Leblanc overrated was chosen to make french public and french media happy. That was a mistake it looked like the Habs were forced to make that pick. Thats all you heard from Media 2 months before draft...
Once again, get that out of your head.
Leblanc was rated exactly where he was drafted by ALL SCOUTS (not francos). By the way, the habs drafted ONLY one other Quebec born player in a first round in the last 15 years: Chouinard (instead of Simon Gagné)... Give your head a shake about the Habs drafting only to please the fans. You would "surely" remember that the habs DID NOT draft Giroux, Brière, Perron. Bergeron, *Esposito, etc...
Nor many other players drafted after him are doing better than him.
He has done well in the NHL last season, and this year would had been on the roster IF the season would had started in October and IF two rookies (Gallagher and Galcheniuk) would had not grabbed a roster spot after the lockout (they would had not, back in September) . + He was injured.
The guy has the talent to be a good, sound third liner. He is only 21. He will bounce back. The team in Hamilton is pretty awful on top of that.
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Price is Wright
Registered User
De Montreal
help
Pretty much what I think as well.
LL impressed me a lot during his stints with the Habs last year. I will give him another chance next year.
I was at the Bulldogs game last night. He was the first line centre with Dumont and Blunden.
Leblanc scored a nice goal (the second one) by sniping it over the Binghamton goalie's shoulders. Overall though, it didn't look very good.
A few times he tried to dangle his way out of his own zone, in front of his own net, only to lose the puck and have Mayer save his butt. At one point (I believe on the powerplay but I could be wrong) he threw a blind pass across the ice hoping he would hit a defenceman, but it went right to a Sens player. He is slow to back-check, lagging behind the play several times and he just looked like he had 0 hustle in his game. it's as though he gives up if it doesn't work after one try.
4/10. He did score but considering he's played 40 NHL games he should be outplaying Joey Tenute and Stefan Chaput.
Leblanc scored a nice goal (the second one) by sniping it over the Binghamton goalie's shoulders. Overall though, it didn't look very good.
A few times he tried to dangle his way out of his own zone, in front of his own net, only to lose the puck and have Mayer save his butt. At one point (I believe on the powerplay but I could be wrong) he threw a blind pass across the ice hoping he would hit a defenceman, but it went right to a Sens player. He is slow to back-check, lagging behind the play several times and he just looked like he had 0 hustle in his game. it's as though he gives up if it doesn't work after one try.
4/10. He did score but considering he's played 40 NHL games he should be outplaying Joey Tenute and Stefan Chaput.
There was an awful lot of pressure to draft LL that year because the draft was in Montreal. That said, he was a top 25 pick. I think he's just experiencing the reality most picks of every round do: making the NHL is very, very difficult.
Maliki2
Registered User
Was about to say the same thing. He wasn't the best pick at the time, but satisfied the home crowd only. Another mistake by the Habs management...once again.
TennisMenace
Registered User
I've written him off. I hope he proves me wrong but I don't think that will happen. Louie too soft with no grit and no determination. I guess college softened him up.
The guy was good at Junior level. Played great in Hamilton last season, and was very reliable with the Habs in the second half.
The guy will rebound and have a good NHL carrer. If not in Montreal, then elsewhere, and you gonna have to eat some crow.
I am not expecting more from him. A good, sound third liner with 30-45 points a year. With very good defensive skills and PK.
Price is Wright
Registered User
Five picks taken after Leblanc:
Chris Kreider: strong late season and playoffs with the Rangers, now looks like he shouldnt' be in the NHL. Will likely rebound into a top nine forward.
Jacob Josefson: One point in the NHL this season, called up too early. Should be still in the AHL.
John Moore: Playing on Columbus which is a terrible team but he's doing okay.
Jordan Schroeder: Doing okay for a rookie on the Canucks but did you want a 5'9" center with the 18th Overall pick?
Tim Erixon: Having trouble putting up offensive numbers in the NHL, once again playing on Columbus.
Who else should the Canadiens have taken? The 12th best North American skater fell to them at 18th. Hell some Quebecers from what I recall wanted Jordan Caron because he played in the Q and called Leblanc a traitor.
Louis Leblanc was the best pick for Montreal to take at 18th.
TennisMenace
Registered User
Smart post. Not much to rebut this. We were doomed no matter what direction we took.
What's funny is three of the best NHLers right now taken after Leblanc were in the 2nd round - O'Reilly (who is basically looking like the rich man's Leblanc), Silfverberg (has proven nothing but I really like what I see, should be a well rounded top 9 NHLer), and Clifford (he's not particularly good at hockey, but he's a tough fighter who actually belongs in the NHL, which makes him a white whale around here)
There's no way the Habs were picking those three in the first round, regardless of what language they speak.
There's no way the Habs were picking those three in the first round, regardless of what language they speak.
InglewoodJack
Registered User
From what I remember (This was almost 4 years ago!), Leblanc was highly ranked, and he was touted not as the "french" pick, but as the smart, safe pick. He was a good kid, balanced game who was gonna go to Harvard, he was never gonna be a 90 point forward, but he was never gonna bust. I say he's right where he was expected to be, and being one of the best players on his AHL teal 3 seasons after the draft is not too shabby.
That's what I remember too, Leblanc was the safe pick. That it was good politics was part of that low risk mindset, but I remember the selling points being his attitude, intelligence (Harvard!), and balanced game.
Mike Mike Caron
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- Aug 29, 2010
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DAChampion
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- May 28, 2011
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Well, I do think it's to early to 'write him off'. He is only 22. I agree I expect more out of him by now, but I want to echo something I heard on montreal radio. Now, I know most of you aren't fans of Tony Marinaro but I think his statement is bang-on, 'Louis Leblanc looks like a payer without an identity'
I mean, is he a centre, wing, top 6, top 9, is he a scorer, play-maker, is he physical? He keeps getting shuffled around all over. I think it's really up to Louis to decide who he wants to become. I think as stated earlier he's realizing that making the NHL is really hard. He was there. He didn't look totally out of place. I think he still has NHL potential.
But this is a year where he should have been owning the AHL ala Desharnais, Pacioretty, Subban when they were in the league. They were clearly ready for the show once they hit their peak.
I think Louis just needs this season to end, go home, give his head a shake and come back to Hamilton next year on a mission. It's safe to say that's where he will start the year.
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