pinto, Bernard-Docker, Kawaguchi, Kiersted, and now Scheel.

It was confirmed yesterday that Jake Sanderson will return to North Dakota and will not be turning pro.
 
Not for this off-season but next is FA goalie Matthew Galajda as the Cornell goalie transferred to Notre Dame next season so I'll likely get to see a lot of him playing against Pitlick, Dobes and Gorniak. He's been great in the ECAC but we'll see how it goes for him in a tougher conference.
 
montreal said:
Not for this off-season but next is FA goalie Matthew Galajda as the Cornell goalie transferred to Notre Dame next season so I'll likely get to see a lot of him playing against Pitlick, Dobes and Gorniak. He's been great in the ECAC but we'll see how it goes for him in a tougher conference.
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off to a great start at Notre Dame, haven't seen him yet but will soon as I have the big 10 network so I will see a lot of the big 10 this year.



also I still think we will or I hope we will make a push to sign Primeau's brother who is a Senior now and off to a great start as he is tied for the team lead in points, 2nd in goals and assists.
 
I haven't seen him so I don't know if he's any good but he's off to a great start to the season, so I wonder if the Habs will have some interest in Louis Boudon, he plays at LSSU which is in a weak conference but he's a teammate of Hab draft pick Arvid Henrikson. He's from France, so I don't know if he would be more inclined to want to sign here or not.

Louis Boudon - Elite Prospects
 
Boudon leading the NCAA in points.

Got another player to keep an eye on, he's a teammate of Dobes, Georgi Mekulov, he's a bit small for a defensemen, not sure why he didn't get drafted out of the MHL or even last year from the USHL. He just turned 21 but is a Freshman, off to a good start so far.
 
Saw that Max Veronneau is the 2nd leading scorer in the AHL I am pretty sure we tried to sign him after his Senior year in the NCAA. He signed with the Sens instead who later traded him to the leafs who opted not to give him a QO. He's 25 but since going to the SHL last season he has 40 pts in 41 games. If he's ever interested in returning to North America, perhaps we would be interested again.

Since we could be in the market for a undrafted FA goalie for next season to backup Primeau and or a starter in 3R, I will be keeping an eye on NCAA goalies. I've said how I like Galajda, here's some others.

Matthew Galajda - Notre Dame
Jaxson Stauber - Providence (Robb's son)
Vincent Duplessis - BU
Yaniv Perets - Quinnipiac
Dryden McKay - Minnesota St

Galajda just turned 24 but he's not very big so not sure the Habs would even be interested.

Stauber is only a 2nd year but he's 22 so perhaps he may want to turn pro. Great season so far. He's a big boy so NHL teams will be looking at him for sure imo.

Duplessis is a local kid, he's also in his 2nd year but 22. Not sure if he's any good as his numbers are great but in a very small sample size. Teammate of Tuch's, I liked what I saw from him last year.

Perets is another local kid that played for the same midget team as Leblanc. Same situation though as he has even better numbers (just stellar #'s) but very small sample size. His team is off to a great start this year but so far they are doing a 1a/1b goalie duo so we'll see who wins out. He's a 2nd year player as well but he's 21 so maybe he won't want to leave especially if he doesn't get enough starts to make a name for himself.

McKay is named after Ken Dryden who has been great in the NCAA but I was surprised when he didn't turn pro last summer so perhaps his lack of height (listed at 6'0) is a concern to some teams? Plus his numbers last season and so far this season are a bit lower then that outstanding Sophmore season.


There's also the goalie I saw last night for Cornell, Joe Howe but he's a 20 year old Freshman so I don't think he would leave just yet but Cornell is good at finding goalies so someone to keep an eye on.
 
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