Best players MTL has developed since the Patrick Roy days

[ZUKI]

Subban was absolutely awesome for Nashville and led them to the finals.

Going forward... we'll see. I thought he'd be better last year but he was also stuck in Jersey. He might be toast but he could also bounce back. He's definitely got a lot to prove going forward.

He was maybe very good , but he didn't lead them to the final . Look at the team they had then, they were full of good players. Hockey is a team sport .

That said, the idea of a team developing a player is somewhere hard to determine. Most of the impact players were already very good, others worked very hard to became better , but at what point could we say that it was because of the team ?

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

He was maybe very good , but he didn't lead them to the final . Look at the team they had then, they were full of good players. Hockey is a team sport .

That said, the idea of a team developing a player is somewhere hard to determine. Most of the impact players were already very good, others worked very hard to became better , but at what point could we say that it was because of the team ?

He was their best player. Did he do it alone? Absolutely not. But it's not unfair to say he led them there.

Moreover, he led our team in playoff scoring almost the entire time he was here. He and Price should've been the building blocks of some great contending teams. But that's a whole other story...

 

[Habs Halifax]

What Philly did wasn't development. What they did is offer better linemates with better chemistry and more ice time.

He more than doubled his PPG simply by changing team. 43 pts in 74 games (0.58ppg) in his last full season with the Habs, then had 6 more points in half the games, 49 pts in his first 37 games (1.32ppg) with Philly in the lockout shortened season. He skyrocketed right from the start with Philly. 25 goals in 37 games!

I agree with your point about the list, but Leclair is a bad example. The problem wasn't development in his case, but one of philosophy regarding usage and strategies, or maybe he just didn't gel well enough with anyone.

LeClair was traded when he was age 25/26 right? A lot of players take off from the 25-30 range and that's a factor with LeClair as well. Maybe the Habs got Anderson at the same point? Anderson/LeClair as 26 year olds and Lindross/Suzuki as 21 year olds .

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

LeClair was traded when he was age 25/26 right? A lot of players take off from the 25-30 range and that's a factor with LeClair as well. Maybe the Habs got Anderson at the same point? Anderson/LeClair as 26 year olds and Lindross/Suzuki as 21 year olds .

Leclair's success in Philly highights what we've been missing for almost 4 decades... a true legit superstar forward.

Max Paccioretty is a great example. He was a very good forward. But we paired him with DD and asked him to carry the weight. Imagine him with a superstar center. He'd have been insanely good and it would've trickled down all through the lineup.

Hell, we didn't even play him with our best center. This goes back to the whole Galchenyuk thing too... they would've helped each other. Instead we split them and neither one were as good as they could've been.

We been monumentally stupid in how we've run this team. It's really sad, esp considering the good young core we had coming up seven years ago.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Leclair's success in Philly highights what we've been missing for almost 4 decades... a true legit superstar forward.

Max Paccioretty is a great example. He was a very good forward. But we paired him with DD and asked him to carry the weight. Imagine him with a superstar center. He'd have been insanely good and it would've trickled down all through the lineup.

Hell, we didn't even play him with our best center. This goes back to the whole Galchenyuk thing too... they would've helped each other. Instead we split them and neither one were as good as they could've been.

We been monumentally stupid in how we've run this team. It's really sad, esp considering the good young core we had coming up seven years ago.

The good core we had coming up 7+ years ago lacked a good prospect pool to back it up. Worse mistake we made back when was not selling vets. Any good young core needs a good prospect pool behind them IMO. A little different today cause we have vets, good young core, and a good prospect pool. We will see how that unfolds

 

[dcyhabs]

I saw a quote attributed to Babcock in one of the other sites/threads that said "once you start checking and not scoring that is all you will do." It is a bit exaggerated, and everyone has to play defence, but it highlights the habs problems during the Lefebvre years. Pushing guys to play 3rd line in the AHL because they will probably play 3rd line in the NHL kills development. Those guys can do it, but they have to do way more in the lower leagues. Everyone in the AHL was good in junior, only the top guys will do anything at the NHL level. Fortunately Bouchard looks like he gets this and puts people in spots they would never see otherwise as learning experiences.

Evans developed with the habs, so they have a recent guy. Before that I'm trying to think of someone since Markov who really learned stuff in the habs org. Danault improved at the NHL level. Paccioretty worked out. Looks like chance of success is improved by letting guys play and dominate in the AHL as long as Lefebvre is not coaching.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Hudon is going to rip it up in the NL this next season! 253 AHL games. He's ready and developed

 

[dcyhabs]

Hudon is going to rip it up in the NL this next season! 253 AHL games. He's ready and developed

He seemed to plateau after his first year... Maybe dominating the AHL just makes it more likely guys hit their ceiling? You have a point, though, it looks like Hudon needed more than AHL time. Work on his skating? Some size? Change in tactics to deal with less space in higher leagues? More native talent? A push to improve?

Hudon can score in the AHL and he's putting up good numbers in Europe but he hasn't ever looked good in the NHL.