Montreal Canadiens updates: Laval HC report, Owen Beck ceiling, potential buy-low Habs trade targets
today on locked on Canadians is there an extension for JF Hool and lval how Owen Beck can earn himself an NHL roster spot and again more trade talk you know we love trade talk you’re locked on Canadians your daily podcast on the Montreal Canadians part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day hi everyone and welcome to episode 1,79 of Locked on Canadians you know we are part of the locked on podcast Network where you get your team every single day we’re free and available wherever you get your podcast as well as on YouTube and today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel make every moment more right now new customers get $150 in bonus Bets with any winning $5 bet that is50 bucks with any winning $5 bet visit fanduel.com lockon to get started my name is Laura also known as the active ticket I’m joined as always by the wonderful Scott bat love haves eyes on the prize which is very fitting because Scott we have I won’t say we have Laval news I will say we have a Laval report yeah it’s a weird thing because I talked about this in the episode that came out this morning is that uh DLC in Montreal reported that hey it seems like this contract is basically on the one yard line at at that point and I believe it was the fourth period today that came out with uh coaching news like Dan bilma getting hired in Seattle that a multi-year extension was in place for current I guess I can say current rocket head coach uh Jean franah which just kind of makes my timing on that episode all the better it’s unclear if the assistants are also coming back yet we haven’t heard anything official from the Canadians or the Rockets or any other sources uh around Montreal and I’m waiting if they were until that June 1st date to potentially announce that because I think that’s what was quoted in the original article there and a lot of people in the replies I saw there were a lot of schools of thoughts on this and this is actually going to probably bleed very well into our second segment is one half is wow he’s done a really good job kind of getting a lot of these players ready for that next step or helping to rehabilitate a lot of these other players who have come down through waivers or just to take that next step as a prospect to work on some things and other people who look at well they were terrible to start the year and they missed the playoffs at the end of this year why would you bring him back but Scott yes like for that reason I wanted you to bring that up and then tell me where you stand your honest opinion about this where do you stand H I’m I’m okay with it I would really like to see how the staff changes a little bit I think Kelly buckberg did a really good job and got a lot out of some of these defensive prospects I look at the growth of like I said in yesterday episode a guy like William Trudeau who went from guy to someone that I can see playing NHL games as soon as this upcoming season if there are knock on wood injuries the work Arbor Jacky did to improve his defensive Game and his patience and his even his offensive output while he was with the rocket for a month or so Logan mayu’s grow though that’s all part of that coaching staff I am very much okay with it and this is a stamp of approval I think from not only John cedrick the now GM of the lval rocket and AGM of the Montreal Canadians but from Kent Hughes and Jeff Gordon and the Player Development staff and then Jeff Molson above them this is a synchronization of tiers I think on that uh the lions in the ECHL have promoted a guy up to in a couple of other roles there it seems like they’re getting all these and I hate to say ducks in a row because it seems kind of cliche but that’s what it is is they’re streamlining this organization and they are getting that Mantra drilled in top to bottom here he has made some decisions that leave me scratching my head martan St Louie has done the same thing Dominique du frequently did the same thing CL Julian did the same thing Michel terion did coaches do these things it is not a unique thing to Jean Francois H and if a bunch of people in this organization are liking the progress they’re seeing and especially if like martan say the week gets a guy from the rocket and goes good he’s ready to go in this lineup immediately that is I think a really positive impact here I multi-year could mean two years it could mean four years I would expect it’s probably a three-year contract but wouldn’t be shocked if it’s two and that they kind of see where they’re at at that point it might run the same length as marttin St Louis and then we you know figure this out in a couple of years again Scott do we have any indications as to how the players feel about JF H because I remember when the last coaching change happened some surprising news came out because we praised Jo Al bushard so much uh for what he had done with the rocket and the transformation that he was a part of but later on there were whisperings and ramblings that he wasn’t necessarily a favorite of the players and he was kind of like a tough guy as opposed to kind of a players coach I don’t know where they stand on JF ho do you have any inkling or educated guesses or Insider knowledge I I think with JF H and this has been the hard part this year is that I haven’t been able to get to Rocket games like I used to where you can talk with the coach but he you know he will say like hey we have to be better at these things but he doesn’t throw players under the bus for things uh when I got to speak with him and you know in the media scrums after the rookie showcase last year is that he went even with mistakes in a game that he looks at us and goes I’m happy with he bounced back from these mistakes you as a coach that he can say yeah there were things that we want to work on but here are the things that I want to focus on and there are ways to be positive while also keeping an objective view that you’re not just saying ah it was great because that’s what people want to hear and for him I think he has he’s not you know someone who’s going to like take it easy on players you know watching practices they work hard they battle hard in these practice practices because this team has a drive and a will to succeed and that’s part of the organizational philosophy I think marttin St Louis is the same way is that he tries to build the players up and Def find the positives in things and yeah sometimes it’ll be a it won’t be a name thing that like hey we didn’t do well on the penalty kill or we have guys who aren’t doing what we need them to do with the puck there that he can call out a player without naming them and I think Joel bushard is someone who he was hard on players but postgame every time that I talked to him was he went out of his way to praise the good things in in games where they had a half ECHL lineup he went I don’t know how much you can ex I can expect to you know push these guys a bunch who just got here like yesterday against one of the top teams I think that the players like playing for him you see guys going out there and it means a lot to them I look at yakob doish like winning games means a lot to every single game is important you see guys who want to play for their teammates and that comes from a coach instilling a strong culture within this team if you’re not going to play Within the bounds of what they’re looking for you will sit if you don’t want to put the work in if you don’t want to be part of the team you’re not going to get those same opportunities and I think a lot of players have gotten that message and those that didn’t or maybe didn’t want to be uh you know were either moved on as you know this organization has done in the past or just you know had to learn and that’s part of it I like I said I think June 1st we’ll probably hear about this but if this is leaking into National media National media uh we will I’m assuming that extension is a few little bits here and there um and I’m obviously not as well versed as Scott is in the Laval Mia but I will say you know talking about those players that don’t buy in um I think that it’s a huge luxury like when you are a coach or general manager and instead of inherited players you’re able to sign and choose the ones you want a lot of times that’s going to take some time for you to be able to get that right it’s it’s going to take some time for some people to be shipped out or traded away or uh you know you sign on with different people but I think you have to buy into the vision no matter what um and if you aren’t part of that doesn’t necessarily mean your career is over it just means that this team doesn’t necessarily want you around because at the end of the day particularly with teams like the AHL teams where there’s always going to be roster changes because somebody’s moving up somebody’s moving down um and this and all of that like there needs to be unified identity of some sort and that’s really really my belief and so you know it remains to be seen as Scott said it it’s it’s going into the mainstream media right now so we have no reason to doubt that report at the moment um and all all signs point to positive things about it I will mention one thing though is that the Laval rocket now next season our expectations for them will be much greater um they they can’t squander the season in the first couple months and I think that’s it again is that they I think they know what they need for next year and I think the expectation is you made the playoffs two years in a row you made a Deep Run the first year and were out in the play and round the next year and this year you missed it by a game after struggling down the stretch is that yeah injuries are a problem but the expectations are we are a playoff team and I think Jean Fran wul with the staff that he’s going to have in there there will probably be new vets there going to be some guys that are not coming back just simple as that uh whether they were unhappy with their role or the way things went or something else I think that this team next year we’re going to see it’s going to look totally different again there’s going to be a lot of young guys and I think think that like I said off the top Jean Francois hul has done a really good job with a lot of these younger guys getting them ready for that next step and next year is very much as as important in that step there with so many new prospects uh joining the fold speaking of next year I did talk a little bit about Owen Beck in the Monday episode but I did want to give Scott a chance to weigh in what can one of our favorite prospects and uh practically adopted by his family Scott um um what can he do to earn a roster spot so we’re going to be talking about Owen Beck next first this episode is brought to you by FanDuel it is winner take all time in the NHL and the NBA we are right in the thick of the playoffs as you know and FanDuel America’s number one sports book is giving you a shot to bring home a big win of your own right now new customers get $150 in bonus Bets with any winning $5 bet that is 150 bucks to bet on spreads money lines player props and more and for me honestly the playoffs are the best time I bet against the first the Leafs and then I bet against the bru and I haven’t been let down yet and you can do the same uh visit fanduel.com lockon and make every playoff shot count FanDuel America’s number one sports book all right Scott let’s talk about our good friend Owen Beck the reason I say that practically adopted into his family is that Scott was covering the rookie tournament a couple years ago uh was it last year I think it was the year before it was right after he got drafted it was two years ago and he was sitting right near Owen Beck’s parents um and basically made friends with them Mark dumal and myself were sitting there and in front of us were own beex we had bumped actually we had sat down to have lunch before the Showcase started at one of the restaurants by the arena and their family recognized both of us there to come up and introduce themselves which was mindblowing in and of itself it’s uh it was it was crazy but uh they did sit in front of us and as we’re watching this and were you know saying all these nice things and everything and I was like okay if he makes a mistake I can’t say anything because they’re going to be right behind me and they’re following this on Twitter and I can see my name popping up and it’s like well keep it together keep it together but uh we have finally Owen be had a really good tournament didn’t he yes he was one of he was probably my favorite Prospect in that tournament I thought Philip Mard and Y lovsky were also great in that showcase uh SL kovsky was he was still raw but showed a lot of those things Owen Beck was the guy who was just everywhere that you wanted want a player to be in face off defensively he’s where you need to be offensive zone he’s doing the things you want to do he was doing every little thing that you wanted out of him and I that is what I love about him the most I’m curious if he will go to uh that showcase again this year seeing as he’s played in the last two or even if they are going to the Showcase this year I haven’t seen anything announced but it’s also May 28th when we’re recording this um so Scott I I I alluded to this a little bit on the Monday show but I did want to get your take on it because there are kind of this there is kind of this sentiment rolling around after uh another podcast discussed it saying that uh what you would want from Owen Beck uh to feel secure that he’s going to be an NHL or even on the third line um was that he needed to have a more dominant season in the OHL this year um I don’t necessarily agree or disagree I don’t think that his season was as dominant as people expected but there was also a trade involved right and he has been developing defense defensively a little bit better um over the course of the season but I don’t necessarily think the fact that he wasn’t like the most dominant player in that League I don’t think that necessarily um has any has any real bearing on whether or not this this player will make the NHL next year I think for me it is all entirely in his hands from here on and he’s currently in the Memorial Cup uh you know but after that like in this in this let’s say restart of the season and training camp etc etc it is 100% I think in the player’s hands right Scott yeah and the thing with this is that some people like well maybe his ceiling is you know a third line Center and I’m to there’s nothing there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that getting an everyday NHL player out of a second round pick is always doing getting an everyday NHL player out of almost any pick is always considered should be considered a good thing uh I yeah top three picks Etc like having an asterisk to that but I’ve seen a lot of people being like well what is he is he not going to be our second line Center and it’s like I don’t know why people are magically inventing roles for him here yeah Peterboro was not good this year when he was there and he was doing a lot with the little or trying to do a lot with a little and he got to Saga where he has done a lot with a lot uh for that team and I think this upcoming year comes down to which mindset are you in do you think hey he’s better surf playing bottom six NHL minutes right now whether that be as a Winger or a center like kind of like Jake Evans and Sean Monahan have done for the Canadians in years past here or do you want him with the rocket where he’s likely to play top six minutes he’s gonna be a Faceoff guy a penalty killing guy maybe a power play Faceoff guy and learning and taking in those big minutes it’s it’s going to be an interesting thing because it’s it can be two schools of thoughts on that it’s do you want him here now and the hard part is where do you fit him in this lineup you have four NHL centers right now in Evans Dvorak Doc and Suzuki you could consider Alex new hook a I can say he is an NHL Center I’m not going to say that maybe that’s his best position but we know that he can play that position as well and he is there a role for him and if not don’t try and jam the square peg into the round hole make it make sense before you do anything else and I think that’s important um I I’m he is probably the one that I’m most interested to watch this upcoming year Philip masar as well but Owen Beck has had so much around him and so much in his game that I like that is so mature professionally that he’s someone that I could see absolutely being like you cannot send him down because he has earned that NHL roster spot like out of training camp and out of preseason and force Ken Hugh’s hand to trade somebody else else wave somebody else do make something happen um he has the skill set for and I think he has the mindset for it he’s a really mature professional player uh so it all people are going to freak out if he goes to the AHL and honestly I’m not to if that’s the case it might just be a space thing and like we said in our five-part series we want them to advance forward this year they don’t need to be a playoff team it’s super neat if they are though absolutely and that’s like for me like my perspective on this is that the comment was you know is he even going to make the NHL at all well like you said Scott you can’t fit a squore peg into a round hole if you think okay he’s he should only make the NHL if he’s going to be a top six player etc etc no but as a third line Center I think that that’s not necessarily his ceiling like when he got drafted we were all talking about this as his floor if that’s where he ends up that’s not the end of the world the Canadians will need a very good third line Center if they plan to contend the way they keep promising to so for me don’t like I’m not too worried about Owen Beck and his development he does seem to be the kind of person to grab the opportunity by the horns and not let not Let It Go not let anyone um you know get in his way essentially like he will be the one to force the Montreal Canadians hand but I really excited that you brought up Philip masar because we don’t talk about him enough on the show and I think it would be really interesting if that’s what happened with him in in in training cap everyone expects him to be in Laval next year um but maybe what if what if he’s the one that kind forces their hand and then somebody else you know somebody else um ends up falling by the wayside like there’s so many variables in this off season um including who the Canadians can possibly trade for and we had a great listener proposal um and I want to bring it up coming up next all right let’s talk about this listener player proposal Scott do you want me to to read it do you want to read it what I’m going to let you read it uh because I’m kind of looking it over as I go here and I want to bring up cap friendly as part of this as well H all right so this comes to us from our our our good friend sorry um uh our good friend Cloe s who has been giving us uh some great ideas of late um and this is one of them so hi guys based on the following criteria I’ve put together a list teams that might be willing to part with players in their mid 20s on reasonable contracts I would love to get your thoughts other possible candidates and what you think the price might be and here are the criteria that Claude has chosen aging roster limited draft Capital shallow Prospect pool and four to five years from contending oh sorry or five years away from contending all right so his first team is Tampa Bay the player is Tanner Jano 26 years old are you laughing I I I will let you finish your your thoughts on this because I have a lot of thoughts about uh ter J know so uh contract for last year was 2.66 five uh would need to be extended go for it so Tanner Jano is signed uh through this season he is uh done after this year he got a two-year extension uh it was filed in arbitration so and he expires as a UFA and my thing about Tanner Jano is I don’t know because I look at his numbers in that every single year he had one very very good year in Nashville 24 goals 17 a good being very generous in this is that 24 goals 17 assists 41 points and 81 games every year since then five goals in 56 games one goal in 20 games with Tampa and then seven goals in 55 games this year with Tampa Bay he had 40 he has 42 career NHL goals Nick Suzuki scored what 32 this season alone and everything about this player screams we have Josh Anderson at home and for me I I I don’t get it uh he’s now what 26 years old he turns 27 uh tomorrow on the 29th uh and for me a guy like this is just we already have one Josh Anderson I don’t think we need another one and I also think Tampa he is cheaper he’s $2.6 million which he’s younger yeah but it’s I he’s also been injured a lot yeah and for someone who plays a physical Style game I have a lot of my own concerns about that if they’re buying as in Tampa is getting rid of this contract and you have moved out Josh Anderson or whomever having taner Jano I guess on your fourth line is a huge bonus but I don’t think he’s going to want to be traded somewhere that he’s going to be a fourth line forward on a team that isn’t going to the playoffs next season all right we’ve got four more of these so we got to be quick Washington um the player is Dylan stro he’s 27 years old and his contract is 4 years at 50 million per I just don’t see Washington trading him I believe they are very happy uh with him and they also don’t really have any other centers at this point so I can’t imagine them uh willingly trading the guy who is playing on their top line or second line most of this year uh Team Pittsburgh player Michael bunting age 128 years old contract two years at 4.5 million per I want say no just because I hate Michael bunting with a passion it’s also dubis purposely traded for him in that terrible Jake gensel trade so I don’t see him uh potentially being and he also has again modified no trade clause so he can probably pick uh which teams he uh he has a 10 team no trade list next season which I assume would fall into Montreal’s hands let’s take a look at his scoring numbers here uh 23 and uh 79 games 23 and 82 games 13 and 60 and then 6 and 21 uh this year with the Penguins not terrible but again a lot of this screams slightly better Josh Anderson at home maybe him only being 28 blows my mind because he should he’s he was at the stal and was at D-Day and all these other old timey things so um and also I just hate his face so there’s that I know that’s not a very good reason for anything but it’s my reason for it so we’re gonna have to deal with that listeners when I saw this email I thought yay Laura’s gonna make an age joke and then yay Scott hates this guy so much I can’t wait to to hear about it all right team Seattle player Jared mccan age 27 years old and his contract is three years at five million per I would love this if there was someone that I could you know have slide into being in the Christian vorak role and without being Christian Dvorak I would love it to be Jared mccan uh I’m just looking at his numbers basically since he got to Pittsburgh where they just didn’t protect him in the in the expansion draft traded him to Toronto who because to and tonald didn’t protect him where he was picked by Seattle and he’s put up 27 goals 40 goals and 29 goals he would be an incredible ad for the Montreal Canadians in in that role but like Dylan stro I can’t see Seattle parting with him because I think they consider him a really key piece of this roster but if he for whatever reason were actually out there and available I’m not saying I would move Heaven and Earth for him but Jared mccan would be a huge boom to this Canadians lineup to have a legit very good 3C uh or even 2C if you want to move doc to the wing to play on his line you could do that Jared mccan would be a slow Lam dunk a huge Boon for Kent Hughes there it’ll be interesting to see how Dan BMA deploys him now that he’s the coach in Seattle again and what the lines look like but Jared mccan for me is someone that I if he were available and offer to the Canadians if the price is right you take it absolutely would take that and finally this player is to Claud what Nikolai eers is for you Scott the price would be steep but imagine SLA and this player on the same line the team is Los Angeles the player is 21 years old he is an RFA and Scott can you guess the name it is Quinton bfield I am all over this but as CL points out this price would be very steep this is and here’s the thing is if he was available like I think it was going back a year into last year the year before that where he wasn’t quite lighting it up in the AHL wasn’t really setting the world of fire in the NHL wasn’t really sticking anywhere it seemed like hey they might might just trade him he’s not working out the way they wanted this just like slavkovsky had his glow up this year Quinton bfield went from 22 points in 53 games in the NHL last year to 55 and 80 this year 20 goals 35 assists he’s 6 fo4 he’s still growing he’s 21 years old CL is not kidding when he says that the price is steep but I am absolutely envisioning a line that is SLA Doc and Quinton by field and for me I’m all over it I am all like literally as soon as I saw that I was like I’m all over this one yes and here’s the thing is again you are paying for a second overall draft pick you’re paying for a guy entering his prime coming off a career year you’re going to have to pay the team to acquire him and then you were going to have to pay this player as well and that means you have to shed the money and again if for whatever reason that La has lost their mind in Quinton bfield is actually on the market this is one that I would move and I mean big name prospects for this player I think Lane Hudson and Ryan Bacher might be on my non-touch list but I would listen to if La wants David reinbacher and they want to trade Quinton bfield in some kind of deal for that I am absolutely listening to that phone call I know Kent Hughes and and the staff like to stick by their guys but I am looking at this player who can play left wi can play center can fill multiple positions there has scoring touch has size has skill with that size that I am absolutely all for this uh his time in the OHL was incredible watching him put up points and assists and this year his next step in his development has been just a treat to watch as someone who doesn’t watch a lot of LA but I will watch Quinton Byfield highlights I would be all over this trade of that if he if that were even a remote possibility sign me up yesterday for this absolutely all right sign us up also when when we’re talking about this uh we will be back tomorrow um and uh as you know we are your daily Montreal Canadians podcast so you should be subscribed to our podcast wherever you get your podcast or on YouTube or why not both do both that’s what I think every single podcast platform um like I said free and available every single day if you want to find us on social media the podcast is on Twitter Lor Canadian I am at every social media thing at the Active 6 Scott is Scott matat um also you can always email us at lockon Kines gmail.com where do you think we’ve been getting these ideas from our listeners so far and I really love getting your emails I really wholeheartedly do uh so make sure lockon Canadians gmail.com you can also leave comments questions etc etc in the YouTube mailbag In the meantime please thank you uh come back tomorrow because we will see you then [Music] you
In our first segment, we discuss the report that Laval Rocket head coach J-F Houle has re-signed with the Montreal Canadiens on a multi-year extension. In the second segment we talk about what Owen Beck will have to do to earn his NHL roster spot next season. In the third segment, we talk about potential Habs trade targets due to their current buy-low status. As well as one fantasy choice.
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