Are We Headed in the Right Direction?

[Jaynki]

We are in a cap world, and Habs have more cap space than most, especially after the Hoffman, Armia, Dvorak and Savard contracts are done by end of next season (24-25).

Hughes has not signed any crippling contracts since he has been on the watch. Cap space ensures the ability to get a star onto the team.

A defensive troika of Matheson-Guhle-Reinbacher with guys like Barron or Mailloux, Hutson, Struble, Xhekaj in support is mobile and mostly big.

Up front we have accumulated six guys who were drafted in the top half of the first round, and have some good prospects for middle-six roles on cheaper contracts.

Goaltending post-Price looks better than when Hughes came in.

Most players seem to love playing here and there is more emphasis on skills development.

Right DIRECTION - yes. Still more track to cover though.

Excellent post.

 

[BLONG7]

I believe suzuki and CC have the talent to be PPG players if we get a semblance of an ok powerplay. But until they actually do it we really can't say they are unfortunately

Our PP is the key to a lot of our scoring issues.....................fix this MSL and we are going in the right direction for sure.

 

[TopTenPlayz]

The Suzuki disrespect lately has been... incredible lol

66 pts in 82 games and only 46 games with Caufield who scored 26.
So, with 35 more games with Cole, it's obviously difficult to predict how many more goals he would of scored,
But I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility to think that Suzuki could of at least grabbed an easy 10 more points in those 35 games, and all of a sudden 76 pts in 82 games looks a whole lot sexier for people inexplicably down on him. PPG for Suzuki is going to happen, its just when.

I think it's amazing nobody else on the team could even get to 40 pts so it makes his 66 look that much more impressive honestly.

PPG in this scoring environment where a gazillion players also score PPG isn't at all impressive. That's like when Pleky scored 60 pts in 14-15 and Jamie Benn winning the Art Ross with 87 pts. And if Dach and Slaf progress, then the ice time will get more evenly distributed and Nick won't get as much opportunities to get secondary assists

 

[Jaynki]

I would be curious to hear the argument of those who voted no

 

[HabzSauce]

Most definitely headed in the right direction and IDK how some are saying otherwise.

I understand the concern that we lack high end talent, but it's only been 1.5 years.....

Building takes time. Our defence for example was a massive question mark in 2022, but now all of a sudden it's looking very deep. That's good progress.

Our cap is in great shape too outside of the dead weight like Armia/Hoff/Dvo/Gally. Hughes seems very cap conscious which gives me confidence moving forward. Cap space is king so if we have more than other teams, that gives us a big advantage. That's also good progress.

As for the offence, it will come. We already grabbed Dach which is looking like a great trade so far. Newhook is still a mystery but I like the gamble. Again, progress!

Like i said it's been 1.5 years man lol we can't become Tampa Bay overnight. I like the direction we're taking though. One step at a time.

 

[Deebs]

I would be curious to hear the argument of those who voted no

Because Michkov

 

[OpenIceHit]

Yes. It's a good start but there's still a lot of work ahead.

 

[CzarDemidov]

Because Michkov

You’re obviously entitled to think so but I put my reasoning in my post in this discussion thread. See if Michkov is mentioned.

Some of us aren’t so petty as to turn due to a single draft pick.

 

[dcyhabs]

The team is better but I worry they are trying to rush. I voted “no” but I mostly agree with what was done. We’ll see how the draft picks and young guys shake out. I hope they know better than I do.

 

[Redux91]

PPG in this scoring environment where a gazillion players also score PPG isn't at all impressive. That's like when Pleky scored 60 pts in 14-15 and Jamie Benn winning the Art Ross with 87 pts. And if Dach and Slaf progress, then the ice time will get more evenly distributed and Nick won't get as much opportunities to get secondary assists

Couldn't disagree more lol.
And I'll leave it there.

 

[Reimannsum1988]

I believe that we're heading in the direction of mediocrity which will result in another "lost decade" of mere playoff appearances, a few second round forays, but no team composition sufficient to contend for a Stanley Cup due to a dearth of talent at all positions. In three years, after the rebuild has been completed, we'll be a bubble playoff team and remain there, always too good to draft exceptional talent, and too poor to ice either a truly competitive or exciting product.

It's hard to say that we're going in the right or wrong direction, as the team is improving, but the last two years and the contracts handed out by the prior management, have hobbled the potential to build a contender with this crop of players. In another thirteen years, right around the time that Caufield is ready to move on or retire, we'll have to tear everything down and start another rebuild attempt.

Couldn't disagree more lol.
And I'll leave it there.

He's absolutely right though. With scoring up, Suzuki is just a worse Plekanec in terms of overall game, and it makes performances such as his all the less impressive, particularly when one considers how unfathomably lucky he was with his shooting percentage.

 

[Reimannsum1988]

PPG in this scoring environment where a gazillion players also score PPG isn't at all impressive. That's like when Pleky scored 60 pts in 14-15 and Jamie Benn winning the Art Ross with 87 pts. And if Dach and Slaf progress, then the ice time will get more evenly distributed and Nick won't get as much opportunities to get secondary assists

Which is precisely why the notion of constructing a team with multiple sixty point players to score by committee is one doomed to failure because a sixty point player now was a fifty point player ten years ago, more or less.

 

[Apoplectic Habs Fan]

The direction is fine. People need to realize they really are just starting unless they wanted scorched earth which would have involved Suzuki, Caulfield traded as well.

Montreal did everything they could to bottom out last year. Did any one see the roster? They tried to lose, just guys like RHP came out of nowhere well above expectations.

The draft picks werent my choice however im not naive to believe that if MTL chose Wright, Jiricek or Nemec, people at that time would still be screaming where the top end talent is as none of them were seen as top pairings or cornerstone pieces.

So would i like a cornerstone player, yes. Are they building towards something, yes i believe that.

 

[TennisMenace]

Second tier contender feels like. That Michkov miss still stings. Can't get a player like that to ever come to Montreal (Caufield was a fluke), but you can get a Reinbacher. Anyway, fingers crossed.

I might be dead in 3 years so I’m not fretting over the Russian especially seeing how talented this Reinbacher is.

A vote for yes…..I’m pleased with the direction we are heading. I know many here want another 40 goal scorer besides Goal Caufield, but with the army of Dmen we have coming up, we may be able to trade one or two of our surplus Dmen for a hot forward prospect.

 

[TennisMenace]

The team is better but I worry they are trying to rush. I voted “no” but I mostly agree with what was done. We’ll see how the draft picks and young guys shake out. I hope they know better than I do.

Who are they rushing to get in the lineup? I’m confused about why you voted no.

Most definitely headed in the right direction and IDK how some are saying otherwise.

I understand the concern that we lack high end talent, but it's only been 1.5 years.....

Building takes time. Our defence for example was a massive question mark in 2022, but now all of a sudden it's looking very deep. That's good progress.

Our cap is in great shape too outside of the dead weight like Armia/Hoff/Dvo/Gally. Hughes seems very cap conscious which gives me confidence moving forward. Cap space is king so if we have more than other teams, that gives us a big advantage. That's also good progress.

As for the offence, it will come. We already grabbed Dach which is looking like a great trade so far. Newhook is still a mystery but I like the gamble. Again, progress!

Like i said it's been 1.5 years man lol we can't become Tampa Bay overnight. I like the direction we're taking though. One step at a time.

And don’t forget the other mystery- Slaf. He might turn out to be special too.

 

[CzarDemidov]

Who are they rushing to get in the lineup? I’m confused about why you voted no.


And don’t forget the other mystery- Slaf. He might turn out to be special too.

Do you think Slafkovsky belonged in the NHL last year? He put up goose eggs for a month leading to his untimely season ending injury.

 

[TennisMenace]

Our PP is the key to a lot of our scoring issues.....................fix this MSL and we are going in the right direction for sure.

I think Newhook is supposed to be the missing link….and then of course The young Dman, LH, who is getting close to suiting up.

Do you think Slafkovsky belonged in the NHL last year? He put up goose eggs for a month leading to his untimely season ending injury.

Actually, no, I didn’t think he was ready yet at age 18…..not sure why they felt the need to bypass Laval, but maybe it was because last year was a “pass” year, so let him learn about the NHL now.

 

[Hannibal]

I don’t inow how you can say no when the management are as open for a rebuild as they are.

 

[dcyhabs]

Who are they rushing to get in the lineup? I’m confused about why you voted no.


And don’t forget the other mystery- Slaf. He might turn out to be special too.

Trading picks for older players, though not much older, and lots of the young guys got hurt last year.

 

[LyricalLyricist]

I mean, we already had a lot of picks and now we got back to back top 5 picks. It’s hard to imagine we’re going in wrong direction as only place is up and we’re getting good prospects.

The only real point of contention is that we deviated from the consensus pick in back to back drafts so some may argue we are not optimizing those picks. Only time will tell.

 

[26Mats]

Going to limit this to yes or no. Obviously you can weigh in with your comments but I figured that we’re probably midway through the rebuild and it’d be interesting to get a temperature check.

I would have liked a little more offense.

I would have gone with Michkov as hopefully a cornerstone of the offense going forward, though I like Reinbacher. Also would have been nice to add Dubois's big body to the top 6. But it would have been hard to beat LA's offer...

I hope we have enough offense.

 

[Takeru]

Broadly, yes.

New regime is still relatively young, entering his 2nd full season.

I do see value in trying to develop homegrown talent steadily, but we'll need to see exactly that this coming season: steady improvement from most youngsters at all levels.

The wait-and-see approach does have its virtues, but it also has to yield results, otherwise we're still into the steadily depreciating assets model that was the trademark of the previous regime. And we'll then be spinning our wheels while other teams pass us by and keep improving at better rates.

For the time being, remaining hopeful.

 

[bcv]

I believe that we're heading in the direction of mediocrity which will result in another "lost decade" of mere playoff appearances, a few second round forays, but no team composition sufficient to contend for a Stanley Cup due to a dearth of talent at all positions. In three years, after the rebuild has been completed, we'll be a bubble playoff team and remain there, always too good to draft exceptional talent, and too poor to ice either a truly competitive or exciting product.

It's hard to say that we're going in the right or wrong direction, as the team is improving, but the last two years and the contracts handed out by the prior management, have hobbled the potential to build a contender with this crop of players. In another thirteen years, right around the time that Caufield is ready to move on or retire, we'll have to tear everything down and start another rebuild attempt.


He's absolutely right though. With scoring up, Suzuki is just a worse Plekanec in terms of overall game, and it makes performances such as his all the less impressive, particularly when one considers how unfathomably lucky he was with his shooting percentage.

And I thought I was a pessimist person.

 

[WeThreeKings]

I mean, we already had a lot of picks and now we got back to back top 5 picks. It’s hard to imagine we’re going in wrong direction as only place is up and we’re getting good prospects.

The only real point of contention is that we deviated from the consensus pick in back to back drafts so some may argue we are not optimizing those picks. Only time will tell.

You'd think there would be some humility after everyone lamented passing on Wright and he dropped the ball again last year, but nope just people pretending they'd have taken Cooley instead.

 

[Habs]

screwed up by not taking Cooley and keeping some of these same boneheads from Bergy's days making decisions on prospects. I think they will regret passing on Leonard big time. I am not feeling all warm and fuzzy on this team as of yet, nick and cole are pillars to build around, not sure about the rest if I'm being honest.

If I hear one more post about what a legend Struble is, I'm going to vomit