Do you think the building of the core is done?

[Kudo Shinichi]

Our own GM sees Reinbacher as a #2 dman, Guhle's offensive game isn't good enough for a 1D on a cup contender, and Hutson/Mailloux defensive game needs to be exponentially better to be that type of player.

The reasoning for Hughes calling Reinbacher a #2D was because he doesn't expect him to run a 1st powerplay.

If you believe a #1D needs to run a first powerplay, then I guess you don't consider Slavin a #1D?

Karlsson and Letang were #1D and they sucked defensively. Hughes was considered a #1D in his first few years in the nhl, and he was probably the worst top pairing dman at playing defense in the league. He was like Matheson, but better offensively and worse defensively. So were Karlsson, Letang, and Hughes not #1D?

 

[The Great Weal]

The reasoning for Hughes calling Reinbacher a #2D was because he doesn't expect him to run a 1st powerplay.

As in his offense isn't projected to be good enough for a true #1D. Which is in line with what I said.

If you believe a #1D needs to run a first powerplay, then I guess you don't consider Slavin a #1D?

No I don't think Slavin is a #1 dman you win a cup with either. You need a guy that can dominate both ends of the ice or at least be good enough to handle one end. That being said I still think he'll be better than any of our guys in terms of impact.

Karlsson and Letang were #1D and they sucked defensively. Hughes was considered a #1D in his first few years in the nhl, and he was probably the worst top pairing dman at playing defense in the nhl. So were Karlsson, Letang, and Hughes not #1D back then?

If points are everything as a dman, do you think Mike Matheson is a stud #1 dman too? He was 9th in points for dmen this year.

Karlsson most definitely did not suck defensively in his prime. It wasn't as good as Doughty's defensive game, but he completely dominated the game. Hughes was awful defensively for half a season in his 2nd year, Habs fans love to pretend that he is horrendous defensively to excuse the KK pick. Karlsson/Hughes showed significantly better defensive and offensive game than and Hutson/Mailloux in their respective draft years. That's not to say that it's impossible for them to become #1 dmen, but to just slap them as a #1D potential is very optimistic.

 

[Habnot]

We don’t yet have a true #1 D, but a few hopeful top 4 defensemen at least

There are only about a dozen or so true #1 D's....Florida won without a clear cut #1 D.

 

[NewDef]

Suzuki
Slafkovsky
Dach
Caufield
Newhook

Demidov
Roy
Hage
Beck
Mesar

---

Guhle
Barron
Xhekaj
Harris
Struble

Hutson
Mailloux
Reinbacher
Engstrom


That's an astonishing number of young players to draw from to build the core over the next 5 years.

Maybe we're still sellers at next year's deadline, but I personally have no desire to pick top 10 again next year.

Add Kapanen, Heineman, Florian, Koivu + Konyuskov which I consider all to have a shot at the big league as solid players in a role or another

 

[NewDef]

It was more encouraging once he came back from injury. He showed something at centre. Hopefully he can find consistency, then you never know.

I think that may have been the gamble. Let him play, worry not about the mistakes, clever kid will learn and become consistent and be a really nice solid player at worse a very fast 3rd liner with a lot of skills or at best a pretty okay 2nd liner.

Hugues knew he was not getting a prospect, he was getting an nhler that needed mileage but nonetheless a nhler for sure.

 

[Bouboumaster]

f*** yes!

To hell with that tanking bullshit

Let's pay us ourself a mercenary like Stamkos, put on on 2nd center duty, and let's go to WAR

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

As in his offense isn't projected to be good enough for a true #1D. Which is in line with what I said.

That's not what he said. He only mentioned not running a 1st powerplay unit.



Weber was a #1D, but he didn't have the offensive talent that you expect from a dman who plays on the top pp unit.

No I don't think Slavin is a #1 dman you win a cup with either. You need a guy that can dominate both ends of the ice or at least be good enough to handle one end. That being said I still think he'll be better than any of our guys in terms of impact.

How many #1 dman are there in the NHL and who are they?

If points are everything as a dman, do you think Mike Matheson is a stud #1 dman too? He was 9th in points for dmen this year.

I didn't say points were everything. If I thought that, I wouldn't have Guhle and Reinbacher as potential #1D. I look at the impact a player has on the ice, and one way to have a big impact on the ice is to produce a lot of offence.

Matheson would've been a legit #1D last season if he was consistent. He would look great one period, then bad in another. He was too inconsistent to be a #1D.

Karlsson most definitely did not suck defensively in his prime. It wasn't as good as Doughty's defensive game, but he completely dominated the game. Hughes was awful defensively for half a season in his 2nd year, Habs fans love to pretend that he is horrendous defensively to excuse the KK pick. Karlsson/Hughes showed significantly better defensive and offensive game than and Hutson/Mailloux in their respective draft years. That's not to say that it's impossible for them to become #1 dmen, but to just slap them as a #1D potential is very optimistic.

Both were bad defensively. If you think Karlsson was good enough defensively, then I don't see how defence would prevent Hutson/Mailloux from becoming a #1D. Getting as good as Karlsson defensively in the nhl is definitely something doable.

Hughes was both worse offensively and defensively than Hutson in their d+1 year.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Suzuki has been dragging a piano or even 2 on his line half the time in the past 2 years and when he actually had two real top 6 quality wingers he produce as top C while facing top opponents......he still had to drag a 2nd line that couldn't carry the load during that time.

I can't wait for the day Suzuki will have a full season qith actual top 6 quality wingers and a 2nd line center able to carry the load. Probably be next year, but surely the next after that.

Mackinnon needed Rantanen to become who he is....not saying Suzuki is as good but he also need to play with top quality skill to get there,

Suzuki’s had CC and CC produced. He didn’t have nothing.

Last year he stepped it up and produced even when his linemates took a night off. He absolutely leveled up, it was not a case of him having better linemates, it was a case where he was just a better player. The one thing I hope Nick does more of is shoot. His shot is deadly and his goal pace was awesome in the second half.

That being said, there’s no doubt that as the team improves, everyone’s numbers will improve along with it. And I think they can play with the lines. I’ve always liked the idea of Dach with CC. Big playmaking center… they should work well together. And we’ve got Roy on the way up too. I have high hopes for him. The top six looks good and we have the makings of a really good third too with Beck/Newhook and Hage.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Suzuki
Slafkovsky
Dach
Caufield
Newhook

Demidov
Roy
Hage
Beck
Mesar

---

Guhle
Barron
Xhekaj
Harris
Struble

Hutson
Mailloux
Reinbacher
Engstrom


That's an astonishing number of young players to draw from to build the core over the next 5 years.

Maybe we're still sellers at next year's deadline, but I personally have no desire to pick top 10 again next year.

It won’t surprise me if we pick top ten again next year. We are so green, esp on the back end. Lots of young talent will be added and we’ll have a lot of raw rookies in the lineup.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

On paper it looks like done but there are too many wild cards and variables that can mess things up

Ideally a contender has 2 top 6 centers and one solid 3C. Suzuki, Dach and Beck looks like it on paper but we have to hope Dach stays healthy and Beck does indeed turn into what we think he will be

Other than that we've got 3 very solid pieces on the wing with Caufield, Slaf and Demidov.

The one thing we are lacking for the rebuild is a solid PMD, ideally RD. While Matheson is one, I'm not sure he'll be here in 2 years

Lane Hutson fills that bill.

 

[Sorinth]

Just did the nerd calculations when I saw this post. The last 5 Stanley Cup winners when you pro rate their no. 6 F's points, it averages out at 50.4 pts with the outliers being Colorado in 2022 with burakovsky at 62 points and Florida in 2024 with Rodrigues at 40 points

I think it's something like 2-3 of the last 10 cup winners had a 50 point #6F. So when people say oh we need to improve on a guy like Newhook it just doesn't hold up to scrutiny.

 

[slybel]

Next year (2025/26) UFA will be crazy!

 

[DAChampion]

Next year (2025/26) UFA will be crazy!

People say that every year.

 

[Notabaguette]

We need another C. We might have it now, but that's the last piece.

 

[Doublechin]

Lane Hutson fills that bill.

I'm not sure he's got the top tier skating required for it

 

[Naslundforever]

How many #1 dman are there in the NHL and who are they?

32; probabilistically 16 that get you to the playoffs and 2 to the final with some curve to represent it all. I should ask our friend chat gpt to represent that…

Otherwise another question might be to list best/favorite top (arbitrary number) nhl def

 

[Lshap]

It won’t surprise me if we pick top ten again next year. We are so green, esp on the back end. Lots of young talent will be added and we’ll have a lot of raw rookies in the lineup.

Honestly, there are reasonable arguments for finishing bottom-10 or close to a wildcard spot. If Dach, Slafkovsky, Guhle, Newhook have the type of seasons they're capable of, the Habs could end up over .500, picking 12-15. Of course, adding multiple rookies could counterbalance that. We should still expect to see more wins.

 

[Beer and Chips]

f*** yes!

To hell with that tanking bullshit

Let's pay us ourself a mercenary like Stamkos, put on on 2nd center duty, and let's go to WAR

You're just a boy with a stick, aren't you?

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Honestly, there are reasonable arguments for finishing bottom-10 or close to a wildcard spot. If Dach, Slafkovsky, Guhle, Newhook have the type of seasons they're capable of, the Habs could end up over .500, picking 12-15. Of course, adding multiple rookies could counterbalance that. We should still expect to see more wins.

If things go well, we could make the playoffs. I’m not saying we can’t. But realistically we have to be prepared for another rebuild season.

The players/prospects for a good team are assembled but they will require time to develop. Maybe we get lucky and they’re all good out of the gate. But it doesn’t usually like that.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I'm not sure he's got the top tier skating required for it

I think he does. We’ll see.

 

[Matthew McConaughay]

Lane Hutson fills that bill.

Hutson can already replace Matheson on the PP.

 

[Milhouse40]

Suzuki’s had CC and CC produced. He didn’t have nothing.

Last year he stepped it up and produced even when his linemates took a night off. He absolutely leveled up, it was not a case of him having better linemates, it was a case where he was just a better player. The one thing I hope Nick does more of is shoot. His shot is deadly and his goal pace was awesome in the second half.

That being said, there’s no doubt that as the team improves, everyone’s numbers will improve along with it. And I think they can play with the lines. I’ve always liked the idea of Dach with CC. Big playmaking center… they should work well together. And we’ve got Roy on the way up too. I have high hopes for him. The top six looks good and we have the makings of a really good third too with Beck/Newhook and Hage.

I'm a big believer that skills need to play with skills in order to get the best of them.

Yes Suzuki played with Caufield most of the year, but the first half they were dragging Anderson who shouldn't even play in the top 6. The year before he even played with RHP and Gallagher.

But once Slafkovsky got on that line, all their individual production goes up cause this is true for Suzuki but for Slaf, CC and Dach too. It is not a knock on Suzuki at all. Can't expect top production from top players when they play with a crap team. And that goes for the defense too, now that we have guys like Hutson and Mailloux coming in, that's skills that will help Suzuki and others.

Believe you me a PP of Suzuki, Slafkovsky, Caufield, Demidov, Hutson will help the production of everyone.....f*** I can't wait.....and a 2nd PP of Roy, Newhook, Dach, Mailloux is nuts.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I'm a big believer that skills need to play with skills in order to get the best of them.

Yes Suzuki played with Caufield most of the year, but the first half they were dragging Anderson who shouldn't even play in the top 6. The year before he even played with RHP and Gallagher.

But once Slafkovsky got on that line, all their individual production goes up cause this is true for Suzuki but for Slaf, CC and Dach too. It is not a knock on Suzuki at all. Can't expect top production from top players when they play with a crap team. And that goes for the defense too, now that we have guys like Hutson and Mailloux coming in, that's skills that will help Suzuki and others.

Believe you me a PP of Suzuki, Slafkovsky, Caufield, Demidov, Hutson will help the production of everyone.....f*** I can't wait.....and a 2nd PP of Roy, Newhook, Dach, Mailloux is nuts.

I agree. But I don’t agree with the narrative that the only reason Suzuki popped last year was linemates. That’s just not true. Suzuki leveled up for sure.

 

[26Mats]

Hutson can already replace Matheson on the PP.

I'm really looking forward to seeing Hutson on ine of the top 2 pairs and Matheson in the other.

I honestly don't know if it is or isn't a winning formula to have a dman that drives offense the way the both do on the ice for 40 plus minutes. It will be like having 4 forwards on. But I do think it will be entertaining. I can't wait to see it. I just hope it's not only entertaining but also helps us win. I think Lane and Demidov will be magic together.

 

[Milhouse40]

I agree. But I don’t agree with the narrative that the only reason Suzuki popped last year was linemates. That’s just not true. Suzuki leveled up for sure.

The point was not that he popped because of his linesmate.....it's more that I believe there's a lot more in Suzuki that we haven't seen yet because he played with crappy linesmates.

Other than Matheson, there's no D pushing the offence, he dragged terrible players on his line and on top of it, he had to do all the heavy lifting cause the 2nd line always sucked for the most part.