Player Discussion Zack MacEwen signed for 3 years @ $775,000

[jbeck5]

How did the Canadiens go decades without hitting on a first round pick? You understand a decade is ten years right?

Which stretch of ten years day you think the Canadiens went without a single 1st rounder hitting?

In the 2020's, you've got Slafksovky and Guhle (so far), in the 20teens, you have Cole Caufield and Mikhail Sergachev, in the 2000's you have Carey Price and Max Paccioretty. The 90's are definitely bleak, but Saku Koivu was a big win.

Where are finding this 20 year stretch where the Canadiens don't hit on a 1st rounder?

I mean, to be fair:
2006 - David Fischer...who?
2008- nothing
2009- Louis LeBlanc...who?
2010-jarred tinordi
2011-nathan Beaulieu
2012- Alex Galchenyuk
2013-michael McCarron ..who?
2014-nikiya scherbak..who?
2015-noah juulsen...who?

That's 8 pretty bad years, but then there are also other pretty bad streaks in between a couple OK picks.

I keep scrolling and they're honestly hilariously bad.

1988- Eric Charron...who?
1989- Lindsay Vallis...who?
1991- Brent Bilodeau...who?
1992- David Wilkie...who?
1994- Brad brown...who?
1995- Terry Ryan...who?
1996 - matt Higgins...who?
1997 - Jason ward...lol
1998- Eric Chouinard...lol
1999 - none

Quite the stretch there too.

 

[Cosmix]

Why do we keep signing useless goons lol

Yeah! Some of us want useful goons (tough physical players); those that can also play hockey!

I mean, to be fair:
2006 - David Fischer...who?
2008- nothing
2009- Louis LeBlanc...who?
2010-jarred tinordi
2011-nathan Beaulieu
2012- Alex Galchenyuk
2013-michael McCarron ..who?
2014-nikiya scherbak..who?
2015-noah juulsen...who?

That's 8 pretty bad years, but then there are also other pretty bad streaks in between a couple OK picks.

I keep scrolling and they're honestly hilariously bad.

1988- Eric Charron...who?
1989- Lindsay Vallis...who?
1991- Brent Bilodeau...who?
1992- David Wilkie...who?
1994- Brad brown...who?
1995- Terry Ryan...who?
1996 - matt Higgins...who?
1997 - Jason ward...lol
1998- Eric Chouinard...lol
1999 - none

Quite the stretch there too.

Was Dorion there at those times?

 

[jbeck5]

Yeah! Some of us want useful goons (tough physical players); those that can also play hockey!


Was Dorion there at those times?

Wikipedia says he was a scout with them from 1994-2005.

His best 1st round picks in that time would be:

Ron hainsey
Mike komisarek
Andrei kostitsyn
Kyle chipchura

No stars or anything in a decade.

 

[Cosmix]

Ostapchuk. Except he costs less than $1 million. He tuned up Rempe pretty good in the WHL.

Ostapchuk might be one guy that can do what is required when required; I hope he does Bec one a tough, physical player who can both score some goals and be a physical threat to the other team. Our team is too soft.

Wikipedia says he was a scout with them from 1994-2005.

His best 1st round picks in that time would be:

Ron hainsey
Mike komisarek
Andrei kostitsyn
Kyle chipchura

No stars or anything in a decade.

Thanks for info. Kinda figures.

 

[GCK]

I get it sucks to pay a 1-way to sit in the AHL, but hopefully Andlauer will pony up to let it happen.

He was in the AHL last year.

 

[Micklebot]

Wikipedia says he was a scout with them from 1994-2005.

His best 1st round picks in that time would be:

Ron hainsey
Mike komisarek
Andrei kostitsyn
Kyle chipchura

No stars or anything in a decade.

He was just an amateur scout, so not entirely responsible for every pick. Idk what picks he would have had input on, my guess would be eastern Canada, so q and OHL guys would be my guess.

Lapierre, Carkner, Ribero, Beauchemin, Ryder, Garon, Robidas, those are guys I could see him having had input on

 

[Xspyrit]

Montreal had really bad drafting from 2008 to 2017 (10 drafts), with pretty much only that to show for :

Galchenyuk 3rd OA pick, Sergachev 9th OA pick, Lehkonen 2nd round, Gallagher 5th round, Jake Evans 7th round

Started to be better in 2018 with Harris, Romanov, Ylonen and Kotkaniemi (even if disappointing vs draft position). In 2019 : Caufield, Struble, RHP

That's when he did his most damaging work. The Debrincat, Chychrun and Talbot trades come to mind. Sacrificing the entire future for players on expiring deals. Well before this team was ready to compete. You make those tradess to push your team over the top. When they are close, not when you're a lottery team. On top of that 2 of them were redundant players with the current roster.

There is no point he was ever good at his job. There was never a stretch of lots of good moves in a row.

All time bad GM. I called it a long time ago. Brutal for a fanbase that deserved better.

Macewen should simply just get cut. Not complicated. The way I see it he has 2 games to play a wildly physical game and he has to win atleast 1 fight.

I'd like to see Ostapchuk drop em here.

It made absolutely no sense to "rush" as there was not a Damocles sword over his head at that moment. Maybe he got too relax and over-confident?

He was already lucky that we had a future despite the Zibanejad and Duchene fiascos, plus Stone and Hoffman not bringing back anything of note (plus the Tyler Boucher pick)... We were already at a point where we couldn't afford to sacrifice these high 1st round picks and these 2nds

Miraculously, we still have a chance to do something, which shows that we could have been an absolute WAGON had we had competent management all those years.

Dorion single handily ruined my fan experience for years. Hopefully Staios and co can right the ship.

We need MacEwan to beat the brakes of Xhekaj the next time we face Montreal.

Let's be brutally honest, the only guy in the whole organization who could take on Xhekaj is Brady Tkachuk.

 

[FerrisRox]

You're right, its a a fabrication that the Habs haven't had a hit in the first round in 20 years. I'll be more accurate and just say they've been utterly shite (probably bottom of the league) at drafting in the first round over the last 20 years until current management took over.

On this we agree.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

We need MacEwan to beat the brakes of Xhekaj the next time we face Montreal.

I wouldn't bet on a Mac win in that one

 

[jbeck5]

He was just an amateur scout, so not entirely responsible for every pick. Idk what picks he would have had input on, my guess would be eastern Canada, so q and OHL guys would be my guess.

Lapierre, Carkner, Ribero, Beauchemin, Ryder, Garon, Robidas, those are guys I could see him having had input on

None of those guys were first round picks though. I was just looking at those.

But good point.

 

[OD99]

if ostapchuk doesnt have a regular spot i dont think he is making the team, both due to contract status and because if he isnt getting regular minutes there is very little benefit for him

i think jenik ends up with the 4C spot on a very short leash and i think ostapchuk or crookshank end up being the first call up depending on if we need a center or winger replaced.

I like O, but I am with you here.

Jenik is a rougher player in general than O, and has shown up in his exhibition games so far. More importantly, I want O to keep progressing against men in the A and get loads of ice time while scoring consistently.

We don't want him to just hang on at the NHL level, I want him brimming with confidence and pushing the play against other 4th liners. That is the level we need to aspire to, IMO.

 

[Micklebot]

None of those guys were first round picks though. I was just looking at those.

But good point.

Right, but as an amateur scout, he isn't really responsible for 1st round picks, they only draft Chouinard in the 1st from eastern Canada during his time so he likely had minimal impact on the teams success or lack there of in the 1st. I guess you could argue he should have fought harder for guys like Briere, Strum, Hemsky, ect

 

[jbeck5]

Right, but as an amateur scout, he isn't really responsible for 1st round picks, they only draft Chouinard in the 1st from eastern Canada during his time so he likely had minimal impact on the teams success or lack there of in the 1st. I guess you could argue he should have fought harder for guys like Briere, Strum, Hemsky,

Right, I was just explaining why I only mentioned first rounders but I agree with you that he's not responsible for that. Just saying while he was scouting with the Habs, these were their first rounders...just because we were talking about how bad their first round picks have been.

I agree with you about looking at location and who was coming from where to get a better picture of what dorion was responsible for

 

[DylanSensFan]

I wouldn't bet on a Mac win in that one

I would say Mac can hold his own.

 

[DylanSensFan]

Has Gas Station won a fight in a sens jersey? I recall him losing to Austin Watson of all people lol

Maybe you remember it differently than I do. But it wasn't much of a fight.

 

[Icelevel]

He better be in the lineup against mtl on Saturday and he better do stuff.

 

[Larionov]

It would be nice if our heavyweights could, you know, actually win a fight occasionally. First we had Watson, who lost every fight, and now it is MacEwen who finishes second in fights routinely...

 

[Icelevel]

It would be nice if our heavyweights could, you know, actually win a fight occasionally. First we had Watson, who lost every fight, and now it is MacEwen who finishes second in fights routinely...

I expect that will change now that dohrion is gone and once Macewen is replaced. I’m hoping Macewen took some fighting lessons this off season or at least got a pile of tips from our own Chris Neil one of the best.

 

[Hale The Villain]

It would be nice if our heavyweights could, you know, actually win a fight occasionally. First we had Watson, who lost every fight, and now it is MacEwen who finishes second in fights routinely...

Makes me long for the days of watching Matt Kassian bear hug his way to wins in the most boring fights possible.

 

[Micklebot]

I miss Carkner...

Seriously though, I just want guys that can play a regular shift, and if needed are willing to step up and defend their teammates.

Hamonic was willing to do it his first year here, Watson would do it, Boro used to do it for us, I think Ostapchuk will be a player that can do it for us, we don't need to win the fights with

If we have three guys on the roster that will stand up for teammates (Tkachuk, Ostapchuk, and xxx) I think we're good. I don't want a 5 min a night guy, and ideally that third guy won't be a key player, maybe a 3rd pair D, or a bottom six winger.

 

[The Expert]

MacEwen sucks so much, he may be the softest player on the team.

 

[Micklebot]

MacEwen sucks so much, he may be the softest player on the team.

I don't what happened to him, he just looks like he's lost all interest in hockey.

He was never great but there was a time when he'd be hard on the forecheck and stick up for teammates, now he's just going threw the motions

 

[Tuna99]

I don't what happened to him, he just looks like he's lost all interest in hockey.

He was never great but there was a time when he'd be hard on the forecheck and stick up for teammates, now he's just going threw the motions

Travis Green had him in Vancouver for 3 seasons and Zach never played a full year. Might just be the case of a hockey player looking good on bad teams and when he is finally on a team with some depth he just doesn’t have the everyday NHL game to contribute to NHL games 82 times a season.

 

[bicboi64]

Good on him for dropping it with Wifi, but it's impressive that he's a worse fighter than Watson who could at least do other stuff on the ice and not be useless.

 

[coladin]

Good on him for dropping it with Wifi, but it's impressive that he's a worse fighter than Watson who could at least do other stuff on the ice and not be useless.

I thought he landed quite a few, a nice one on the jaw. Jackeye didn't land anything significant. I thought it was actually, considering the oppoenent and the hype, a decent fight