All Habs Headlines: Monday July 13, 2015 |
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On this day in hockey history… 2000 — The Rangers and GM Glen Sather held a press conference to announce that they would be bringing Mark Messier back to New York. Messier, who had led the Rangers to the franchise’s first Cup in 54 years six years prior, had played in Vancouver the previous three years. |
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► Galchenyuk at centre?
- Habs GM Marc Bergevin has publicly said several times that Alex Galchenyuk may never be a centre for the Canadiens. Bergevin even went so far as to say that Galchenyuk may lack a natural affinity for the position. But among the Habs faithful, the calls keep getting louder.
- But with the Canadiens engaging the services of consultant Matt Pfeffer, what advice can the stats guru provide to Bergevin and Michel Therrien to help them with their decision. We don’t know that but we can gain insight from a September 2014 piece that Pfeffer wrote titled, “From Winger to Center: How Players Are Affected By Moving Positions.”
- Pfeffer breaks down the numbers of 103 cases of wingers converting to centres since 2008. And the numbers aren’t pretty: “What is proven here is actually somewhat straight forward: Center is a tough job with added responsibilities, and the majority of wingers who make the jump see a somewhat drastic drop in their performance. Notable exceptions include Nazem Kadri, Maxime Talbot and Claude Giroux.”
- For a team like the Canadiens who struggle to create offense, having Galchenyuk’s production drop after a move to centre is not the result many would hope to achieve.
- Following the analysis, Pfeffer states two conclusions:
- “Very few players who make the transition from winger to center are not going to see a decline in their production. 63% of them get worse, and that is cast in a more negative light by the fact the average age of these players a point where they should be seeing their most rapid improvements.”
- “Production, in the way I’m using it, is not the same as value. As center is a more valuable position, there is more scarcity of elite center talent, so one would be willing to accept a certain loss of production based on one’s own particular roster needs.”
- So, does it make sense for the Canadiens, a team with an abundance of natural centres, to have Galchenyuk change positions in 2015-16?
► Picture not good for DD
- A Friday post on Canadiens.com retells the Cinderella story of David Desharnais’ path to the NHL. It ends with the line “And today, Desharnais is among the Canadiens’ top point-getters, year after year.” Unfortunately that’s a bit of a fairy tale and the clock on his time as the number one centre of the Montreal Canadiens is about to strike midnight.
- A more accurate appraisal comes from Sean Tierney of Today’s Slapshot:
David Desharnais must be one of the lowest ranked 1Cs out there. This is atrocious. #Habs pic.twitter.com/Ti1P0tiniz
— Sean Tierney (@ChartingHockey) July 9, 2015
- And to reinforce his point, Sean posted a comparable chart for Tomas Plekanec:
Good point from @Monctonscout – Plekanec actually played as much 5v5 as Desharnais. And he was spectacular. #Habs pic.twitter.com/NeZfEmcGwl
— Sean Tierney (@ChartingHockey) July 9, 2015
► Who will replace CapGeek?
- While NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman claims that there is no interest in a CapGeek type site, hockey fans know differently. So where can information on salaries and caps be found?
- We like two sites: generalfanager.com and capfriendly.com
- The good folks at @CapFriendly provided All Habs with some detailed information on Marc Bergevin’s July 1 signing, defenseman Joel Hanley.
- Hanley signed a one-year contract with an AAV of $925,000 which breaks down this way:
- NHL base salary = $575,000
Signing Bonus = $92,500
Cap Hit = $667,500
Performance Bonus = $257,500 (all revolving around games played)
► Eller spends time with family
- Lars Eller posted a photo to his Twitter account enjoying the scenery of Lac Magog this past weekend. He is pictured presumably with his daughter Sophia.
#LacMagog pic.twitter.com/PrFT3MC3Py
— Lars Eller (@lellerofficial) July 11, 2015
► Cup comes to Montreal
- The Stanley Cup was in a Montreal suburb on Sunday courtesy of Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford. Residents of Chateauguay met Crawford and the Cup outside his former high school to take photos.
- “I’m really proud to be from Chateauguay. I’ve met a lot of great people over the years. A lot of people have helped me out through my career. I just want to say thank you and I really appreciate it.” — Corey Crawford
Corey Crawford takes the #StanleyCup to his old high school (HBS) (Châteauguay, QC) @NHLBlackhawks @HockeyHallFame pic.twitter.com/CHys8c66M3
— Philip Pritchard (@keeperofthecup) July 12, 2015
► Stewart is a Duck
- One more free agent is off the board as the Anaheim Ducks signed Chris Stewart to a one-year contract.
- Stewart spent most of last season with the Buffalo Sabres but was dealt at the trade deadline to the Minnesota Wild.
- The 27-year-old forward had 14 goals, 22 assists for 36 points last season. Stewart is often mentioned by Canadiens fans as a trade target.
@All_Habs I honestly think the Canadiens should strongly consider Chris Stewart . I think he could help the power play .
— Tony danna (@Totoroncino) July 10, 2015
► Fantasy hockey: three Canadiens in top-25
- We’ve already witnessed the NHL Entry, trades and free agent signings in this off-season as teams try to improve for 2015-16. So how do all those changes affect the fantasy hockey rankings?
- How will Phil Kessel perform in Pittsburgh? Can Evander Kane and Ryan O’Reilly be valuable fantasy players in Buffalo? And just how productive can Connor McDavid be with the Oilers?
- NHL.com’s fantasy insider Matt Cubeta takes a first stab at the rankings as he presents his top-200 list for the off-season. We find three Canadiens in his top-25: 9. Carey Price; 17. Max Pacioretty and 23. P.K. Subban.
- All Habs fantasy sports offers readers an opportunity to play fantasy football and fantasy hockey. If you are interested in joining for the upcoming season, please contact Brian, our Commissioner, on Twitter, or at this address: brian (at) allhabs (dot) net
| MATT CUBETA’S OFFSEASON TOP 200 RANKINGS | |||
| Rank | Player | Position | Team |
| 1. | Alex Ovechkin | Forward |  |
| 2. | Sidney Crosby | Forward |  |
| 3. | Steven Stamkos | Forward |  |
| 4. | Jamie Benn | Forward |  |
| 5. | John Tavares | Forward |  |
| 6. | Patrick Kane | Forward |  |
| 7. | Tyler Seguin | Forward | |
| 8. | Evgeni Malkin | Forward | |
| 9. | Carey Price | Goalie |  |
| 10. | Claude Giroux | Forward |  |
| 11. | Corey Perry | Forward |  |
| 12. | Ryan Getzlaf | Forward | |
| 13. | Erik Karlsson | Defenseman |  |
| 14. | Vladimir Tarasenko | Forward |  |
| 15. | Phil Kessel | Forward | |
| 16. | Henrik Lundqvist | Goalie |  |
| 17. | Max Pacioretty | Forward | |
| 18. | Rick Nash | Forward | |
| 19. | Joe Pavelski | Forward |  |
| 20. | Jakub Voracek | Forward | |
| 21. | Jonathan Toews | Forward | |
| 22. | Nicklas Backstrom | Forward | |
| 23. | P.K. Subban | Defenseman | |
| 24. | Pekka Rinne | Goalie |  |
| 25. | Zach Parise | Forward |  |
► Habs development camp
- If you missed any of our coverage of each day of the Canadiens development camp, check our our Prospects section here.
► You have mail
- J.D. Lagrange answers your questions to the All Habs mailbag.
► Habs waiting game
- J.D. Lagrange looks at To trade or not to trade.
► Youth movement?
- Corey Desormeaux asks and answers the question Are the Canadiens Starting a Youth Movement?
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