The Montreal Canadiens have some massive decisions looming on young players, especially with free agency for some of them looming. Josh Gosse and Jesse Poirier chat about all of it on this episode of Habs Digest.
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Canadiens Facing Key Decision Between Xhekaj and Struble This Summer
0:00 Montreal Canadiens News
0:48 PP precision
3:10 He just made history
7:06 Some major decisions are looming
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Some serious choices have to be made here
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Arber Xhekaj,Zach Bolduc,Alex Newhook,Jake Evans,Brendan Gallagher,Mike Matheson,David Reinbacher,Juraj Slafkovsky,Josh Anderson,Cole Caufield,Nick Suzuki,Kirby Dach,Alex CarrierKent Hughes,Martin St Louis,Sam Montembeault,Kaiden Guhle,Owen Beck,Filip Mesar,Jayden Struble,Adam Engstrom,Sean Farrell,Lane Hutson,Ivan Demidov,Patrik Laine,Jakub Dobes
39 Comments
W. Bourget wrote an article on Stuble/Xhekaj that is relevant so I wanted to link it here! https://thehockeywriters.com/canadiens-facing-key-decision-between-xhekaj-and-struble-this-summer/
Habs PP is 1/12 in last 5 games
The defense doesn't matter unless the approach is worked and manage differently then how it is being done now. David R is a big body and has a long stick and he is rangie. just like Larry Robinson. MSL needs to stop sucking the confidence out from the d core. thanks kevin
Vous connaissez rien au hockey sinon vous manquez d'idée pour des sujets de discussion car le Shérif restera a Montréal sinon ils ne gagnerons pas la coupe Stanley…pas de poids ni de gros défenseurs capable de brasser la cage aux joueurs adverses…pas de championnat..c'est pas avec petite équipe que tu vas loin en série
Fire up the TANK boys,,, these guys need to get bigger and tougher to keep progressing. Send laine, evans, carrier, veleno, tex, bolduc, and gally maybe Math packing. Bring in big young meat
Arber has not been given a chance t start a game paired with Hutson. He has some minutes with him from throughout the season and the numbers arent bad. I wish he would be given the chance at least once to start with Hutson and see how it goes. Arber has a bomb and can be the physical guy that Hutson needs as a partner. If Arber and Hutson worked it would be amazing for the team to have such a tough guy on the ice with Hutson. Arber needs to kill penalties instead of Carrier, Arber has done it and looks good doing it. Arber can actually clear the net front.
I wish Marty would just give the kid a chance. Should have been done months ago.
Monty played way too many games, Carrier has played way too many minutes and games. Veleno played too many games without getting any points. We have better options but they refuse to use them.
Beck and Blais come to mind.
You have to stop with this ridiculous titles. We are anyways watching your videos.
Young forwards are great, but young defensemen don't really work out.They can't try out young defensemen in the playoffs
The Habs are soft-ish and get muscled out by big teams and you guys want to unload Xhekaj? Just FYI Arber and Struble are not the same. Arber's 4 inches taller and almost 40lbs heavier.
You miss 100% of the shots that you don't take.
Arber Xhekaj should be in the lineup every game and he should be getting 18+ minutes per game including pk time. We are making a HUGE mistake with this player.
Rienbacher, Engstrom, and Pickford in, Carrier and Strubel out. Arber 7th man. D is done. Cheers
Matheson/Dobson Rienbacher/Hutson Pickford/Engstrom. Best d core in Hockey. 😊
Texier on the second line ,he is more physical And position himself around the net / exactly what the second line need . Newhook suffering coming back let down front a long time out ☝️
We need Xhekaj
He's the only tough guy on the team…Struble blows…
To tell u the truthe its note the players nether Arber ore Strubel the problem its how they menaged this players i don think that the coach has worked with them to crafting theyr skills and flaws.Arber can not even play 5 min a game wich is embarrassing.but when we enter the seris im not comfortable without him,even when i see him in the team i feel bit safer for other players to bicose he has that presence but ither whay i hope for him a bright future.but The habs need to be taught playg soft in hockey that means you have no balls.
U guys missing Bogdan 23 year olds right D 61 gp 31 pts 😊
Arber Xj needs to be playing every game . He is much better than Mardy realized. I think if he plays him more and on the power play he would get his confidence up and we would see another player like the old days in Montreal
Jesse / Josh, Engstrom played for the Rocket Tuesday and had a pretty good game. Reinbacher has been outstanding for awhile however imo Engstrom will be the 1st callup given that if Hugo felt Reinbacher was ready he would have been called up once Cap space was available.
i called this out years ago, and now we are at point where even though I love Marty, his has shown no understanding for the necessity of size/grit. It holds no value to Marty, it's not even a piece on the board he would consider using. That is a problem, and as well as things have gone, this could take us down a New York Rangers Path, Not the path we've enjoyed for 4 years. It has to be addressed before this team can ever be what we all hope it will become. Or risk cataclysm.
They don't shoot the puck on the power play cuz there's no one in front of the net, it's pointless so they look for the perfect play.
Only one line can score, that was clearly on display last night. Kapenan doesn’t seem to be able to set up teammates. If we make the playoffs we will be out in round one.
“This team has to play tougher.” Kaden Guhle. This team is soft mentally and physically. Trade some prospects and picks for a Wilson or an Olivier.
Number 1 and 2 on the team in hits. Xhekaj, Bolduc and we would be lucky to see them play just once in the 3rd period.
Hey JESSE, Zharovsky won't be able to smash that point total since he played his last game of the season already……….
Marty wants a team of smurfs😂
Down the road, next season I can see Rheinbacher playing with Hutson. Carrier with Guhle and Arber being the 7th defenseman. Engstrom and Struble have no spots unless Matheson waives his NMC to go elsewhere. Pickford will be in Laval for next season.
We need some more defensive minded dmen! We have way too many offense first guys on the backend and it’s not a recipe for success! Pickford is just another one of those guys coming!
Honestly, if Matheson keeps playing this way, scratch him and call up Reinbacher
Don't Demi dove what is bench for a lot of those games missed in the KHL the Montreal Canadiens management had to fly down to Russia and have a sit-down talk with the coaching staff and then they started to play him $$$$
Pickford is probably 3rd pair 2nd pp ceiling. Still awesome value and a great astute pick
No rush on Zharovsky. He isn't physically ready yet. Habs need his board game and forechecking when he's more mature.
With Newhook not doing much, and Dach injured, when do we expect Laine back? Why not use him to boost our PP? It’s a bit concerning that whichever line Slavkosky goes on is the only line lighting it up. More than another center we need someone to give us two scoring lines.
Arbor has the hardest shot on the team. Marty needs to let him use his cannon. Yes, passing plays are pretty, but a big cannon will be good shake up
Jesse keep z in khl,has a good ciach gets tons of ice time in diff,situation and most important, needs 15 pounds for ahl in a league way tougher 👍
Xhekaj also has incredible personality that makes him beloved to all. Play him.
I don't see why Xhekaj can't play with Hutson. Offer him more protection than Struble can.
Problem with bringing Reinbacher up, is then there is no room cap wise for Hage. They only just accrued enough space to bring up Reinbacher, I don't think they will accrue enough to sign Hage as well. And the only 2 people eligible to be sent to Laval would be Reinbacher and Fowler. You could bring Reinbacher up to play a handful of games to evaluate him, and then send him back to Laval when Hage arrives. Once playoffs start, you can then bring Reinbacher back, because its the cap of the team on the ice that counts at that point. As long as the iced players for that game is cap compliant, then its no biggie. However, until that point, they aren't going to have enough cap space to have all 3 with the team.
all the hard stuff to get that we need for the team are inHouse which is very promising, Top 6 talent to play with demidov? Zharovsky, a second center that can drive a line? hage, a big right handed defensement to play with hutson? Reinbacher,
comparing points of 18yo is a bit weird, cauz not everybody had thet same opportunities, the minutes, the powerplay, the teamates etc. even with same skills. ex: demidov could easily make 80points this year if he was playing with suzuki caufield all year, but they put him with kapanen, and all start of the year he was playing 10min with second powerplay.