Player Discussion Sami Niku and 7D or not?

[MilesNewton]

West coast trip do the Habs go with 7 D or not?

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[Belial]

West coast trip do the Habs go with 7 D or not?

After tonight's game, there's no chance Niku is not in the starting lineup next game.

 

[26Mats]

After tonight's game, there's no chance Niku is not in the starting lineup next game.

I find Wideman over complicates things sometimes when he gets the puck. He's got to move it to the forwards quicker.

Hopefully Niku can surpass both Kulak and Wideman on the depth chart. But he will have to show consistentcy.

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

West coast trip do the Habs go with 7 D or not?

Why would they?

 

[Belial]

I find Wideman over complicates things sometimes when he gets the puck. He's got to move it to the forwards quicker.

Hopefully Niku can surpass both Kulak and Wideman on the depth chart. But he will have to show consistentcy.

It's weird I thought Wideman was doing a decent job so far.

It's our top guys that didn't deliver at their abilities.

I mean Petry is underperforming mightly.

We keep switching those 5-6 guys but the problem is that the so-called top 4 are not really doing the job either.

It looked better tonight so let's hope they woke up.

 

[26Mats]

It's weird I thought Wideman was doing a decent job so far.

It's our top guys that didn't deliver at their abilities.

I mean Petry is underperforming mightly.

We keep switching those 5-6 guys but the problem is that the so-called top 4 is not really doing the job either.

It looked better tonight so let's hope they woke up.

what were the pairs tonight?

I saw the highlights: nice snipes by Hoffman, Chiarot, and Perreault. Nice nifty passes by toffoli and Drouin. Hopefully they've all woken up at least.

 

[Belial]

what were the pairs tonight?

I saw the highlights: nice snipes by Hoffman, Chiarot, and Perreault. Nice nifty passes by toffoli and Drouin. Hopefully they've all woken up at least.

Chiarot-Petry
Romanov-Savard
Niku-Kulak

 

[417]

The play he made on the 3rd goal is why he needs to be in the lineup.

Jumped in as the 4th man and set up Dvorak for his goal.

 

[Belial]

The play he made on the 3rd goal is why he needs to be in the lineup.

Jumped in as the 4th man and set up Dvorak for his goal.

Who's out when Edmundson is ready?

 

[Le Tricolore]

Who's out when Edmundson is ready?

I assume it'd be Wideman / Niku / Kulak most nights, though I don't know if that's the right move.

 

[TT1]

I dunno, Niku makes weird plays

 

[Belial]

I dunno, Niku makes weird plays

Weird plays resulting in goals for? We'll take it...

 

[Kairi Zaide]

It's weird I thought Wideman was doing a decent job so far.

It's our top guys that didn't deliver at their abilities.

I mean Petry is underperforming mightly.

We keep switching those 5-6 guys but the problem is that the so-called top 4 are not really doing the job either.

It looked better tonight so let's hope they woke up.

Honestly agreed. Kulak and whoever of Wideman and Niku was playing have been the least of our worries on D so far this season. Kulak has been low-key excellent in his role, but he can't be expected to continue playing like this.

 

[Belial]

Honestly agreed. Kulak and whoever of Wideman and Niku was playing have been the least of our worries on D so far this season. Kulak has been low-key excellent in his role, but he can't be expected to continue playing like this.

I think the reason guys like Kulak and other Kulak clones have a hard time establishing themselves is that they can't defend in their own zone when the game gets tough.

Guys like Chiarot and Edmundson can kill plays just because they can impose themselves physically.

Kulak and his friends are somewhat on the line of puck movers and shutdown D's.

 

[Scintillating10]

How did Niku and Perrault look so bad in Winnipeg?

Maybe it wasn't Chiarot?

 

[domiwroze]

It's weird I thought Wideman was doing a decent job so far.

It's our top guys that didn't deliver at their abilities.

Strongly disagree. He was putrid in our zone and couldn't make a freaking decent pass to the winger for a quick transition which should be his strong suit. The other ''talent'' that this guy offers is PP quarterback which was ... ye.. 0% after 13 occasions, also on our PP1. ( Or 1/19 PP after the Hurricanes )
Frequently mishandles the puck which made the other teams play a really aggressive PK when he's on the ice since the puck will either end in Wideman's teammates feet or out of the zone.

in my honest opinion, he's our 8th defenseman. Which isn't a bad thing, unless you rely on him to freaking quarterback your first pp wave.

If our whole squad wasn't this bad the first 5 games, you would clearly see how he is nowhere near a solution but a quick band-aid.

As for Niku ; So happy that in his first game he was better than any 5 games of Wideman's.
The puck was moving fast and it was blatant the difference it made with our winger been able to exit with speed instead of having the puck stuck in their feet on the blue line.

 

[Belial]

Strongly disagree. He was putrid in our zone and couldn't make a freaking decent pass to the winger for a quick transition which should be his strong suit. The other ''talent'' that this guy offers is PP quarterback which was ... ye.. 0% after 13 occasions, also on our PP1.
Frequently mishandles the puck which made the other teams play a really aggressive PK when he's on the ice since the puck will either end in Wideman's teammates feet or out of the zone.

in my honest opinion, he's our 8th defenseman. Which isn't a bad thing, unless you rely on him to freaking quarterback your first pp wave.

If our whole squad wasn't this bad the first 5 games, you would clearly see how he is nowhere near a solution but a quick band-aid.


As for Niku ; So happy that in his first game he was better than any 5 games of Wideman's.
The puck was moving fast and it was blatant the difference it made with our winger been able to exit with speed instead of having the puck stuck in their feet on the blue line.

I respect your opinion but I disagree. I don't think Wideman was extremely bad as you try to portray it.

Romanov was worse than him, to be honest.

 

[Dutronc]

Good surprise by the man with the glorious hair!

 

[BLONG7]

Good surprise by the man with the glorious hair!

LOL
The hair has to go but the Dman himself can stay.
The kid has seized the opportunity. Let's see if he can continue on......always read great things about this kid, the Peg fans loved the guy, but he just couldn't crack their lineup....
Chairot
Perrault
Niku
The Jets pipeline....
Hopefully Kyle Connor is on his way to the habs too...

 

[dcyhabs]

Whoever ends up playing easier minutes looks good, everyone else looks bad. The habs have 4 D who need to be sheltered, 4 bottom pairing guys. All 4 can look good if they play a few easy minutes, none of them can play a lot of minutes against good lines without being exposed. Romanov may improve, and Niku may be a third higher pairing D or a 5th 3rd pairing D.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

How did Niku and Perrault look so bad in Winnipeg?

Maybe it wasn't Chiarot?

Perreault wasn't bad in Winnipeg for most of his career there.

The Jets also based their view on Niku over more than 1 single game, so...

 

[Tyson]

Niku has more upside than Wideman who is as good as he will ever be at 31 y/o.
Niku can get better.

 

[ahmedou]

Any puck mover in this team makes himself look like a hall of famer. This a scarcity effect. We're all bananas when there's a player with this attribute here.

 

[Channelcat]

How did Niku and Perrault look so bad in Winnipeg?

Maybe it wasn't Chiarot?

? They were good. Particularly Perrault. When healthy he had stretches where he was among their most effective players. Niku was AHLs top dman in Wpg and never got a shot with the big club as Maurice didn't like him.

 

[1909]

LOL
The hair has to go but the Dman himself can stay.
The kid has seized the opportunity. Let's see if he can continue on......always read great things about this kid, the Peg fans loved the guy, but he just couldn't crack their lineup....
Chairot
Perrault
Niku
The Jets pipeline....
Hopefully Kyle Connor is on his way to the habs too...

You forgot Armia.