2020-2021 Laval Rocket

[Pompeius Magnus]

I feel like Weal would pull the Peca/Varone/Barber special though.

He's been in the NHL full time for a good 4 years now so he obviously wouldn't be all that happy about it. It sure would beat having him on the big team though He has to go through wavers but he's making too much money to be interesting for another team so there wouldn't be much of a risk there.

 

[Gyfu]

agreed though they could get Weal to give us a little cap space, put one of Dauphin, Blandisi, Belzile, in the NHL in place of Weal,

Weal Blandisi Ylonen
Poehling Hillis Belzile
Veilleux Vejdemo Alain
Lucchini Lynch/Vigneault Khisamutdinov/Baddock
Pezzetta Hawel

ECHL - Teadale, RHP, Aquin, Gates, Verbeek

Ouellet Brook
Olofsson Fleury
Leskinen Schueneman
Halbert

ECHL - Paquette-Bisson

Primeau
Lindgren
McNiven
Demchenko

Belzile seems like a guy that could be the perfect 13/14th forward, whether he plays or not, he knows his place (from what i can read from interviews and background) Could be a very good "big bro" to some kids, he's worked hard to get where he's at, might be his year for an "extra" forward spot, deserves it, the salary as well, hard worker, seems like he would be an awesome teammate for a lot of players and a great example of perseverance

 

[Treb]

Belzile seems like a guy that could be the perfect 13/14th forward, whether he plays or not, he knows his place (from what i can read from interviews...) Could be a very good "big bro" to some kids, he's worked hard to get where he's at, might be his year for an "extra" forward spot, deserves it, the salary as well, hard worker, seems like he would be an awesome teammate for a lot of players

Laval can't afford to shit the bed again.

1st year they had Sly doing his shitty thing.
2nd year they got f***ed by vet Froese, Chaput, Agostino and Ouellet playing 61% a season or less. Especially Agostino playing only 12 games and Chaput 24 games. Froese in 46 games was 4th scorer on te team.
3rd year they were fighting for a PO spot, but that's not good enough. Waited too long to get rid of rotten apples (Peca/Barber/Varone/Kinkaid) and played 1a/1b too long with Primeau/Lindgren. Belzile and Teasdale injuries also hurt.

It's starting to get heavy on the fans. They need a PO team and I'm not even sure we have one with Belzile on. They need to add talent, not subtract it.

I can see Belzile making it as a spare forward, just not this year.

 

[Gyfu]

Laval can't afford to shit the bed again.

1st year they had Sly doing his shitty thing.
2nd year they got f***ed by vet Froese, Chaput, Agostino and Ouellet playing 61% a season or less. Especially Agostino playing only 12 games and Chaput 24 games. Froese in 46 games was 4th scorer on te team.
3rd year they were fighting for a PO spot, but that's not good enough. Waited too long to get rid of rotten apples (Peca/Barber/Varone/Kinkaid) and played 1a/1b too long with Primeau/Lindgren. Belzile and Teasdale injuries also hurt.

It's starting to get heavy on the fans. They need a PO team and I'm not even sure we have one with Belzile on. They need to add talent, not subtract it.

I can see Belzile making it as a spare forward, just not this year.

Fair point hard to argue...

 

[Treb]

Fair point hard to argue...

Yeah, having Laval and soon Trois-Rivieres as affiliates is a tremendous opportunity to bolster both the farm system and the local boy farm system. Problem is that to have those you need winning teams. They don't have 24 cups to support the dead weight.

Laval average attendance:
https://www.hockeydb.com/nhl-attendance/att_graph.php?tmi=12222
2017-2018 6691
2018-2019 5578
2019-2020 6217

They have not been able to follow the 1st season hype. They were trending better this year because the team was as well, but if the team goes out of PO again in 20-21, it might drop down further.

 

[Gyfu]

Yeah, having Laval and soon Trois-Rivieres as affiliates is a tremendous opportunity to bolster both the farm system and the local boy farm system. Problem is that to have those you need winning teams. They don't have 24 cups to support the dead weight.

Laval average attendance:
Laval Rocket yearly attendance at hockeydb.com
2017-2018 6691
2018-2019 5578
2019-2020 6217

They have not been able to follow the 1st season hype. They were trending better this year because the team was as well, but if the team goes out of PO again in 20-21, it might drop down further.

Thing is, i agree with you but the covid thingy that's been going on for almost a year now kinda changes some of the regular/normal way to look at things a little bit, I'd actually put Weal in laval and Belz in mtl, weal would be one of the best ahl players while belzile gets his payday...

 

[Treb]

Thing is, i agree with you but the covid thingy that's been going on for almost a year now kinda changes some of the regular/normal way to look at things a little bit, I'd actually put Weal in laval and Belz in mtl, weal would be one of the best ahl players while belzile gets his payday...

I'm scared Weal pulls a Peca though. Depends on how Bouchard feels about it I guess as it would save 300k-ish on the cap.

 

[Gravity]

Does Poehling continue as a C in Laval? I personally hope he does and becomes the 3C we need.

 

[Treb]

Does Poehling continue as a C in Laval? I personally hope he does and becomes the 3C we need.

Maybe. He has to beat Blandisi, Dauphin, Hillis, Vigneault, Lynch and Vejdemo. My personal opinion is that he starts on the wings of the 2nd or 3rd line.

 

[Archijerej]

Does Poehling continue as a C in Laval? I personally hope he does and becomes the 3C we need.

I think it's pretty much a given they will try to develop him at center.

When Laval is healthy, both Dauphin and Vejdemo usually play wing.

 

[Archijerej]

I'm scared Weal pulls a Peca though. Depends on how Bouchard feels about it I guess as it would save 300k-ish on the cap.

It's a risk, but everything I've read about Weal paints a picture of a guy with excellent work ethic.

 

[montreal]

Belzile seems like a guy that could be the perfect 13/14th forward, whether he plays or not, he knows his place (from what i can read from interviews and background) Could be a very good "big bro" to some kids, he's worked hard to get where he's at, might be his year for an "extra" forward spot, deserves it, the salary as well, hard worker, seems like he would be an awesome teammate for a lot of players and a great example of perseverance

well someone is going to get that role, could be Dauphin, could be Blandisi, etc.. there's no way the lineup stays as it as as the Habs must do something to free up cap space but we'll have to wait and see.

Does Poehling continue as a C in Laval? I personally hope he does and becomes the 3C we need.

I don't know, would have been great if someone had asked Julien or MB in his last presser. I could see them putting him on the wing to take pressure off him, just let him find his game first and worry about position later. But we also need to see who's on Laval's roster in terms of centers.

 

[Schwang]

Maybe. He has to beat Blandisi, Dauphin, Hillis, Vigneault, Lynch and Vejdemo. My personal opinion is that he starts on the wings of the 2nd or 3rd line.

Poehling needs a vet to work with him. I watched most Laval games last year and he really didn't show much at all. I was very disappointed. He's going to take time for sure.

 

[HABitual Fan]

NHL schedule will play a role as well, if Canadian division with long home stands to cut travel costs and risk. Need for extra NHL bodies will be negated and save cap room.

 

[Adam Michaels]

NHL schedule will play a role as well, if Canadian division with long home stands to cut travel costs and risk. Need for extra NHL bodies will be negated and save cap room.

There is also a rumor that Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver will also relocate their AHL teams to Canada if the NHL goes with an all Canadian Division. I'm sure they're looking into it. Because as you said, it will make calling a player up or sending one down much easier.

Both Calgary and Edmonton have their AHL teams in California (Stockton Heat and Bakersfield Condors, respectively) and Vancouver have theirs in New York (Utica Comets).

Montreal (Laval Rocket), Ottawa (Belleville Senators), Toronto (Toronto Marlies), and Winnipeg (Manitoba Moose) already have their AHL franchises in Canada.

 

[Schwang]

There is also a rumor that Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver will also relocate their AHL teams to Canada if the NHL goes with an all Canadian Division. I'm sure they're looking into it. Because as you said, it will make calling a player up or sending one down much easier.

Both Calgary and Edmonton have their AHL teams in California (Stockton Heat and Bakersfield Condors, respectively) and Vancouver have theirs in New York (Utica Comets).

Montreal (Laval Rocket), Ottawa (Belleville Senators), Toronto (Toronto Marlies), and Winnipeg (Manitoba Moose) already have their AHL franchises in Canada.

I've always wondered why the hell Vancouver would have an ahl team all the way across the country?! That must be brutal on their call ups. Putting the team on the west coast somewhere makes a lot more sense.

 

[Habs Halifax]

moving to the wing seems like a good idea, let him keep it simple and try to find his game in Laval.

Who are the projected centers in Laval next year with Evans in the NHL? Seems to be wide open. They might need Poehling to play center?

 

[montreal]

Who are the projected centers in Laval next year with Evans in the NHL? Seems to be wide open. They might need Poehling to play center?

depends on the roster but they have a bunch of guys that can play either center or wing.

 

[26Mats]

moving to the wing seems like a good idea, let him keep it simple and try to find his game in Laval.

I really hope that happens. But it looks like Evan's will be in Montreal. Who plays center?

Hillis, Dauphin, plus who else?

 

[montreal]

I really hope that happens. But it looks like Evan's will be in Montreal. Who plays center?

Hillis, Dauphin, plus who else?

in addition to Poehling, all the below have played center at some point I believe,

Hillis
Dauphin
Blandisi
Lynch
Vigneault
Belzile
Lucchini
Pezzetta
Brent Gates
Alain
Verbeek
Baddock
Khisamutdinov
Hawel

but we need to know the roster, there's no way the current Habs roster stands, so what happens, does Weal come down or is someone traded? Either way there are tons of options for Bouchard currently.

 

[Scriptor]

in addition to Poehling, all the below have played center at some point I believe,

Hillis
Dauphin
Blandisi
Lynch
Vigneault
Belzile
Lucchini
Pezzetta
Brent Gates
Alain
Verbeek
Baddock
Khisamutdinov
Hawel

but we need to know the roster, there's no way the current Habs roster stands, so what happens, does Weal come down or is someone traded? Either way there are tons of options for Bouchard currently.

Okay. Now highlight the good ones to see how many options are more than middling?

 

[montreal]

Okay. Now highlight the good ones to see how many options are more than middling?

they easily have 5 or 6 guys depending on who makes the Habs, what happens to Weal, etc..

you could have

Weal
Hills or Blandisi
Vejdemo
Lynch or Vigneault

 

[Habs Halifax]

depends on the roster but they have a bunch of guys that can play either center or wing.

Yeah, there are clearly a bunch that can play both wing and center but wondering who has the inside track... Curious to see how it plays out

 

[Treb]

Okay. Now highlight the good ones to see how many options are more than middling?

Legit top 6:
Dauphin
Blandisi

Potential top 6:
Hillis
Poehling

Middle 6:
Vejdemo
Vigneault

Bottom 6:
Lynch

Depth:
Verbeek
Pezzetta

Can fill in but better at wing:
Belzile
Alain

I don't know:
Baddock
Khisamutdinov
Lucchini
Brent Gates
Hawel

 

[montreal]

Legit top 6:
Dauphin
Blandisi

Potential top 6:
Hillis
Poehling

Middle 6:
Vigneault

Bottom 6:
Lynch

Depth:
Verbeek
Pezzetta

Can fill in but better at wing:
Belzile
Alain

I don't know:
Baddock
Khisamutdinov
Lucchini
Brent Gates
Hawel

I would think Vejdemo would be the 3rd line center with Lynch and Vigneault fighting it out for the 4th line role.

So just a question of who the top 2 centers will though, Weal if he's sent down for cap reasons should be one I would think.