Michael Bournival, the revelation so far this season!

[Tim Wallach]

what strikes me about this thread it's it's basically filled with the same comments we had on Plekanec in his rookie year in 2006...

hardworker, good ethics, responsible in his own zone, versatile, ''the perfect third liner'', etc. All tags we applied to Tomas at the time.

Very interesting as that's what I see too. I see him as a possible Plekanec replacement in terms of what he brings to the table. I know some will argue Pleks is a bit slicker with the puck, but the similarities are there.

 

[JonathanToews19clutc*]

He reminds me of Martin Gelinas.

 

[Malmo]

Antoine Vermette

 

[Dharvey33]

Is there anyone else in junior or ahl that you or anyone else think is another underrated prospect that you think would fit in MB plan? Or someone TT was really high on

Jeremy Gregoire was a freakin steal this year. He is also lighting it up this year and is only 18 years old.

I think that Gregoire and Hudon have a bright future in the nhl on a top 9 role.

Sometimes there are players that don't have shiny stats in the juniors but their game translate within the nhl. I thought that Bournival was like that.

Bournival was a player that was doing everything for the Cataractes, pp,pk, shutdown so maybe as the go to guy he was focused on being a more complete player for his team , rather than a player who just gets some points. In his last year he was still above ppg so he had underrated offensive talent.

I've heard people comparing him to Vermette, that's not bad but he needs to improve his Faceoffs and defensive play by a wide margin. But i do think he looks to have more vision than Vermette.


What a shocker that would be that Bournival continues on his way to be nominated for the Calder this year.

 

[Timelord]

What a shocker that would be that Bournival continues on his way to be nominated for the Calder this year.

He's been consistently very good since the start of the preseason games. I would not be surprised if he shocked.

 

[Serious HABit]

I remember when we got him for o'byrne and was pretty excited for him to make the team even back then. I had a hunch he would be good because of how the scouts touted his work ethic and strong on-ice IQ.

I'm a bournival hipster.

 

[bsl]

While it is too soon to call, I certainly like his mix of speed and intensity. While not bieng completely devoid of offensive skills.

Who? You need to use pronouns.

 

[BlackStar]

Who? You need to use pronouns.

Really? You ask that question in a thread about Bournival?

 

[NewHabsEra*]

Failed to ice the best team possible. How many GMs have the ability to ice the best team possible in the salary cap world?? It doesn't sound like you are very clued in to what it's like to be the GM of an NHL team. You don't get to make the one-sided trades suggested on this forum, or sign any free agent you want. You are competing against 29 other teams for players. It's easy to sit on your computer chair and say "He should have done this and that"..but you're not rooted in reality..you have no idea about the inner machinations.

Bergevin needed to replace Ryder - he preferred to do it with a veteran instead of taking the very real risk of hoping a youngster who has never come close to 30 goals yet can replace those goals.

Yes - he did inherit a good young crop from TT - which enabled him to take a flyer on Briere. There are a number of players on the team on ELC's. Are we over the salary cap with Briere? Nope. There is even some wiggle room to make other moves this year...and Briere didn't cost the team any assets.

The club was able to afford the gamble on Briere because there were young players as insulation. Starting the season with the kids on the top two lines with no backups was not the right strategy - piles of pressure, playing against better lines..what if they had struggled and there was no Briere around to replace them? Where would the team be now? Likely 3-7 or something like that.

You enter the season with lots of depth and let the players decide who deserves the ice time. At this point the kids deserve it, and they're getting it. Who knows a couple of months from now - Gally and Chucky may be struggling..and Briere might be a godsend at that point...the season is 82 games long..not ten...it's a marathon not a sprint, and you need depth.

It's not like Bergy had the pick of ten 30-goal scoring UFA's...and they all wanted to play in Montreal..it was a pretty thin crop. Would you have preferred him to sign Clarkson to that ridiculous contract? How do you know there were any other players who would have signed in MTL? Briere was actually a short term move...a bridge between now and two years from now when hopefully Gally, Chucky et al more than replace Ryder's goals.

Besides all that - once again I ask the question -why are we all judging Briere so adamantly after 8 games? He's had bad stretches and slow starts before. He's a proven playoff performer..something we don't have on our team in any great quantity if at all....I'm not willing to write the guy off after a month....I'll judge the move after the season.

Did I like the Briere signing at the time? No - but I'm going to support Briere and the signing now that he's here until at least the end of this season instead of whining incessantly about it and Bergevin from the preseason on.

My problem with Briere is the fact that he totally looked out of place since day 1 of the season, when you are that small, you need to be faster than the average NHLer and I thought Briere' speed was below average.. Not only he is small and slow but he seemed to struggle at everything, the guy looked more like an AHLer than a NHLer before he got injured and if this is not some very bad evaluation from our management, then how do you call it? Especially if they thought Briere would replace Ryder's 30 goals, what a joke..

Im not paid to take the decisions (thx god would you say) and I never claimed I could do a better job than MB, he is the one supposed to know the league as much as the five fingers of his right hand, Im just a bit confused that while he agrees that the team should get bigger, he extends Desharnais so quickly and then sign Danny Briere at the same time, at a so ridiculous contract when every words from Philly tended to believe the guy was finished.. Was there other options on the table for MB or Briere was his unique one? I guess nobody know outside himself and the rest of the staff but one thing I know is that Parenteau was avalaible 2 seasons ago and wanted to play for the Habs and while he isnt big, he still is a way way better hockey player than either DD or Briere, the Leafs invited Raymond to their training camp and signed him for peanuts.. Im pretty sure there are some other examples like this that show that Briere was not the only option for MB at the end.. At this point even giving Latendresse a tryout looks like a better option than signing Briere 2 years at 4M per season.. Briere's contract ties up MB's hands to improve the team short term..

Also, I would take Clarkson's contract in an heartbeat over 4 years of Desharnais at 3.5M and 2 years of Briere at 4M.. At least our team becomes way tougher to play against with Clarkson and he would fill a need till MacCaron is ready, would have been a good mentor as well for the kid..

 

[Wats]

He's been consistently very good since the start of the preseason games. I would not be surprised if he shocked.

Not uncommon for there to be at least one Calder nomination that comes out of nowhere:

2014: Bournival?
2013: Gallagher
2012: Henrique
2011: Grabner
2010: Howard
2009: Mason/Versteeg

 

[Quagmier]

Also, I would take Clarkson's contract in an heatbeat over 4 years of Desharnais at 3.5M and 2 years of Briere at 4M.. At least our team becomes way tougher to play against with Clarkson and he would fill a need till MacCaron is ready, would have been a good mentor as well for the kid..

Problem is, there is no way in hell that David Clarkson chooses Montreal over Toronto if both teams offer him the same terms. If Mtl wanted him, they were going to have to pony up more dollars or years for it to happen. Probably in the 6m range when you factor in taxes as well.

I will never try to defend the Desharnais contract. I have never been a fan of his and thought that Bergevin made a mistake there, but that's life and nobody's perfect. In Briere's case, even knowing what he knows now i bet you Bergevin still makes that move. Briere took a 2.5m discount to sign for mtl for two years, which as far as cap crippling contracts go, is peanuts. Think about it from a personnel perspective as well as a financial one...if you are only committed to a player for two years, you have to worry less and less about coddling his ego and making sure he gets enough ice time. If Briere never regains his form, so what? play him sheltered minutes and sit him against tough teams and let whatever young kid is ready take over his role. It was a calculated risk and whether it pays off or not it doesn't affect the team's long term future.

As Grant pointed out earlier, what happens in 3 months if the EGG line is struggling, Plekanec and Bournival are no longer on a magical tear, and Briere starts to look a little fresher and has clicked with Subban and Markov on the PP? You build a team accounting for contingencies, not to look the best on paper in NHL 14. The Habs are two points out of 1st in the conference.

 

[Wats]

As Grant pointed out earlier, what happens in 3 months if the EGG line is struggling, Plekanec and Bournival are no longer on a magical tear, and Briere starts to look a little fresher and has clicked with Subban and Markov on the PP? You build a team accounting for contingencies, not to look the best on paper in NHL 14. The Habs are two points out of 1st in the conference.

Here's the thing...there's a good chance EGG slumps, Plek/Bourni slump, and Briere continues to be injured/look washed up. There's very little guarantee Briere puts up any offense or remains healthy. At least the likelihood of it happening doesn't really reflect the 4M cap hit.

 

[dkd]

He's been great so far. One of the our best players since he got called up. With Plekasex and a better player than Gio this line can rock.

 

[googlymoogly]

He's been great so far. One of the our best players since he got called up. With Plekasex and a better player than Gio this line can rock.

A perfect line would be Pacioretty Plekanec Bournival. All three have top speed and both Plek and Bourni are good defensively and can set up Max. We would then have two great lines with the EGG line being the other one.

Put Gionta with DDH and Bourque

 

[Quagmier]

Here's the thing...there's a good chance EGG slumps, Plek/Bourni slump, and Briere continues to be injured/look washed up. There's very little guarantee Briere puts up any offense or remains healthy. At least the likelihood of it happening doesn't really reflect the 4M cap hit.

Very true. but that fact would bother me a bit more if his 4M cap hit extended beyond next year. I don't think his contract will have an impact on Bergevin's ability to resign our marquee free agents this off season. I also suspect (but cant prove) that Bergevin sought a two year deal to coincide with the expiring rookie deals of Gallagher and Galchenyuk next offseason.

So far Therrien and Bergevin seem to be giving icetime to the players that deserve it the most and taking it away from those who have struggled (Desharnais being a slight outlier).

I tend to view Briere, and his contract, as a luxury rather than an essential. If he can step into the lineup and contribute (as you said, unlikely), great! If not, then i am ok with the Habs sitting him in the press box or playing him in sheltered minutes. Basically he always appeared to me to be a stopgap until our young guys were ready to step into prominent roles without a safety net. Nobody saw Bournival doing this much, this early, and while the expectations were that the EGG line would be productive, there was still a strong chance they would struggle adapting to a larger role.

 

[dkd]

How does this look :
Plekanec-Bournival-maxpac........... Speed/skill Line
Galchenyuk-Eller-Gallagher............ Speed/skill line
Prust-Desharnais-Bourque............. Defensive line that can also score ( I know DD is in there)
Moen-White-Parros...................... Killer line.

 

[Le Barron de HF]

How does this look :
Plekanec-Bournival-maxpac........... Speed/skill Line
Galchenyuk-Eller-Gallagher............ Speed/skill line
Prust-Desharnais-Bourque............. Defensive line that can also score ( I know DD is in there)
Moen-White-Parros...................... Killer line.

I hope you made mistake when you put Plek on the wing, I would prefer something like this:

Bournival - Plekanec - Gionta (Shutdown line)
Pacioretty - Galchenyuk - Gallagher
Bourque - Eller - Briere
Moen - DD/White - Prust

 

[JAVO16]

I don't know why you guys want to break the Bournival-Plekanec-Gionta line. If it ain't broken, don't fix it. I'd just put Patches on the DD-Bourque line. You then have three potentially dangerous line hence putting other teams in matchup hell.

Also, adding Prust to the DD-Bourque duo does not make it a shutdown line all of a sudden (even if you know DD is there !).

Moen-Prust-White/Parros would be a pretty strong, abrasive 4th line too.

 

[sharks9]

Nice deflection by him tonight, 5th in rookie goals and 7th in points with less GP.

He's doing a great job of replacing the production we hoped we'd get out of Briere.

 

[Andy]

When can we officially call him a steal?

 

[Et le But]

When can we officially call him a steal?

But....O'byrne is big!

 

[Blackshad]

When can we officially call him a steal?

He was in the purse O'Byrne stole.

 

[Andy]

But....O'byrne is big!

I'll never forget how O'byrne was almost universally panned on these boards for being so awful before the trade and then became some mythical figure right after it.

 

[radicalcenter]

Not uncommon for there to be at least one Calder nomination that comes out of nowhere:

2014: Bournival?
2013: Gallagher
2012: Henrique
2011: Grabner
2010: Howard
2009: Mason/Versteeg

I love Bournival but he won't be the nomitation that comes out of nowhere.

Hertl, Arcobello and Chiasson have more chances.

 

[dreamingofdrouin*]

Jeremy Gregoire was a freakin steal this year. He is also lighting it up this year and is only 18 years old.

I think that Gregoire and Hudon have a bright future in the nhl on a top 9 role.

Sometimes there are players that don't have shiny stats in the juniors but their game translate within the nhl. I thought that Bournival was like that.

Bournival was a player that was doing everything for the Cataractes, pp,pk, shutdown so maybe as the go to guy he was focused on being a more complete player for his team , rather than a player who just gets some points. In his last year he was still above ppg so he had underrated offensive talent.

I've heard people comparing him to Vermette, that's not bad but he needs to improve his Faceoffs and defensive play by a wide margin. But i do think he looks to have more vision than Vermette.


What a shocker that would be that Bournival continues on his way to be nominated for the Calder this year.

i agree about gregoire and hudon....that is some damn good drafting


and to think that we had a calder nominee last year (Bgally) and a guy who could have easily been up for it with mostlikely an even brighter future ( Agally) and bournival emerging.....and tinordi and beaulieu on their way.......well...godamn....we gonna be good.....draft is the way to go.....we're gonna be contenders...there's no doubt in my mind.