Value of: Value of these recent french-canadians late first round pick to Montreal?

[Rafafouille]

False, I haven't read any (french) media trashing Hughes hire, you're creating a false news to fit your agenda.

Michel Jean(TVA), Lise Ravary(98.5) for starters. Dig in and you'll easily find more. I'm a French Canadian living in a rural village that is 95%+ french. I don't have an agenda but anyone sane can't pretend the media covering the CH isn't constantly xenophobic because they are and have been for as long as I've been following this team.

 

[smirob]

We haven't had much luck historically targeting french players - we need to get the best return for our players not the best french speaking return

 

[snipes]

Why is it always so accepted that's its OK for Montreal to want certain players and management based on race/culture? Seems very backwards in todays world.

How familiar are you with the Quebecois people?

 

[Omar]

I thought the Habs management realized a long time ago that player aquisition based on whether they have a French background/name was an absolute horid way to run a sports franchise?

Mainly because that had next to zero influence on whether they were a good hockey player or not...

I wish.

 

[Omar]

I look for the best talent on the team no matter the nationality.

I was just looking for a main theme and I found a lot of french-canadians prospects were drafted recently in the first round, and I know the new management have some pressure to bring some local talent so I though there might be an interest to go that way instead of going after late first this season for the likes of Petry, Toffoli, Chiarot, etc.

It would accelerate the rebuild a little bit.

It only accelerates the rebuild… if they’re good.

 

[Paddys Pub]

Montreal and their need to always have French folks on their team is why they ha e sucked so bad for so long (yes they sucked last year too).

Th strategy was fine when there was only 8 teams and most of the players were from Quebec, but those days are long gone.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

There really isn't anyone on the Habs I'd be interested in from a Blues POV.

 

[HuGort]

Zachary Bolduc (Saint-Louis Blues)
Zachary L'Heureux (Nashville Predators)
Jakob Pelletier (Calgary Flames)
Samuel Poulin (Pittsburgh Penguins)
Hendrix Lapierre (Wahingston Capitals)
Xavier Bourgault (Edmonton Oilers)

Wondering if those players are available at all on the market for Montreal and if so, what would be the ask.

I'm not trying to low-ball these teams since I know they are all highly valuable assets.

Would be open to move some recent mid-late first as well (Poehling, Caufield) as well as retain on players like Petry, Gallagher, Price even if it's not likely to happens. But the deal would preferably be vets for youth, since Montreal are trending towards a rebuild. Semi-vets could be available too (Toffoli, Dvorak, Lekhonen, Hoffman, Drouin, Allen) and can be packaged. Retention on these players is another option.

Only untouchable I guess would be Suzuki on the team and the 1st 2022 or 2023 unprotected, unless the player listed above are part of a package. I know these are probably the assets that interest other teams the most (maybe the only one actually), but I think it's fair to say that they have more value 1 vs 1 than the 6 player mentioned.

Trying to get an idea on how teams value those skaters. I welcome offer for other NON-FRENCH CANADIANS prospect as well (late first/early second or decent project preferably), just feel the new direction might want to add some local talent to its prospect pool.

I would put Bourque from Dallas in there allso

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

Pretty sure Jacob Pelletier told the Habs he did not want to play in Quebec at the draft. Too much pressure on French players

 

[Mr Positive]

Imo it's a good idea

Players are more than stat machines. If you have a francophone player that connects easier with the fans, it can be a good situation to reach full potential

 

[SlafCaufield]

it would ddefinitely go a long way having more Quebecois players on the team in leading role

 

[Volica]

Pretty sure Jacob Pelletier told the Habs he did not want to play in Quebec at the draft. Too much pressure on French players

He’s also one of Calgary’s top two prospects, so I’d have a hard time seeing them move him in any deal with Montreal that makes sense for both clubs

 

[ole ole]

Montreal and their need to always have French folks on their team is why they ha e sucked so bad for so long (yes they sucked last year too).

Th strategy was fine when there was only 8 teams and most of the players were from Quebec, but those days are long gone.

Jeez I have never in my lifetime seen the NHL a 8 team league.

 

[Nanuuk]

Having more French Canadian players or even players with French ancestry will put more bums in the seats especially if the team is successful.

In Calgary, you can't have Gaudreau. Dubé maybe an option. Pelletier isn't unless, as someone has already mentioned, it is for a really big fish. Jeremie Poirier could be part of a deal, but again he is projected to become a high end d-man so again I doubt it.

Montreal might be a team Calgary could deal with.

 

[ole ole]

Zachary Bolduc (Saint-Louis Blues)
Zachary L'Heureux (Nashville Predators)
Jakob Pelletier (Calgary Flames)
Samuel Poulin (Pittsburgh Penguins)
Hendrix Lapierre (Wahingston Capitals)
Xavier Bourgault (Edmonton Oilers)

Wondering if those players are available at all on the market for Montreal and if so, what would be the ask.

I'm not trying to low-ball these teams since I know they are all highly valuable assets.

Would be open to move some recent mid-late first as well (Poehling, Caufield) as well as retain on players like Petry, Gallagher, Price even if it's not likely to happens. But the deal would preferably be vets for youth, since Montreal are trending towards a rebuild. Semi-vets could be available too (Toffoli, Dvorak, Lekhonen, Hoffman, Drouin, Allen) and can be packaged. Retention on these players is another option.

Only untouchable I guess would be Suzuki on the team and the 1st 2022 or 2023 unprotected, unless the player listed above are part of a package. I know these are probably the assets that interest other teams the most (maybe the only one actually), but I think it's fair to say that they have more value 1 vs 1 than the 6 player mentioned.

Trying to get an idea on how teams value those skaters. I welcome offer for other NON-FRENCH CANADIANS prospect as well (late first/early second or decent project preferably), just feel the new direction might want to add some local talent to its prospect pool.

Have no interest in these players because they are French. Only have interest in players that better our team no matter what language they speak.

 

[Paddys Pub]

Jeez I have never in my lifetime seen the NHL a 8 team league.

I think it went from 6 to 12 or something like that, so there has never really been an 8 team league, but that’s my point.
That’s the last time it was a good strategy…..

 

[Paddys Pub]

Having more French Canadian players or even players with French ancestry will put more bums in the seats especially if the team is successful.

In Calgary, you can't have Gaudreau. Dubé maybe an option. Pelletier isn't unless, as someone has already mentioned, it is for a really big fish. Jeremie Poirier could be part of a deal, but again he is projected to become a high end d-man so again I doubt it.

Montreal might be a team Calgary could deal with.

Montreal doesn’t need French players to put butts in the seats…..

Dube isn’t from Quebec.
His mom was my drama teacher in grade 8, and I’m from BC.

 

[JoelWarlord]

Montreal and their need to always have French folks on their team is why they ha e sucked so bad for so long (yes they sucked last year too).

Th strategy was fine when there was only 8 teams and most of the players were from Quebec, but those days are long gone.

Yeah the Habs suck because they signed David Savard and Cedric Paquette. Signing Karl Alzner and George Parros was way better.

 

[Runner77]

Considering how much the media trashed Molson for hiring Hugues, yes. Doesn't matter if you're a Montrealer born and raised, if you're from the west island and English is your first language you do not count.

Hughes is considered a Quebecer. Only a fringe, extremist small faction of the media used his mother tongue and where he was brought up on the island as an issue. You are specifically referring to dinosaurs like Reggie Tremblay who does not represent the overwhelming majority view that Hughes is a local. I’m plugged into all of Quebec’s sports media, the view you are suggesting is not prevalent.

A kid with a non-Franco name born and raised in Quebec is as much a local as the narrowly designated characterization in this thread.

 

[Nanuuk]

Montreal doesn’t need French players to put butts in the seats…..

Dube isn’t from Quebec.
His mom was my drama teacher in grade 8, and I’m from BC.

I know he is not from Quebec.

 

[HabsCode]

Montreal and their need to always have French folks on their team is why they ha e sucked so bad for so long (yes they sucked last year too).

Th strategy was fine when there was only 8 teams and most of the players were from Quebec, but those days are long gone.

There as been plenty of negative backlash as expected on an primarily anglo forum just for expressing a desire to finally add some talented local talent, but that is at the top of the list of the braindead comment.

Last season, there was only 3 quebecois player who played for the Montreal Canadiens, one of them playing 2 games. The other one, Danault, helped shutdown top lines during the playoff and helped the Habs "fluke" their way into the Stanley Cup final despite being severe underdogs. His loss is felt this season. LAK sure seems to love him there.

Last time the Habs won the cup it was in a 24 league team; there was 14 quebecois players who played for the team. Not saying the direction should go to that extreme and that it was the sole reason for the success they had so don't bother going there, just pointing that having some local representation on the team, even in a 20+ team league, doesn't mean it can't have success.

There is no direct correlation between having quebecois player on the roster and playing poorly. Arizona, Seattle, Ottawa, Buffalo all are bottom of the standing teams and I could count on one hand the number of québécois on these team combined.

I was just looking for talented young french-canadian for the same reason the management always look to hire bilingual GM or coach, to have some positive representation on the team instead of having anchor the likes of Savard, Paquette, Belzile and Perreault has the representation of the provincial talent.

For example, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif is an inspiration among a lot of young people for what he represent in part because what he accomplished was phenomenal, in part because they could identify to him because of his accessibility. It's been a while since the Habs had a local inspiration of some sort they could relate too.

Ofc all good player are welcomed, everyone in here got all up in arms about the title and didn't bother reading that I welcomed offer from non-french canadians as well. Primary focus is always to make the team better, but if it is generally accepted that the GM and the coach should be bilingual, what's wrong with suggesting to add a touch of local TALENT(key word here that you like to ignore, as in can make the team better, not a québécois just because of where he is from) that can communicate with the main fan base in its mother tongue?

 

[OG Eberle]

I'm actually pretty shocked at the amount of people who think a team entering a rebuild should be focusing any amount of energy into drafting/acquiring local talent.

And for the record, I am not arguing against drafting players from the QMJHL as that's an entire league of international talent. I'm arguing against having any sort of bias towards drafting/obtaining players who are from Quebec when you litterally have holes up and down the lineup and in the pipeline.

We haven't had much luck historically targeting french players - we need to get the best return for our players not the best french speaking return

Should be how every franchise opperates.

Imo it's a good idea

Players are more than stat machines. If you have a francophone player that connects easier with the fans, it can be a good situation to reach full potential

The issue for fans isn't a lack of connection between the players and fans, or community involvement. The product on the ice is poor. That is 100% the issue.

If anything, having a crappy team vs a crappy team that's also local to the area seems like a recipe for disaster.

it would ddefinitely go a long way having more Quebecois players on the team in leading role

Or the Habs can draft/trade for best players available and then supplement the team with local players if they want vs trading away assets in the beginning of a rebuild for French prospects, hoping one of them hits and becomes a leader...

 

[Canadienna]

I'm arguing against having any sort of bias towards drafting/obtaining players who are from Quebec when you litterally have holes up and down the lineup and in the pipeline.

I've got news for you. Every GM has non-hockey-related biases that affect who they draft/acquire.

Does Montreal place a higher importance than every other team on local talent? Yes
Is it more important to Montreal fans to have local talent than the rest of the league? Yes
Does every other team also occasionally make decisions based on local player biases? Yes.
Does Montreal make decisions solely based on local talent completely ignoring scouting? No.

 

[Mr Positive]

I'm actually pretty shocked at the amount of people who think a team entering a rebuild should be focusing any amount of energy into drafting/acquiring local talent.

And for the record, I am not arguing against drafting players from the QMJHL as that's an entire league of international talent. I'm arguing against having any sort of bias towards drafting/obtaining players who are from Quebec when you litterally have holes up and down the lineup and in the pipeline.



Should be how every franchise opperates.



The issue for fans isn't a lack of connection between the players and fans, or community involvement. The product on the ice is poor. That is 100% the issue.

If anything, having a crappy team vs a crappy team that's also local to the area seems like a recipe for disaster.



Or the Habs can draft/trade for best players available and then supplement the team with local players if they want vs trading away assets in the beginning of a rebuild for French prospects, hoping one of them hits and becomes a leader...

Except, "best player available" is far from an exact science. With any selection there is a large margin of error, and within that space it pays off to pick players with some kind of x-factor, and that can be a range of things from their personality type, reputation, and yes, where they are from.

It's not just the Habs either. As an Oiler fan, I see a lot of players picked because they are from the area.

Also, in this thread no one is talking about the top of the draft. We are talking later picks with a lot of uncertainty around them.

I dont know if French canadian players have any sort of record of hitting their potential. I bet it's worth noting. For some locals it might be a detriment but I would bet that it is often a very positive element that gives a player an extra push. It also makes them feel a little bit more comfortable and closer to home. Its definitely worth giving consideration to because these are humans and not their stats.

 

[samsagat]

Montreal and their need to always have French folks on their team is why they ha e sucked so bad for so long (yes they sucked last year too).

Th strategy was fine when there was only 8 teams and most of the players were from Quebec, but those days are long gone.

Montreal and their need to always have French folks on their team is why they ha e sucked so bad for so long (yes they sucked last year too).

Th strategy was fine when there was only 8 teams and most of the players were from Quebec, but those days are long gone.

Nope, because in reality Habs HAVE NOT been after french players for a while.

Go check, last year there was only 2 Quebecois on the regular roster. The year before it was the same.

Actually, Habs haven't had more French Canadians than the league average for the last 25 years.

And since then, they suck.

The last one that was drafted in the 1st rd by the team was 13 years ago. The last one that was drafted in the 2nd rd was in 2013.

LeBlanc wasn't a reach when drafted 18th overall in 2009. He was drafted exactly where expected. So no, he wasn't "just drafted by the team" because he was a local.

How many 1st Rd picks from USA were busts in the last 16 years for the Habs?

But you never ear they shouldn't draft there "because in 20** (select your year, you have plenty of choice) we drafted there and it turned out to be a bust".

So no, stop with this BS.