Niclas Havelid, A Solid Fit For The Habs "D"
by Robert L on Mar 2, 2009 2:09 AM EST
16 comments
Atlanta Thrashers defenseman Niclas Havelid is not one of the big names you will hear bandied about as the trade deadline nears. In most parts, he is at best an unknown commodity having played his whole NHL career in hockey hinterlands such as the Georgia state and Anaheim.
Now in his ninth NHL season at 34, Havelid stands 6' 0" and weighs 200 lbs. This season with Atlanta, he has 2 goals and 13 assists. Aside from playing with the Ducks and Thrashers, Havelid was a rock on defense for the gold medal winning Swedish Olympic team in 2006. With Anaheim, Havelid played into the seventh game of the Stanley Cup finals in 2003.
Havelid is neither a flashy player, nor is he a big point producer. His best assets arise from the calm and efficient nature of his game. While he shows little offensive upside, he brings stability to all areas of the game. He is often unnoticeable on the ice due to his habit of making clean work and few glaring mistakes. A disciplined defender, he rarely gets his team in trouble, taking on average 20 minor penalties a season - quite low for a top pairing defender on a supposed weak team.
In some corners, the Swedish native has been termed a poorer man's version of Niklas Lidstrom, in that he is fluid in all facets of the game, without rousing much of a fuss. Efficient and fleet footed in his own end, he is a quick decision maker seldom caught out of position. Not an overtly physical presence, Havelid uses his smarts to avoid getting into trouble. He reads both ends of the rush with veteran composure.
He would seem to be a smooth fit for what the Canadiens currently need, which is a defenseman that can slide into the second and third pairing and bring about a smooth complicity with any type of pairing partner.
According to this site, which has all kinds of good things to say on Havelid, the Red Wings are in hot pursuit, with the Flyers, Sharks and Devils not far behind.
A 2007-08 scouting report on Havelid with the Thrashers had this to say:
"Havelid sees the toughest minutes of any defender drawing the assignment of matching up against the offensive stars of the other teams. The Thrashers score an average of 3.06 goals per game with Havelid on the ice and allow 3.19 against. When Havelid is out of the equation, everything falls apart. Without Havelid, the Thrashers score 1.54 GPG at even strength, but allow a staggering 2.74 against - a goal differential of 1.19."
Playing out of the Southeast Conference, Havelid faces the likes of Vincent Lecavalier, Eric Staal, and Alexander Ovechkin more often than other opponents. In 63 games this season, Atlanta has scored 125 even strength goals, and allowed 141. On a minus 16 team, Havelid is a strudy plus 4, best amongst the team's regular defenseman. Havelid sees virtually no powerplay time with Atlanta, but he is a mainstay on the penalty kill. Of his two goals this season, one was scored shorthanded. Salary wise, Havelid is in the final year of a three year contract that has a 2.7 million dollar cap hit. With roughly 46 paid days remaining of 186 on the year, Havelid would cost $667,736 for the rest of the season. He will be a free agent on july 1, 2009. As the trade deadline approaches, Havelid could be an interseting option for the Canadiens. Almost assured of being traded by Atlanta due to his age and free agency status, he could come at a reasonable price. A veteran presence, Havelid would be surrounded like he never has been on the Canadiens team, and it would surely bring about his best game. Judging by his traits, he's snug fit alongside Josh Gorges, Roman Hamrlik, or Mike Komisarek. Here are some further stats on Havelid, in comparisdon with where he could fit in with the Canadiens.
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Not on my watch
Havelid is a career loser. Losing follows him around. It’s not his fault, but it’s true.
When our D looked bad in Feb, I don’t think anyone said let’s just add 2 D from a team worse than us.
I support your extra D idea, but don’t think Havelid is the right man in this case. Your analysis is thorough, though. I was close to being convinced, were it not for all the losing…
We need someone with experience, who wins things and with half decent stats. I think Darryl Sydor is the most interesting cheapo defender out there (obviously Pronger would be better, but would be costly as anything).
Your post inspired me to write on it.
I like Nic, and I believe his skills would work great on this team. I am, however, tired of putting assets into this current team that expire at year end. If we were to do one more pure rental, Nic would be the kind of guy I’d target, but after Schneider, Tanguay and Lang (although I think we should definitely re-sign Tanguay), I’d rather invest in a guy that can help us not only this year but the next as well.
Career loser? What kind of weirdo accusation is that? This guy won an Olympic gold medal! I think only Hamrlik on our team has one of those… and Hamrlik probably falls in a similar definiton of “career loser” based on his NHL experience as Havelid. There are good players that never get the chance to win… and career loser or stuff like that is also the kind of tag that guys like Marc Savard have had. Once put on a team that actually had talent, suddenly they still were very good players, and key contributers… my God, what a revelation!
That’s the reason I think Robert is wrong on Jokinen, for example. I’m okay with disagreement, but I think it’s a bit short sighted to look at him not playing a playoff game in a league where almost half the teams don’t make the playoffs and pin it all on him. Sometimes, guys play for lousy teams. Marcel Dionne was a player who did for his entire career. They can’t control how good the rest of their teammates are.
But we need more puckmoving ability on this team. We needed it heading into the year, but even after the Schneider deal we could use some more. I’m also a little reluctant to deal any of our puckmoving prospects, but I suppose one of them couldn’t hurt if it was for a big need that you could justify long term.
Hockey blogging can't get any flatter.
My angle on Jokinen is not just based on his missing the playoffs. There is a long trail of disagreements with coaches in his background, and most of the time he’s spent with teams, they’ve spent it trying to get rid of him. He’s got headache written all over him. Another matter that concerns me is he rarely makes his wingers better players. I can’t think of one player that has played alongside that had a remarkable year. He’s a poor man’s, poor man’s Sundin.
That’s the argument against Jokinen I can accept. He’s definitely not a perfect hockey player, but I’d still take the risk since we can put a guy like Alex Tanguay on his wing instead of either young guys like Rusty Olesz and Peter Mueller or unspectacular vets like Ville Peltonen that he’s had to carry before. I also like the idea that if you can’t get a top end guy like Vinny or Mats, that you get a guy at $5.25m to split the top line duties with Plekanec and move Saku to a more checking role. Kind of reminds me of Damphousse-Muller-Carbo going up against teams build around Gretzky, Lemieux, Lafontaine, and Turgeon.
But back to Havelid, I definitely agree with your assessment above. He can definitely help this team, but to me he’s more a plan B because I’d rather try and acquire a guy who will help us for a period beyond this playoffs. But Havelid might not cost a ton, kind of like the Schneider deal, so I’m open to this possibility. Just no Bill Guerin, please! That guy was a dog in his last rental situation in San Jose, and now he’s two years older and two years worse.
Looks like O’Byrne has been called up, so his concussion couldn’t have been serious. Breeze might not be in the lineup after the trade deadline regardless of what happens with regards to trades.
Hockey blogging can't get any flatter.
Weirdo defence
I know it was a very harsh thing to say, but the guy is not a great defender. I haven’t liked him when I’ve seen him play, nor have I liked what I’ve unearthed when researching him.
If we’re being picky, then I should note that both Kovalev (1992) and Lang (1998) also have Olympic gold medals.
It’s as I said, most players making it to the NHL are winners, some just get extended stays in a losing environment and get the loser tag. On some, it doesn’t fit.
As for Havelid, I can’t comment on what you’ve seen, but the 20 or so games I’ve seen him play over the last six years have constantly kept him on my radar as a future Hab hopeful.
I’m almost afraid to throw out any other names on this blog. I might have jinxed teams!
Havelid
whatever you think of him it doesn’t matter he’s not coming to Montreal…just traded to New Jersey
Nothing to do with Brodeur then?
Brodeur is an amazing story isn’t he? Straight back to shutouts after so long off. He does make NJ look good.
Do you think NJ will leverage Clemmenson for anything?
Clemenson…it would all depend on the deal. Buffalo’s desperate. Connelly for Clemenson?
Brodeur and the Devils system are perfectly suited for each other. The D men are seldom adventurous and it benefits any goalie that plays there. Having a great one like Brodeur allows the team before him to play with extreme confidence, and it just builds back and forth. Havelid will fit like a glove.
lol...technology
Too funny…This deal was announced hours ago, and nhl.com just gets the text message out at 7:15pm
by yathehabsrule on Mar 2, 2009 8:13 PM EST up reply actions
Progress, right!
That’s technology for you. There’s bonuses, but I still stand at a cash register for 2 minutes while some chick tries to figure out the change from a five for a $1.77 coffee.
That’s kind of why I didn’t sign up for NHL text messages. I get them faster from readers, lol!
BTW, Kevin, there’s a good chance I’ll see you in Hamilton!
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