Player Discussion Nikita Scherbak: Scherby-Dooby-Doo

[CauZuki]

I like that. But don't be surprised if Julien has Armia with Drouin and Domi (since he likes a defensive guy on each line) and Gallagher back with Plekanec. I also think Julien will have Byron and maybe Hudon ahead of Scherback, sadly.

That would be a mistake for sure , Scherbak seems primed for a great season with extra ice-time. His conditioning is strong , he has shown sparks of insane skill and if he continues to be supported I could see a 20G/30A for him. This is of course conditional on him getting the ice-time which includes 1st or 2nd wave PP.

 

[Hostile Offer]

I can see that but I would at least try it on the PP.

Perhaps this would be a better top 9?

Domi - Drouin - Gallagher
Tatar - Danault - Scherbak
Lekhonen - Plekanec - Armia

Drouin on the left half wall, Scherbak on the right half wall could be deadly indeed. As for the lineup, call me crazy but I would love to try Hudon at C with Drouin and Armia as his wingers. They just seem stylistically perfect for each other.

 

[Rapala]

Was it just me or did Sherby seem awkward on occasion last year?
I guessed at the time that he was still growing into his new frame. If this was indeed the case he should be much smoother thus year.
Slick would be cool.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Might be the best passer in the team.

I think he is. Depending on what domi can show us, hes not a bad passer either. Sherbak’s passes on the pp are incredibly hard and accurate lol

 

[HOPE]

I like that. But don't be surprised if Julien has Armia with Drouin and Domi (since he likes a defensive guy on each line) and Gallagher back with Plekanec. I also think Julien will have Byron and maybe Hudon ahead of Scherback, sadly.

isn't Armia pretty good defensively, a hard backchecker and 1v1 battle god?

 

[DramaticGloveSave]

He shouldve went in the coachs office and broken a few sticks on Therrien and CJs head because they never realized it.

To Max’s credit he’s always known what was best for him. Specifically, I remember him requesting to demoted to the AHL and work on his game which is unheard of. I’m sure he made his beliefs known.

 

[26Mats]

isn't Armia pretty good defensively, a hard backchecker and 1v1 battle god?

Yes, that's why I doubt the line combo of the poster I was replying to, which had Domi-Drouin-Gallagher as the first line will be what Julien starts with. More like Domi-Drouin-Armia, as we saw in practice. We also saw Scherbak-Suzuki-Byron, which may be the 4th line, with DLR or Peca taking Suzuki's spot.

Maybe Julien will go with something like:

Domi Drouin Armia
Tatar Danault Hudon
Lehkonen Plekanec Gallagher
Byron Suzuki/DLR/Peca Scherbak

we do have depth. Two players of Byron, Scherbak, Armia, Hudon, and Lehkonen will likely start on the 4th line.

 

[cphabs]

Feedbag

 

[Adam Michaels]

 

[Mrb1p]

My man

 

[BLONG7]

Will CJ give this kid a fair shot, at a top 6 role?

 

[Et le But]

Will CJ give this kid a fair shot, at a top 6 role?

Probably not.

Hopefully we can get a decent pick back when he's traded this year.

 

[DAChampion]

My man

 

[montreal]

I've been saying I think he gets traded as I highly doubt Julien cares for him as his defensive game is not good and he is weak physically especially lower body. It's a shame cause I think has the skills to be a good player but can be a very frustrating player as well. If he was born 2 days later he would be going to Laval, but now the Habs will need to figure out what to do with him.

Last year in the AHL, he was 3rd in the league in ppg for U-23 players that played in more then 20 games but he missed so much time it's hard put too much into that. Plus he played for the worst team in the AHL. But injuries have gotten in the way, he's lost a year of development as he has only 140 AHL games which means he's missed 88 games over 3 years. That's 12 games over a full season.

 

[26Mats]

I've been saying I think he gets traded as I highly doubt Julien cares for him as his defensive game is not good and he is weak physically especially lower body. It's a shame cause I think has the skills to be a good player but can be a very frustrating player as well. If he was born 2 days later he would be going to Laval, but now the Habs will need to figure out what to do with him.

Last year in the AHL, he was 3rd in the league in ppg for U-23 players that played in more then 20 games but he missed so much time it's hard put too much into that. Plus he played for the worst team in the AHL. But injuries have gotten in the way, he's lost a year of development as he has only 140 AHL games which means he's missed 88 games over 3 years. That's 12 games over a full season.

Bergevin was saying Scherbak's ice time will depend on how he does in winning his battles on the boards.

We have a 22 year old with boat loads of talent and we'll stunt his development unless he's able to win more board battles. Makes perfect sense to me.

 

[Andrei79]

I always wonder how it works for these prospects. Does the team pay for this ? Do they have a list of recommandations ?

For example, how will Kotkaniemi's skating be planned for ? Scherbak and McCarron made good progress this summer but f***, it's like 3 years too late.

 

[26Mats]

Drouin on the left half wall, Scherbak on the right half wall could be deadly indeed. As for the lineup, call me crazy but I would love to try Hudon at C with Drouin and Armia as his wingers. They just seem stylistically perfect for each other.

There will definitely be a lot of line combos tried during the year. I think Hudon and Drouin would play well together, even if they're on opposite wings. Not sure Hudon has the foot speed to be a 200 foot center, but it's worth a try.

 

[JeffreyLFC]

I always wonder how it works for these prospects. Does the team pay for this ? Do they have a list of recommandations ?

For example, how will Kotkaniemi's skating be planned for ? Scherbak and McCarron made good progress this summer but ****, it's like 3 years too late.

I have no clue how the organization deal with it but it seem pretty apparent that the progress regarding skating improvement of all our picks in the past few years have been way underwhelming to say the least. All of our picks showed little to no improvement.

I hope it has changed but since the head of hockey operation is the same I highly doubt it.

 

[gillyguzzler]

He's done here. No doubt.

Vinny Damphousse and his gang of RDS experts are already, one game into preseason for him, on Sherback's case, bashing him and saying he's already bad enough to get cut...

He's done. It's pathetic but it's true. They got on AK46 - gone. Eller - gone. Chucky - gone. They pick one European a year and harp on him until he's gone. It's Sherback's turn. He's done.

 

[Hope Of Glory]

Scherbak showed yesterday that he can be a solid player in the offensive zone. But he absolutely has to show more at 5 vs 5 if he wants to stay. He looked so lost in the neutral/defensive zone, hopefully it's just because it's the first game.

The next few pre-season games will be crucial for him. He needs to be more involved and at the very least know where he is going on the ice. That shouldn't be that much of a problem in his 4th pro year.

 

[Agalloch]

Scherbak showed yesterday that he can be a solid player in the offensive zone. But he absolutely has to show more at 5 vs 5 if he wants to stay. He looked so lost in the neutral/defensive zone, hopefully it's just because it's the first game.

The next few pre-season games will be crucial for him. He needs to be more involved and at the very least know where he is going on the ice. That shouldn't be that much of a problem in his 4th pro year.

Seriously, Habs need to at least keep him because of waivers. Some team will pick him for sure. Keep him as a spare for now.

Tatar-Danault-Gallagher
Drouin-Domi-Armia
Hudon-Plekanec-Lehkonen
DLR-Peca-Byron

Scherbak, Chaput

 

[gillyguzzler]

Seriously, Habs need to at least keep him because of waivers. Some team will pick him for sure. Keep him as a spare for now.

Tatar-Danault-Gallagher
Drouin-Domi-Armia
Hudon-Plekanec-Lehkonen
DLR-Peca-Byron

Scherbak, Chaput

It's a tough call. He's not really a 4th line type of player but he's not really better than any of the wingers on the top 9. But you don't want to lose him on waivers either. So, as you say, keep him as spare until the inevitable rash of injuries with our group of small forwards.

 

[Agalloch]

It's a tough call. He's not really a 4th line type of player but he's not really better than any of the wingers on the top 9. But you don't want to lose him on waivers either. So, as you say, keep him as spare until the inevitable rash of injuries with our group of small forwards.

For now, Scherbak could be a PP specialist...

 

[Mrb1p]

Lol, kid has a goal and probably the two best chances on our PP and people want him gone... stop watching Lantichambre and watch the damn game. He scored a goal FFS, what more do you want? I swear wed have Ovechkin and wed try to make him a good defensive player.

 

[417]

I have no idea why people keep saying he was bad last night...his line was by far the best line of the night and Scherbak played a key role in that.

He was threatening on the PP, won his board battles...not sure what more people want.