Confirmed with Link: Habs invite Joel Ward to training camp

[BLONG7]

Clueless comment.

Have a snickers...

 

[Dagistitsyn]

1- Ward is on PTO. Not signed
2- can we watch the games and wait until the end of the camp to make a judgment ?
3- Guys like Shaw, McCarron, Froese are the ones who could be dealt
4- IF Ward is signed, he's gonna play like 40 games, maybe.... And won't cry if he stays in the stands.

1- I said IF he makes the team. I know he’s not signed.
2- Yes.
3- I was accounting for Shaw being on LTIR and McCarron and Froese being waived when I said that. Those three could all be dealt and we will still have too many wingers IF Ward makes the team. We don’t even have room for all three of Hudon / Lehkonen / Scherbak in the top nine even if Ward doesn’t make the team.
4- It’s not about how many games he plays , it’s about how it would force another player to waivers in place of a 38 year old winger on a team that has zero chance at competing this year. You can only have so many people on your roster.

 

[Le Barron de HF]

Problem is if Joel Ward makes the team, one of Hudon / Scherbak / Lehkonen is lost to waivers for nothing, or forced to be traded. Which would be idiotic unless a good young d prospect is coming back in a deal.

Exactly! Thank you.

 

[The Great Weal]

If you can't beat Joel Ward for a roster spot, then you probably dont deserve it. It's not just Ward either, there is a shit ton of competition.

 

[Harry Kakalovich]

I've always liked Ward - why not give him a PTO and see what happens? It doesn't cost anything

 

[Le Barron de HF]

1- I said IF he makes the team. I know he’s not signed.
2- Yes.
3- I was accounting for Shaw being on LTIR and McCarron and Froese being waived when I said that. Those three could all be dealt and we will still have too many wingers IF Ward makes the team. We don’t even have room for all three of Hudon / Lehkonen / Scherbak in the top nine even if Ward doesn’t make the team.
4- It’s not about how many games he plays , it’s about how it would force another player to waivers in place of a 38 year old winger on a team that has zero chance at competing this year. You can only have so many people on your roster.

To add to your last point, I don't even think we'll carry two extra forwards so this showcases how big of a problem it already is! (I think we'll go with 8Ds due to the names involved; Benn, Schlemko, Lernout, Valiev, Despres, Ouellet, Reilly, Mete, Juulsen as possibilities + the two Czechs).

 

[Le Barron de HF]

If you can't beat Joel Ward for a roster spot, then you probably dont deserve it. It's not just Ward either, there is a **** ton of competition.

I guess it might be that some of us have no trust in the management, but I could see a guy like Julien falling in love with his vets who can play on the PK and play safe/risk free hockey. It's why we've carried guys like Armstrong & Moen for so long.

 

[Le Barron de HF]

Not exactly comparable per se but an interesting post I saw on the main board:
''Handling developing players well is not exactly our strong suit... were it not for an injury to Brett Connolly, Kucherov would've played out the 2014-2015 season in the AHL because of "Better playing time" -which has been exactly what we have said about Slater Koekkoek who we drafted like 7 years ago and have played less than a season worth of games. We tried that crap with Drouin and he wanted out.

Trust me... the Lightning would just birth 27 year old veterans if they could''

Now I'm not comparing the two, but this what people are talking about when they say we need to give Scherbak a chance.

 

[eklund the clown]

Why?Guy is washed up and over the hill.Absolutely no sense of direction.Rebuild okay maybe retool,ok play the young guys ,ok bring in some old washed up guys.One step ahead and 2 backwards

 

[Capitano]

If we trade him this year we'll know that MB has learned a thing or two on the job...otherwise I'd rather see a youngster get that ice-time.

 

[CoopersFalls]

So we already have about 16 forwards for 12 spots. Now let’s add another 37 year old into the mix.

Bergevin is not lying, this is no rebuild.

 

[Wats]

Take him over Shaw.

 

[Rapala]

Wait so the reigning SC champions preferred Smith-Pelley to Joel Ward and we are inviting the cast off?

Typical

 

[dcal64]

If we trade him this year we'll know that MB has learned a thing or two on the job...otherwise I'd rather see a youngster get that ice-time.

Yes, he learned his lesson last year by signing washed up Hemsky and Streit and then flipping them for draft picks at the trade deadline.

 

[26Mats]

Just what we need, another winger!

who can't score!

Having said that, if he's willing to play in Laval he'd be a good influence on the youngins.

 

[Runner77]

So ... what's Aaron Ward doing these days?

 

[DangerDave]

Joel Ward would have been nice like 5 years ago. Still a good guy to have around this young team.

 

[Runner77]

Just what we need, another winger!

who can't score!

You never have enough wingers. Eventually, one of them will surprise you and play center.

 

[JuicyHam]

I hope he does well but gets cut and then someone else signs him

 

[PhysicX]

Looking at our forwards depth chart, I don't see the big issue with giving Ward a PTO.
Here's a list of our right wingers:

Gallagher
Scherbak
Armia
Byron
McCarron
Froese (?)
Ward

Judging by Ward's tryout opportunity, upper management and Laval's coaching staff weren't impressed with the youngsters at the rookie camp. Ward could be a good veteran presence for the Rocket in my opinion, so I won't criticize this decision.

 

[habsterr]

Ward wouldn't be a bad 13/14th forward and a vet presence.

 

[Brainiac]

Nothing against Joel Ward but... why the hell is our GM going after that kind of player? I know it's just PTO. Then again, we couldn't possibly need a guy like Ward.

I just don't understand the rationale behind. Like when we gave PTOs to guys like Streit or Hemsky.

My only conclusion is that Bergevin sees some value there. And that is kinda troubling.

 

[Runner77]

Looking at our forwards depth chart, I don't see the big issue with giving Ward a PTO.

Yeah, I don't think it's a big deal. Every team has players on a PTO and not all of them are shoo-ins to make the team or are impactful players. It's par for the course when camps open.

Mind you, if you're going to tank, the guy could well be a great assistant tank commander. How else are you going to get a top pick next year.

Joel Ward, woot!

 

[BargainBinSpecial]

At the end of training camp, MB announces Ward is the new captain, the new number one center and signed for 6 mil./yr until he reaches 40.

The man with a plan you say !!!

MB did say after the Max trade " on prend des decisions on the fly ". Seems to me this is another one of those on the fly decisions.

Every year, the Habs try to give a chance to one or two almost done players. Last year was Hemsky. The years before that, we saw Fleischmann. The tradition keeps on going.

 

[Domenic]

Exactly! Thank you.

Call me crazy, but I don’t think Ward is here to replace Scherbak, Hudon, or Lehkonen.