I doubt they would trade away Halpern. When all the Hab vets are healthy guys like Engqvist and White will go back to Hamilton. I have a feeling though next season they will make the team and Montreal won't have to pick up any guys except maybe a high end D if they don't sign Wiz or Markov or both.
Yeah thats true as well, but if you think about it, if we traded Halpern who has decent numbers, we could get a pick or prospect back for him. It would be a good thing just in the fact if Engqvist stays with the big club full time next year, we could replace him with a prospect from a deal with Halpern in the AHL. That way we have another prospect developing in the minors when we call some up for next season.
Yeah thats true as well, but if you think about it, if we traded Halpern who has decent numbers, we could get a pick or prospect back for him. It would be a good thing just in the fact if Engqvist stays with the big club full time next year, we could replace him with a prospect from a deal with Halpern in the AHL. That way we have another prospect developing in the minors when we call some up for next season.
It would be worth keeping the idea open if some team comes in offering a 3rd to 2nd 2011 pick in desperation.
Andreas didn't look bad at all, glad we can count on some young players when needed
It's growing trend in the Habs organization the last few years--we're drafting better and we're signing better free agents for Hamilton. I miss Cammy but I wasn't really devastated when he went down, just felt bad for him. Same for Halpern. Engqvist and White are just a couple of examples of NHL ready forwards coming from Hamilton, not to mention Patches, Desharnais and Weber. Boyd, Carle, Palushaj and Maxwell could all play in the NHL if needed, and probably Nash too. We can honestly say that we truly have a solid development system right now.
I liked his game tonight. It's also nice to see a Swedish name in the lineup. I know it's a generalization, but still, it seems many Swedes just get better with adaptation and experience, and almost improve with age (Franzen, Zetterberg, Lundqvist, Lidstrom, Alfredsson, Holmstrom, etc.). I'm definitely not saying he'll reach any of those levels, but improvement is all relative to the player and expectations, and he's already surprised many by playing in the NHL. At worst, it's nice to have some depth to fill the gaps in the prospect pool.
I posted this same idea in the PGT, but Engqvist looks slow as heck. His acceleration leaves a lot to be desired and his top speed is below average. However, I can happily say that everything else he has going for him is pretty good.
If Engqvist can make the team next year as a shut down center, we need to get Nattinen over into Hamilton to start to learn North American hockey. We could have two big shutdown centers and Plekanec, Eller, and Leblanc as the offensive centers. The great thing is all of our centers can play two way hockey, they may not be the high skilled kind but they won't hurt you defensively.
Plecanec aside, he was Habs' best devensive forward last night. He was always in good position to intercept pucks, made some good defensive plays and used his size and his reach to his advantage. I particularly liked a couple of plays he made: one where he intercepted a pass in the crease and second when Gil fumbled the puck leading to two-on-one, he reacted promptly to skate back and chase the puck carrier causing him to miss the net. He has all the tools to become a very good shutdown center who has the skills to contribute offense like Halpern this year or Bonk before. I think he should stay even when Halpern returns. He can play RW and him and Halpern can chip in with some goals. He played wing at WC for Sweden while taking some draws - one of his strengths. The Halpern, Engquist and Moen line can bring a lot of size and can control the boards well.
If Engqvist can make the team next year as a shut down center, we need to get Nattinen over into Hamilton to start to learn North American hockey. We could have two big shutdown centers and Plekanec, Eller, and Leblanc as the offensive centers. The great thing is all of our centers can play two way hockey, they may not be the high skilled kind but they won't hurt you defensively.
AFAIK Nattinen still has to do his 2 year military service. Also, didn't he sign a 2 year deal with the blues ?(His Finland team)
I posted this same idea in the PGT, but Engqvist looks slow as heck. His acceleration leaves a lot to be desired and his top speed is below average. However, I can happily say that everything else he has going for him is pretty good.
I don't find he's any slower or has worse acceleration than Jeff Halpern...he knows where to be on the ice and compensates for his lack of quickeness by being smart positionally.
We'll see how the season goes but i could see him taking over for Halpern next year and i'm sure thats what the organization is hoping for as well
I think he played great tonight, no mistakes played a simple game and used his size when he needed to. There was one shift in the first before Ottawa scored, the puck rebounded out front in the slot and a Sens forward I believe Kelly was about the come in and shoot. Engqvist didn't panic got it out of traffic by putting it to the corner.
I know its not much, but just the fact that he played a very simple game, didn't panic and played how we were hoping. I know its one game, but given his size and such he could be a keeper. Especially with upcoming games against Philly and such.
I know we are probably not going to be "all in" for the playoffs. I think he could move into our 4th and see some 3rd line role. Allowing us to possibly move Halpern at the deadline for a good pick or prospect, to a team looking for depth and making a big playoff push.
One good game and we're already thinking we might be able to trade Halpern at the deadline? Nice.
We need all the depth we can get, Halpern is a serviceable 3rd-4th line guy (no one was complaining when he was our leading scorer 10 games into the season, either). He's on a damn cheap contract. He doesn't hurt anything to have around, and if anything having him around helps the younger players adapt and learn things in the NHL. Is he really worth trading for a 3rd, 4th round pick at the deadline? I don't think so, not unless we fall out of the playoff picture.
I think he was solid last night, I didnt notice any mistakes which is all you can ask for at this point. He played a rather different game compared to his last season in the SEL where he created a lot more offence and anchored one of the power play lines. Last night he was way more focused on defence, picking up his guy, getting the puck out of danger, and making sure he was not caught up ice. He did a really good back check at one point and had some nice hits NO player would make in the SEL.
Dont know if it is Cunneyworth, Martin or Gauthier, but it seems to me they are trying to develop him into a shut down center. I for one would be glad if he a one point could contribute more offensively and maybe become a 0.5 PPG player. But I guess that is a couple of seasons away. I doubt he stays with the Habs when the injured players starts coming back. His lack of speed is more apparent in the NHL than in the SEL which has significantly lower tempo. A little more jump to his skating is more than welcome.
It will be interesting to see how he does tonight!
We might. With all the vets on D leaving(and potentially guys like Halpern left unsigned), we might see an plethora of young players coming up on the D side and the FWD side of things.
