Camp d’entraînement des Canadiens : La bataille au centre ne se réglera pas uniquement sur le mérite
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Camp d’entraînement des Canadiens : La bataille au centre ne se réglera pas uniquement sur le mérite
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I agree with Arpon’s conclusion here:
>Training camp is far from over, and there is still ample time for Kapanen and Beck to change the calculus of this decision by making themselves indispensable. But that bar is extremely high when you consider all the factors involved, the most important one being the lack of a need to rush this with Kapanen or Beck.
>The best way to look at how they have performed so far in camp is the Canadiens have two promising centres in their pipeline, and at this time next year, Kapanen and Beck will likely have a much clearer path to an NHL job at a time when the Canadiens will be better prepared to receive them.
Dvorak, Evans, Armia and Pezzetta are UFAs after this year and even though Kapanen will have to go back to Sweden if he doesn’t make the team we still have Beck in Laval as a call up for any injuries.
I don’t think it’s great optics to tell the fans, or the players, you “want to be in the mix” and then send Kapanen back to Sweden. He was arguably the best forward across the 2 games.
For Beck it’s easily understandable, as you can recall him from Laval whenever you want.
It’s really hard to argue that the team is better with Dvorak instead of Kapanen solely because the 28 is good on the dot.
Dvorak and Evans will start with the club. Beck and Kapanen are not playing for Montreal this season.
Maybe this year Kapanen and Beck are fighting for the same job (that neither of them will win barring injuries or total dominance in the remaining training camp), but next year I see no issues with them filling the 3C and 4C positions.
Kapanen has shown he wants to be here. Would be a shame to send him back because he’s done everything possible to earn a spot.
Beck has looked good too but it’s not a big deal to have Beck in Laval. We can recall him any time.
Beck will play with the Habs at some point this year. There are way too many fragile players on the team. It’s almost worth keeping Kapanen even if he’s in the press box, although it wouldn’t be good for his development.
If Dvorak and Evans are not part of the future plans and are going to be traded this year. We can recall Beck but not Kapanen. It wouldn’t be responsible to send him back.
Next year, Demidov for sure, then there are still so many forwards still hunting, and the draft picks runneth over, so Hughes will have to make some moves this year to finalize and plug the holes. I have high expectations from the Rocket too. Vincent is a big name coach and there’s tons of talent.
Emil Heineman
Luke Tuch
Florian Xhekaj
Lucas Condotta
Plus more Europeans here or on the bubble next year Mesar/Koivu/Eriksson/Rohrer
Are we rebuilding with youth or not?
I’ve heard a lot about chairs for 3 seasons, can good young players steal chairs or not?
Dvorak is 28. Has a career 0.48 ppg in mostly a third line role which is pretty respectable. Great on faceoffs. In the last year of a contract paying him a digestible $4.4 million. The reason people don’t like him is because of what we paid for him plus the fact that he’s pretty unremarkable on the ice. He’s a perfect fit for where the team is today and we’re not tied to him beyond this season.
The only downside I see with Dvorak is that he’s had a hard time staying healthy. But therein lies the opportunity for someone to supplant him. I don’t see any reason to rush moving him to make room for Kapanen.
Honestly, based on the Philly game a third line of Roy-Kapanen-Anderson doesn’t sound half bad
Dvorak is a good faceoff guy. That is about it. Terrible defensively, black hole offensively.
Arpon is right, we need to pump the brakes. These are preseason games and are nowhere near the same level as regular season. Guys on here calling Dvorak a useless plug and talking about Kapanen like he is guaranteed to be a big upgrade over him need to take a step back. Dvo has been a disappointment due to what we expected from him but he has been a very decent 3rd line center and waiving him or buying him out to give an untested rookie a guaranteed spot would be a mistake.
Arpon is one of the best journalist that we have jn Montreal. His analysis is coherent.