Pre-Game Talk: Habs in Ottawa, Saturday Night Brawl 7:00 pm on TSN

[FolignoQuantumLeap]

He looks pretty legit to me. If we manage his minutes properly, I can totally see him playing a top 4 roll for the entire year, and I'm okay with that right now.

Its hard to evaluate a guy like Oduya in a game like that when Montreal had no talent up front. I'm confident he can dominate that competition but he's really lost a step or two and I doubt he can play at that level against real top 6 NHL players who can skate.

I'd much prefer Claesson in the top 4 over Oduya since he can keep up, while letting Oduya dominate other teams bottom forwards with someone like Wideman or Chabot.

I thought Oduya's instincts and positioning were really on display tonight though. Looks like he knows exactly where to be at all times already in a new system. Dude has excelled in a great possession system in Chicago and a trap/defensive system in New Jersey and you can see why. He does a little bit of everything.

 

[IranCondraAffair]

I am a little worried that Dorion talked about re-signing Borowiecki.

Brown looks like he can stick handle in a phone booth. Haven't had that combo of size and puck skills since Spezza. That said, I can see what the coach means about endurance. He glides around the ice well, but he needs to show more jam at the end of his shifts if he wants to be a top-line guy.

Formenton looks like an NHLer out there. Flat-out. Then again, so did Lazar. Will be interesting to see him later in pre-season.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Its hard to evaluate a guy like Oduya in a game like that when Montreal had no talent up front. I'm confident he can dominate that competition but he's really lost a step or two and I doubt he can play at that level against real top 6 NHL players who can skate.

I'd much prefer Claesson in the top 4 over Oduya since he can keep up, while letting Oduya dominate other teams bottom forwards with someone like Wideman or Chabot.

I thought Oduya's instincts and positioning were really on display tonight though. Looks like he knows exactly where to be at all times already in a new system. Dude has excelled in a great possession system in Chicago and a trap/defensive system in New Jersey and you can see why. He does a little bit of everything.

I did not see any lack of speed in Oduya's game tonight. Lets see as time goes on.. I thought he was good tonight

 

[Engineer]

I am a little worried that Dorion talked about re-signing Borowiecki.

Brown looks like he can stick handle in a phone booth. Haven't had that combo of size and puck skills since Spezza. That said, I can see what the coach means about endurance. He glides around the ice well, but he needs to show more jam at the end of his shifts if he wants to be a top-line guy.

Formenton looks like an NHLer out there. Flat-out. Then again, so did Lazar. Will be interesting to see him later in pre-season.

Thankfully Formenton won't be rushed like Lazar

 

[Samsquanch]

I am a little worried that Dorion talked about re-signing Borowiecki.

Brown looks like he can stick handle in a phone booth. Haven't had that combo of size and puck skills since Spezza. That said, I can see what the coach means about endurance. He glides around the ice well, but he needs to show more jam at the end of his shifts if he wants to be a top-line guy.

Formenton looks like an NHLer out there. Flat-out. Then again, so did Lazar. Will be interesting to see him later in pre-season.

I honestly don't ever remember Lazar looking half as impressive as Formenton. Both are super hard workers, but Formenton has god like speed out there, and seems to make better decisions offensively than Lazar did.

Yes Lazar's physical tools were on display at times, but his big smile and great attitude were a smoke screen basically. His lack of offensive ability was apparent from day one, and still to this day absolutely nothing has changed in that regard.

 

[Knave]

tsn 1200 live radio feed. I'm sure there will be video by tomorrow.

How much is in here?

 

[Countdown0]

Its hard to evaluate a guy like Oduya in a game like that when Montreal had no talent up front. I'm confident he can dominate that competition but he's really lost a step or two and I doubt he can play at that level against real top 6 NHL players who can skate.

I'd much prefer Claesson in the top 4 over Oduya since he can keep up, while letting Oduya dominate other teams bottom forwards with someone like Wideman or Chabot.

I thought Oduya's instincts and positioning were really on display tonight though. Looks like he knows exactly where to be at all times already in a new system. Dude has excelled in a great possession system in Chicago and a trap/defensive system in New Jersey and you can see why. He does a little bit of everything.

He's a veteran who has won the Cup a couple times, so him adapting to Boucher's systems quickly is expected. Don't get me wrong, glad to see it. The fewer growing pains the better.

Since we have no one on the left side who can play as many minutes as EK, or even as many as Ceci played last season, I expect that Claesson and Oduya, along with Phaneuf, will all see their fair share of time against the top lines of other teams. As long as none of them are pushing too far past the 20 minutes of ice time a night mark we'll probably be okay. And hell, maybe Claesson will be able to handle that much ice time and could go for 22 or more!

Boro is probably - unfortunately - pencilled in as the 6th d-man, though I wouldn't be surprised if Chabot takes his roster spot before the season ends, or even before the deadline. Maybe LaJoie takes his spot instead, and when EK comes back out defense looks like:

Claesson - Karlsson
Phaneuf - Ceci
Chabot - Oduya
7th LaJoie/Borowiecki

Not too bad. Left side might not necessarily be in the order. Still expecting Karlsson and Ceci to be 1 and 2 in time on ice respectively.

 

[Samsquanch]

Its hard to evaluate a guy like Oduya in a game like that when Montreal had no talent up front. I'm confident he can dominate that competition but he's really lost a step or two and I doubt he can play at that level against real top 6 NHL players who can skate.

I'd much prefer Claesson in the top 4 over Oduya since he can keep up, while letting Oduya dominate other teams bottom forwards with someone like Wideman or Chabot.

I thought Oduya's instincts and positioning were really on display tonight though. Looks like he knows exactly where to be at all times already in a new system. Dude has excelled in a great possession system in Chicago and a trap/defensive system in New Jersey and you can see why. He does a little bit of everything.

I agree with most of your points, but who says that we can't have both Claesson and Oduya in the top 4?

Claesson-Karlsson
Oduya-Ceci
P9-Chabot
Wideman (Boro gets poisoned by our enemies or something).

My guess is that Phaneuf, Claesson will probably all rotate up and down through the pairings until we find the right mix when Karlsson gets back.

 

[FolignoQuantumLeap]

I did not see any lack of speed in Oduya's game tonight. Lets see as time goes on.. I thought he was good tonight

I agree with him looking good tonight. He used to be one of the better skating D in the league though when he was a top 4/pairing guy. He definitely doesn't have that anymore so I wouldn't really expect him to play a top 4 role when we're healthy on defense. He could be a good fill in top 4/5 guy though.

 

[Xspyrit]

Is it just me or Logan Brown could be a real monster?

 

[Bileur]

Is it just me or Logan Brown could be a real monster?

And he's not even close to filled out yet.

 

[PatrickEaves]

Can we just trade Boro to the Avs for literally nothing already?

I mean, they've taken all our other crappy defensemen in Wier and Cowen.

 

[Countdown0]

I agree with most of your points, but who says that we can't have both Claesson and Oduya in the top 4?

Claesson-Karlsson
Oduya-Ceci
P9-Chabot
Wideman (Boro gets poisoned by our enemies or something).

My guess is that Phaneuf, Claesson will probably all rotate up and down through the pairings until we find the right mix when Karlsson gets back.

I forgot all about Wideman... he pushes Boro down to being our 9th d-man imo. And probably takes the number 7 spot by the end of the season. He should definitely be playing opening night with Karlsson out, and I'd hope Chabot does too.

Opening night top six:

Claesson - Ceci
Phaneuf - Wideman
Chabot - Oduya

That would be decent. Obviously we hope Karlsson is back to 100% as soon as possible.

 

[armani]

Brown, Forementon, Chlapik, Chabot, and Jaros have been an impressive set of rookies, I can't remember a better class of rookies in training camp. Really, in terms of quality and volume, this year has been sick since the development camp.

White and Bowers aren't even part of it. Signs of a brighter tomorrow!

 

[FolignoQuantumLeap]

Is it just me or Logan Brown could be a real monster?

But what about Michael McLeod?

 

[FolignoQuantumLeap]

Brown, Forementon, Chlapik, Chabot, and Jaros have been an impressive set of rookies, I can't remember a better class of rookies in training camp. Really, in terms of quality and volume, this year has been sick since the development camp.

Don't forget Lajoie. He deserves to be mentioned in that group. Boucher was gushing over him. Maybe even throw Hogberg in there. He was a beast against the Leafs.

 

[PatrickEaves]

But what about Michael McLeod?

We should have taken McAvoy though.

 

[Tundraman]

Simmer made a good point tonight on the post game show. The lack of hitting and hard checks is pretty obvious in the 3 games so far. It's as if by agreement everyone is playing to minimize injuries. That didn't happen too often a few years ago. There will always be the odd young guy or journeyman AHL'er who shows off and overdoes it but you can see the guys having a serious chat after that when it happens. By and large guys who might normally cream a guy are just wrapping their arms around players or simply cutting off their progress along the boards.

Young guys can survive playing with their head down looking for the puck in traffic now but it won't be like that when the points count. The coaches know that and take it into consideration when evaluating players but as fans we have to be careful overrating players NHL readiness especially those who haven't much body mass yet. That said, the Sens depth at all position for the next few years looks fantastic.

 

[HavlatMach9]

It's easy to see Chabot's offensive instincts are only surpassed by Karlsson right now. However, he might have been too weak with the puck and during battles in the d-zone. We could use him on the PP until Karlsson gets here and he could learn good D on the job.

 

[DrEasy]

How much is in here?

More praise for Lajoie from the coach, and gushing over Formenton.

Regarding Brown, I wonder if they'll give him his 9 games, mostly giving him PP minutes? We could use his skills there for sure.

 

[Senateurs]

Back from the game.

A few thoughts

We a bit of luck, Chabot could've had 3 goals but he went for the nice but unnecessary extra pass on 3 occasion. As much as I hope we don't rush this kid, he looks better than any other defensemen in camp. He saved Boro's ass a few times tonight but if he's going to stay, Phaneuf would be the perfect partner.

Borowiecki. Enough. This guy should be our 7th or 8th D. Made the mistake on the only GA. Went out of his way to hit a guy on Chabot's side and let some player break free to the net.

Brown, wow. It's hard not to get excited with a 6'5" centre with skills. Really looks like a lefthanded Spezza but with a bit more jam. This guy is our future #1C and the organization has to make sure he develops properly. There is no point in playing him on a 3rd or 4th line. Let's not Lazar this one. He should play 2 or 3 of the next games, give him a couple of regular season game then send him down to dominate the OHL.

Oduya and Ceci really looked good together. I would rather have these two as our 3rd pair than Boro-Wideman.

I kept an eye on Vandevelve and Randell since one of them could end up as our 13th forward. Up to this point, I thought Randell had the advantage but Vandevelve really showed that he could be useful on the PK tonight. It's a hard choice between these two.

Formenton. Man this guy is fast. Hopefully he can learn how to score or he'll end up like other fast players who have 3 breakways per game but can't score.

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

Excited to see Lajoie, Chabot, Brown, Formenton and Chlapik again.

Lol the poster above me named 4 of the 5.

Wow did i leave impressed. I know its just against MTL b-team but it also has happened past few games too.

Lajoie was terrific. The guy knows damn well how to man a PP beautifully and has spectacular pose and positioning. Chabot, Brown, Formenton and Chlapik played like top prospects, with Chabot and Brown solidifying elite prospect glimpses.

Combine that with Jaros' play and jeeez looking super bright.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

We should have taken McAvoy though.

lol I love how but after a couple years I never junior some guys say they don't really like brown (I was one) and people are like "yo how can you pass judgement so early! ". But then after two decent pre season games those same people are like "yo he looks so good and is so much better than anyone else drafted near him"

Both sides guilty of the same crime.

Brown looks good though

 

[Burrowsaurus]

Brights from tonight for me. Brown chlapik chabot lajoie.














Even ceci. Although he still does that quintuple clutch with the puck at the point in the offensive zone. (No this is not because he plays against top comp)

 

[Gil Gunderson]

We should have taken McAvoy though.

I mean, I'm liking what I see from Brown, but you imagine the potential of this d-corps with McAvoy. We'd potentially have a d-corps only rivaled by Nashville.

Obviously watching Brown makes me feel better. Gagne over Carlo hurts a lot more, but hindsight is 20/20.