Post-Game Talk: Habs lose, eliminated from playoffs.

[Archijerej]

An aside but man Dubois sucks. Selfish lazy player I wouldn't want him anywhere near the habs. He'd coast and do nothing in the playoffs

The same Dubois who was assigned with neutralising our only offensive line and completed the assignment successfully, while his own line filled our net with pucks and inflicted physical punishment on our players?

Yeah, he'd be so useless as our #2C. We'll easily get someone better this offseason.

 

[Habssince89]

The same Dubois who was assigned with neutralising our only offensive line and completed the assignment successfully, while his own line filled our net with pucks and inflicted physical punishment on our players?

Yeah, he'd be so useless as our #2C. We'll easily get someone better this offseason.

he had two assists. he's a f***ing passenger lol

 

[calder candidate]

The turning point is game one a few bad call, he everyone seemed very nervous in that OT…
Winning game one would have flip thing around…

 

[Archijerej]

This is the phase Bergevin failed miserably at. He had the core in 2013 and never did anything with it. I think Hughes more or less has his core now give or take a few pieces. It’s going to be interesting to see how he fills the roster out, especially with some of these bad contracts finally expiring in the next year or so.

Indeed he has, although in his defense, he didn't have the same mandate from the owner as the current front office has/had.

 

[Hostile Offer]

Obviously a little sour note to end the season but what a year they had, exceeded all expectations. Very proud of this team

 

[CzarDemidov]

Indeed he has, although in his defense, he didn't have the same mandate from the owner as the current front office has/had.

The owner didn’t want him to build a good team?

The owner told him he mustn’t ever reinforce the team he inherited?

 

[Archijerej]

he had two assists. he's a f***ing passenger lol

So, you're telling me he had the same amount of points as Nick Suzuki?

 

[CzarDemidov]

This is the phase Bergevin failed miserably at. He had the core in 2013 and never did anything with it. I think Hughes more or less has his core now give or take a few pieces. It’s going to be interesting to see how he fills the roster out, especially with some of these bad contracts finally expiring in the next year or so.

2C and 1D/2D are big time needs.

We’ll see how Hughes fares. Can’t predict anything but we’re in a very good spot.

 

[Habssince89]

So, you're telling me he had the same amount of points as Nick Suzuki?

Suzuki scores goals and controls the play. PLD coasts and takes bad penalties

 

[Archijerej]

The owner didn’t want him to build a good team?

The owner told him he mustn’t ever reinforce the team he inherited?

He didn't have the mandate to rebuild, which would allow him to trade some of the older members of the core he inherited.

Is it even up for debate at this point? It has been stated repeatedly that the current Habs management group is the first one with the mandate to rebuild.

 

[CzarDemidov]

He didn't have the mandate to rebuild, which would allow him to trade some of the older members of the core he inherited.

Is it even up for debate at this point? It has been stated repeatedly that the current Habs management group is the first one with the mandate to rebuild.

Bergevin didn’t need to rebuild, he inherited a ton of good pieces and in ten years didn’t manage to acquire a single (1) PPG player.

 

[Miller Time]

We won something?

40 games.

 

[Archijerej]

Bergevin didn’t need to rebuild, he inherited a ton of good pieces and in ten years didn’t manage to acquire a single (1) PPG player.

Now you're arguing a different point.

I'm not gonna defend Bergevin, because he was not a strategist and he did not use the prospects and picks to address obvious holes while his team was competitive. I'm merely pointing out that he operated under different circumstances than the current group.

That said, the core he inherited was not well aligned age-wise and when Plekanec (not a proper #1C anyway) fell off a cliff relatively early, the hole at center that was there from the beginning got even bigger.

If he had a 3-year "nobody is even going to mention the playoffs" window when he arrived, he would have had more room to manoeuvre to retool the core and collect assets for future use.

 

[Miller Time]

Very important points.

"The future is bright" narrative is all well and good, but we are now entering the proper "build" phase, which is so much more difficult than the "liquidation/asset acquisition" phase.

Tell that to the Sabres

I think it's a mistake to underestimate what a difficult job it is to effectively manage the "liquidation/asset acquisition" while building a culture of excellence.

HuGo & MSL have absolutely nailed it thus far (which doesn't mean it's been perfect).

We are clearly moving towards the next phase, both coach and GM have spoken directly to that & I bet the post season PC will further articulate that.

Asset management is difficult regardless of what phase a team is in, building & sustaining a culture of excellence is the most important aspect, and our leadership group demonstrates a clear understanding of that.

What's quite clear, including to the Caps HC & their bruiser, is that the core we have in place is a very strong one with a high likelihood of improving.

Having that in place makes the "build" phase as you alluded to much much easier.

The future is bright precisely because of our leadership approach, and that is unlikely to change anytime soon.

 

[CzarDemidov]

Now you're arguing a different point.

I'm not gonna defend Bergevin, because he was not a strategist and he did not use the prospects and picks to address obvious holes while his team was competitive. I'm merely pointing out that he operated under different circumstances than the current group.

That said, the core he inherited was not well aligned age-wise and when Plekanec (not a proper #1C anyway) fell off a cliff relatively early, the hole at center that was there from the beginning got even bigger.

If he had a 3-year "nobody is even going to mention the playoffs" window when he arrived, he would have had more room to manoeuvre to retool the core and collect assets for future use.

Fair enough but I don’t think it was necessary to bottom out so it made sense to me why the team’s leadership group didn’t loosen standards.

 

[Miller Time]

Indeed he has, although in his defense, he didn't have the same mandate from the owner as the current front office has/had.

Untrue. His mandate at hiring was to build a cup winner, no different than HuGo. Making the playoffs was not the priority.

Year 1 all he added were two depth players and an enforcer despite full ownership financial support and draft/prospect capital that easily could have been leveraged on "win now" assets.

Then he got 9 more years lol

 

[Redux91]

I just think it's kinda funny is all. Dude was about to go on a playoff run as a starter then gets called up in an elimination game only to cede his crease to a kid who's only been on the team for a few weeks

Lol thats fair.

But as a very smart man once said " the future is now old man!"

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

They may still take a step back. Losing a bunch of veterans and replacing them with rookies will have an impact. Drafting another top 5 player could be a blessing, and a need.

No chance unless they have a bunch of major injuries to key players.

The addition of Demidov alone will have a far bigger impact than the loss of Dvorak + Savard + Armia. Reinbacher will be a big upgrade on Savard. The 2C we acquire will be a big upgrade on Dvorak.

If we acquire a good top 6 center, this could be a top reg season team in the league.

 

[Habitant#1]

Unless the Habs get a really, really good 2C, the Habs will remain a Suzuki injury away from being a lottery team.
They're still fragile, if Suzuki misses 20-30 games the Habs would be in a tailspin.

Let's not forget the Habs made the playoffs by the skin of their teeth despite being remarkably healthy.

 

[RandR]

Very important points.

"The future is bright" narrative is all well and good, but we are now entering the proper "build" phase, which is so much more difficult than the "liquidation/asset acquisition" phase.

So far Hughes and Gorton have done a good job with the “liquidation/asset acquisition” phase and this team is ahead of schedule on the rebuild. That bodes well for the next phase.

A couple of big differences between the current management and Bergevin’s reign:
1. Bergevin was terrible at long-term planning. Hughes and Gorton have done a good job so far both on formulating a long-time plan and executing on it.
2. Bergevin was really good on trades, but never had a surplus of anything to fill in the most glaring holes without creating other holes. Unfortunately he burdened this team with some terrible contracts, but Bergevin and then the current regime have built quite a store of both good young prospects and draft picks. Those surpluses will give Hughes things he can trade away to fill in missing pieces without undermining the current team or the next step of the rebuild. Bergevin never had nor was able to create that luxury.

Hughes doesn’t have to and can’t be expected to address all the needed upgrades in one off-season since contending for the cup is still a few years away. So I think growth from within will continue to be the main way that this team continues to improve with perhaps just 1 or 2 acquisitions via trade (or signings) this summer.

 

[bobholly39]

Obviously like everyone else I'm very disappointed we lost.

Why? Because they played so good in game 1 with the comeback, and game 3 was amazing that they had us believing they would win out. And were in complete control in game 4 until the end. So - take all that into account, and the fact that we lost in 5 games is really disappointing.

But in the grand scheme of things, we waaay overexceeded exepectations this season, and our future is very bright.

Contrast that to Buffalo/Detroit/Ottawa - who have spent close to ~10 years with no playoffs while 'rebuilding' - I much prefer the fact that we made playoffs so quick with this core. No loser mentality within this group.

 

[Big Lurk]

Mailloux is not NHL material.

Could he play 4th line? Small sample size but the guy CAN provide offense and hes tough

 

[CzarDemidov]

But in the grand scheme of things, we waaay overexceeded exepectations this season, and our future is very bright.

We definitely exceeded expectations but the "future is bright" bit is not precise.

NJD, DET, TOR, BUF, OTT, etc. all thought the same thing. The future is not bright unless you have a good electrician

HuGo did the easy part with no expectations and ample cap space. But we see how limited this roster is, how many patches and inefficiencies there are on in a 20 man lineup. Now is the question of staying the course or gunning to improve, but both require building and both require acquiring a 2C immediately. There are other teams looking for centreman help, it won't come cheap or easy.

 

[Big Lurk]

Do we go all in this summer or not yet??

No, but we'll need replacements for, if possible :

Newhook (unless he becomes a PK specialist)
Armia
Dvorak
Hopefully Gallagher
Savard
Matheson
Laine

We need people that can finish checks badly.

I hope Dach can return to form, he has a mean streak, but his return from injury was brutal for his first 20 games at least it was hard to watch

 

[Farmboy Patty]

Fire and trade everyone

It’s time for a rebuild.