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BigBadBurke

PittsburghModelMyAss
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Forum: Armchair-GM32 minutes ago
Thread: The Slafkovsky extension conversation
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>Blazingbat11</b></div><div>Well this is a dream scenario... Celebrini is the #1C lol Mesar imo is very much a Top6 forward or bust type player, and I'm mostly playing off of the Slaf connection with their chemistry together.


Assessing Mesar's time in the OHL is complicated. I watched a lot of Kitchener games this year, and Mesar was utilized all over the place (at Wing and Center). Stat watchers will just look at his overall numbers and say he was meh, but it's really not an honest look at his game.

You can really break down Mesar's last season in two. Before he left for the World Juniors, and after he came back. Before the World Juniors, Mesar played Wing on the first line and was <strong>dominant</strong> playing with Rehkopf (who also alternated Wing and Center throughout the year...) After the World Juniors, Kitchener acquired Eduard Sale, Seattle's 1st rd prospect. (and that ended up being a horrible trade, Sale was poo poo garbage the whole season up until the playoffs when he finally stepped up). Mesar was moved to Center and took on more defensive responsibilities (he even started playing the PK). He also had no chemistry with Sale (no one did...). So his productivity took a major hit.
But in the end, once the playoffs came around and it mattered most, Mesar was the Rangers most used two-way forward and was a playmaking machine.

I think if Kitchener solved their Center depth, instead of spending literally 2 players and <strong>9 draft picks</strong> for Sale (CHL trades are stupid), Mesar could have been kept on the wing, gotten more consistency, and probably would've finished with 80-90 pts this season. Add the fact Mesar has literally stepped up every time there was better competition (playoffs and World Juniors), I think he's very much slept on by Habs fans.

Should Mesar start in Laval next year? yes 100%. I still don't see him as a two-way guy in the pros, so if he can develop that aspect in the AHL that would be great. But if he can continue his chemistry with Slaf, I can see a Tomas Tatar type player (who doesn't disappear in the playoffs) for MTL.</div></div>

if Tomas tatar is the ceiling, id say that's fine but still wouldn't want him in the top-6. I agree with you tho and hope he works on his defensive game and becomes more of a puck hound rather than an offensive bystander
Forum: Armchair-GMYesterday at 8:28 p.m.
Forum: Armchair-GMWed. at 11:44 p.m.
Thread: Lehky
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>FarhanLuigi</b></div><div>Trade Matheson and he will probably turn into Dan Boyle for a contender. You don't trade those kind of players for magic beans.
Habs fans saw what those magic beans were worth from Colorado despite everyone saying it was too much for Lehkonen.
<strong>Most here, they would rather trade 95% of the league for 1st rounders when only the real difference makers are in the top5-10 of the draft and those picks dont get traded, ever!</strong>

Good NHL players should not be discarded especially with Matheson's skating and puck moving or Lehkonen's ferocious 200 ft game and timely scoring</div></div>

i think that's kind of a bit more older mentality, as there seems to be more and more gems from 20 onward nowadays but yeah for the most part that is true. I wouldn't move matheson he is a great leader, good west islander who can appease the fr-qc market, and fills a need for more puck moving on the back end.

Lehkonen would have looked soo good on a line with Suzuki-Slafkovsky which coulda left Newhook-Dach-Caufield to round out the top-6... urghh sigh