Can the team be entertaining and still land a top 5 pick?

[Goal Caufield50]

Barron is an incredibly smooth skater. He’ll be good

With below nhl standard puck skills

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

I think there's some cognitive dissonance wrt this topic on here.

It seems everyone wants:

Caufield to score 40
Suzuki to pot 70 points
Anderson to get back to form
Guhle to play like a top4
Expiring $$ guys to play well
Etc.

But I think the reality is, if we're a bad team it means our young promising players didn't take big steps (or regressed) and if we're a decent/not terrible team we won't land 1OA.

I'm happy either way.

Not sure the actual cognitive dissonance is where you think it is.

For one, you mash-up several different desires from different opinions and attributing them all together to a generalised view. To affect such reductionism is well, you guess.

And secondly, Caufield was scoring at 48 goals pace and both him and Suzuki were close to ppg under MSL and we weren't playing much better than ,430 in win%, which would be good for 71 pts over 82 games. 71 pts would have us end 6th last in last season's standings, so pretending that Caufield getting 40 goals and Suzuki 70 points is impossible while also finishing bottom 5, is a complete fallacy.

Under MSL:

14-19-4

Suzuki 37gp 12g 22a 34pts
Caufield 37gp 22g 13a 35pts

Pro-rated to 82 games:

31-42-9 71pts (6th last)

Suzuki 27g 48a 75pts
Caufield 48g 30a 78pts

 

[NORiculous]

I’d bet $ we fall out of bottom 5 this year unfortunately. I’m just hoping we can pick no later than 8th.

Yes they will be entertaining but only Dom could lead us to the Bedard promise land - maybe they can bring him on as a *mumble mumble* advisor.

Maybe if the whole current coaching staff gets COVID all at once, then Dom can come in since he is still under contract. lol

 

[salbutera]

It will be interesting to see which defenseman is able to fill the role.

There won’t be one, it’ll be a group effort.

 

[jrom]

The real tank commander move from HuGo is to keep Burrows in charge of the PP, should help enable those 6-5 losses I'm also looking forward to.

 

[Lshap]

Our most exciting players are up front. I'm hoping to see Caufield, Suzuki, Slafkovsky, Dach, etc. develop and give us a preview of our improved offence.

But even if the scoring improves, the seedling D and placeholder goalies should keep the Habs mired in the bottom-10 range for one more great pick next year.

 

[HabbyGuy]

Yes we should definitely be more exciting to watch and without the pressure of needing or even wanting to win, we as fans will just be able to enjoy the show and focus on the development of our new toys and philosophy. That said., while we have a plethora of forwards that seems to suggest an ability to play a higher octane of offense, I don't think it will be as strong as some seem to think it will be. The defense as constructed right now, doesn't scream great transition hockey, we don't have a ton of puck movers back there which should stunt the offense more than some think.

Either way, super excited for the new season, lots of storylines to be intrigued by. Haven't been as stoked for a upcoming season as much as this one as a fan for awhile. Go Habs!

 

[Guy Larose]

Last season I thought the games were fun to watch in the 2nd half and we finished dead last, so I don't see why this needed to be a question...

 

[smirob]

I think we land somewhere in the 3-7 range.

I would love if Hugo can do something with FLA's 1st (20-30), and some of our other picks to grab the best RHD available. Cameron Allen will probably be later than our first pick.

Fantilli/Cameron would be an amazing draft imo (assumes we land 3-6)

 

[Runner77]

Our most exciting players are up front. I'm hoping to see Caufield, Suzuki, Slafkovsky, Dach, etc. develop and give us a preview of our improved offence.

But even if the scoring improves, the seedling D and placeholder goalies should keep the Habs mired in the bottom-10 range for one more great pick next year.

I’m kind of intrigued by Ghule’s death stare and whether it can grow to Weber-like proportions or perhaps, simply his own discernible thing. Ghule is so serious that he’s going to give the guy who made seriousness his brand, one Jonathan Toews, a run for his money.

I like that Ghule walks the talk, he’s the real deal. Looking forward to seeing if his time in the Show, starts now.

If not, he’ll be another value added piece to @Tyson’s AHL subscription package.

 

[nyhabsfan]

Just win or lose 6-5 and it'll be entertaining while ensuring a bottom 10 finish.

Lol... you say that now but losing is losing at it's going to be a long season.

Yea getting one of Berard, Mitchkov or Fantinelli (sp) would be a huge step to our rebuild, but it's going to be another long year.

With that said a lot to look forward to:

Slavkosfky, Dach, plenty of young LD core and Barron on the right side.

A full year of Marty behind the bench and a player development staff that will actually be developing our young prospects as the year progresses!

Trade Deadline is going to be a lot of fun and should be worth taking the day off if a bunch of trades don't happen the week before.

 

[Jared Dunn]

St. Louis will not stifle their offensive creativity so yes I think they'll be fun to watch and at the very best (or very worst I guess) finish 4th from last

 

[WickedPegJets]

Marty will make his 2022-2023 team play exciting hockey by allowing them to display their natural offensive talents. As for the defensive side, that will take a back seat. The 2023 NHL draft has three surreal draft picks and since Connor Bedard isn’t a sure No. 1 pick, Habs management will adjust the lineup in-season to assure finishing at least 30th and no higher.

 

[Heffyhoof]

As long as we no longer play 'not to lose' I'll be happy. No more Danault, Byron, Petry to start 3 on 3s.

 

[MD thaivuN]

Decent forward core, terrible D core, sus goaltending. yeah it's possible