I think that the biggest factor is how his off-season training goes.
If he can gain noticeable strength/power, and maybe get a little quicker,
he might look like a very different player.
And I don't think we should be too worried about his play this year to date.
He was very good with the dogs last season. My biggest concern with his
ankle injury, is that he may have lost lower body strength while recovering.
Tbh I think our roster would be better with him on it right now......
How? He's still a bean pole. Up until a week ago he couldn't score a point in the AHL. The only player he'd be better than his Armstrong but White should replace him soon enough.
How? He's still a bean pole. Up until a week ago he couldn't score a point in the AHL. The only player he'd be better than his Armstrong but White should replace him soon enough.
How? He's still a bean pole. Up until a week ago he couldn't score a point in the AHL. The only player he'd be better than his Armstrong but White should replace him soon enough.
Dumont deserves a call-up long before Leblanc.
Exactly out team would be better with him replacing armstrong correct me if I am wrong but didnt Leblanc look pretty decent for us when he was called up
Exactly out team would be better with him replacing armstrong correct me if I am wrong but didnt Leblanc look pretty decent for us when he was called up
Armstrong does his job just fine on the 4th line for what he's paid for and is a good PKer for us. Like Poulet Kostopoulous said, the kid is not even big and/or strong enough to handle that duty.
I think people expecting Armstrong to be what he was in his PIT/ATL days are going to be very disapointed. Me? Happy with what he brings to the team. He's an above-average player on the PK and is not a liability on the ice. Leblanc certainly doesn't have what it takes right now to remove Armstrong from his spot. For now at least.
In the long run though, I don't think MB will re-sign Armstrong and we'll see where we go from there.
Last edited by Gros Bonhomme: 02-19-2013 at 12:17 PM.
Its funny you say that, because he actually looked decent when he was called up for the Habs scrimmage game, he actually looked good for a guy struggling in the AHL.
For me he is likely to turn out like Higgins, a good 3rd line guy.
No disrespect to anyone that saw him as more, but in my opinion thats what he is.
I see him replacing Armstrong next year as a 4th line RW. See is better than how he was playing early on in the AHL, and seems to have picked up his game lately.
He has decent size if he can put on some extra weight, but the guy is really good along the boards, good to start on the 4th line, and maybe move up due to injuries.
He may not ever be big and strong enough to play a 4th liner role.
And that is the problem.
He isn't a first line player so that means 2nd line or 3rd line. At the moment we have Cole and Gallagher filling those spots... both with time left on their contracts
Unfortunately, I think injuries may have took that extra gear that made him a good prospect away from him. He's way more shy and way softer than ever before. Of course, it could have been avoided if meathead Michael Blunden would have dropped the gloves and done the only thing he is remotely useful for, instead of watching Leblanc try and take on Blacker.
Even putting aside his AHL struggles, he's caught in a numbers game at this point. He's kind of like Weber in that regard.
The rise of the Gallys has been awesome, and great for this organization, but it means that there's simply no room for some other prospects, like Leblanc.
Out top 10 forwards right now are Pleks, Gionta, Bourque, DD, Cole, Patches, Prust, Eller, and the Gallys. I don't see any possibility of Leblanc knocking aside any of them. And Leblanc doesn't work well as a 4th-liner, imo.
Leblanc would be alongside Weber at the top of my list of "futures that I'd be willing to trade for immediate improvement/vets". I think he can still be a decent NHLer somewhere, but probably not here.
Even putting aside his AHL struggles, he's caught in a numbers game at this point. He's kind of like Weber in that regard.
The rise of the Gallys has been awesome, and great for this organization, but it means that there's simply no room for some other prospects, like Leblanc.
Out top 10 forwards right now are Pleks, Gionta, Bourque, DD, Cole, Patches, Prust, Eller, and the Gallys. I don't see any possibility of Leblanc knocking aside any of them. And Leblanc doesn't work well as a 4th-liner, imo.
Leblanc would be alongside Weber at the top of my list of "futures that I'd be willing to trade for immediate improvement/vets". I think he can still be a decent NHLer somewhere, but probably not here.
Things can change really fast. Injuries, of course, but also age and production of some of our vets players, namely Cole and Gionta, who might consider retirement or be involved in a trade in the off season.
He is a good forechecker, hits a lot, smart player so he can play the pk.
Someone said that this coaching staff likes tough 4th liners, but why is Amrstrong on the 4th line, he isn't small at 6', all he needs to put on some weight to be an even better forechecker.
Get real guys. He was recuperating from an injury, which seems to be healed now since he's started putting up points in the AHL again.
Last year he had 22 points in 31 games down there, and didn't look out of place when he played in the NHL, even managing to make some really nice plays from time to time.
But no, he's obviously a bust and they picked him because he speaks French.
Get real guys. He was recuperating from an injury, which seems to be healed now since he's started putting up points in the AHL again.
Last year he had 22 points in 31 games down there, and didn't look out of place when he played in the NHL, even managing to make some really nice plays from time to time.
But no, he's obviously a bust and they picked him because he speaks French.
So that is why they never drafted Briere, Giroux, Bergeron, Talbot, and so on...
Unless he blossoms, he should stay in minors. Thus, no timetable. Let him earn the call up. Just because he was a 1st round choice should mean nothing now.
