24-25 point projections

[Spearmint Rhino]

Montreal's goal-scoring the last three seasons (along with league ranking):

2023/24: 232 GF (26th)
2022/23: 227 GF (26th)
2021/22: 218 GF (27th)

A lot of projections in this thread have the team scoring about 265 goals, which would've been tied for top-10 last year. Yeah, I think adding Dach and Hutson, and having Slafkovsky, Caufield, Newhook, and Roy improve should add to the offence, but I don't see the Habs scoring 30 more.

Our biggest addition was the subtraction of Burrows,I’m expecting a much better PP

 

[Lshap]

Our biggest addition was the subtraction of Burrows,I’m expecting a much better PP

Yeah, with Burrows out, Hutson and possibly Mailloux in, the PP will at the very least be different. I'm staying cautiously optimistic – the last time I was excited about the Habs' PP was when Markov was in his prime.

 

[BLNY]

Slafkovsky - 25g 40a
Suzuki - 30g 50a
Caufield - 35g 35a
Dach - 15g 40a
Newhook - 25g 25a

I think those are reasonable expectations. I see there being enough offense for 3 goals per game. In the standings, I see us finishing with 87 points which, based on 23-24, puts us in the area of 20th. That's 5 points out of a playoff spot. That may dip a bit depending who is sold off at the deadline.

 

[schwang26]

I don't think Matheson goes anywhere this year at all, but that doesn't preclude him from going off PP1 to manage his minutes better and give Hutson more minutes.

D core is still young but all those young guys got another year of experience, breaking in Hutson if he earns it, and he should based on the sample we have so far, makes perfect sense.

We should see all 3 of Reinbacher, Mailloux and Hutson playing NHL games for us this year.

I do agree, but consider Arber and Guhle have both missed significant time. They still need work to round out their games. This is still a very young D. And they’re even younger without Kovacevik

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Ill go with the safest prediction ever.


Nobody goes ppg.

(That said I think Lane Hutson has the ability to get 30-40 points with his eyes closed)

 

[overlords]

I do agree, but consider Arber and Guhle have both missed significant time. They still need work to round out their games. This is still a very young D. And they’re even younger without Kovacevik

We'll probably lose savard by TDL at the latest, too. I gotta wonder what the plan is for anchoring the RD once he's gone. No way hugo wants the entire right side to be kids under 23.

 

[schwang26]

We'll probably lose savard by TDL at the latest, too. I gotta wonder what the plan is for anchoring the RD once he's gone. No way hugo wants the entire right side to be kids under 23.

I agree. Both are huge assets at the deadline. I guess we’ll see where they are in the standings come the deadline. I’m thinking if no one is showing signs of being a clear number 1, then we might see a trade or ufa fill that spot. Hell ,if Matheson cleans his game up a bit, it’s possible they keep him. He is producing like a number one and his ice time reflects that. Gotta make better decisions though.I love our D, but no one is projected to be that guy. I truly hope at least one of them is of course.

 

[schwang26]

Wow. Some of you have Matheson really low. With a healthy second line and better PP (hopefully) I can see him hitting 70 points. It’s only 8 better than last year.

Not sure why someone thought that’s funny. 5th last and he had 62. 8 more on a hopefully better team is easily reachable. That’s literally 8 more goals he’d need to be a part of.

 

[26Mats]

You think Armia is going to beat his goal and assist career high by 3 and his career high points by 10?

it's prorated. last year he scored at a 21 goals per 82 games pace.

his best year as a hab he scored at a 23g, 42 point per 82 games pace.

 

[Sam de Mtl]

Not sure why someone thought that’s funny. 5th last and he had 62. 8 more on a hopefully better team is easily reachable. That’s literally 8 more goals he’d need to be a part of.

While not totally impossible, last year was a peak for him that is not super likely to reproduce. A better team may also mean more good players to use, namely maybe Hutson out there to take some quality minutes away from him.

 

[schwang26]

While not totally impossible, last year was a peak for him that is not super likely to reproduce. A better team may also mean more good players to use, namely maybe Hutson out there to take some quality minutes away from him.

Hutson still has much to work on. I can just hear the crying already on this board. “Frickin MSL doesn’t know what he’s doing! Play Hutson on the number 1 PP unit instead of Matheson “!

All jokes aside, I do truly hope that Hutson eventually becomes that guy, but I’m sure they bring him in slowly.

 

[Sam de Mtl]

Hutson still has much to work on. I can just hear the crying already on this board. “Frickin MSL doesn’t know what he’s doing! Play Hutson on the number 1 PP unit instead of Matheson “!

All jokes aside, I do truly hope that Hutson eventually becomes that guy, but I’m sure they bring him in slowly.

I believe so as well, but all it takes is less reliance on PP1 to drop Matheson's point totals. Or even a better répartition of offensive minutes and 3v3 OT between the different players.

A lot would have to go right for Matheson to repeat his production, even more to exceed it.

 

[Imgoingtowork]

Slafkovsky - 30g + 54a = 84p
Suzuki - 35g + 45a = 80p
Caufield - 40g + 34a = 74p
Armia - 25g + 31a = 56p

 

[Lshap]

Slafkovsky - 30g + 54a = 84p
Suzuki - 35g + 45a = 80p
Caufield - 40g + 34a = 74p
Armia - 25g + 31a = 56p

Speaking for all of planet Earth: "Armia with 25 goals and 56 pts??"

That said, you get full credit for bold optimism!

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

We'll probably lose savard by TDL at the latest, too. I gotta wonder what the plan is for anchoring the RD once he's gone. No way hugo wants the entire right side to be kids under 23.

Playing u23 kids is a much better alternative than signing a veteran and having him block a future core player.

 

[crosbyshow]

Because of the shoulder surgery...Caufield had not the same power in his shot at all last season.

I am sure the he worked on his shot this Summer

 

[Scintillating10]

Caufield probably score 40. He had 26 in 46 games 2 years ago. Scored 28 last year but coming off major injury.

Newhook might score 25. He had 15 in 55 games but was coming on late in season.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Slaf 25 44 69
Suzuki 33 46 79
CC *35 35 70
Newhook 25 25 50
Dach 21 48 69
Roy 17 27 44

*Really hoping to see CC get to 40. But based on last season, I think 35 is a reasonable estimate.

This assumes 82 games played for each player. There WILL be injuries but that cannot be accounted for at this time. The most important thing that must happen this season is for Dach to have a healthy year.