The Habs have signed D Jeff Woywitka. He will play the Alex Picard role this season. He's a capable 6/7 dman so I think it's a nice depth signing. Nothing worth elaborating too much about though...
The first lineup is the one I've been predicting will hold true for most of the season. AK still gets some opportunities given to him so it's possible that he begins next to Plekanec and one of Cole or Cammalleri begin on the third. But we all know how long the AK experiment will work, especially when there's better options available in the lineup.
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The Habs have signed D Jeff Woywitka. He will play the Alex Picard role this season. He's a capable 6/7 dman so I think it's a nice depth signing. Nothing worth elaborating too much about though...
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Pacioretty-Gomez-Gionta
Cole-Plekanec-Cammalleri
Kostitsyn-Eller-Darche
Moen-Desharnais-White
I can see Cole sliding to the 3rd line...don't know why, I just can.
One thing for sure boys is that Max Pac is going to have a season we habs fans have all been waiting for. Bank it. The kid is getting even faster this summer working out hard! He was awesome last year before the cheapshot.
Contract Fantrax 14 teams, 8 keepers. 4 max lifers +/-
3C, 3LW, 3RW, 1F. 5D,2G....5Reserves.
Goal heavy. G=3.5 A=2 Add 0.5pts for D.
Goalies:W=3,SO=4,start=2,Save=.1
Assist +4, OF loss +1 loss= -1 Goal against -1
C:MACKINNON,Kadri,Rossi,Thompson
LW: KANE,HUBERDEAU,Marchand,kotkaniemi,Colton,N.Robert son
RW:KUCHEROV,RANTANEN,Kessel,Bjorkstrand
FOX,BURNS,Jones,Girard,lundkist,Hanafin
G:CAMPBELL,Swayman
Minors:Mctavish,Johnson
I actually think Cole or Pacioretty start on the third line and Kostitsyn starts off looking good before inevitably tailing off at about the 15-game mark. That's when AK gets the Pouliot role as depth scorer because Cole and Pacioretty don't disappear completely when they hit a slump.
Coaches switch lines around so often though, anything can happen and a lineup that we put in writing might only be in effect for about 10 games out of the whole year.
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Thats for sure eric....coaches swap lines all day long. I'm fairly confident Paciorretty will be our best winger period. Just a hunch. He gomez and Gio will stick til mega slump.
Contract Fantrax 14 teams, 8 keepers. 4 max lifers +/-
3C, 3LW, 3RW, 1F. 5D,2G....5Reserves.
Goal heavy. G=3.5 A=2 Add 0.5pts for D.
Goalies:W=3,SO=4,start=2,Save=.1
Assist +4, OF loss +1 loss= -1 Goal against -1
C:MACKINNON,Kadri,Rossi,Thompson
LW: KANE,HUBERDEAU,Marchand,kotkaniemi,Colton,N.Robert son
RW:KUCHEROV,RANTANEN,Kessel,Bjorkstrand
FOX,BURNS,Jones,Girard,lundkist,Hanafin
G:CAMPBELL,Swayman
Minors:Mctavish,Johnson
Pac was so good because he uses his size correctly. He grinds a bit and goes to the net but also has enough speed and skill to stick with smaller fast players. Gomez played his best with Pac at his side. Probably because he brings all the intangibles that Gomez forgot somewhere in New Jersey.
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First time today i see this montreal blog... i enjoy reading you. good job Eric.
I reay like the Pacioretty work on this line. I hope he get this spot when he come back for this season.
I own Markov in my keeper league and im a habsfan, but i wouldn't sign him this at this salary. i think it s too much pay for an injury prone guy. If he stay healthy he can hit the 50 pts this year and really help montreal and young defenser to grow in the club. The Subban, Markov duo on the PP will give headaches to the other team.
Have a nice season !
Welcome!
I update this thread quite frequently but in August this is not easy because there is no hockey news until September.
I agree that the Markov contract is a risky one. I understand that he is very talented but when he goes down to injury the team must overplay vets or use draft picks to trade for rental players.
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Keeper league (12 teams) - keep 6 (+ NHL team is auto keep)
Weekly lineup: 1T, 9F, 4D, 1G
Points only:
Forwards & Dmen: goal (1), assist (1)
Goalies: win (2), otl/sol (1), shutout (2)
Team: win (2), otl/sol (1)
Only 2 FA pickups for the season (remaining: 0)
[T] Edmonton
[F] Panarin, Pettersson, Bedard
[D] Heiskanen, Theodore, Dobson
[G]
Eric, I don't see them messing with the obvious chemistry that MaxPac established with Gomez/Gionta, something like 17 points in his 19 games before "The Chara Hit". I also can't see them putting Cole, fresh off the 4 year $4.5M per deal, on the 3rd line, that Pleks/Cammy slot is perfect for him. Plus AK46 was given a one year deal at no salary increase to motivate him to prove that he can work hard and fulfill his potential -with Martin, that means start on the 3rd line and work your butt off, at both ends of the ice, and then you'll get the chances on the PP and perhaps in the top 6 when the inevitable happens (slumps, injuries, etc.). And this was my opinion even before our star Belorussian made those ill-advised comments to a local paper a few weeks ago, thereby starting to vigorously dig his own grave.
That said, I love what AK46 can bring when he's motivated and energized, and I really hope he finally brings it all ths year and becomes a premier power forward, as the Habs brass expected when he was first drafted.
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."
Twitter: @ross10019
CBS Sportsline 14 team H2H keeper (21-man roster, 14 keepers)
Weekly lineup changes (start 9F (3/4C and 6/5W) 5D 2G)
G, A, PPP, SOG, BS, +/-, GAA, W, SV%
Angry Little Elves (formerly Montreal Maulers)
2012, 2013, 2014 & 2015 League Champions
C: Tavares Hintz Larkin Jenner Seguin Schenn Backlund
W: Panarin Marchand Hyman Keller Forsberg Batherson Rust Moore Smith
D: Josi Hamilton Weegar Montour Ekholm Myers Parayko Pettersson Seeler
G: Vasilevskiy Swayman Kuemper
I think your analysis is bang on here Ross. I think that Martin will reunite Pacioretty with Gomez and Gionta. Pacioretty was pretty good just before his injury, but Gomez was also playing the best hockey of his season at the same time. Cole will be given a shot with Cammy and Plekanec, which leave Kostitisyn to play with Eller, with whom he played great last year, and either Desharnais or Darche. I would like to see a AK46/Eller/Desharnais line...could be one of the most dangerous third line in the league.
I think AK's shortcomings will be less apparent in a depth role, kinda like Pouliot last year. Less ice time but he can score in bunches. My analogy would be a football team with a small backup running back who is lightning quick and can score from long range but cannot be relied on for all situations.
The Habs have nice depth up front and should be solid on D. But there are some question marks. The work ethic of Cammalleri, Gomez and Kostitsyn, the health of Gorges and Markov... we just don't know and how that turns out could determine if the Habs can make the playoffs. I may sound pessimistic but 9th place Carolina had 91 points. The Habs had 96. It doesn't take much to fall back 5 points. The Habs are well equipped but it's still a fine line when it comes to the NHL playoff races.
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I'd be very surprised if the Habs did not make playoffs. I don't see improvement in any of the teams that finished below them last year. Not to the point where they'd be better than Montreal anyway.
20 Team Pool Points Keeper
G =1,A=1,PPG=1,PPA=0.5, SHG=1,GWG=1,PIM=0.1,+/-=0.25
Goalie cats (W=2, SO=3, SV=0.05)
F: Malkin, B.Richards, Franzen, D.Brown, Boedker, Zajac, Atkinson, Scheifele, Read, Boyes
D: Green, Schultz, Faulk, Goligoski
G: Crawford
You're right, they should be in, but I'm not discounting the possibility that they could hit a bad slump at the wrong time. But they have excellent scoring depth, the return of Markov/Gorges and Price is in a contract year. Lots of variables both ways. I personally expect them to finish in the 4-6 range but the gap between playoff positions is so small that minor details go a long way.
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The habs are heavily underrated. The ONLY thing they are missing is size and toughness. In regular season that doesn't mean squat APPARENTLY like we've seen. Subban,Georges and Markov are unreal...with Price being probably the BEST goalie in the league for years to come I see a very bright future no matter what happens with size. Max P...I'm telling ya, monster this year. MONSTER! Andrei Kos will not be a hab by years end for sure and all likelyhood by christmas he's gonzo. It never works out after bashing your coach and you have very little heart beat. my 2 cents for today
Contract Fantrax 14 teams, 8 keepers. 4 max lifers +/-
3C, 3LW, 3RW, 1F. 5D,2G....5Reserves.
Goal heavy. G=3.5 A=2 Add 0.5pts for D.
Goalies:W=3,SO=4,start=2,Save=.1
Assist +4, OF loss +1 loss= -1 Goal against -1
C:MACKINNON,Kadri,Rossi,Thompson
LW: KANE,HUBERDEAU,Marchand,kotkaniemi,Colton,N.Robert son
RW:KUCHEROV,RANTANEN,Kessel,Bjorkstrand
FOX,BURNS,Jones,Girard,lundkist,Hanafin
G:CAMPBELL,Swayman
Minors:Mctavish,Johnson