Pre-Game Talk: Countdown thread to 24-25 Season (T - 6 hours)

[Hannibal]

Is it really that bad? I feel that our 4th line could be solid with Heineman-Evans-Armia, no?

Nope. Soft and vache. And forget that Gallagher will be healthy scratch or that Roy will be in Laval.

We gonna see game 1

Roy-Dvorak-Anderson
Armia-Evans-Gallagher

God dammit… Soft as butter and Lazy as hell.

Let’s build a true identity once and for all on our bottom 6.

 

[Leon Lucius Black]

Nope. Soft and vache. And forget that Gallagher will be healthy scratch or that Roy will be in Laval.

We gonna see game 1

Roy-Dvorak-Anderson
Armia-Evans-Gallagher

God dammit… Soft as butter and Lazy as hell.

Let’s build a true identity once and for all on our bottom 6.

HuGo are doing the smart thing by trying to build our top six first before fixing the bottom six, unlike Bergevin who would overpay for bottom six guys and do f*** all to fix our top six.

I wish we had more size/physicality in our bottom six, but it isn't easy to do when HuGo were stuck with so many shitty forward contracts with term on them. The good news is some of these guys will be UFA after this year which will help open up spots, as well we will have some potential internal options to fill these roles in the future with guys like Beck, Xhekaj, Tuch, Heineman, Thorpe etc.

 

[Rapala]

HuGo are doing the smart thing by trying to build our top six first before fixing the bottom six, unlike Bergevin who would overpay for bottom six guys and do f*** all to fix our top six.

I wish we had more size/physicality in our bottom six, but it isn't easy to do when HuGo were stuck with so many shitty forward contracts with term on them. The good news is some of these guys will be UFA after this year which will help open up spots, as well we will have some potential internal options to fill these roles in the future with guys like Beck, Xhekaj, Tuch, Heineman, Thorpe etc.

I'd simply say HuGo are a lot brighter than anyone in management at that time.
They will fix anything they can when they can there is no specific order it all comes down to value and availability.
Bergevin was really good with the latter.

 

[Habssince89]

Our bottom 6 makes me want to puke

Roy-Dvorak-Anderson
Armia-Evans-Gallagher

Jesus i wanna throw up. Hughes better wake up and build a better bottom 6. More physical, better identity. Be f***ing creative, unload some of those old washed up vets. Atrocious.

You can see the depth chart. You're acting like they're saying that's it, win or die with these guys. That's not what's happening. It's just further transition. And also FWIW....

-Roy is great, glad to see him in the bottom6 without too much pressure
-Armia has always been a great player, who people want to pile on despite his immense value to a team beyond points. Basu was just saying as well that he could see Armia signing a friendly deal and staying bc he loves it in MTL.
-Evans showed a lot of progression last year. He clearly has been working to improve his durability and self-preservation, and I think its clear he feels more emboldened to get into the mix physically. He's not a selke winner but he's a soldier who can skate and score the occasional goal.
-Dvorak is finally going to play where he should, and I bet you it will change some tunes
-Gallagher + Anderson - contracts, contracts, contracts. We can live with these guys, especially since both often get injured and they might end up out of the lineup anyway. If it were up to me, Gallagher would be press box'd and he can deal with it bc he's supposed to be this company man (whos paid well). Anderson I'd deal after trying to juice his numbers, so maybe a NOV deal. We have so much size now removing andy isn't going to be a problem.

So yeah other than Andy and Gally I think you're being way too harsh on the others.

 

[Hannibal]

You can see the depth chart. You're acting like they're saying that's it, win or die with these guys. That's not what's happening. It's just further transition. And also FWIW....

-Roy is great, glad to see him in the bottom6 without too much pressure
-Armia has always been a great player, who people want to pile on despite his immense value to a team beyond points. Basu was just saying as well that he could see Armia signing a friendly deal and staying bc he loves it in MTL.
-Evans showed a lot of progression last year. He clearly has been working to improve his durability and self-preservation, and I think its clear he feels more emboldened to get into the mix physically. He's not a selke winner but he's a soldier who can skate and score the occasional goal.
-Dvorak is finally going to play where he should, and I bet you it will change some tunes
-Gallagher + Anderson - contracts, contracts, contracts. We can live with these guys, especially since both often get injured and they might end up out of the lineup anyway. If it were up to me, Gallagher would be press box'd and he can deal with it bc he's supposed to be this company man (whos paid well). Anderson I'd deal after trying to juice his numbers, so maybe a NOV deal. We have so much size now removing andy isn't going to be a problem.

So yeah other than Andy and Gally I think you're being way too harsh on the others.

Sorry, but you ain’t gonna sold me Armia, Dvorak and Evans. Never was a fan of them and never will be and can’t wait to see them gone. All three are soft as butter and replacable.

We have a terrible bottom 6. We ain’t gonna be in the famous « mix » with a bottom 6 filed with washed up lazy soft vets.

 

[Deebs]

Sorry, but you ain’t gonna sold me Armia, Dvorak and Evans. Never was a fan of them and never will be and can’t wait to see them gone. All three are soft as butter and replacable.

We have a terrible bottom 6. We ain’t gonna be in the famous « mix » with a bottom 6 filed with washed up lazy soft vets.

As everyone knows, these two lines aren't moving forward with the team, they are the placeholders until we close out a few contracts and others are ready to take their place.

 

[Hannibal]

As everyone knows, these two lines aren't moving forward with the team, they are the placeholders until we close out a few contracts and others are ready to take their place.

Be creative and make some if those moves now. Waive some. Do something.

Hope Hughes wont sit on his hands and wait for some contract to expires.

 

[Deebs]

Be creative and make some if those moves now. Waive some. Do something.

Hope Hughes wont sit on his hands and wait for some contract to expires.

If it makes sense, possibly, but there really is no need to be reckless and/or overly aggressive at this point in the rebuild.

 

[Habs]

I hope he beefs up our bottom lines

 

[EveryDay]

Sorry, but you ain’t gonna sold me Armia, Dvorak and Evans. Never was a fan of them and never will be and can’t wait to see them gone. All three are soft as butter and replacable.

We have a terrible bottom 6. We ain’t gonna be in the famous « mix » with a bottom 6 filed with washed up lazy soft vets.

Might be terrible but Armia is by far the best forward defensively on the team and is among the best in the NHL. You need guy that can play in their own zone and PK. Also Evans is a solid 4th line center at both end of the ice. with his limited icetime. I do hate our 3rd line but I really like our 4th line.

Roy-???-???
Heineman-Evans-Armia

??? = Dvorak-Anderson-Gallagher, maybe Kapanen come and steal the 3rd line center spot at camp when Dvorak get injured?

Roy-Kapanen-Anderson

Look at the SC champion last year 4th liner and you'll see that MTL 4th line is pretty good.

Lomberg/Cousins-Stenlund-Lorentz

 

[Hannibal]

If it makes sense, possibly, but there really is no need to be reckless and/or overly aggressive at this point in the rebuild.

Waive old woods or try to trade them isn’t considered aggresive. Its considered logical.

 

[Habssince89]

Sorry, but you ain’t gonna sold me Armia, Dvorak and Evans. Never was a fan of them and never will be and can’t wait to see them gone. All three are soft as butter and replacable.

We have a terrible bottom 6. We ain’t gonna be in the famous « mix » with a bottom 6 filed with washed up lazy soft vets.

k

 

[Rapala]

If it makes sense, possibly, but there really is no need to be reckless and/or overly aggressive at this point in the rebuild.

It will simply boil down to this.
If a top tier prospect's growth is being held back by a current roster player who can easily be traded or even waived...
Say Goodbye.

Management has said as much and Hughes will find a way.
Truthfully we have a very limited number of players who fit either side of that scenario.
It may also have to wait until the season gets underway.
Player movement always picks up in October,

 

[WeThreeKings]

You can waive them all you want, but no one is taking them off waivers and you only save like 1m to send them down.. which means you'd have to replace them with a 1m player.

And trading them, it will happen in the case of Dvorak and Armia as they are pending UFAs, but that won't happen until mid-season.

Anderson and Gallagher would cost 1st round picks to dump, they aren't going to do that.

 

[Saundies]

Waive old woods or try to trade them isn’t considered aggresive. Its considered logical.

Giving away assets to make teams take players when you have 1 year left of them isn't logical at all. It's quite the opposite.

And who do we have to replace them that is realistically going to be any better? Is Beck better than Dvorak or Evans (today)? Is Tuch better than Gallagher or Anderson (today)? If you even have to think about that, then there is no point in doing this.

We're not going to be leading any divisions or making any sort of run this year. The quicker you accept that, the quicker you'll be fine with these guys being in the bottom 6 for this year.

 

[morhilane]

If a top tier prospect's growth is being held back by a current roster player who can easily be traded or even waived...

Unless it's Gallagher, that no-move clause is pretty much tying his ass to the Habs bench until his contract is over.

 

[The Great Weal]

I have no issues with any of Roy/Armia/Evans in the bottom 6. Armia is inconsistent but is our best PKer and is a fine 4th liner. Evans is an offensive blackhole but is a very solid 4th line center. Roy is someone who I think could have cracked 50 points this season if he was in the top 6.

The issue lies with Dvorak/Gallagher/Anderson. 2 of them just flat out stopped caring and the other one doesn't have the conditioning. I don't care about goal totals when they cost us goals against way more often than their random lucky goals. Hopefully, they get replaced with Beck/Kapanen/Heineman next year.

 

[Rapala]

Unless it's Gallagher, that no-move clause is pretty much tying his ass to the Habs bench until his contract is over.

easily isn't Gallagher.

 

[junyab]

Waive old woods or try to trade them isn’t considered aggresive. Its considered logical.

So the guys you want traded, because you dislike them, are expected to be coveted by other teams?!?! Now who's being illogical?

And you can't just waive everyone you don't want to keep. It's not that simple.

 

[Saundies]

I have no issues with any of Roy/Armia/Evans in the bottom 6. Armia is inconsistent but is our best PKer and is a fine 4th liner. Evans is an offensive blackhole but is a very solid 4th line center. Roy is someone who I think could have cracked 50 points this season if he was in the top 6.

The issue lies with Dvorak/Gallagher/Anderson. 2 of them just flat out stopped caring and the other one doesn't have the conditioning. I don't care about goal totals when they cost us goals against way more often than their random lucky goals. Hopefully, they get replaced with Beck/Kapanen/Heineman next year.

I get what you're saying, but it could be different this year (not predicting it will be, but humor me):

Dvorak's on a contract year and essentially playing for his career. Another down year and he'll be in PTO territory next year rather than any sort of deal.

As much as Anderson isn't the kind of player MB thought he'd be, he's not the player he was last year, either. He had a terrible year. I don't believe it'll be as bad, but who knows.

Gallagher's the only guy I'm not confident in resurging. His type of game does not age well and neither has he. He shoots too much for a guy who has an average shot at best and from everywhere.

Again, not predicting bouncebacks but in theory it shouldn't be as bad as it looks on paper.

 

[The Great Weal]

I get what you're saying, but it could be different this year (not predicting it will be, but humor me):

Dvorak's on a contract year and essentially playing for his career. Another down year and he'll be in PTO territory next year rather than any sort of deal.

As much as Anderson isn't the kind of player MB thought he'd be, he's not the player he was last year, either. He had a terrible year. I don't believe it'll be as bad, but who knows.

Gallagher's the only guy I'm not confident in resurging. His type of game does not age well and neither has he. He shoots too much for a guy who has an average shot at best and from everywhere.

Again, not predicting bouncebacks but in theory it shouldn't be as bad as it looks on paper.

I think Dvorak will get a 1 year deal no matter what next year. You can probably live with him as a 4C, he won't really do anything besides PK.

Anderson was truly snakebitten for a while last year, but his lack of effort had nothing to do with bad luck, that's entirely on him.

Either way, you can't have these guys on the team for next year. Dvorak is a UFA so he won't matter, but Hughes will have to bite the bullet and buy out Gally and try to trade Anderson at 50% retained.

 

[Saundies]

I think Dvorak will get a 1 year deal no matter what next year. You can probably live with him as a 4C, he won't really do anything besides PK.

Anderson was truly snakebitten for a while last year, but his lack of effort had nothing to do with bad luck, that's entirely on him.

Either way, you can't have these guys on the team for next year. Dvorak is a UFA so he won't matter, but Hughes will have to bite the bullet and buy out Gally and try to trade Anderson at 50% retained.

Dvorak you're right about but retaining or buying out anyone, in my opinion, should only be used if this team gets close to the playoffs and are held back by either of these players.

If the conclusion at the end of the year is that we could use that money to get us over the top, by all means do it. If we're bottom 10 team again, or out of the race by January, what is the point of saddling your team with dead money if you're not even close?

It's wait and see on all of this. We're in limbo right now until the team plays this year.

 

[SwiftyHab]

Anyone know if tomorrow's 10am practise will be open to the public? If so, will anyone go?

 

[junyab]

I think Dvorak will get a 1 year deal no matter what next year. You can probably live with him as a 4C, he won't really do anything besides PK.

Anderson was truly snakebitten for a while last year, but his lack of effort had nothing to do with bad luck, that's entirely on him.

Either way, you can't have these guys on the team for next year. Dvorak is a UFA so he won't matter, but Hughes will have to bite the bullet and buy out Gally and try to trade Anderson at 50% retained.

And I think we can't do that until next season, please someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Canadienna]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1836438890573402213

There were a few of these I hadn't heard of.