OffThePost.org

http://www.hv71.se/Nyheter/HV71-forlang ... dsspelare/

Looks like Nichlas Torp will be staying in Sweden for two more years. The Habs will retain his rights as long as there is no transfer agreement between the NHL and the SEL/IIHF. Therefore there is no rush to sign him anyways.

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Injustice? Cobain died and Eddy Fucking Vedder lived to haunt us with his shitty fucking voice, trite lyrics and his Eddy Vedderness.



- Ancient Chinese Proverb

I hope he hasn't Torp eedoed his chances of making the big club...

I know you were making an excuse to make a "torpeedo" reference, but it's probably better for him if he doesn't come over immediately. Guys from Sweden tend to develop later and are better off staying in their own league until they are 22 or 23. Then they come over pretty much fully developed. Swedish teams do a good job developing players without the NHL investing in them.

Plus, with Subban, Weber, Carle, possibly Yemelin, Fischer and McDonagh all in the system for the next couple of years, Torp would be well down the list of priority, which wouldn't be a good thing for him. He's better off playing the role of tortoise than hare.

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Injustice? Cobain died and Eddy Fucking Vedder lived to haunt us with his shitty fucking voice, trite lyrics and his Eddy Vedderness.



- Ancient Chinese Proverb

If he tried to play the role of hare, he'd be hare today, gone tomorrow.

Sounds like a decision will be made on McDonagh and Fischer after the July development camp to see if they are ready to turn pro. Both are willing to turn pro, but are seeking the Habs' advice on whether they should do that. Sucks for their collegiate teams to be left hanging like this, but I think it's best for them to prepare as if they won't return and then be pumped if they do come back.

Subban still hasn't signed... but count me as worried only if he isn't signed two weeks from now. It'll get done.

Any thoughts on the draft? Louis Leblanc seems like a logical choice... hometown kid when the draft is in Montreal, fills a position of need (offensive centre, RH as well), plays junior hockey in the US, and is even a teammate of last year's top pick (2nd rounder) Danny Kristo in Omaha, so they'll have done a lot of scouting on him. To be very blunt, if he isn't picked, and he turns out better than who the Habs do pick, there is absolutely no excuse for that kind of SNAFU. Everyone will have the right to bitch about that one.

Other possbilities: I like Scott Glennie out of Brandon (another RH offensive centre), and there's Zach Kassian out of Peterborough (big power RW) who looks like a decent option. And if he's still on the board at #16 or #17 (whatever it is we end up picking), Ryan Ellis is definitely worth it even if we have a bunch of young puckmoving D in the system already. Not sure what the Minnesota high school crop is like this year, though I'd feel real bad for the kid if he was selected. I can see him getting booed.

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Injustice? Cobain died and Eddy Fucking Vedder lived to haunt us with his shitty fucking voice, trite lyrics and his Eddy Vedderness.



- Ancient Chinese Proverb

http://www.cyberpresse.ca/sports/hockey ... ontrat.php

P.K. Subban is officially signed, standard 3 year entry level deal. He'll be joined in Hamilton by Andre Benoit, who left Hamilton after the 2007 Calder Cup win and tried Europe out for a couple of years... he was a very good player in Finland, not quite as good in Sweden, so he looks to be a bit of a "tweener". Probably replacing guys like Kemp & Henry for veteran experience in Hamilton, with the possibility of a callup. 1 year, 2 way deal.

_________________
Injustice? Cobain died and Eddy Fucking Vedder lived to haunt us with his shitty fucking voice, trite lyrics and his Eddy Vedderness.



- Ancient Chinese Proverb

Good to get these two guys in the system: puck-moving defencemen who might - heaven forbid - actually be able to get the puck out of our zone by skating or with a good outlet pass.

I heard Shawn Belle had a good season in Hamilton. He's not too old to be just an afterthought.

Maybe one or both of McDOnagh/Fish Daddy can make the leap to the Dogs?

LH: Markov, Gorges, Hamrlik, Belle, Benoit, Korneev, McDonagh, Emelin, Valentenko, Kemp
RH: O'Byrne, Weber, Subban, Carle, Fish, Anderson

I'd like us to target a puck moving RH dman this offseason: Zubov, Foster, Morris, Boucher seem like the only options. Maybe trade for Zidlicky.

Personally, its Leblanc or bust. Dude's a former West-Island Lions fer Christssakes!

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Belle can skate and play a physical game. One of the guys we're likely losing this offseason is Franky Boo... there's no reason to "forget" about Belle. Heck, with O'Byrne being such a huge question mark, we can't afford to forget about a guy like Shawn.

Obviously our Russian guys are still huge question marks, particularily Korneev. Emelin seems more "probable" but we all know what happened two years ago. I wish Korneev showed the initiative to come over... dude has a chance to be on the Russian Olympic team and he could improve his chances by learning to play on the small rink surface that will be used in Vancouver.

McDonagh and Fischer will both be at the July development camp and no decision on either turning pro will be made until after that... unless one of those players explicitly says they want to play in the NCAA next year. Both seem willing to turn pro at this point, but are letting the Habs brass make the call, which they'll do when they get a close look at them in July. I have no idea which one is closer to being ready... but I assume at least one of them will be in Hamilton this fall, possibly both if we strike out with our Russian guys again.

_________________
Injustice? Cobain died and Eddy Fucking Vedder lived to haunt us with his shitty fucking voice, trite lyrics and his Eddy Vedderness.



- Ancient Chinese Proverb

http://www.eurosport.se/ishockey/fbk-ka ... news.shtml

Habs close to signing Mikael Johansson, a former Red Wings 9th rounder in 2003, to a one year contract. Well, couldn't hurt.

Yemelin is in negotiations with the Habs right now as well.

_________________
Injustice? Cobain died and Eddy Fucking Vedder lived to haunt us with his shitty fucking voice, trite lyrics and his Eddy Vedderness.



- Ancient Chinese Proverb

Wow, a Swede the Wings didn't want to sign. I'm sure that bodes well...

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http://vf.se/Sport/Varmland/Micke-till- ... 90524.aspx

Yep, the Detroit reject is ours, according to Johansson himself (supposedly that's what this article says). I guess we'll hear an announcement from the team this week. I assume he'll start the year in Hamilton.

_________________
Injustice? Cobain died and Eddy Fucking Vedder lived to haunt us with his shitty fucking voice, trite lyrics and his Eddy Vedderness.



- Ancient Chinese Proverb

http://www.corussports.com/canadiens/da ... 28371.html

Fish Daddy going back for a 4th year at Uni, going to complete his degree. Says he lost a development year with injury and personal problems. I feel for the guy and I'm sure he's going to work hard to catch up, but it sounds like he's too far behind at this point.

Too early to call him a bust, but he hasn't developed according to plan.

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http://habsinsideout.com/main/20864

Development camp starts today. 40 players attending at the practice facility in Brossard. The list on Habs I/O is frustratingly sideways, but it looks like every Habs prospect will be there as long as they are either unsigned or still on their rookie contract, or not Russian (save for 2009 draft pick Alex Avtsin). Max Pacioretty, Ben Maxwell, and Yannick Weber are the only guys with NHL experience at the camp.

I suppose I should clean up the prospects list or just start a new thread for next year. Whatever.

_________________
Injustice? Cobain died and Eddy Fucking Vedder lived to haunt us with his shitty fucking voice, trite lyrics and his Eddy Vedderness.



- Ancient Chinese Proverb

http://mrmadhawk.se/2009/july/djurgarde ... ml#comment

Habs sign 21 year old Swedish center Andreas Engvist. Apparently he's on the ice right now in the development camp. Supposedly he's 6'3", so I don't know why we'd want him.

More confirmation out of Sweden:

http://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/h ... 5484210.ab

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Injustice? Cobain died and Eddy Fucking Vedder lived to haunt us with his shitty fucking voice, trite lyrics and his Eddy Vedderness.



- Ancient Chinese Proverb

http://www2.canoe.com/sports/nouvelles/ ... 44103.html

The kid is definitely in camp. Apparently no contract has been made official, and he's currently designated as an invite.

_________________
Injustice? Cobain died and Eddy Fucking Vedder lived to haunt us with his shitty fucking voice, trite lyrics and his Eddy Vedderness.



- Ancient Chinese Proverb

http://www.rds.ca/canadien/chroniques/278346.html

Habs do sign the Swedish pro. Standard entry level contract (3 years, two-way).

Our contract total is now up to 42, with 5 RFA's left to sign, so there isn't a lot of room under the 50 contract limit to sign anymore players, be they prospects or NHL caliber.

_________________
Injustice? Cobain died and Eddy Fucking Vedder lived to haunt us with his shitty fucking voice, trite lyrics and his Eddy Vedderness.



- Ancient Chinese Proverb

BTW, it sounds like he'll play next year back in Sweden with Djurgardens, and then come over.

_________________
Injustice? Cobain died and Eddy Fucking Vedder lived to haunt us with his shitty fucking voice, trite lyrics and his Eddy Vedderness.



- Ancient Chinese Proverb

http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/Arti ... ?e=1679222

Petteri Simila, the goalie the Habs picked after acquiring the last overall pick from Pittsburgh, is going to suit up for the Niagra IceDogs next year. I'm not a big fan of moving him out of the Karpat goaltending factory and putting him within reach of Hounsy sabotoging his career... this fasttracks him to Hamilton as early as 2010-11, since it's unlikely he'll be back in junior as an overaged import.

_________________
Injustice? Cobain died and Eddy Fucking Vedder lived to haunt us with his shitty fucking voice, trite lyrics and his Eddy Vedderness.



- Ancient Chinese Proverb

http://www.hockeysfuture.com/articles/1 ... _fall2009/

HF gives their first top 20 of the Leblanc/post-McDonagh era. I don't understand how one can give a top 20 and not have a guy who played 20 games in the NHL last year make the cut, but they've somehow managed to include a guy who was an average QMJHL goalie a spot on the list ahead of Greg Stewart. Anyways, the dude that did this is obviously a big Mathieu Carle fan, placing him ahead of both David Fischer and Kyle Chipchura.

_________________
Injustice? Cobain died and Eddy Fucking Vedder lived to haunt us with his shitty fucking voice, trite lyrics and his Eddy Vedderness.



- Ancient Chinese Proverb