Fred the Man
Well-known member
It could be reverse Karma: KK scores 30+ goals, Carolina makes playoffs and Habs finish 9th missing the playoffs but not low enough to get a top 3 pick.
KK Signs Offer Sheet From Canes/Habs Don't Match
- Thread starter Habsy
- Start date
I wish him well , we jerked him around .
GGpX
Well-known member
My opinion on this team is rather straightforward.
I don't have much belief in it.
Whether we kept Kotkaniemi or not, this is a fringe playoff team at best. While he was technically the second best center on this team, he's not a second line center. The financial impact re-signing him would have had over the long haul (cue the usual few that don't care about the long haul) would have been potentially disastrous. No matter how you cut it, $6.1M for a guy who can't score, isn't a player maker, doesn't play well defensively and doesn't win many puck battles isn't a recipe for success, and neither are all of his next contracts after that.
I do expect them to overpay for a center, and Dvorak's name seems like the likely candidate. He'll have a greater impact than Kotkaniemi, but a center line of Suzuki-Dvorak-Evans-Poehling? Sorry, that ain't scaring nobody.
I've been on the "tear it down" bandwagon for a long time now, but the contracts we've given out make that option nearly impossible. So the quest for 8th in the East is on!
I don't have much belief in it.
Whether we kept Kotkaniemi or not, this is a fringe playoff team at best. While he was technically the second best center on this team, he's not a second line center. The financial impact re-signing him would have had over the long haul (cue the usual few that don't care about the long haul) would have been potentially disastrous. No matter how you cut it, $6.1M for a guy who can't score, isn't a player maker, doesn't play well defensively and doesn't win many puck battles isn't a recipe for success, and neither are all of his next contracts after that.
I do expect them to overpay for a center, and Dvorak's name seems like the likely candidate. He'll have a greater impact than Kotkaniemi, but a center line of Suzuki-Dvorak-Evans-Poehling? Sorry, that ain't scaring nobody.
I've been on the "tear it down" bandwagon for a long time now, but the contracts we've given out make that option nearly impossible. So the quest for 8th in the East is on!
GrandWazoo
Well-known member
What a waste. 
Of cap space by Carolina.What a waste.
lecoqsportif
Well-known member
That’s the issue. He has all the tools and may put them together in Carolina. There was a lot of negative energy in MTL, so it was probably best to cut ties.
The Habs bottled his development. This is the consequence.
Sal_Butera
Well-known member
He does? What tools exactly?
That’s where I get stuck:
- skating - subpar
- strength - subpar (should grown into frame)
- offensive IQ - avg
- faceoffs - subpar
- shooting - avg/above avg
I see absolutely zero WOW factor in any aspect of his game
Habs definitely screwed his development - Gord Miller was right on he should’ve never been in the NHL at 18, or 19..maybe even 20
Rolex
Canadiens Moderator
Agreed. A bust when you factor that we « reached » to draft him
Sal_Butera
Well-known member
As I posted previously IMO time will show 2018 was a weak top-5 draft class like 2012 except for Svechnikov
Hughes is a glorified rover w zero DZone IQ
BT is a glorified Josh Anderson
Zadina who knows if he’ll even be an NHLer
Dahlin who knows - even though Hedman struggled early in his career he showed flashes of brilliance which Rasmus doesn’t even do
Sal_Butera
Well-known member
Rocket Man74
Active member
Take for what its worth, but I am listening to Marinaro on TSN 690 and he was saying that the team has been trying to trade KK this offseason. If true, the Habs have certainly soured on him. If this was Suzuki signed to an offsheet, it would have been matched in two seconds.
On a different note, Marinaro is also going on about the Habs have made Poehling available
On a different note, Marinaro is also going on about the Habs have made Poehling available
If your moving a first , should of just kept KK
He was going to be one of those players where we always say next year he's still young. Then he turns 27 and we say he was a bust.
GrandWazoo
Well-known member
He has good IQ, decent hands and a very projectable frame. I think it's all about filling up that frame and gaining the strength to win puck battles and protect the puck and gain confidence. But I always saw him toping at a 50ish 2-way center.
lecoqsportif
Well-known member
He needs to speed up his decision making.