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Habs Forward Depth By Ryan SnoW |
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Habs Forward Depth
By Ryan Snow
In this article I want to talk about what options the Habs have when it comes to their forward depth. If they elect not to make any moves up front , they will have decisions to make regarding certain players. The ones I want to focus on are Joshua Roy, Owen Beck and Oliver Kapanen. As it stands, if the Habs make no moves, the forward lines are as follows.
Cole-Suzuki-Slav
Laine-Dach-Demidov
Andy-Newhook-Gally
Heinemen-Evans-?
So there is one spot up for grabs barring injuries on the 3rd or 4th line depending on how St-Louis wants to do things. Who gets it?
When it comes to Roy, there is a lot to like. He’s big, he hits and he has a great shot. Also, he’s a left hand shot playing on the right side which gives him the whole net to shoot at when he’s coming in on the rush. Where he needs work, and this has been well documented, is his skating.
The Habs style is built on speed and forechecking, and not puck possession, so a player like Roy would require to rely more on knowing where to be at the right time and being able to predict where the play is going.
Also, if the Habs want Roy to be part of the future, he needs consistent minutes where he is put with offensive players who can feed him the puck. With all the wingers the Habs have, it’s tough to find a way to give him those minutes. PP time would be ideal to boost his confidence but all those spots are spoken for with Suzuki, Cole,Demidov, Slav and Laine. I would love to see Roy get a shot and succeed but the ice time is hard to come by. With Dach healthy next year, I don’t see where Roy fits unless they use him as a bottom guy, which I find is a waste of his talent and he might not have the speed for that role.
If he ends up on a third line, hopefully he will have the time to get familiar with the system in order to be able to thrive and find his spots on the ice to use that deadly shot. What he needs is a consistent spot, and with that, I’m sure he will have success as he’s too good not to.
In my next article, I’ll talk about Owen Beck. Have a pleasant Saturday. Go Oilers!
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