Why didn't the Avs draft Fucale

[thedustman]

as a blues fan, i would give any of our goalies for varlamov (allen or halak would have to include a pick, but not a first)

 

[Cooperman]

Count me as someone who is SUPER high on Bigras as a player. I've been watching some of his film and he really impresses me. Not in a flashy way, just his silky smooth playstyle and decisiveness on defense are pretty outstanding and have me really hoping that he'll come play for us for a long time.

I do NOT however, think he should be playing in the NHL yet. He needs another year in junior (as his team's #1 Dman, #1 PK, #1 PP), and then a year atleast in the AHL to get used to the speed and strength needed. So I'm thinking the earliest we'll be seeing him is the 2014-15 season, as a call-up from Lake Erie.

He needs to put on some muscle, and play down there to get used to the extra weight he's putting on and his new NHL sized frame. He plays a cerebral game.

I'm excited though.

Bigras can't play in the AHL in 14-15, it's NHL or OHL, like this year(13-14).

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Count me as someone who is SUPER high on Bigras as a player. I've been watching some of his film and he really impresses me. Not in a flashy way, just his silky smooth playstyle and decisiveness on defense are pretty outstanding and have me really hoping that he'll come play for us for a long time.

I do NOT however, think he should be playing in the NHL yet. He needs another year in junior (as his team's #1 Dman, #1 PK, #1 PP), and then a year atleast in the AHL to get used to the speed and strength needed. So I'm thinking the earliest we'll be seeing him is the 2014-15 season, as a call-up from Lake Erie.

He needs to put on some muscle, and play down there to get used to the extra weight he's putting on and his new NHL sized frame. He plays a cerebral game.

I'm excited though.

I don't expect him to be in the NHL next year either, but if he shows up at camp with 10-15 pound of additional muscle built, plays exceptionally well during camp, and looks NHL ready, then he should play.


I expect him to spend next year back in the OHL, but the same could have been said for ROR back in 09. If the kid shows up NHL ready, we should play him.

as a blues fan, i would give any of our goalies for varlamov (allen or halak would have to include a pick, but not a first)

A pick from the Blues side?

The Avs certainly wouldn't be adding for Halak or Allen(Or Elliott for that matter obviously).

 

[tigervixxxen]

Bigras can't play in the AHL in 14-15, it's NHL or OHL, like this year(13-14).

Correct me if I don't understand this right but if the Avs send Bigras back to OHL (prior to 10 NHL games) then they can't bring him back for the rest of the season, right? Or can they if his OHL team is eliminated from the playoffs? If so, I can see them having a tougher decision, especially next year, because they can't call him up anytime for an injury or whatever.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Correct me if I don't understand this right but if the Avs send Bigras back to OHL (prior to 10 NHL games) then they can't bring him back for the rest of the season, right? Or can they if his OHL team is eliminated from the playoffs? If so, I can see them having a tougher decision, especially next year, because they can't call him up anytime for an injury or whatever.

I'm not 100% certain on this rule either, but I think the Avs can still call him back up even after he was sent back down to the OHL.


But, if he plays more then 9 games over the course of the year then they lose 1 year on his ELC.

 

[hockey365]

It's a bit misleading to compare numbers across leagues without placing them in proper context. The Q is a much higher-scoring league than the O, the Dub, or the NHL. The best save percentage in the Q this year was .913. In the OHL, that would've been good for 7th. In the Dub, it would've barely cracked the top 10. In the NHL, not even top 20.

Fucale's numbers may not look good in an NHL context, but his GAA this year was the best single-season GAA in Mooseheads history, toppling J-S Giguere's record. His save percentage was good enough for 3rd in the league.

Also, the Mooseheads were stacked offensively, not defensively. Their d-core was good and didn't give up very many chances, but the ones they did give up were almost always high-quality. When you're beating up on teams by 4 or 5 goals, well, you're not exactly playing them tightly. I'm a Mooseheads fan and saw a lot of them this year, and it was not at all uncommon for them to give up multiple odd-man rushes in a game.

Lastly: Fucale was a starter most of last year and all of this year, as a 16 and 17 year old. Most kids his age are backups that aren't playing the best teams in their league. He's already played 151 games in Major Junior. Jarry's played 42; Comrie's played 68.

Regardless, neither the Avs nor the Flames needed him; they're both pretty well-stacked with goalie prospects. Bigras was undoubtedly the BPA for the Avs. I'm not at all surprised they didn't pick Erne; Roy once suspended him and Duclair for attitude problems. I don't think there's any love lost there.

Fucale will be fine in Montreal. For prospects, stats matter much less than intelligence, coachability, poise, maturity, work ethic, etc. He has all of those qualities in spades.

Besides, the Avs already have 3 former Mooseheads on their team. Any more and a team name change might be in order

Fucale will become a good goalie in the NHL, but don't expect the second coming of Roy or Brodeur. The CH is better served with Price right now and even for the next 3 to 5 yrs. Like you said, the Moose were stacked. You'll see the real Fucale this season....

The Avs had listed Erne in the 3rd and Duclair in the 4th. If they were available at that period, Roy would of drafted them. These players are fine with Roy, they know he's a competitor and Roy challenges his players in all sorts of way. These 2 would play for Roy any time!

 

[Roz]

Fucale will become a good goalie in the NHL, but don't expect the second coming of Roy or Brodeur. The CH is better served with Price right now and even for the next 3 to 5 yrs. Like you said, the Moose were stacked. You'll see the real Fucale this season....

I don't think the Habs are expecting Fucale to be ready for at least 3-5 years. He wasn't drafted to immediately challenge Price for the job. They have very little depth in goal and the best goalie prospect was available to them at #36. It was a no-brainer for them.

And I said the Moose were stacked offensively, not defensively. Konrad Abeltshauser and Mac Weegar were their best d-men. They're both good - Abeltshauser played the best hockey of his life in the Q playoffs - but are at this point unlikely to be future superstars.

We saw the "real" Fucale without a stacked team two seasons ago, when he was a Q-league starter as a rookie. The Moose were not stacked then. Nate was not yet the dominant force he was this year, Drouin didn't even come up from Midget until January*, Marty Frk was out half the season with a concussion, and Stefan Fournier and Stephen MacAulay hadn't yet arrived in town. They overachieved in a pretty big way that year, and Fucale was one of the main reasons why. He shared the team's MVP and Rookie of the Year awards with Nate.

We all know goalies are hard to predict. I don't expect him to be a generational goalie like Roy/Brodeur, but I don't think anyone outside of Craig Button expects that. That said, I do think anybody expecting a huge drop-off in production from him only needs to look at his 2011-2012 season to realize that's unlikely. Of course, next year will undoubtedly be challenging for him as he'll be the singular face of the franchise - the Mooseheads are now his team unless Nikolaj Ehlers somehow tears up the league. I think he's very well prepared to face that challenge, though.

*Fun fact: Jo originally planned to spend his entire 16-year-old season in midget. It was Nate's constant Facebook messaging that helped convince him to come to Halifax.

 

[Sea Eagles]

Aittokallio has played at NHL levels, and did pretty well. He's next cab off the ranks, then there is Pickard. Fucale in my opinion is wonderful, but not a requirement right now, especially if Bigras turns into what Roy is suggesting he may.

 

[hockey365]

I don't think the Habs are expecting Fucale to be ready for at least 3-5 years. He wasn't drafted to immediately challenge Price for the job. They have very little depth in goal and the best goalie prospect was available to them at #36. It was a no-brainer for them.

And I said the Moose were stacked offensively, not defensively. Konrad Abeltshauser and Mac Weegar were their best d-men. They're both good - Abeltshauser played the best hockey of his life in the Q playoffs - but are at this point unlikely to be future superstars.

We saw the "real" Fucale without a stacked team two seasons ago, when he was a Q-league starter as a rookie. The Moose were not stacked then. Nate was not yet the dominant force he was this year, Drouin didn't even come up from Midget until January*, Marty Frk was out half the season with a concussion, and Stefan Fournier and Stephen MacAulay hadn't yet arrived in town. They overachieved in a pretty big way that year, and Fucale was one of the main reasons why. He shared the team's MVP and Rookie of the Year awards with Nate.

We all know goalies are hard to predict. I don't expect him to be a generational goalie like Roy/Brodeur, but I don't think anyone outside of Craig Button expects that. That said, I do think anybody expecting a huge drop-off in production from him only needs to look at his 2011-2012 season to realize that's unlikely. Of course, next year will undoubtedly be challenging for him as he'll be the singular face of the franchise - the Mooseheads are now his team unless Nikolaj Ehlers somehow tears up the league. I think he's very well prepared to face that challenge, though.

*Fun fact: Jo originally planned to spend his entire 16-year-old season in midget. It was Nate's constant Facebook messaging that helped convince him to come to Halifax.

No worries ROZ, I didn't believe you said that he will challenge Price within the next few years. I agree with your statements here.

IMO, he'll become a very good goalie, sound technique with combativeness, that's on his PLUS side. On the MINUS side, he relies heavily on his team mates to pick up the 2nd & 3rd rebounds and the fact that he's small for the "prototipical goalie" of today's NHL.
But, as you've said and I totally agree, he was the best goalie (and player available when the Habs' turn came around) in this year's draft and that was a smart move from the Habs.
I know of him since his days in Pee-wee, he's been groomed for this position and he'll succeed! I wish him all the best.