Player Discussion Nikita Scherbak: Scherby-Dooby-Doo

[montreal]

I don't see Julien giving Scherbak much rope, it happened last year when he put him with Galchenyuk, how long did that last and that was with our team being one of the worst in the league. CJ has to be gunning for the playoffs, so when Scherbak makes a boneheaded play, I wonder how long before he'll be on the 4th line. I would try Hudon Peca Scherbak just to see what it can do.

 

[bryan1966]

Anyone know hwy Sherbak is not playing for Laval tonight? I did not see call up or injury report

Nevermind just seen the comment in laval rocket thread!

 

[Mike Mike Caron]

I just want Scherbak to wake up and start playing hockey for real, he'd fit well in this group of young and beautiful men.

 

[JeffreyLFC]

Tatar has 3 years left, he is likely gone before the end of his contract

I would be willing to bet that Scherbak is not on the habs roster in 3 years from now.

 

[Max2]

I would be willing to bet that Scherbak is not on the habs roster in 3 years from now.

I reckon he won't be here 3 months from now.

 

[ottawa]

I reckon he won't be here 3 months from now.

Lol sad but true. I was so excited for him when we drafted him. Would be nice to see him get an extended look before he is traded or buried in the minors.

 

[Max2]

Lol sad but true. I was so excited for him when we drafted him. Would be nice to see him get an extended look before he is traded or buried in the minors.

He is talented for sure but seems to have trouble processing things at game speed.

 

[Tyson]

Some folks evolve when something resonates...they finally see the light.
I don’t sense that Scherbak “gets it” and it will be his undoing for an NHL career.

 

[Bacchus1]

He seems to have bought the book “Messing up an NHL career for Idiots ”, and has become a prize student. I hope that he gets another influence soon to nudge him in the right direction, because just after he was drafted he seemed to have a good attitude. I hope partying with Chucky didn’t send him down the wrong path.

 

[26Mats]

Some folks evolve when something resonates...they finally see the light.
I don’t sense that Scherbak “gets it” and it will be his undoing for an NHL career.

Why? Because he wasn't in game shape after sitting in the stands for a month, got the flu, and now has a groin injury?

 

[Tyson]

Why? Because he wasn't in game shape after sitting in the stands for a month, got the flu, and now has a groin injury?

Because he has not been able to crack this roster after 5 training camps

 

[26Mats]

Because he has not been able to crack this roster after 5 training camps

True, but he was advertised as a raw talent that needed molding. He had good points per game numbers last year in the A, but we see now his two way game is not up to speed. I wouldn't be devastated if we lost him for nothing, but I'd like to see if he can learn the two way game under the new coaching staff. If he can, imo the offense will be there at the NHL level.

I am disappointed he got the flu and now a groin injury. I would like to see what he can do in D'agostino's place.

I'm one of the few that believe he can learn the two way game and once he does he's off to the races. In hindsight, he should have been in the A working on that all year last year with a good coach.

 

[LaP]

We should just waived him imo. Time to turn the page and let the kid has a chance somewhere else before it's too late for him.

 

[Tyson]

True, but he was advertised as a raw talent that needed molding. He had good points per game numbers last year in the A, but we see now his two way game is not up to speed. I wouldn't be devastated if we lost him for nothing, but I'd like to see if he can learn the two way game under the new coaching staff. If he can, imo the offense will be there at the NHL level.

I am disappointed he got the flu and now a groin injury. I would like to see what he can do in D'agostino's place.

I'm one of the few that believe he can learn the two way game and once he does he's off to the races. In hindsight, he should have been in the A working on that all year last year with a good coach.

Believe me I want a 6’2 kid with good skills to become part of the top 6 but for some reason...he is stuck and seems to have stopped getting better. It’s a shame

 

[Mrb1p]

We should just waived him imo. Time to turn the page and let the kid has a chance somewhere else before it's too late for him.

This.

Hes not just an asset, the Habs are actually wasting away his career, just like they did with Leblanc and tinordi.

 

[26Mats]

Believe me I want a 6’2 kid with good skills to become part of the top 6 but for some reason...he is stuck and seems to have stopped getting better. It’s a shame

It's hard for me to know what Lefebvre was working on with him the last two years. I mean he progressed offensively in the A. I'm going to be in wait-and-see mode until I've seen how he responds to all the coaching he's been getting since the start of this season. I mean last year, when we played a different way, you didn't hear the coaches complaining much about Scherbak. So, now that he doesn't fit in to our style of play and all accounts are that he's been trying to make improvements so that he can, I want to see where he's at before I dismiss him.

In the short moments I was able to see him in the preseason, sure he lost more puck battles than he one, but he was setting up his linemates left and right. They proceeded to botch the chances, so he wasn't getting on the score sheet.

 

[1909]

This.

Hes not just an asset, the Habs are actually wasting away his career, just like they did with Leblanc and tinordi.

That's the type of statement that makes no sense whatsoever....

These are just three very bad 1st round picks by the Habs. That's it. Like Kerby Rychel, Hunter Shinkaruk and dozen of others over the years.

 

[Mrb1p]

That's the type of statement that makes no sense whatsoever....

These are just three very bad 1st round picks by the Habs. That's it. Like Kerby Rychel, Hunter Shinkaruk and dozen of others over the years.

Except Scherback showed promise at the NHL level and in the AHL, these guys were just never good. The ones quoted were, even if it's not first line/first pair good.

 

[Runner77]

Bouchard isn't complaining about him. He was honest with his analysis. And it's not like he's making these comments on a message board or on Twitter and then goes to grab a bite. He told Scherbak this to his face, too, for sure. And he's in a position he can help him work through it and work on aspects of his game that need work.

After Wednesday's game, he praised Scherbak.

So let's not exaggerate here because Bouchard didn't have kid gloves on during his comments.

I'm all for a coach giving honest assessments. What I'm wondering is how much of what Bouchard says should stay between him and the player as opposed to broadcasting so much about the player that includes negative commentary? I don't know how other AHL coaches handle these kind of situations or even if the Habs like the idea of their AHL head coach disseminating the player's shortcomings on a daily or near-daily basis.

 

[Runner77]

Scherbak was on pace for about 20 pts last year and 14 goals while playing 13:23 per game and at times with no talent grinders like waivers Shaw cause Julien doesn't trust him and rightly so as his defensive game and effort aren't great. He's a very frustrating player that has been handled very poorly but an organization that struggles to develop skill.

If he were born 2 days later he'd be in the AHL all year this season. He's missed over a full year of time in the AHL to knee and concussion injuries. I don't know how people really know what he'll be cause he has never been given much of a shot with the Habs and likely won't under Julien. He was on pace for 87 pts in Laval last year, as a 21/22 year old, so clearly he has some skill.

Sounds like a Galchenyuk, minus the lethal snipe ability and a 30-goal season.

Problem is, this Galchenyuk lesser clone won't even fetch a lesser Domi clone on the market, if one existed.

He hasn't been able to crack the NHL lineup, his NHL coach doesn't even value him enough to play him one game, his AHL coach is dissing his work habits and there will soon be another musical chair situation and someone will have to go. He's a project at best. I think he'd make a great throw-in in a larger trade at this point. Trading him on his own doesn't look like a winning proposition right now.

 

[Runner77]

Would you do Scherbak+ for Ho-Sang?

With all the talk about "attitude", I very much doubt that MB would consider it.

We were talking about how the Habs's AHL coach made negative comments about Scherbak, so I look up Ho-Sang and an article from Jan. 2018 pops up, where his AHL coach had some pretty raw comments about him:

New York Islanders forward Josh Ho-Sang was a healthy scratch for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, the Islanders’ AHL affiliate, on Wednesday, and when Bridgeport’s head coach Brent Thompson was asked about the decision, he said the move was part of the learning process for his young player.

“He’s a baby,” Thompson told the New York Post, referring to the soon-to-be 22-year-old young professional. “He’s a baby, he’s immature and he’s got a lot of growing to do.

Islanders AHL coach on Josh Ho-Sang: 'He's got a lot of growing to do' - Sportsnet.ca

So here we see an AHL coach not holding back on the shortcomings of a young player, just like Ducharme was doing with Scherbak. I guess Bouchard may be doing something that other AHL coaches already are doing, whether it's a viable approach or not.

 

[Runner77]

My main question about Scherbak is: if he doesn't know the non-offensive side of the game, why was he allowed to graduate from the AHL? He should have been playing 20 minutes a night until he proved he knew the non-offensive aspects of the game.

Remnant toxic development from the Lefebvre years.

 

[Runner77]

"Heart beat " also means showing that you really, really want it. The guy showed nothing at the Camp to get a regular job. A bit of poise and passion would had helped.

Not quite. Saying that someone has to show a heart beat presupposes that he has none showing, which means he's the equivalent of being dead.

He has been showing a heart beat. It's been rather irregular -- I'd say most of it is on the player but it's also on the organization. He was wrongly evaluated at the draft and the org. exacerbated it by putting him in the hands of Mangler Lefebvre.

And when Claude Julien doesn't appear to value him all that highly and he needs to be sent down for physical conditioning and even his AHL coach is making pointed public comments -- how can he be anything more than a heavily depreciated asset?

Sure, he stands to improve if given time. But, there are no injuries for him to take advantage of and they clearly are not happy with him at the NHL level and certainly not enough for him to get into the lineup. This will not end well.

 

[sandviper]

I would be willing to bet that Scherbak is not on the habs roster in 3 years from now.

I’d be surprised if he were still with us after February.

 

[montreal]

That's the type of statement that makes no sense whatsoever....

These are just three very bad 1st round picks by the Habs. That's it. Like Kerby Rychel, Hunter Shinkaruk and dozen of others over the years.

what makes you so sure? Do you watch a lot of our AHL teams over the years? Do you find it a bit odd that under Timmins pre MB/Lefebvre that every 1st round pick that was signed went to the AHL and went on to play in the NHL for a number of years. Yet under MB/Lefebvre, 7 out of 8 from '09 to '16 have been traded or struggled to make the NHL. So did Timmins just forget how to do his job?

If you were coach in the AHL and you had a kid that was a 1st round pick, played for Team Canada at the WJC's, got Rookie of the Year at 17 in the USHL, Ivy league player of the year at 18, one of Hamilton's top players as a 20 year old rookie, that played well enough in the NHL with limited minutes to be on pace for 20 pts. Would you take this kid off the top line and the PP despite having the worst PP in the league and replace him with no talent grinders?

Does that sound like a good approach to developing talent? Now of course you can say it was just a bad pick here but almost every one? How did Timmins ever get it right the previous years, you know the ones where we didn't rush every 1st round pick to the NHL that wasn't ready expect maybe Leblanc as he was doing really well in Hamilton that year as a rookie, which funny enough he had a .71 ppg pre Lefebvre and under Lefebvre it dropped to .29 and .4 but I guess that wasn't Lefebvre's fault and was just a bad pick.

Tinordi maybe he was just a bad pick, clearly he should have been picked 10 years before he was but he did play well at times in the NHL. Plus MT shares some blame for how he handled him and management for calling him up to soon and too often. But Tinordi never improved under Lefebvre, he was always making the same mistakes, his ppg was .19, .19, .14 in his first 3 years in the AHL under Lefebvre. Too bad 2 former NHL defensemen couldn't teach him to improve his game even a little.

Beaulieu maybe he was just a bad pick, clearly he was never very bright but he at least had skill and very good skating/mobility. Again he wasn't handled well by MT, called up too soon when he wasn't ready and got the yo-yo treatment that this organization seems to love to do to prospects. Beaulieu in the AHL had .46, .47 in the AHL in his first 2 years. Too bad 2 former NHL defensmen couldn't teach him to improve and instead he consistently repeated his mistakes although Gonchar seemed to be able to work with him since he was playing better with him. Then again I don't know what happened to him, he did put up 47 pts in his last 138 games with the Habs which certainly is quality offensive numbers if you can live with his defensive flaws as that's a .34 ppg which over 82 games is 28 pts so I don't know how it has gone so wrong for him since leaving.

Then there's Galchenyuk who didn't go through the AHL but was rushed and not handled well imo. But even then the last 3 years he was either 2nd on the team in scoring or on pace to be if he didn't miss nearly 20 games. Galchenyuk has to take some of the blame for sure here but who knows what would have happened if he wasn't rushed, if he was developed better, more slowly and had someone work with him on his skating, speed and how to be better in his own end.

Now we have both McCarron and Scherbak struggling to not bust. Scherbak will be hard pressed to fit in with Julien as his defensive game is not up to par but he's a very good playmaker that can snipe it. But to move him to a new position that's much harder while in the middle of a season after being out most of the year with 2 major injuries, only to give up and move him to another position that he didn't play often. Does that sound like a good way to develop talent? Then the next year he puts the two youngest forwards and the two with the weakest defensive games and both more of playmakers on the same line for half the season. It took months for Lefebvre to figure out that he should put his best playmaker with his best snipers (Terry, Hudon).