Prospect Info: Pre WJC Discussion

[FLHabs]

The Russian goalie was very good although it's not like he was tested that much with great chances as it was kind of a boring game. Undrafted forward Nikita Rozhkov scored a nice game winning goal.






I just finished watching the game, he was physical and cleared the crease well. He was good on the PK as well. He took a penalty with less then a minute to go in a 2-1 game that made things interesting. Wasn't a bad penalty per say as it looked like he just got tangled up with the player in the crease and he went down. The puck wasn't anywhere near either player, so I thought the call was a little weak.

His skating is just a treat to watch, what mobility he has out there which is why he's easily going to be an NHLer as long he wants to as the kid is made for the NHL.

The question I continue to have is the offensive upside as I just don't see high upside there. That's ok, he's still going to play in the NHL likely for many years but I just don't know how good his offensive game is since I don't get much chance to see it in the KHL where I've seen a good bit of him but may have to wait till he comes over to get a better feel for what is his upside with the puck.

If he ends up not developing a 1st pairing offensive game, I definitely see him as a second pairing shutdown dman. He might not score a lot of points, but he moves the puck well and has a pretty good first pass. A second pairing of Romanov - Fleury would be a pain to play against.

 

[montreal]

Tomorrow at 10:30 am est, Norlinder vs Romanov, I'll post the free stream around game time.

 

[montreal]

Norlinder (#6) vs Romanov (#26 wears an A as well)

 

[montreal]

Not the best games for either, Romanov got caught out of position and there was a turnover and he just missed knocking the puck off while diving but the Swedish player scored. He also had one other mistake where he got deked on. He did have a nice pass on a 2 on 1 and had a couple nice plays in his own end just wasn't as good as Friday.

Norlinder got caught trying to rush the puck out of his zone but turned the puck over which later led to a goal. He didn't play a ton like Romanov who's legs are likely wondering what's going on after playing 10-12 mins a game most of the time to back to back near 22 and over 23 mins.

Still think it's going to be very hard for Norlinder to crack this roster unless one of the NHL teams opts to keep their player. I'm looking at you Hawks.

 

[Adam Michaels]

Russia with a 5-2 win on Czech Republic. Romanov with an assist.

 

[montreal]

You can watch any of the games on replay on this channel,

LeijonatTV

 

[montreal]

CIBC Canada/Russia Series

McShane #16

 

[montreal]

I didn't watch too much of the game last night but McShane wasn't very noticeable although neither were Houde or Hillis. I'd say Hillis looked the best of the 3.

 

[montreal]

Fonstad will wear #42 tonight.

Fonstad's on the LW. Russia takes a 1-0 lead.

 

[montreal]

Over the next month, if Poehling starts to play better in Laval and Kotka continues to struggle, should the Habs loan him to the WJC's and call up either Poehling or someone else like Belzile or Vejdemo?

 

[montreal]

If Hillis keeps up his production, does he get invited to the winter camp for Team Canada?

 

[26Mats]

what's hurt Hillis is his consistency, in 9 games he has 27 freaking points. That's ****ing insane. In the other 10 games he has 3 pts. Granted he's having a great season with a 1.58 ppg which is just sick in it's own right as it's right there with Suzuki's last year but he had the benefit of being traded as he was at a 1.59 overall but a 1.5 with OS and a 1.69 with the Storm. Now that his team is in 1st place and are the hottest team in the OHL right now, I'm guessing he won't be traded any time soon. I wonder what happened there as the game I saw vs the Soo the Storm looked like **** and now they just rattled off 9 in row.

do you think he'll make the world junior team?

 

[montreal]

do you think he'll make the world junior team?

i hope he gets invited to the winter camp, we'll have to see who's there or not as of course it's always the toughest or one of the toughest teams to make.

 

[calder candidate]

Over the next month, if Poehling starts to play better in Laval and Kotka continues to struggle, should the Habs loan him to the WJC's and call up either Poehling or someone else like Belzile or Vejdemo?

The WJC pretty intense it would be a good experience and great confidence boost, playing vs. the world best player of is age groupe facing pressure situation it is a adequate competition level for him to continue is progression.

 

[Goldenhands]

Over the next month, if Poehling starts to play better in Laval and Kotka continues to struggle, should the Habs loan him to the WJC's and call up either Poehling or someone else like Belzile or Vejdemo?

With the Drouin injury, I expect the ship to sink, so yeah, I would loan KK to team Finland for sure, even if Poehling doesnt look ready by then, you still have Vejdemo and McCarron that could get called up...

 

[Hfbsux]

Over the next month, if Poehling starts to play better in Laval and Kotka continues to struggle, should the Habs loan him to the WJC's and call up either Poehling or someone else like Belzile or Vejdemo?

It would be great for KK's confidence. He had a good game last night, but him dominating and getting his scoring touch back against younger competition could do wonders for him and the organization.

Since he's only 19 and had a good 18yo season, you don't want to make it sound like a demotion. I'd probably make sure he knows he'd get his spot back in the lineup after the tournament. This way, he'd perform better at the tournament with less in his mind.

 

[WeThreeKings]

NHL players loaned to WJC have typically been bad. They come with expectations to dominate and if it doesn't happen in a short tournament..

AHL or NHL with PP time. That's the only option for me with KK re: his confidence.

 

[Hfbsux]

NHL players loaned to WJC have typically been bad. They come with expectations to dominate and if it doesn't happen in a short tournament..

AHL or NHL with PP time. That's the only option for me with KK re: his confidence.

I'd be surprised if he'd do bad. Not a whole lot of players loaned to WJC had a full NHL season under their belt. But the risk of him not doing well in a short tournament would be bad on his confidence indeed.

 

[covfefe]

I’d love to see Kotka at the WJC’s if things continue to go the way they have been.

Unfortunately, I don’t really see that one being in MB’s playbook. Also doubt how badly they want him flying to the Czech Rep. to risk re-injury against a bunch of kids flying around at peak capacity on every shift.

 

[montreal]

I’d love to see Kotka at the WJC’s if things continue to go the way they have been.

Unfortunately, I don’t really see that one being in MB’s playbook. Also doubt how badly they want him flying to the Czech Rep. to risk re-injury against a bunch of kids flying around at peak capacity on every shift.

MB let Mete go to the WJC's so it's in his play book, I would think it would come down to how Kotka is playing and how important they think he is the lineup.