He had not progressed really over the last 7 years. Always been the same. Always done the same plays. Always a non-factor.
the opposite of this post is about what reality looks like. He is usefull 75% of the time, has progressed so much in 7 years ... now one of the most physical players on the team (what people were complaining about) , always scored 20+ goals ...
WHERE WAS HE IN THE PLAYOFFS ? on the bench. WHERE IS HE THIS YEAR ? on the bench ... WHAT HAS HE DONE WHEN WE PLAYED HIM LIKE A TOP 6 FORWARD ? he got streaky and clutch and fun to watch on top of that.
so unless he finds a way to score from the bench, its pretty much over.
What you guy's need to understand is that AK is what he is. A 15g in a really bad year to 26g(To not say 30 because of haters.) in a really good year, consistent 100 hit guy (And this is what it take's on any team.) not indisciplined(Kind of 30 to 40 minute's ..) He always had a good shooting percentage so that tell's alot on his shooting quality. +He seem's like a good guy. Is he inconsistent ? Yeah sure, Like all player's who are not Crosby or Malkin. All 30-30 guy are a bit inconsistent it's normal. Does he shy up on phisical play ? No. Sure he will not fight (Happened once or twice in his career.) But he'll still pound people through the boards. Is he lazy ? ...Well let's say he is. I don't think he is...I'm just tired of fighting with ignorant people that get all the propaganda done by RDS and such..
And anyway HOW IN THE FREAKING WORLD CAN WE HATE THE ONLY PLAYER WHO ACTUALLY CAN AND ACTUALLY DOES RUN OVER MILAN LUCIC?!??!?!
I'd give him another shot, 1-2 year contract at roughly the same numbers as today.
See what a new GM and coach can get out of him, give him one final, SOLID shot at being part of the solution rather than the problem.
As much as we can "hope" we can replace his production internally, we can "hope" a new GM and coach can bring the best out of him. I sincerely doubt we find better bang for the buck on the open market.
And I'd rather have Leblanc pot 15 goals to go with Kostitsyn's 15 than simply replacing them. I we remain in the business of hoping...
Well, what do you guys think? Kostitsyn could have let a door open to a transaction. But it look like he really wants to stay here.
Maybe because his daughter is learning french and his family is really happy in Mtl.
If Hemsky re-signs it is sellers market on AK. We could get a first and probably good prospect for a player Habs not fierce on re-signing. Suck it up AK, at 3 million a year Nashvlle not that bad, its part of the game.
Trading him for a pick and a middle of the line prospect is under the -rebuild- and not the retool we're looking for, he should only be moved for something of equal impact.
Trading him for a pick and a middle of the line prospect is under the -rebuild- and not the retool we're looking for, he should only be moved for something of equal impact.
I disagree, collecting picks by trading assets could drop our wins enough this year to possibly pick one of the top 2, and in addition to that it enables us to stack picks up in order to trade up at the draft to the pick we want if we don't get it in the lottery. Yakupov or Gringreko seem to be in the mold of franchise game breaker type players and thats a kind of player we have been severely lacking up for a long time in the forward position.
the opposite of this post is about what reality looks like. He is usefull 75% of the time, has progressed so much in 7 years ... now one of the most physical players on the team (what people were complaining about) , always scored 20+ goals ...
WHERE WAS HE IN THE PLAYOFFS ? on the bench. WHERE IS HE THIS YEAR ? on the bench ... WHAT HAS HE DONE WHEN WE PLAYED HIM LIKE A TOP 6 FORWARD ? he got streaky and clutch and fun to watch on top of that.
so unless he finds a way to score from the bench, its pretty much over.
What you guy's need to understand is that AK is what he is. A 15g in a really bad year to 26g(To not say 30 because of haters.) in a really good year, consistent 100 hit guy (And this is what it take's on any team.) not indisciplined(Kind of 30 to 40 minute's ..) He always had a good shooting percentage so that tell's alot on his shooting quality. +He seem's like a good guy. Is he inconsistent ? Yeah sure, Like all player's who are not Crosby or Malkin. All 30-30 guy are a bit inconsistent it's normal. Does he shy up on phisical play ? No. Sure he will not fight (Happened once or twice in his career.) But he'll still pound people through the boards. Is he lazy ? ...Well let's say he is. I don't think he is...I'm just tired of fighting with ignorant people that get all the propaganda done by RDS and such..
And anyway HOW IN THE FREAKING WORLD CAN WE HATE THE ONLY PLAYER WHO ACTUALLY CAN AND ACTUALLY DOES RUN OVER MILAN LUCIC?!??!?!
HELLO WORLD.
He has never been or will ever be a 30-30 guy.
so you want to keep him because he runs over Lucic... when...once...!
TSN admitted that they only put him on the deadline list because with the expiring contract it made sense?
Then today on Mitch's show, Pierre McGuire was saying(GM' s names withdrawn) That he wasn't even on any GM's top 15 list's for trade deadline. So looks pretty much like nobody is interested in AK46's services.
That tell you all you need to know about how he is valued across the league!
We can't give away Gomez, Kaberle and nobody wants AK.
Unbeliveable how Gainey and Gauthier have destroyed this team with their personnel decisions.
My favorite day will be Monday April 9th at the press confrence when they are both FIRED!
I disagree, collecting picks by trading assets could drop our wins enough this year to possibly pick one of the top 2, and in addition to that it enables us to stack picks up in order to trade up at the draft to the pick we want if we don't get it in the lottery. Yakupov or Gringreko seem to be in the mold of franchise game breaker type players and thats a kind of player we have been severely lacking up for a long time in the forward position.
it could also mean not having enough NHL caliber players on the roster and being stuck with a bottom feeder for a while...
it could also mean not having enough NHL caliber players on the roster and being stuck with a bottom feeder for a while...
Think of all the draft picks we can brag about while we are the worst team in the league! Who wants to watch hockey when you can speculate about who will go 2nd in 2014?
Think of all the draft picks we can brag about while we are the worst team in the league! Who wants to watch hockey when you can speculate about who will go 2nd in 2014?
****** man... and I bothered watching games all those years! if only I knew...
now I'm depressed thinking of all those wasted hours :/
Apparently it's because he's making turnovers, but the coach and the NHL don't agree.
RC said he benched AK in one game because of them, but the NHL recorded none in the same game.
Also, why is he with Gomez?
Martin never liked AK. Remember his comment after AK's hot start last year? When asked by a journalist why AK was playing so well, Martin answered ''contract year''.
Couple games later, despite leading the team in points with Plek, AK gets demoted down to the 2nd line to play with Gomez and Gionta. A period after, Gionta gets promoted on the Plek line while AK gets to play with a struggling Gomez and Darche. Yup, that's really how things go for AK. He's the only player I know that gets demoted when playing well.
This year, same thing with RC. AK plays well with Eller, so he's given Gomez and 11-14min of ice time.
But are you really going to support line managing from RC?
The man refuses to split up our best line, he gives our best center(Plek) a third line role with grinders and a top6 player(Bourque) that doesn't click with him all that well, our other top 6 player(AK) is dropped from third line to fourth line for no apparent reason, our least productive regular forward (Gomez) that had not scored in over a full calendar year and only has 2 goals gets regular PP ice time, while our 4th best goal scorer at ES gets none...
I mean really, RC's line management is atrocious. It's actually embarrassing. He has made zero efforts in trying to switch his lines. None. Despite our team losing, and looking bad.
at this point its looking more and more like trading him would be the most sensical thing to do.
Personally I still hold out faint belief that Kost has some growth left in him as a player... I can see him becoming a 30g/60+pt player, he is just hitting his first year of UFA status, and at 27, he wouldn't be the first guy to "put it together" in his late 20's.
that said, hard to see how the habs could justify giving him anything more than a 1-2 year deal at this point, and likely for less than some other team could be willing to throw at him on the UFA market.
earlier this year, I was thinking he'd need a 4-5M$ price tag to stick around, his poor season has lowered that I imagine, but from our end it would be hard to see the team willing to give him any kind of raise at all.
with a pretty limited amount of offensive wingers likely available in the next few days, and a considerable amount of teams who would conceivably be willing to roll the dice on Kost, seems like the right thing to do to auction him off to the highest bidder.
while the "ideal" Kost would be hard to replace, the Kost we've seen this year (on pace for 16g/32pts) shouldn't be that hard... Leblanc, with another offseason to get stronger/physically mature, could very well fill that loss.
that's an ok group of wingers to head into next season with, obviously adding a top-6/top-9 upgrade would be great, but at this point Kost doesn't inspire enough confidence in that role to be worth giving up on the pick/prospect type return likely out there to be had for him in the coming days.
too bad really, the guy has/had so much potential and teased us so often with that rare combination of size/strength + sublime skill...
Not Carbo first Line minute and Ak was in his rookie season
So he had one year good riding coattails of Pleks and Kovalev. Awesome. Other than that he is a 15-20 goal, 40 point player. He is what he is. He is going to bounce around the lineup with fluctuating ice time because he is someone whose intensity and interest in the game wavers.
When you are that type of individual, its going to be common that he bounces around the lineup. He is like a Moen for example. Not good enough to play a top 6 role but over short periods can fill the roll. Not comparing Moens and AKosts ability, just there levels of consistency to play the role of a top six forward. On a contender, its not inconceivable that AKosts is nothing more than a third liner. Its possible most contenders wouldnt want him because he isnt good enough or consistent enough in a top six role and doesnt play a third line role well enough.
Trade AK. So I can laugh at everyone when he produces at a high clip in a new environment.
I remember the cries to ship out SK the cancer for nothing in return, kid has 20 points in his last 22 games. Do you think AK will match that pace if/when he goes to Nashville?
Trade AK. So I can laugh at everyone when he produces at a high clip in a new environment.
It won't be funny when the same kids screaming that we trade AK for a bag of pucks and a small poutine can start talking about how Gauthier is worse than Houle for trading away a superstar for nothing.
For his sake, I just hope he goes to another team and he scores more points/goals than he ever has as a Habs player, next year with his new team (preferably in the West...he needs all the help he can get).
Won't the 1st or the last player to do so. Good luck, AK46.
