Player Discussion Jordan Weal: To Russia With Love... (Weal To Sign in KHL)

[ahmedou]

“It was obviously a pretty crazy year when I got traded to the Canadiens... It just let you fit in right away and do your thing. Put it all together and it's tough to beat... On this team, it doesn't matter where you're playing. You're going to be playing with great players. It's so nice to be able to fit in and mix in with different guys... With our system, it definitely caters to guys that are quick to move around. We've a lot of that on our team.”

“I've my own thing here on the North Shore and a little bit in Burnaby too. But there are guys up in Kelowna, Gally is out in Tsawwassen. It's pretty far, it's actually like an hour and a half. I'm sure I'm going to see most of those guys in the summer here... If it's not training, then maybe it's just hanging out and enjoying each other's company...”

“When you get to past five years pro, you know what your body needs to be ready for the season and get off on the right foot. It's just a matter of sticking to what's working fine and adding a couple of new things here. And there that can help improve your strength or your speed and quickness. It's just finding that balance that's going to put you in the best situation to perform.”

“The hotel was a great spot... There were a couple of the guys too. So it was great to have guys close like that and be able to hang out. But I'm sure there are a lot of options with regards to living for when the time comes... At least, I've a lot of time this summer to make that happen and make sure I'm in a comfortable spot for myself for the year to come...”

 

[Le Barron de HF]

Powerless: The squeaky Weal is the grease for the Canadiens’ power play?

Nice article analyzing his contribution to the PP down the stretch.

 

[ProspectsFanatic]

I feel he will have a good season, in the prime of his career to finally make his game translate in the NHL.

 

[Vachon23]

I feel he will have a good season, in the prime of his career to finally make his game translate in the NHL.

Byron-Cousin-Weal could be a really interesting 4th line ! Especially vs team that have slow D on there 3rd pair.

 

[Le Barron de HF]

Byron-Cousin-Weal could be a really interesting 4th line ! Especially vs team that have slow D on there 3rd pair.

With the right deployment he could get somewhere between 35-40 pts like Letestu/Gagner.

 

[Redux91]

Powerless: The squeaky Weal is the grease for the Canadiens’ power play?

Nice article analyzing his contribution to the PP down the stretch.

Keep telling people, hes going to be the surprise of this year
he will completely replace andrew shaw

guys a player man

 

[LaP]

With the right deployment he could get somewhere between 35-40 pts like Letestu/Gagner.

There's many players in this league able to do that with the right deployment. I'm surprised people have yet to realize that after the Houle years. That's exactly what happened when Houle was here. We were overplaying guys. Petrov and Zholtok are the two best example of that. They would get 40-50 points and people would defend the hell out of those players having too much TOI. The reality is as a whole those guys simply did not have what it takes to play that much in a winning team environment.

There's a world between doing 50 points playing 15-16 minutes on a winning team with the pressure to win and avoid the mistakes and doing 50 points playing 16-17 minutes on a losing team without much pressure cause you're the underdog and people will be happy and praise you all summer long if you finish 9th (instead of crapping on you all summer long for finishing at the same exact 9th position). I was not a fan of Patrice Brisebois but the guy would get trashed into oblivion for playing better than Kulak was last year while Kulak receives only praise. Playing without any kind of pressure helps a lot for many players having weak mental (which is often the case with borderline AHL guys).

The best players of losing team will always do around 40-50 points. And most of the time they are not good enough to justify their TOI on a winning team. Been there done that. It's been this way for as long as i can remember. The Chris Kontos and Norm MacIver syndrome (two border line AHL guys who had an extraordinary season playing for a bottom feeder team). I have no doubt Weal will do 40-50 points if we play him too much. I have a lot of doubt about our ability to win in such a scenario. It's a team sport but your most used players must drive to team to victory. The others are for the most part passengers.

 

[Le Barron de HF]

There's many players in this league able to do that with the right deployment. I'm surprised people have yet to realize that after the Houle years. That's exactly what happened when Houle was here. We were overplaying guys. Petrov and Zholtok are the two best example of that. They would get 40-50 points and people would defend the hell out of those players having too much TOI. The reality is as a whole those guys simply did not have what it takes to play that much in a winning team environment.

There's a world between doing 50 points playing 15-16 minutes on a winning team with the pressure to win and avoid the mistakes and doing 50 points playing 16-17 minutes on a losing team without much pressure cause you're the underdog and people will be happy and praise you all summer long if you finish 9th (instead of crapping on you all summer long for finishing at the same exact 9th position). I was not a fan of Patrice Brisebois but the guy would get trashed into oblivion for playing better than Kulak was last year while Kulak receives only praise. Playing without any kind of pressure helps a lot for many players having weak mental (which is often the case with borderline AHL guys).

The best players of losing team will always do around 40-50 points. And most of the time they are not good enough to justify their TOI on a winning team. Been there done that. It's been this way for as long as i can remember. The Chris Kontos and Norm MacIver syndrome (two border line AHL guys who had an extraordinary season playing for a bottom feeder team). I have no doubt Weal will do 40-50 points if we play him too much. I have a lot of doubt about our ability to win in such a scenario. It's a team sport but your most used players must drive to team to victory. The others are for the most part passengers.

Your point of view is clearly valid and makes total sense. That being said, the players I listed were used to their strengths and topped at (14:41 & 14:14 for Letestu and 13:43 for Gagner) which in the grand scheme of things doesn't really hurt the team or the development of certain guys. Last year Weal did average 15:36 but I'm sure that CJ could manage his bench well enough for him to be closer to 14:30-15 in ice time.

 

[teamfirst]

This guy is good, MB did it again

 

[calder candidate]

I have been impressed, Weal has great poise with the puck and has pretty good one on one skills which help create time and space for is linemate.

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

He's a modern 4th liner
Plays with energy, works hard, has skills, and can score points

 

[26Mats]

Keep telling people, hes going to be the surprise of this year
he will completely replace andrew shaw

guys a player man

He's definitely better with the puck than Shaw. If Suzuki and Poehling end up getting sent down, I'd like to see Weal get a shot in the top 9.

 

[Miller Time]

I hope he makes me eat my words...

Zero confidence in his ability to all of a sudden become a regular top-9 player.

He's had the same package of skills & motor since junior days, there's a reason he's been unable to stick yet... And worse, he's a terrible fit in our needs in an already tiny top-9.

 

[LaP]

I hope he makes me eat my words...

Zero confidence in his ability to all of a sudden become a regular top-9 player.

He's had the same package of skills & motor since junior days, there's a reason he's been unable to stick yet... And worse, he's a terrible fit in our needs in an already tiny top-9.

Oh he will. 100% sure. I predicted him a 50 points season a couple of weeks ago and i'm positive i'll be right. It's Montreal what else could you expect? Like i said last year Jordan Weal is the last 30 years in a nutshell. Now can he make you eat your words on a cup winning team? Personally i don't think so. He'll be there for a couple of seasons. Fans will acclaim him. Songs will be written to celebrate his accomplishments. He'll be the flavor of the month like Oleg Petrov, Sergei Zholtok, Francis Bouillon and all the others. Then after 3 to 4 years we will eventually trade him and i don't think he'll last longer than 3 years in the league after leaving Montreal. Fans of the team acquiring will wonder why he was so good with us and so bad with them. The answer will be in the TOI stats column and the success of respective teams. Sorry to be so jaded but well after 30 years of the same formula ...

 

[26Mats]

I hope he makes me eat my words...

Zero confidence in his ability to all of a sudden become a regular top-9 player.

He's had the same package of skills & motor since junior days, there's a reason he's been unable to stick yet... And worse, he's a terrible fit in our needs in an already tiny top-9.

If we have 3 or 4 lines with speed and the ability to put the puck in the net, I do believe we can wear teams down by constantly coming at them. The key is to keep coming and not just have 1 or 2 dangerous, but small lines. If all 4 are coming at the opposition it will be like Pacquiao-Margarito.

 

[HabsAddict]

Keep telling people, hes going to be the surprise of this year
he will completely replace andrew shaw

guys a player man

Bingo.

At first I thought he was another stupid BBinz dumpster acquisition, but he's a player. Limited upside, but still a top level 3rd line player.

 

[LaP]

If we have 3 or 4 lines with speed and the ability to put the puck in the net, I do believe we can wear teams down by constantly coming at them. The key is to keep coming and not just have 1 or 2 dangerous, but small lines. If all 4 are coming at the opposition it will be like Pacquiao-Margarito.

This can work up until it does not. We tried it in the past. It works well until you are in a 6th game of a playoffs series where you must win but all your average players are having a bad game at the same time. You need guys like Malkin and Crosby for those kind of games. Guys who can make things happen without having a good game. It happens here and there a team wins without elite talents but it's rare and if that's the plan it's a very bad plan. And guys like Malkin/Crosby or Sakic/Forberg or Yzerman/Fedorov or Ovy/Backstrom or Toews/Kane or ....... they don't want to play a 4 lines system. They want to play 18 minutes a night or else you'll have problem keeping them happy.

 

[David Suzuki]

He'll be the flavor of the month like Oleg Petrov, Sergei Zholtok, Francis Bouillon and

or maybe like Dale Weise and we trade him for a haul

 

[LaP]

or maybe like Dale Weise and we trade him for a haul

Maybe too. Or we will extend him like Byron

 

[26Mats]

This can work up until it does not. We tried it in the past. It works well until you are in a 6th game of a playoffs series where you must win but all your average players are having a bad game at the same time. You need guys like Malkin and Crosby for those kind of games. Guys who can make things happen without having a good game. It happens here and there a team wins without elite talents but it's rare and if that's the plan it's a very bad plan. And guys like Malkin/Crosby or Sakic/Forberg or Yzerman/Fedorov or Ovy/Backstrom or Toews/Kane or ....... they don't want to play a 4 lines system. They want to play 18 minutes a night or else you'll have problem keeping them happy.

This was only to counter the lack of size argument...

We're not going to get an Ovechkin over night. We just have to hope Suzuki, Poehling, Caufield, Domi, and Kotkaniemi become great as they get closer to their prime. Having Weal as a support player is irrelevant to that...

On the roster, now, the 4 guys I'm not sure fit are: Cousins, Thompson, Chiarot and Drouin. The first 3 because they're a significant step below the top 12 forwards and top 6 D in terms of speed and skill. The last one (Drouin) because he's significantly below the other 25 in terms of effort and compete.

 

[HabsAddict]

This can work up until it does not. We tried it in the past. It works well until you are in a 6th game of a playoffs series where you must win but all your average players are having a bad game at the same time. You need guys like Malkin and Crosby for those kind of games. Guys who can make things happen without having a good game. It happens here and there a team wins without elite talents but it's rare and if that's the plan it's a very bad plan. And guys like Malkin/Crosby or Sakic/Forberg or Yzerman/Fedorov or Ovy/Backstrom or Toews/Kane or ....... they don't want to play a 4 lines system. They want to play 18 minutes a night or else you'll have problem keeping them happy.

Remember what the Knights did with no stars two years ago?

Four furious lines of crazy want can not be stopped.

Our problem is defense. LHD is a hole.

 

[LaP]

This was only to counter the lack of size argument...

We're not going to get an Ovechkin over night. We just have to hope Suzuki, Poehling, Caufield, Domi, and Kotkaniemi become great as they get closer to their prime. Having Weal as a support player is irrelevant to that...

That's 100% relevant. We are not going to get elite skills if we don't trust our kids. I mean apparently we can't ice our kids because our top 9 is too good. But apparently those kids are elite. I mean if they are really elite they should have no trouble beating Jordan ****** ******* Weal for a roster spot in the top 9. If they can't do that then they are not elite. Do you think when the caps, the pens or the hawks got their elite kids they went ohoh can't ice them we have too many quality grinders. No for god sake they took their average grinders out of the team asap and iced the elite kids day one. I mean for god sake we are talking about sending JK to the AHL and give Jordan Weal enough quality TOI to do 40-50 points. That's the last 30 years in a nutshell and that's everything that is wrong with this ******* team.

 

[Adriatic]

Remember what the Knights did with no stars two years ago?

Four furious lines of crazy want can not be stopped.

Our problem is defense. LHD is a hole.

They had a bigger bodies though that could withstand 82 games and 4 playoff rounds. Habs still run out of gas and are not really the same team on the road.

 

[LaP]

Remember what the Knights did with no stars two years ago?

Four furious lines of crazy want can not be stopped.

Our problem is defense. LHD is a hole.

I remember the caps won the cup. Florida with a bunch of borderline 4th liners reached the scf against the Avs too. It doesn't prove anything when it's an exception.

 

[26Mats]

That's 100% relevant. We are not going to get elite skills if we don't trust our kids. I mean apparently we can't ice our kids because our top 9 is too good. But apparently those kids are elite. I mean if they are really elite they should have no trouble beating Jordan ****** ******* Weal for a roster spot in the top 9. If they can't do that then they are not elite. Do you think when the caps, the pens or the hawks got their elite kids they went ohoh can't ice them we have too many quality grinders. No for god sake they took their average grinders out of the team asap and iced the elite kids day one. I mean for god sake we are talking about sending JK to the AHL and give Jordan Weal enough quality TOI to do 40-50 points. That's the last 30 years in a nutshell and that's everything that is wrong with this ******* team.

Perhaps your points are from a different discussion thread. I wouldn't take away the kids' icetime because of Jordan Weal. But I also value Weal's contributions as a support player. I was responding to someone saying we don't need him because he's small. I was saying Weal just adds depth, being a skilled player, and having 4 lines coming at you with skill can wear teams down just as physical strength can wear teams down.

I have Suzuki and Poehling on the team and Weal playing over his lesser skilled teammates Cousins and Thompson.