Speculation: Habs finish 28th and bottom 5 in 24-25 season

[The Gr8 Dane]

I cannot take another year of having to give one shit about the turds in Ottawa underperforming and potentially ruining our draft position. Them and Arizona last year made me want to break a window...

As long as Ottawa improves I think I can survive ONE LAST tank year.

Yeah those guys are losers , even anaheim and cbj dude like gtfo of the bottom 10 one day man...

 

[HabzSauce]

Yeah those guys are losers , even anaheim and cbj dude like gtfo of the bottom 10 one day man...

Lol forever basement dwellers. Team needs to fold

 

[Twisted Sinister]

Canadiens don't seem to have the capability to prevent high danger shots and chances from happening. They also get hemmed in their zone constantly. I doubt the young defense coming in will improve things much.

If Montembeault becomes the super average goalie he actually is, watch out. It looks like (on paper of course) that the teams around us improved. We could be even worse than last year, Dach or no Dach.

 

[Goal Caufield50]

Canadiens don't seem to have the capability to prevent high danger shots and chances from happening. They also get hemmed in their zone constantly. I doubt the young defense coming in will improve things much.

If Montembeault becomes the super average goalie he actually is, watch out. It looks like (on paper of course) that the teams around us improved. We could be even worse than last year, Dach or no Dach.

there is a better than average chance they do worse next year. The defense will be error prone. Dach will do no better thank Monahan did

 

[ChesterNimitz]

I'd be happy with a bottom 5 finish if it means we can add another Demidov/Reinbacher level prospect to the potential future core.

But I think we will be better. I'm not sure who will be worse. There are always teams that suck. But we will be better if we are healthy by all the kids being a year older and a year more experienced. And Dach is a big part of the team.

I suspect it may all come down to injuries.

Any serious long term injury to one of our few key players and we are in the Hagens/McQueen / Martone sweepstakes.

Things could be worse.

 

[gusfring]

Going to be another very long year, unfortunately. I feel for season ticket holders.

 

[BLONG7]

I love this thread for the amount of people who have set the bar so low this coming year. It means the board is going to be a positive place when we are threatening a playoff spot.

Slaf and Suzuki's growth last year will continue. Add Roy to that line and we could have a player threaten for Calder.

I hope Cole is with Dach and Newhook. We are about to be reminded how good Dach actually is.

I think we finish 12-16 from bottom.

I see us adding another player this summer, pegged for the top 6 and have that player along with Newhook ahead of Roy..............he is not at this point a top 6 guy unless we are decimated by injuries again....
Can he sub up there, sure for a short period of time......he was just decent in my eyes last year. Lots to look forward to though.......Adding Owen Beck will also be huge.

 

[HuGo Burner Acc]

Since MSL got in, the team has improved. I'm even counting his time in 2022. Remember under DD, Habs were historically bad but MSL turned them from the worst possible team to just a bad team by the end of 2022. They went from 55 to 68 to 76 points. Obviously progression isn't linear but I also believe in trends. So the trend indicates that Habs will probably do better next season. They were trending around .500 all season until mid February. If things go relatively well health wise, I think they take a noticable jump. I'm setting the over/under at 84.5 pts. They probably finish around 20th-22nd next season. That's my prediction

 

[DAChampion]

Jake Allen is gone.

 

[Riddick412]

Great, more tank talk. *Sigh*

 

[DAChampion]

There was a point last season where a playoff thread was started on this very board. Fun times

There was a point last season where a playoff thread was started on this very board. Fun times

If they win the first game I'll start the playoffs thread, unless someone else has already started it.

 

[Apoplectic Habs Fan]

Jake Allen is gone.

That should reduce goals on the first shot of the game by like 95%

 

[thebestnic]

I wouldn't mind another top 5 finish, but still they were a 82 points without Allen and with pretty significant injuries. Demidov coming over will be the start of the playoff/contending window. I would except Hugo to improve the roster by then, most likely next offseason

 

[Milhouse40]

Since February 1st,
Nick Suzuki = 35 points in 33 games..
Slafkovsky = 30 points in 33 games
Caufield = 26 points in 33 games

Did that with a terrible PP and while being the only line the opponent needed to shutdown.
Both should be a lot different next year and on top of that, we're talking about kids getting better every year.

What do you expect in terms of production from them next year ?
Lower, same or higher ?

 

[themilosh]

If they win the first game I'll start the playoffs thread, unless someone else has already started it.

if they win the first 3 in a row, we'll need to start a plan the parade thread.

Since February 1st,
Nick Suzuki = 35 points in 33 games..
Slafkovsky = 30 points in 33 games
Caufield = 26 points in 33 games

Did that with a terrible PP and while being the only line the opponent needed to shutdown.
Both should be a lot different next year and on top of that, we're talking about kids getting better every year.

What do you expect in terms of production from them next year ?
Lower, same or higher ?

I want to see PPG+ from the top line (all 3).

 

[BaseballCoach]

I prefer keeping expectations realistic. As long as I see progress, being tough to play against and making better teams lose precious points I will be happy even without qualifying.

If we do that, imagine what we will be when our core is in its prime.

They're not ALL puppies.

Suzuki is starting his D+8

Our top D-man is 30.

 

[HabbyGuy]

Great, more tank talk. *Sigh*

There is no more intentional tanking, this team wants to compete, but they also realize with all the youth knocking at the door they have to give as much space as they can to what they already have in the system to see what they actually have in hand. There are too many questions that need answering. What will a full season of Dach and Newhook reveal? Where exactly is Barron in his development, what is Harris' ultimate upside, just how good is Hutson? etc...

The only way they intentionally tank is if injuries again rear their ugly heads and derail this season of intention and observation.

Next year is when they will be better fitted to make changes. They will try to add some help via trade this season if possible, but that's it, and only if the cost is appropriate.

One more season of patience is required, but no more rooting for losses.

This is not a tank year. It's more an examination.

 

[Agalloch]

Another top 10 pick wouldn't be a bad thing, but it needs to be the last year of the rebuild.

 

[montreal]

Another top 10 pick wouldn't be a bad thing, but it needs to be the last year of the rebuild.

there's only so much they can do, the rebuild will be over when the young players step up enough consistently, until then no matter when fans want it to end we just have to wait and see how it unfolds.

 

[Archijerej]

Having a healthy Dach, having that extra year of experience for all of our young defencemen, and not making certain decisions to "encourage" the tank near the end of the year should have us finishing significantly higher than we did last year at 5th last.

Healthy Dach is offset by Monahan's departure.

I'm surprised people constantly forget about this fact.

Another top 10 pick wouldn't be a bad thing, but it needs to be the last year of the rebuild.

To 10 pick - sure. It means a gradual transition from a bottom feeder to a more competitive team.

Another bottom 5 finish, though, would be a failure of a season in my book. In management's book as well, if we take their declarations at face value.

 

[Pietrangelo]

The Atlantic is just too stacked right now, don't really see them getting past anyone tbh.

 

[admiralcadillac]

Some teams inevitably shit the bed, and someone has to lose.

Vegas got noticeably worse. As did Pittsburgh.

I think Washington is an awful team at this point. Philly sucks. San Jose sucks. Columbus sucks. Chicago sucks. Anaheim sucks. Utah sucks.

Minnesota, Calgary, Seattle, Ottawa and Saint Louis are potentially bad too.

There is no reason to be optimistic about any of the above teams.

 

[Notabaguette]

A few good players can make the difference. The ones we have are internal. We have seen a bit from some guys like Guhle, Struble, Harris, Barron and Xhejak but can they step up?. We have Hudson, Reinbacher and Mailloux coming in. The defence is what can make or break it.

On the back end again Primeau and Montembeault have not played with a great core.

Up front we hope to have a great top line with Suzuki-Caufield-Dach/Slaf. Likely the rest will be tough to overcome. The offense is so bad, but it is the easiest to improve.


One more year and this one will be about more rookies doing well and taking the next step. After that we bring the vets

 

[Chili]

Don't know about league wide but I could see the Habs biggest challenge being within their own division.

Against the other 3 divisions last season their record was 25-23-8

Against the Atlantic it was 5-13-8

Although the silly schedule (in my opinion) works in their favour, playing twice as many games outside the division has still left them in 8th in the Atlantic lately.

As someone above said, if they are to move up in the standings, they need to cut down the number of high danger chances they allow each game.

 

[JianYang]

Healthy Dach is offset by Monahan's departure.

I'm surprised people constantly forget about this fact.


To 10 pick - sure. It means a gradual transition from a bottom feeder to a more competitive team.

Another bottom 5 finish, though, would be a failure of a season in my book. In management's book as well, if we take their declarations at face value.

Healthy dach plus healthy newhook. This is a big opportunity for newhook, so I'm interested how he responds because he showed me enough to think there could be something to unfold there with respect to being a top 6 guy.