Player Discussion Chris Wideman

[Merci Saku]

Guess we will agree to disagree. There's something in there or he would have any to a team easier to make ala Seattle.

I think he's been told #6 is his to lose.

Seattle has like 10 defenseman,

if he thought he was gonna be a 6 and was good enough, he would have gotten more than 750k and with other teams

example, who was defenseman of the year in 2020? Mikko Lehtonen

leafs thought he would be penciled in and breakout, didn’t happen

same scenario for Wideman in the end unfortunately for him

 

[Natey]

Seattle has like 10 defenseman,

if he thought he was gonna be a 6 and was good enough, he would have gotten more than 750k and with other teams

example, who was defenseman of the year in 2020? Mikko Lehtonen

leafs thought he would be penciled in and breakout, didn’t happen

same scenario for Wideman in the end unfortunately for him

There's no point in typing. I don't think he's leaving $1.5M on the table to be a #8. Simple as that.

 

[Merci Saku]

Well you’re wrong buddy

 

[Natey]

Well you’re wrong buddy

We will see. If we acquire no one else, he's starting night 1.

Kulak ... They didn't even want to play him in the playoffs!

 

[montreal]

Laval's D is set:

Ouellet - Brook
Bisson - Schueneman
Fairbrother - Balpedio

Barring injuries, sending Wideman down would create an overkill. Brook wouldn't sniff PP time if that was to happen.

I think they are gonna keep 8 defencemen on the roster. That was likely the plan when Fleury was around. Of course, there's also a possibility that we don't acquire anyone else and Wideman will slot in on the 3rd pair with Chiarot.

they could send Bisson to 3R if need be or keep him as the 7th D. Or maybe they can find a way to move Kulak and let Wideman take his spot. We'll see what happens at camp.

 

[Harry Kakalovich]

I like this signing. I think Wideman is an NHL D-man!

 

[LaP]

Last year he was in the AHL, if he's Laval bound it would give a real nice boost to the offense though hopefully wouldn't take too much PP time away from Brook.

He was in the KHL last year.

 

[MasterD]

All I'm saying is he's not been told he's brought here to be a #8 defenseman.

It's very likely he's been told he's slotted for the Top-6. No way he comes back to the NHL for 750K when he could make 3 times that overseas to be a #8.

I don't think you'll see any more big moves on the backend. So if someone wants his job, it'll have be one of the kids.

Some guys don't like living in Russia.

 

[Mandala]

Some guys don't like living in Russia.

Or maybe we are losing a defenseman through trade.

More realistically, he his there to be a backup defenseman like Kulak. Injuries happen, especially over a full season.

 

[ChesterNimitz]

Some guys don't like living in Russia.

Well, then we should look at one positive in this signing: there’s at least one place that is less desirable to play in than Montreal.

 

[beowulf]

I'm pretty sure you're kidding yourself here.

He was offered $2M+ to stay in the KHL. He was ripping it up over there. He's not coming here to play as a tweener.

But he has no choice in the end if he does not produce/look good enough to be in the NHL he will likely be sent down.

 

[Schwang]

Or maybe we are losing a defenseman through trade.

More realistically, he his there to be a backup defenseman like Kulak. Injuries happen, especially over a full season.

It's definitely worth a shot, but I don't see him producing for them. He wasn't that great offensively when he was in the NHL before. I think he'll be used sparingly. Which isn't good because if Petry goes down or slumps, there's no one back there to put up points.

 

[Mandala]

Well, then we should look at one positive in this signing: there’s at least one place that is less desirable to play in than Montreal.

You can think of only one?

 

[ChesterNimitz]

You can think of only one?

North Korean Elite League?

 

[zzoo]

Wideman and Norlinder will fight for the last spot on D ? Is Norlinder a RD ?

 

[montreal]

He was in the KHL last year.

i was last year in the AHL, this season he was in the KHL.

 

[Dondini]

I mean he lead the KHL for d men in points. KHL isn’t known as a high scoring league, 41 points is no joke. Could be a late bloomer who knows. I actually really like Kulak but provides no offense. I’m willing to give the guy a shot as a 6 d who can help run the PP. If it doesn’t work out then we still have kulak who I think is a solid defensive d man who has the legs to move and make a play to get out of trouble. Let’s see how it shakes out. We have some depth.

for our PP imagine caufield on the left Hoffman on the right and an umbrella formation with petry on the the left and wideman and Suzuki on the right as Suzuki likes to walk in on his non one t side.

 

[Natey]

But he has no choice in the end if he does not produce/look good enough to be in the NHL he will likely be sent down.

For sure. That can be said for almost any player. My point is, he's not being brought in to be the #8. He's being brought in to play in the Top-6... and if he doesn't take control of that opportunity, he'll go down. My comments were surround people saying he's coming over to be a Laval tweener like Ouellet.

 

[Natey]

I mean he lead the KHL for d men in points. KHL isn’t known as a high scoring league, 41 points is no joke. Could be a late bloomer who knows. I actually really like Kulak but provides no offense. I’m willing to give the guy a shot as a 6 d who can help run the PP. If it doesn’t work out then we still have kulak who I think is a solid defensive d man who has the legs to move and make a play to get out of trouble. Let’s see how it shakes out. We have some depth.

for our PP imagine caufield on the left Hoffman on the right and an umbrella formation with petry on the the left and wideman and Suzuki on the right as Suzuki likes to walk in on his non one t side.

Kulak is not a bad player by any means. I don't know why our staff didn't like him in the playoffs. He's pretty reliable.

However, for our actual team make-up, he's not a good fit for an everyday player because we have no offense. Hopefully Wideman can provide some.

 

[BaseballCoach]

Kulak is not a bad player by any means. I don't know why our staff didn't like him in the playoffs. He's pretty reliable.

However, for our actual team make-up, he's not a good fit for an everyday player because we have no offense. Hopefully Wideman can provide some.

I don't know why we preferred Kulak over Reilly.

Wideman might be able to provide some offence and get sheltered with Chiarot on his left?! If that works, Kulak is 7th D or replaces Romanov if the latter slumps.

 

[26Mats]

I don't know why we preferred Kulak over Reilly.

Wideman might be able to provide some offence and get sheltered with Chiarot on his left?! If that works, Kulak is 7th D or replaces Romanov if the latter slumps.

Reilly was a disaster defensively too often. Not sure if he's improved that, or if he's better sheltered in Boston. But it was a problem here.

 

[26Mats]

Wideman and Norlinder will fight for the last spot on D ? Is Norlinder a RD ?

He can play either side.

But he seems like someone who really needs more seasoning defensively and needs to mature physically before being thrown to the wolves.

 

[beowulf]

For sure. That can be said for almost any player. My point is, he's not being brought in to be the #8. He's being brought in to play in the Top-6... and if he doesn't take control of that opportunity, he'll go down. My comments were surround people saying he's coming over to be a Laval tweener like Ouellet.

Ya no I think they want to give him a chance and like you said he has to take it and run. If he can produce then he will stick around but if he doesn't and his defense does not make up the difference he could be gone before ya know it.

 

[dcyhabs]

Reilly was a disaster defensively too often. Not sure if he's improved that, or if he's better sheltered in Boston. But it was a problem here.

If your whole defense is a mess you can cycle through a lot of guys without fixing it. If your top 3-4 guys can play a system they have confidence in the 5-6 D become less of a problem. Lots of guys can be good for 10 sheltered minutes but get exposed when they play more minutes and have to defend better players. There may not be much difference between Kulak and Reilly/Schlemko/Davidson/Mete/others, but Kulak is playing behind a better top 4.

The habs don't seem to like puck movers, either. Habs could really have used a big all around top D, but they are hard to get.

 

[26Mats]

If your whole defense is a mess you can cycle through a lot of guys without fixing it. If your top 3-4 guys can play a system they have confidence in the 5-6 D become less of a problem. Lots of guys can be good for 10 sheltered minutes but get exposed when they play more minutes and have to defend better players. There may not be much difference between Kulak and Reilly/Schlemko/Davidson/Mete/others, but Kulak is playing behind a better top 4.

The habs don't seem to like puck movers, either. Habs could really have used a big all around top D, but they are hard to get.

Mailloux?