Habs are the worst defensive team in the league

[dukeofjive]

2nd youngest D core in the league, man my fan base is feast or famine.

 

[CharasLazyWrister]

oh is Hutson the savior now? Did the Xhekaj obsession wear off already?

 

[notbias]

should anyone be surprised? They aren’t contending yet

Suzuki is 25 and they look nowhere close... when do they plan to try to contend?

 

[dirtydanglez]

did anyone really think the habs d wouldnt be bottom 5 again this year. this is pretty much expected.

 

[Nico Cauzuki]

Porter Martone or James Hagens please

 

[Killswitch]

Just takes time. Guhle and Hutson are crazy talents and they'll be fine. The Xhekaj experiment needs to end though. He's not a good dman. Move him to wing and see if he can play that. He's a fighter at this point and likely will only ever be that. If they can pick up a top line center it'll be scary. Suzuki is a lot better than most likely think though, but he's a high end 2nd line center imo

 

[Sasha Orlov]

I think some fans see other teams go into deep rebuilds and struggle to find winning culture and see how long it can take to become competative again. See Sabres, Red Wings, Oilers of the 2010's, etc.

IMO completely reasonable to not want to be on the rebuild treadmill.

Not clear to me how any Habs fans thought we’d take a step forward this year, this is a bottom 5 team through and through

 

[Prettyisland]

The Canadiens young d core need to take the necessary step. Also a scheme other then “go out there and do your best” would go a long way.

 

[Killswitch]

Not clear to me how any Habs fans thought we’d take a step forward this year, this is a bottom 5 team through and through

Habs definitely should be seeing progression at this point though, even if it's small increments. There's enough talent on that team and a goalie who keeps you in most games.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

Habs definitely should be seeing progression at this point though, even if it's small increments. There's enough talent on that team and a goalie who keeps you in most games.

Agreed, I think it’s a coaching problem

 

[Habby4Life]

Marty Saint Lous is arguably the worst NHL coach ever. I don't get how he keeps his job, especially with so many youngsters in need of proper coaching and preparation.

He is so out of his league.

 

[PaulD]

Hutson needs to be sheltered, but that's part of the process for players like him.

The problem is their 3rd pair is probably the worst in the NHL, and they don't have a #1 that can eat minutes without bleeding goals. They simply can't shelter those who need to be.

Chalk it up to growing pains. They'll be good eventually.

growing pains, baby steps, building a home not a house, teaching and learnin, not about wins, standings don't matter,

These clichés / excuses are on the verge
of getting old and tiresome to a lot of Hab fans.

He is so out of his league.

MSL : "building a home not a house" he really said that

 

[Habby4Life]

growing pains, baby steps, building a home not a house, teaching and learnin, not about wins, standings don't matter,

These clichés / excuses are on the verge
of getting old and tiresome to a lot of Hab fans.


MSL : "building a home not a house" he really said that

Yeah, we are three years in the warm and fuzzy stage.

Team has no clue how to play without the puck or how to defend in their own zone but the love fest continues. It was and is still is a PR hiring.

 

[TheBeastCoast]

That only means they'll get another top 10 pick and probably a top 15 (from Calgary).

They should also add a few good pieces next year (Demidov, Hage, Laine, Mailloux).

No one expected to contend this year (maybe Habs fans?), but i think they are well managed and should be a force in 2-3 years

Correct me if I’m wrong but there are protections on Calgary’s pick that make it a lot more likely that Montreal ends up with Floridas pick no?

 

[StreetHawk]

Yeah, we are three years in the warm and fuzzy stage.

Team has no clue how to play without the puck or how to defend in their own zone but the love fest continues. It was and is still is a PR hiring.

Habs have 2 vets in Savard and Matheson. Guhle had 114 games. X and Barron basically 1 full nhl season of games. Stubble under half a season. Hutson a raw rookie basically.

Habs wanted answers on the kids as to who will be around long term as they have others coming up behind them.

But did they really set themselves up to find out those answers playing that many youngsters at one time? Does it get better after they move off Savard either via trade or ufa? And inserting another raw rookie in his place if most of the other kids don’t take a step this season?

 

[Jeune Poulet]

Habs definitely should be seeing progression at this point though, even if it's small increments. There's enough talent on that team and a goalie who keeps you in most games.

Progression in performance isn't always linear. Especially not when a team is hit by waves of significant injuries several years in a row.

But regardless, I think management needs to work harder at building the best roster possible. This team is lacking in several departments.

 

[beowulf]

should anyone be surprised? They aren’t contending yet

This, they have some really young guys on the backend going to take some time for them to get more experience.

 

[frederixx]

Correct me if I’m wrong but there are protections on Calgary’s pick that make it a lot more likely that Montreal ends up with Floridas pick no?

Only if Calgary's pick is top 10.

So i'd say they're more likely to get Calgary's pick than Florida's. But that could quickly change.

 

[StreetHawk]

But regardless, I think management needs to work harder at building the best roster possible. This team is lacking in several departments.

There has to be an acceptance from the team and fans that a better roster also means adding veterans and not just dropping all of your prospects into the NHL. That may very well mean replacing Savard with another veteran if they don't see the progression they hoped with most of their young blueline vs just add Mailloux/Reinbacher in Savard's spot. Might mean moving off any or all of X/Struble/Barron if they don't show enough this season and letting those 2 kids take their spots.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

Now Guhle, Matheson, Slaf all hurt

Things are going to get very ugly in Montreal

 

[Ghost of Murph]

Takes a while for the vast majority of young d-man to get good defensively in the NHL. Hutson is an exciting player who is only going to get better in the D zone as he figures things out.

Unfortunately for him the Habs D on the whole isn't too great at the moment. Take a guy like Lohrei, another exciting offensive minded d-man. Still a long way to go for him in his own end (he's improving), but he is much more sheltered due to being on a team with a strong defensive group. Once Hutson and the other young guys play more games the Habs defense will improve quite a bit. Simply going to take some time. The Habs are headed in a good direction.

 

[TheBeastCoast]

Only if Calgary's pick is top 10.

So i'd say they're more likely to get Calgary's pick than Florida's. But that could quickly change.

Eh wouldn’t buy to much into 4 games of Calgary.

 

[StreetHawk]

Takes a while for the vast majority of young d-man to get good defensively in the NHL. Hutson is an exciting player who is only going to get better in the D zone as he figures things out.

Unfortunately for him the Habs D on the whole isn't too great at the moment. Take a guy like Lohrei, another exciting offensive minded d-man. Still a long way to go for him in his own end (he's improving), but he is much more sheltered due to being on a team with a strong defensive group. Once Hutson and the other young guys play more games the Habs defense will improve quite a bit. Simply going to take some time. The Habs are headed in a good direction.

Boston has a bunch of Veteran Dman like Lindholm, McAvoy, Carlo, Zadorov who all have hundreds of games of NHL experience under them playing the tough minutes. Peeke had 230 games coming into this season. Wotherspoon had over 50 while Lohrei had 40.

The Bruins have a roster that allows them to shelter Wotherspoon and Lohrei.

Habs have Matheson/Savard and then a massive drop off in experience to Guhle and his 114 games then to Barron in the 90's and X in the 80's for games played. So, did Montreal do a good job in the off-season to set up their roster to develop their young blueline? Or should they have made a call to move off one of X/Struble/Barron in favor of another veteran to help shelter 2/3 of these kids, along with Hutson?

 

[PaulD]

Guessing time

•When do ya pull the trigger ?

•Candidates for next head coach?

Boston has a bunch of Veteran Dman like Lindholm, McAvoy, Carlo, Zadorov who all have hundreds of games of NHL experience under them playing the tough minutes. Peeke had 230 games coming into this season. Wotherspoon had over 50 while Lohrei had 40.

The Bruins have a roster that allows them to shelter Wotherspoon and Lohrei.

Habs have Matheson/Savard and then a massive drop off in experience to Guhle and his 114 games then to Barron in the 90's and X in the 80's for games played. So, did Montreal do a good job in the off-season to set up their roster to develop their young blueline? Or should they have made a call to move off one of X/Struble/Barron in favor of another veteran to help shelter 2/3 of these kids, along with Hutson?

And a real head coach to shelter current coaching staff.

 

[Zalos]

But Hutson is the next Makar...this doesn't make sense...

I hope you're right! Makar 2.0 on defense and Kane 2.0 coming on the wing next year with Demidov? So exciting!