Player Discussion Rookie Max Lajoie

bert

Registered User
Nov 11, 2002
35,984
21,920
Visit site
The wave of adrenaline is gone and he is trying too hard to not make mistakes. Will be interesting to see if he is not sent down to the A.

Who would possibly play instead of him?.. He is stuck with Ceci or Wideman two of the worst defensive hockey players playing in the NHL.
 

branch

#GirlBoss #Vibes
Jan 12, 2008
8,837
7,233
Who would possibly play instead of him?.. He is stuck with Ceci or Wideman two of the worst defensive hockey players playing in the NHL.

I dunno that's part of the problem. Maybe Wolanin or Englund?
 

bert

Registered User
Nov 11, 2002
35,984
21,920
Visit site
I dunno that's part of the problem. Maybe Wolanin or Englund?

Well neither of those players are close to as good as Lajoie, he is not the issue at all its his partner. Against Florida Ceci was so bad it was disgusting. Lack of effort and awareness on top of him being bad to begin with the lack of commitment was putrid. Wolanin is terrible away from the puck right now, it was incredibly evident in his time up here he does not know how to play defense. They really need to find a better RHD man or just get Ceci off the team as he drags everyone down.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sens of Anarchy

coladin

Registered User
Sep 18, 2009
11,781
4,476
I am happy with his progress, warts and all. It just has to happen and he will learn from his mistakes. There is no easy path here
 

aragorn

Do The Right Thing
Aug 8, 2004
28,471
9,001
He's young & requires experience & the only way to get that is to play. IMO he'll be fine. Could also have something to do with the coaches, remember last yr they were playing not to lose & that had everything to do with the coaching strategy. Even EK complained about coaches nagging them about being in a the right spot all the time they became overly concerned over where to be than playing the game sometimes.
 
Last edited:

Micklebot

Moderator
Apr 27, 2010
53,145
30,370
He is losing confidence imo. You can see a lot more hesitation in his game lately. Either ease back his deployment or send him down.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Multigrain

OD99

Registered User
Oct 13, 2012
4,870
3,976
He is losing confidence imo. You can see a lot more hesitation in his game lately. Either ease back his deployment or send him down.

Who do you replace him with? I dont have any issues with his progress so far...adversity is to be expected and overcome.
 

Multigrain

Registered User
Sep 9, 2018
1,469
182
I thought Lajoie was pretty good last night for the most part.

It's pretty clear he's carrying Ceci more than the other way around though. This team really needs a veteran RD to replace Ceci in the mentor role. Ceci is far too fragile, given his struggles, to show any rookie the ropes.

I don't see any internal options really. Maybe move Boro up into Lajoie's 2nd pairing minutes with Ceci? It'll be painful to watch and hurt us in the standings but at least you can shelter Lajoie for a month or two on the 3rd pairing. Outside of getting a decent veteran (Muzzin would be great) I'm not sure there's much that can be done.

I don't think he'll be ruined either way (he thinks the game too well) but his development may be slowed by having to carry a "veteran" D like Ceci.
What about Muzzin or Martinez?
 

Multigrain

Registered User
Sep 9, 2018
1,469
182
The wave of adrenaline is gone and he is trying too hard to not make mistakes. Will be interesting to see if he is not sent down to the A.
I don't think he will be sent down, I would be shocked if he was. I think he has a pretty strong hockey IQ but there is now more film on him so other teams are able to figure him out a little bit. Probably needs to have a few less minutes and I never have liked Boro paired with anyone. There just really is not an answer right now unless they make a trade and that is doubtful.
 

OD99

Registered User
Oct 13, 2012
4,870
3,976
Wolanin? He's earned a promotion too...

Not sure I see the positive developmental aspects here.

If anything Wolanin has shown a sporadic offensive flair which is very attractive if he had the defensive competency to back it up.

The Joy is showing to be quite well rounded and his game hasn't really fallen off if you take his early offensive numbers as an outlier. I admit to not look at fancy stats but I would have to think his deployment is different since being paired with Ceci most of the time now?

Anyway; I think it will be odd if they demote Lajoie for Wolanin.
 

Korpse

HFBoards Sponsor
Sponsor
Feb 5, 2010
20,725
9,570
He is losing confidence imo. You can see a lot more hesitation in his game lately. Either ease back his deployment or send him down.

I don’t think it’s necessary to send him down, perhaps give a game or two off, kind of a reset and just see the game from a different perspective.
 

Cosmix

HFBoards Sponsor
Sponsor
Jul 24, 2011
17,798
6,437
Ottawa
So let Lajoie play with Demelo for some games. Play Harpur and/or Jaros with Chabot.

I would like to see Wolanin brought up in the new year to see how he is developing and whether he is ready for the NHL. Then the team can determine how it wants to handle the aging vet D at the TDL.
 

Micklebot

Moderator
Apr 27, 2010
53,145
30,370
I don’t think it’s necessary to send him down, perhaps give a game or two off, kind of a reset and just see the game from a different perspective.
I think if we deployed him as a 3rd pair dman, instead of on our "shutdown" pair, he'd be fine. But failing that, I don't think he should be here, we'll do more damage than good by letting him get shelled every night.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sens of Anarchy

Multigrain

Registered User
Sep 9, 2018
1,469
182
I would like to see Wolanin brought up in the new year to see how he is developing and whether he is ready for the NHL. Then the team can determine how it wants to handle the aging vet D at the TDL.
Do we really need that many rookies on defense? I think its too soon to bring him up maybe if Harpur or Jaros stuggle I would but not for now.
 

Cosmix

HFBoards Sponsor
Sponsor
Jul 24, 2011
17,798
6,437
Ottawa
Do we really need that many rookies on defense? I think its too soon to bring him up maybe if Harpur or Jaros stuggle I would but not for now.

I said in the new year, not now. I think he will have learned how to play at the AHL level by January 2019 and could use some more NHL level competition time to see how he is developing. Then decide if an aging vet should be traded to make room for him, if he is ready.
 

JungleBeat

Registered User
Sep 10, 2016
5,049
3,547
Canada
Lajoie hasn’t been playing well at all these past couple of weeks. I think it started right when he was paired up with Ceci...
 

coladin

Registered User
Sep 18, 2009
11,781
4,476
The issues he's having can't really be blamed on his partner imo. I think it's more likely that he's just hit that rookie wall.

Played a lot of hockey , and he is developing. Sure, he got walked on the 3rd goal. Andy didn't help him out either.

From my vantage point, the big difference between him and Ceci is Ceci's unforced errors. Max has issues with speed and mobility. Max is decent at moving the puck, even under pressure
 
Last edited:

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad

-->