Bourne Endeavor
Registered User
Since we don't have any Habs gif yet. We'll have to settle for some of the best from the Canucks. Kassian is quite a character.
Zack Kassian (UPD: 12/16: clears waivers, assigned to St. John's)
- Thread starter Bourne Endeavor
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I watch a lot of Vancouver games, I've always been a fan of Kassian.
I would love to see him given a chance to play top 6 minutes, but unfrotunately with the current make up of the line up both 2nd an 1st line RW don't make a whole lot of sense for him.
Either way, hard to argue about that trade, and hopefully he can get past his back issues which at times sounded like they might even derail his career.
I would love to see him given a chance to play top 6 minutes, but unfrotunately with the current make up of the line up both 2nd an 1st line RW don't make a whole lot of sense for him.
Either way, hard to argue about that trade, and hopefully he can get past his back issues which at times sounded like they might even derail his career.
The lines get shuffled around a lot. I could see the following combinations tried out:
Pacioretty Desharnais Kassian
Galchenyuk Plekanec Kassian
Bergevillain
Registered User
Phil Parent
Sorel, 'fant d'chienne!
I just realised something.
Crazy is back in town! This guy will replace Ryan "I LOVE IT, I ****ING LOVE IT!" White.
Crazy is back in town! This guy will replace Ryan "I LOVE IT, I ****ING LOVE IT!" White.
Dagistitsyn
Registered User
Yeah, that first line just doesn't really work that well because Kassian is really more of a playmaker than a scorer.
And the 2nd line is just as silly as the Galchenyuk-Plekx-Gallagher line because it robs Plekanec of the opportunity to be this teams' go to shut down center.
Bourne Endeavor
Registered User
Just to clear up a lot of disingenuous nonsense for people unfamiliar with Kassian.
He washed through three Canucks coaches
Acquired as a raw rookie from Buffalo, Alain Vigneault had no spot to put him on what was then a juggernaut Canucks team. He really only started to develop near the very end of AV's tenure. Injuries have been far more a factor, as has complete misuse by Willie Desjardin.
He's played with the Sedins
Barely. Kassian's only lengthily stint with the Sedins came in 2014, when the season was essentially over. He put up 10 points in as many games.
He's a powerforward
False. While Kassian has the size and physicality to be a prototypical powerforward, he's more akin to skill oriented player who simply uses his size to get around. He is not Lucic, and so long as we do not force him into a grinder role, he will perform better. Imagine if Gallagher was big and imposing. That's Kassian. At least in terms of what he can do.
Confidence and consistency have always been the two qualities lacking for Kassian. He's incredibly hard on himself, which gets compounded if his efforts aren't getting noticed. In essence, he's his own worst enemy. Slotting him on the bottom six would be a mistake. As much as it may surprise, I think he will perform well if we do open using Pacioretty/Desharnais/Kassian.
He washed through three Canucks coaches
Acquired as a raw rookie from Buffalo, Alain Vigneault had no spot to put him on what was then a juggernaut Canucks team. He really only started to develop near the very end of AV's tenure. Injuries have been far more a factor, as has complete misuse by Willie Desjardin.
He's played with the Sedins
Barely. Kassian's only lengthily stint with the Sedins came in 2014, when the season was essentially over. He put up 10 points in as many games.
He's a powerforward
False. While Kassian has the size and physicality to be a prototypical powerforward, he's more akin to skill oriented player who simply uses his size to get around. He is not Lucic, and so long as we do not force him into a grinder role, he will perform better. Imagine if Gallagher was big and imposing. That's Kassian. At least in terms of what he can do.
Confidence and consistency have always been the two qualities lacking for Kassian. He's incredibly hard on himself, which gets compounded if his efforts aren't getting noticed. In essence, he's his own worst enemy. Slotting him on the bottom six would be a mistake. As much as it may surprise, I think he will perform well if we do open using Pacioretty/Desharnais/Kassian.
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From what I heard of NHL people, part of the problem with Kassian is they saw him as a Lucic(early years) type, when his game is more of a skill game like Kreider.
I wouldn't pencil him into the top 6 yet but his goals/60 are good, I would try and use him as a skill guy more than a banger/grinder. Obviously if you look at youtube he can hit and fight, but his game is better when he plays more finesse and less running around.
At the end of the day the Habs added cap space and a 5th so if things really go sideways, they didn't lose a ton. I liked Prust but at 2.5 mil he was expensive. His dumb penality to Watson, still irks me.
I wouldn't pencil him into the top 6 yet but his goals/60 are good, I would try and use him as a skill guy more than a banger/grinder. Obviously if you look at youtube he can hit and fight, but his game is better when he plays more finesse and less running around.
At the end of the day the Habs added cap space and a 5th so if things really go sideways, they didn't lose a ton. I liked Prust but at 2.5 mil he was expensive. His dumb penality to Watson, still irks me.
Bourne Endeavor
Registered User
You will be disappointed then. Kassian needs to be vaulted to a position where he can succeed right from the word go. Putting him in a banger role is exactly what Vancouver kept trying to do, which shot any confidence he had. Our best chance of seeing him live up to his potential are to give put him in the top six and leave him there for a while.
I hadn't thought of Kreider, but that's actually a damn good comparison. Look at New York.
Just because he's more a "playmaker" than a "sniper" doesn't mean that the line wouldn't gel. Patches was seen more as a playmaker before playing with DD in the AHL (and his point totals reflected that). Kassian is still a guy trying to find himself at the NHL level. I think playing with DD and Patches could be a good move for him as he has a lot of the same tools as Cole and he could get some good mentoring from both of them as to how to use these tools. Also, he sucks at breakouts and playing with DD would maximize his offensive zone deployment. Now, I know most people hate the though of DD playing one more season with Pacioretty, but you know, I don't think it would be such a bad thing for Kassian to play with 2 guys that have established identities as offensive players at the NHL level. Replacing DD with Galchenyuk here also makes sense, but then you've got 2 guys on the same line trying to take the next step in their career and I feel like that's risky proposition (i.e. they both make a big step and it's a big win for the team or they both crumble under the pressure, regress and it's a big loss for the team).
Also, Eller should probably be able to take the brunt of the shutdown "opportunities" by now.
Anyways, it's fun to talk line combos, but we'll probably see a **** ton of combos next year and argue which of them are effective or not while going on very little sample sizes
I think if people can wrap their heads around this thought and not expect him to be something he's not simply because of his size, than he's going to pleasantly surprise a lot of people.
Based on Bergevin's comments at his press conference right now, I get the feeling they as an organization realize this and won't demand that he acts as a battering ram every shift.
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You will be disappointed then. Kassian needs to be vaulted to a position where he can succeed right from the word go. Putting him in a banger role is exactly what Vancouver kept trying to do, which shot any confidence he had. Our best chance of seeing him live up to his potential are to give put him in the top six and leave him there for a while.
I hadn't thought of Kreider, but that's actually a damn good comparison. Look at New York.
yup.
cross the fingers that MT was paying attention in watching the Bolts young players thrive when deployed properly...
if we want to dream of Kassian making a bertuzzi-esque breakthrough, he'll need to get the same kind of opportunity big Bert did when he got to Vancouver... PP time, high quality linemates, freedom to play hockey vs being forced into a grinder role.
montreal
Go Habs Go
The Nightman
Plateaued User
- Aug 13, 2006
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Quote from Alex Burrow in the Journal de Montreal
Article: http://www.journaldemontreal.com/2015/07/01/zack-kassian-echange-au-canadien
Rough translation:
Any chance MT gives him some freedom out there lol?
Article: http://www.journaldemontreal.com/2015/07/01/zack-kassian-echange-au-canadien
Rough translation:
Any chance MT gives him some freedom out there lol?
Yeah he moves really well on the ice. He seems to surprise the opposition sometimes with it.
Phil Parent
Sorel, 'fant d'chienne!
Keep your eye on Higgins next to him. It gets better!
He's like "Ugh, I'm alone in this box with him for 2 minutes..."
montreal
Go Habs Go
Glad to see you guys recreating the thread here in the habs board.
Agree with the first point, except AV randomly took Kassian off the Sedin line to get Burrows going. Worked well for alex, not ao much for Zack. Also, Tortorella seemed to be the coach out of the three to work the best with Kass.
Second point is somewhat false. In 2014 Kassian spent almost all of his time with Booth and Richardson... Looked great too, they were the Canucks best line many nights. He played with the Sedins at the beginning of 2013 (went on a tear and got 5 of his 7 goals at that time) and in 2015 this year before getting injured. Both times he looked solid.
The third point I agree with. Kassian confuses the hell out of you. Some nights he looks like a Sedin, some nights Lucic, some nights Tanner Glass etc...
However when playing at his best he is hitting and making plays down low. He's not really a player that generates chances from the rush like Kreider or a purely physical beast like Lucic but someone who protects the puck down low and goes from there.
If you want to see how Kassian looks when at his best, look up Kassian's chicago wolves highlights. That's basically what you get when Kassian is playing well.
I agree with alot of this but there are some false parts.
Agree with the first point, except AV randomly took Kassian off the Sedin line to get Burrows going. Worked well for alex, not ao much for Zack. Also, Tortorella seemed to be the coach out of the three to work the best with Kass.
Second point is somewhat false. In 2014 Kassian spent almost all of his time with Booth and Richardson... Looked great too, they were the Canucks best line many nights. He played with the Sedins at the beginning of 2013 (went on a tear and got 5 of his 7 goals at that time) and in 2015 this year before getting injured. Both times he looked solid.
The third point I agree with. Kassian confuses the hell out of you. Some nights he looks like a Sedin, some nights Lucic, some nights Tanner Glass etc...
However when playing at his best he is hitting and making plays down low. He's not really a player that generates chances from the rush like Kreider or a purely physical beast like Lucic but someone who protects the puck down low and goes from there.
If you want to see how Kassian looks when at his best, look up Kassian's chicago wolves highlights. That's basically what you get when Kassian is playing well.
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I think he needs to be kept in check to be at his most effective, that's why he worked so well with Torts, when I look at him I see a skilled player who still plays like a big kid (gets distracted etc), as he gets more mature his game will get better.
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