HF Habs: 2023 Roster, Schedule & Standings Thread

[Rapala]

nor will it ever fit into what the media in Montreal want

The concept is alien to them. The idea of trying to build a team from scratch has never been an agenda here. Keep the aging Vets they might give you a couple of extra points each over an 80+ game season. We are going to be pretty bad and the reporting will get pretty ugly.

 

[dinodebino]

Tankists sometimes lose the forest for the trees... it's not enjoyable to watch a crappy team play crap hockey. People lose interest, players who are fighting for contracts lose interest or worse get mad. Young players, especially defencemen and goalie, lose confidence. It's just awful all around. And worst of all: there's always the risk of turning into Deadmonton and Buffalose.

And as we've seen, there is hardly an immediate reward for a full year's worth of losing and tanking anyway. There's no guarantee that even the 1OA leads to any positive impact to the bottom line (w%/pt%/playoff round wins) in the foreseeable future. It could be a "bad draft year" , it could be a player that'll take a few years to get going (and by that point you have other holes to fill and have a net gain of 0), it could be a litany of excuses for why rebuilds get derailed.

I can't imagine MSL will be happy if the Habs' pt% is 0.125 or the win% is 0.00... I can't imagine he would retain his chippy, happy, positive, confidence self if he goes through a brutal 82 game marathon...

I think Tanking can be done for a maximum of 2 seasons. Any more leads to negative outcomes. Be careful what you wish for.

As an ex-president once said : it is what it is.

It’s full on tank. Denial here is futile. We suck.

 

[Runner77]

As an ex-president once said : it is what it is.

It’s full on tank. Denial here is futile. We suck.

Happy Tanksgiving!

 

[dinodebino]

I agree but I think Harris needs to be at the NHL level to adapt to that level of physical play / speed.

Xhekaj physical play isn’t an issue but I hope they don’t keep him for his intangibles and allow him to improve his hockey skills which he would be able to do as a top4 D in the AHL.

Xhekaj’s intangibles is what cost Gorton’s job in NYC (at least partially). Me thinks that unless they trade for a goon or pick one on waivers, intangibles win.

 

[dinodebino]

if you're losing all year, you should be able to laugh.

We are.

 

[Rapala]

Young players, especially defencemen and goalie lose confidence.

Do you make this stuff up? The determining factor has to do with the individual and not wins/losses. There are plenty of excellent players who played on seriously bad teams who excelled anyways. Joe Sakic Adam Foote Roberto Luongo are just some examples.

 

[Rapala]

My apologies if this is the wrong thread, but what is the long term outlook of Anderson on the Habs? Is there any stomach to trade him with retention of $1-2m or does the length of his contract scare fans from moving him? If so what would the expected return be?

To me he somewhat sticks out as a player that might provide some level of protection for the young stars, but is nearing the end of his prime (if he hasn’t already past it).

Thanks in advance and I hope to see many of your young stars and prospects thrive and take large steps forward this coming season!

No way Hughes retains on Anderson.

 

[Runner77]

No way Hughes retains on Anderson.

Until we see Hughes retaining on a multi-year contract, he’s expected to continue not to.

 

[Rapala]

I'm against tanking (not BUILDING), but I do agree that there should be one thread where tanking is assumed right (can be this one) and one where it is debated, and everywhere else it is better not mentioned.

They are not mutually exclusive. If we move assets again this year for picks we are essentially tanking. Hughes mentioned he wants another 1st rounder and it's not hard to see that he will have to give up something to get it.

 

[BaseballCoach]

They are not mutually exclusive. If we move assets again this year for picks we are essentially tanking. Hughes mentioned he wants another 1st rounder and it's not hard to see that he will have to give up something to get it.

Trading expiring assets for futures is not tanking. It is simply smart building.

Tanking would be banishing the development staff from Montreal, bringing up Fairbrother to replace Guhle, resting Suzuki on back to back nights, playing Monty half the games and playing a bunch of wingers on their wrong sides. Oh wait...........

 

[BaseballCoach]

They are not mutually exclusive. If we move assets again this year for picks we are essentially tanking. Hughes mentioned he wants another 1st rounder and it's not hard to see that he will have to give up something to get it.

Putting aside my disagreement with this definition of tanking, my hope is that the guy we trade for a late first is a rejuvenated Monahan.

 

[Rapala]

Trading expiring assets for futures is not tanking. It is simply smart building.

Tanking would be banishing the development staff from Montreal, bringing up Fairbrother to replace Guhle, resting Suzuki on back to back nights, playing Monty half the games and playing a bunch of wingers on their wrong sides. Oh wait...........

The Habs would Never be that obvious.

 

[BaseballCoach]

The Habs would Never be that obvious.

Well then, they are not taking the tanking seriously and will lose the race to the bottom.

 

[BaseballCoach]

My apologies if this is the wrong thread, but what is the long term outlook of Anderson on the Habs? Is there any stomach to trade him with retention of $1-2m or does the length of his contract scare fans from moving him? If so what would the expected return be?

To me he somewhat sticks out as a player that might provide some level of protection for the young stars, but is nearing the end of his prime (if he hasn’t already past it).

Anderson is a key player if the team wants to compete before Guhle's and Slaf's ELCs are up.

I highly doubt the club is looking to move him at par, never mind a discount.

 

[BaseballCoach]

I would prefer Monahan with Suzy and Goal, Slaf with Dach and Anderson, and give each of Dadonov, Drouin, Pitlick and Hoffman one game to prove they deserve to play with Dvorak and Gallagher.

 

[Rapala]

Well then, they are not taking the tanking seriously and will lose the race to the bottom.

I don't think the bottom is in play this year given how bad a handful of other teams are. We are tanking by default with glaring holes in our lineup. I don't believe any team tries to tank early on regardless. Usually by game 20 the losers stop trying as hard.

 

[ReHabs]

Do you make this stuff up? The determining factor has to do with the individual and not wins/losses. There are plenty of excellent players who played on seriously bad teams who excelled anyways. Joe Sakic Adam Foote Roberto Luongo are just some examples.

How about players who were young and active in a year that started with 2***?

How about Buffalo, Arizona, Edmonton? How about Ottawa constantly spinning its wheels? How about Toronto that doesn't know how to win despite and incredible amount of talent?

Do you make things up to justify tanking? Is there any evidence that losing games means winning more games later?

 

[tazsub3]

As an ex-president once said : it is what it is.

It’s full on tank. Denial here is futile. We suck.

This team will be a hundred times better than last years …. Even if we lose more , at least we building something

 

[BaseballCoach]

They have to submit a cap compliant 23 man (or less) roster by 5 pm.

Bowey & Schue are already in Laval.

Still some moves to make.


Primeau assigned to Laval

On D:

I expect Mailloux to be moved to SOIR (Season Opening Injured Reserve) until he can be assigned to London. By signing him & putting him on SOIR, he actually gives us cap relief.

Edmundson to IR
Leskinen & Barron to Laval

7D: Matheson, Savard, Guhle, Wideman, Xhekaj, Harris & Kovacevic


Fowards:

Heineman to SOIR
Armia to IR

Slafkovsky, RHP & Ylonen to Laval (Slafkovsky can get recalled tomorrow)

14F: Suzuki, Caufield, Anderson, Gallagher, Hoffman, Drouin, Dadonov, Pezzetta, Dvorak, Dach, Pitlick, Evans, Monahan & Byron.

On Wednesday, Byron gets put on LTIR, and Slafkovsky is recalled from Laval.

Hope you can teach me something: how does the Mailloux placement on SOIR help the cap situation?

 

[BaseballCoach]

How about players who were young and active in a year that started with 2***?

How about Buffalo, Arizona, Edmonton? How about Ottawa constantly spinning its wheels? How about Toronto that doesn't know how to win despite and incredible amount of talent?

Do you make things up to justify tanking? Is there any evidence that losing games means winning more games later?

Toronto focused on developing the forwards and getting Tavares too.

Habs seem focused on developing the defence. That is crucial to future success.

If Barron or Mailloux, Guhle and Xhekaj can even come CLOSE to a Big Three of Glory Days, and guys like Harris can be the Bill Nyrop or Brian Engblom to complement, look out!

If they do not all pan out, we have about $15-$20M we can spend annually within two years on UFA studs to fill the gaps in our prospect pool.

 

[JC Superstar]

My apologies if this is the wrong thread, but what is the long term outlook of Anderson on the Habs? Is there any stomach to trade him with retention of $1-2m or does the length of his contract scare fans from moving him? If so what would the expected return be?

To me he somewhat sticks out as a player that might provide some level of protection for the young stars, but is nearing the end of his prime (if he hasn’t already past it).

Thanks in advance and I hope to see many of your young stars and prospects thrive and take large steps forward this coming season!

You retain salary on an expiring contract, not on one that has years to go. When you retain salary, it's for the duration of the contract and you don't want to be tied up for years like in Anderson's case. Since you only have 3 retainers, tying you up for a long time isn't good business.

I see retaining salary on Dadonov, Drouin and Monahan this year, because we'll be free at the end of the season. Hoffman can wait for next year.

 

[schwang26]

Tankists sometimes lose the forest for the trees... it's not enjoyable to watch a crappy team play crap hockey. People lose interest, players who are fighting for contracts lose interest or worse get mad. Young players, especially defencemen and goalie, lose confidence. It's just awful all around. And worst of all: there's always the risk of turning into Deadmonton and Buffalose.

And as we've seen, there is hardly an immediate reward for a full year's worth of losing and tanking anyway. There's no guarantee that even the 1OA leads to any positive impact to the bottom line (w%/pt%/playoff round wins) in the foreseeable future. It could be a "bad draft year" , it could be a player that'll take a few years to get going (and by that point you have other holes to fill and have a net gain of 0), it could be a litany of excuses for why rebuilds get derailed.

I can't imagine MSL will be happy if the Habs' pt% is 0.125 or the win% is 0.00... I can't imagine he would retain his chippy, happy, positive, confidence self if he goes through a brutal 82 game marathon...

I think Tanking can be done for a maximum of 2 seasons. Any more leads to negative outcomes. Be careful what you wish for.

You're right. It's not enjoyable to watch a crappy team. Which is more or less what I've been doing since '93. Finally a rebuild is happening. They will slowly become competitive, and knowing that, I can stomach another year of rebuilding pains. This organization had/has a lot of issues that would not have been fixed overnight.

 

[CHfan1]

 

[HomaridII]

Now they can put Byron on LTIR and get the full relief.

 

[MarkovsKnee]

Hope you can teach me something: how does the Mailloux placement on SOIR help the cap situation?

Mailloux & Heineman both went on SOIR.

In fact, Montreal did everything I said except keep Slafkovsky & put Byron on IR instead of roster. I wasn't sure they had the money for that. I didn't bother to calculate if they did.

Price's $10.5m LTIR is now spent. We used $10.194m of it. We don't get to use that last $400,000.

SOIR is only available to players on 2 way contracts, which ELCs are. We'll get the full benefit of their NHL salaries to give us breathing room to recall players, use IR for other players, etc.

Players on IR still count against the cap, which is why teams are expected to save $1m-$2m for that eventuality. Since a lot of teams have not done that this year, you're going to see a lot of games with reduced in-game rosters & emergency recalls.

Mailloux & Heineman give us $1.795m in salary relief immediately. Otherwise, we'd be in emergency conditions too.

Teams have to apply to NHL for SOIR benefits.

Now, Canadiens can choose to keep Byron on IR, and just use the SOIR pool until both Mailloux and Heineman are healthy and the pool can't be used anymore; in which case Byron goes to LTIR.

Or, put Byron on LTIR tomorrow & bring in a $2m-$2.25m D as replacement leaving +$1m for IR after we lose SOIR (cause both Mailloux & Heineman are healthy).

It gives Montreal options for roster movement since it opens up cap space.