2018-19 Laval Rocket & ECHL Thread

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

Bye Lindgren. Wish you the best in your next adventure.

Not traded, but should be.

 

[Adam Michaels]

Laval officially jumps ahead of Cleveland, who still has two games in hand. They also move ahead of Binghamton, who lost tonight against Utica. Rocket and Devils are tied in points, but Laval has three games in hand.

Also, Laval is now 1 point behind a playoff spot. Although Toronto have two games in hand over Laval.

 

[montreal]

easily one of the best games McNiven has had in the AHL to date, I don't think they did him any favors last year by keeping him on the bench so much, 23 games isn't that bad but for a 20 year old rookie I'd much rather see him play a lot vs so a little and not consistently. That said in about half the games from last year he's 1 win away from last year's totals while putting up much better gaa.

Big game tomorrow as well as you want them to stay in the playoff race.

 

[Legend123]

Let's go, Rocket! We need a place to stack up out prospects once their season is over.
Poehling, Brook, Suzuki, Primeau, Ylonen(?), and Kotkaniemi as well if Rocket still alive and Habs are out.

 

[Zusammenhalt]

I just came back from Place Bell, here are my thoughts from tonight's win against the Senators:

Audette is back to playing hockey. Bouchard completely turned his game around. I was harsh on Audette earlier this season and I didn't understand at all why Bouchard kept him in the line-up. Patience paid off. Tonight, everything looked easy offensively for him. He looked very skilled and smart. But most of all : he talks a lot to his teammate. Quite a few times, I saw him and Belzile exchanging words about the previous play. They have developped great chemistry together. At one point, Audette made a defensive mistake that was saved by his goalie. He went to Lacouvee to thank him. Gave him a little pat on the back. Huge change of attitude. Also, he was used late in the game to protect the lead.

Evans had a big game too. He's very smart on the power play. Surprisingly, he spends a lot of minute on the PK as well. Bouchard wants to develop him and he's managing his role very well. I like it! I'm still not really sure what are Evans best assets. He controls the puck well, but is it well enough? Not sure. His shot isn't that great. He has a pretty good hockey IQ. He skates well. But nothing really stands out yet. Yet, he's still early in his professional career so he has plenty of time to develop. He's not used to the heavy schedule of the AHL and still, he looks good in January. That's positive.

Alzner is another positive for me. Not a great game for him tonight. He was beaten on the 2nd goal and didn't look good. But his attitude is a great thing for the Rocket. He's a good leader in the locker room and it shows. He's constantly talking to his teammate. He looks happy even if the situation isn't easy. His salary is not ideal but he can still play a role in this organisation.

Another standout tonight was Phelix Martineau. He's on the shorter side but he's large and he's hard to play against. Him and Waked were really annoying tonight. He's really starting to grow on me.

It wasn't Lacouvee's best game but his story is very inspiring. The guys are playing solid defensive hockey and he's bailing them out when necessary. He has a very calming presence and he keeps things simple. He also looks pretty big in front of his net.

Other good performances tonight:
-Belzile (he's always good)
-Froese : solid two way game, dangerous in the offensive zone
-Grenier : a bit slow but he uses his frame well to control the puck
-Alexandre Alain : Holy **** what a snipe on the PP. I had no idea he could shoot like that.
-Ouellet : smooth skating, great shot, smart defensive plays. He looks too good for the league.

Meh:
-Fleury, didn't really stand out
-Vejdemo : he's my guy in Laval but not his best game
-Jevpalovs : homer alert, I really love this guy. Not a great game tonight but showed some flashes

Bad / disappointing :
-Shinkaruk : his performances are so uneven
-Lernout : I really want him to succeed but he still makes too many boneheaded plays
-
​

This is an awesome report! Thank you.

Just want to make one correction in that Alzner was not on for the 2nd goal.

There was a 27 on ice but is was Alain. An easy mistake because Alzner is 27 on Montreal and with both names starting with Al.

Just trying to get it right. I thought Alzner had a great game.

 

[Adam Michaels]

 

[Adam Michaels]

There's a chance McCarron may be out the rest of the season. He's waiting for a second opinion for his upper body injury. Either way, it'll be out long term.

This sucks because he was playing great hockey for Laval so far this season.

 

[BaseballCoach]

Let's go, Rocket! We need a place to stack up out prospects once their season is over.
Poehling, Brook, Suzuki, Primeau, Ylonen(?), and Kotkaniemi as well if Rocket still alive and Habs are out.

What are the rules? I think Kotkaniemi would likely not be eligible.

 

[BaseballCoach]

Bye Lindgren. Wish you the best in your next adventure.

Not traded, but should be.

Shouldn't the Habs sign Lacouvée to an NHL entry-level contract? He would even be eligible to be sent to the ECHL for another year or so.

I don't see much downside, and we are protected against another NHL team poaching him.

 

[Mike Mike Caron]

Shouldn't the Habs sign Lacouvée to an NHL entry-level contract? He would even be eligible to be sent to the ECHL for another year or so.

I don't see much downside, and we are protected against another NHL team poaching him.

We don't desperatly need another goalie, it has only been 4 games, he's been a no-name before those four games as he was a third string ECHL goalie at the begining of the season. Not sure you just give away contract spots like that.

 

[Adam Michaels]

Shouldn't the Habs sign Lacouvée to an NHL entry-level contract? He would even be eligible to be sent to the ECHL for another year or so.

I don't see much downside, and we are protected against another NHL team poaching him.

I think an AHL contract is better.

 

[BaseballCoach]

I think an AHL contract is better.

Better than a PTO but still vulnerable to a poach. We had Fucale for Pricesake, what's wrong with having a 5th guy under contract, especially with Niemi possibly signing elsewhere next year?

 

[Adam Michaels]

Better than a PTO but still vulnerable to a poach. We had Fucale for Pricesake, what's wrong with having a 5th guy under contract, especially with Niemi possibly signing elsewhere next year?

If Habs truly want to prevent another team from poaching him, they can offer him an NHL deal IF that happens. Despite it being an AHL contract, the Habs organization still need to grant him his release to sign an NHL deal. They're better off keeping an NHL contract spot for some players with more promise to play in the NHL.

For the record, I'm not opposing an NHL contract for him. But I think there's no reason to go from a PTO straight to an NHL deal in his case.

 

[BaseballCoach]

If Habs truly want to prevent another team from poaching him, they can offer him an NHL deal IF that happens. Despite it being an AHL contract, the Habs organization still need to grant him his release to sign an NHL deal. They're better off keeping an NHL contract spot for some players with more promise to play in the NHL.

For the record, I'm not opposing an NHL contract for him. But I think there's no reason to go from a PTO straight to an NHL deal in his case.

If it's true that the team holding his AHL contract have to release him, it might be ok to start with an AHL contract.

But how does that really work? Can a player sign an NHL contract effective the following season?

 

[Adam Michaels]

What are the rules? I think Kotkaniemi would likely not be eligible.

I'm not 100% sure, but I believe that for a player to be eligible for the AHL Playoffs, they need to be on the roster by NHL Trade Deadline. For example, if they want Kotkaniemi to be eligible for the AHL Playoffs, they need to send him down and call him back up. This is what they call a Paper Transaction. He never really goes down. It's just the paperwork to make him eligible for playoffs.

 

[Adam Michaels]

If it's true that the team holding his AHL contract have to release him, it might be ok to start with an AHL contract.

But how does that really work? Can a player sign an NHL contract effective the following season?

If he is a UFA, which LaCouvee would be, he can sign whatever contract he wants.

 

[DAChampion]

I'm not 100% sure, but I believe that for a player to be eligible for the AHL Playoffs, they need to be on the roster by NHL Trade Deadline. For example, if they want Kotkaniemi to be eligible for the AHL Playoffs, they need to send him down and call him back up. This is what they call a Paper Transaction. He never really goes down. It's just the paperwork to make him eligible for playoffs.

What about CHL players?

 

[Adam Michaels]

What about CHL players?

CHL players can join once their seasons are over. Suzuki, Teasdale, and Brook, as an example can come in (like Juulsen did two seasons ago after Everett's season was over), because they're already under contract.

If they want to bring in Tyszka, Walford, Hillis, McShane, Houde, and Fonstad, they either need to sign them to a PTO/ATO or sign them to an ELC. I could see Tyszka and Walford coming for sure as they'd be eligible for Laval as of next season.

But again, I'm not 100% sure how it works.

I do believe that when it comes to NHL players, they need to be on the AHL roster before the deadline. I don't know if it counts that Mete played a few games in December. Or if they would have to "send him down" on deadline day to make him eligible for the AHL playoffs.

 

[Vachon23]

Could Audette have a recall if we got injuries ?

 

[Treb]

Could Audette have a recall if we got injuries ?

Not before Froese.

 

[Bacchus1]

So what happened to McCarron?

 

[Adam Michaels]

So what happened to McCarron?

He reportedly got hurt on New Year's Day when Laval held a practice. No news on what the injury is. But today it was reported it's an upper body injury and that they're seeking a second opinion to make sure there is a way he can be back sooner or if that second opinion says pretty much the same as the first opinion, which would most probably mean he misses the rest of the season.

 

[canadiensnation]

Daniel Audette has been on some kind of tear recently.


He's got 6 goals and 9 assists in his last 11 games. His game has really taken flight with more ice-time lately.

 

[Goldenhands]

Daniel Audette has been on some kind of tear recently.


He's got 6 goals and 9 assists in his last 11 games. His game has really taken flight with more ice-time lately.

I dont recall seeing him so fast, he is flying out there on the ice and playing with a very high pace, TBH I had written him off but if he can keep up that pace, we never know...

 

[Gabe84]

This is an awesome report! Thank you.

Just want to make one correction in that Alzner was not on for the 2nd goal.

There was a 27 on ice but is was Alain. An easy mistake because Alzner is 27 on Montreal and with both names starting with Al.

Just trying to get it right. I thought Alzner had a great game.

Senators vs. Rocket | Jan. 16, 2019
At the 0:33 mark, Alzner gets deked pretty easily. That's the play I was referring to.