HF Habs: Montreal Canadiens Hockey Ops - Part 3

[WeThreeKings]

They’re supposed to be playing man on man to pressure the puck faster for possession vs zone that majority of teams employ

Question to be asked: is the current roster construct capable of carrying out such a defensive strategy?? Just maybe the strategy is not to blame, and the process is a work in progress as roster turnover continues

It's a hybrid, they are supposed to pressure and outnumber when the puck is down low, and fan out to zone when the puck is up high and not as much of a threat. They've modified it a bit this year to try to collapse and be tighter in the home plate area which is why the Leafs had a lot of shots but not as many around the net as they would have liked.

It does cause a lot of issues but they are still teaching it and hoping it gets better with experience and repetition.

It's going to be another up and down year, people need to not grade things on a nightly basis. We are .500 which is right where we would be at the end of the year, slightly above or below that mark would be a big step up and put us on the cusp of being legitimate contenders for the playoffs next year.

 

[sheed36]

Gorton interview with Melnick on TSN690 from about an hour ago. Said the Habs talk to Demidov's team a lot. Gorton as a great sense of humor. Strombo was in the TSN690 studio during the interview.

Gorton: We knew Dach would need time

Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations for the Montreal Canadiens Jeff Gorton joins the show to talk about the Habs season so far, the feedback from their draft choices and what he wants to improve going forward

www.tsn.ca

 

[BLONG7]

Gorton interview with Melnick on TSN690 from about an hour ago. Said the Habs talk to Demidov's team a lot. Gorton as a great sense of humor. Strombo was in the TSN690 studio during the interview.

Gorton: We knew Dach would need time

Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations for the Montreal Canadiens Jeff Gorton joins the show to talk about the Habs season so far, the feedback from their draft choices and what he wants to improve going forward

www.tsn.ca

I like this guy, and his calm low key approach. He did a good job with the Rangers, and is now getting the time in Montreal that the owner in NY was not willing to wait on their rebuild.

Will we be able to draw a big ufa like he did in NY with Panarin??
If Dach does not catch fire, we will need another 1-2 C to go with Suzuki.

 

[HabzSauce]

Hasek is the greatest.. Roy is 2nd.. then Brodeur is solidly in 3rd, and the debate goes from there.

Roy and Brodeur neck and neck for me. Personally like Brodeur more. I think he's actually underrated a little because of the devil's defence. He would have been a beast anywhere he played

 

[dinodebino]

I like this guy, and his calm low key approach. He did a good job with the Rangers, and is now getting the time in Montreal that the owner in NY was not willing to wait on their rebuild.

Will we be able to draw a big ufa like he did in NY with Panarin??
If Dach does not catch fire, we will need another 1-2 C to go with Suzuki.

Listened to the RDS interview and he practically said that his Panarin moment in Mtl is coming.

 

[Habs Halifax]

I don’t like him either, but he’s not wrong. Our defensive structure is awful and I still haven’t seen any progression in that department

It's largely due to playing several youth on D. Depth up the middle after Suzuki as been an issue too. Dach injury and Evans/Dvorak behind the top 2 is meh.

So yeah, Youth on D and lack of trusted centers after Suzuki is the issue. This is all growing pains.

 

[OldCraig71]

I don’t like him either, but he’s not wrong. Our defensive structure is awful and I still haven’t seen any progression in that department

I agree, it looks exactly the same as last year. We are at .500 but one of those wins came via a Tretiak like performance. The Ottawa game was our best effort at both ends of the ice.

 

[Tyson]

I agree, it looks exactly the same as last year. We are at .500 but one of those wins came via a Tretiak like performance. The Ottawa game was our best effort at both ends of the ice.

I love it when guys bring up names like Tretiak, Sawchuk, it keeps memories of truly great players from the past alive.

 

[Pompeius Magnus]

I don’t like him either, but he’s not wrong. Our defensive structure is awful and I still haven’t seen any progression in that department

The team could definitely do a lot better in that department. Improving the overall team defense is probably the one biggest hurdle for us to clear in order to reach to the next level IMO.

 

[morhilane]

It's largely due to playing several youth on D. Depth up the middle after Suzuki as been an issue too. Dach injury and Evans/Dvorak behind the top 2 is meh.

So yeah, Youth on D and lack of trusted centers after Suzuki is the issue. This is all growing pains.

It's not just the youth. Both Matheson and Savard have been regressing defensively (Dvorak too). Savard is clearly slowing down because of his age, but Matheson shouldn't be as bad has he's been so far. His best defensive season with the Habs (in term of metrics) was the 2022-2023 season. The season where 5 of the Ds had 20 NHL games when added all together and Habs let in 307 goals. Matheson managed to be +7 that season...

 

[Habs Halifax]

It's not just the youth. Both Matheson and Savard have been regressing defensively (Dvorak too). Savard is clearly slowing down because of his age, but Matheson shouldn't be as bad has he's been so far. His best defensive season with the Habs (in term of metrics) was the 2022-2023 season. The season where 5 of the Ds had 20 NHL games when added all together and Habs let in 307 goals. Matheson managed to be +7 that season...

Savard is aging yes but he has a big task to shelter Hutson. It's his role yes. I'm personally not worried about Savard for this year. If we extend him, the worry kicks in in terms of how much he will decline.

Matheson is who he is. He doesn't suck defensively but it's not his strength. I think his defensive flaws are being exaggerated. He's kind of like Petry... puts up good numbers but can struggle in the D zone at times. Sum of all parts and usage with Matheson means he will be targeted more

Dvorak is a bit of an issue yes (depth at center after Suzuki). Evans is OK at 4C.

At the end of the day, we still have lots of youth both on D and at F. I'm sure we will focus on Team D and MSL has shown signs of this being part of his strategy but we are not going to improve as fast as we would like. Offense is easier to improve with our group than team D IMO but at times they go hand/hand. We can't sit on leads or be pinned in our own end

I think we can improve to bottom 5-10 range in team D this year (vs bottom 5). That kind of improvement. Offense can move up to middle of the pack if we stay away from injuries and guys like Slaf, Hutson, Dach, Laine produce to compliment Suzuki/Caufield.

I wonder what the impacts would be in value if we switched up Savard with Guhle. Guhle with Hutson and Savard with Matheson

 

[Habs Halifax]

I know these stats are not 100% accurate but it does show you overall trends. It's only 4 games... lets see where we make gains and were we don't.

Whoever is coaching the blocks, they are doing a good job .

The other thing very noticeable is the giveaways/60. I'm guessing this is a wild stat for the first few months before teams and players stabilize.

Giveways and Faceoffs needs improvement.

23/34:
* Hits/60: 21.64 (20th)
* Blocks/60: 17.52 (5th)
* Takeways/60: 5.54 (30th)
* Giveaways/60: 8.97 (28th)
* Faceoffs %: 51.5% (10th)

So far this Season:
* Hits/60: 23.75 (10th)
* Blocks/60: 21.25 (1st)
* Takeways/60: 5.25 (19th)
* Giveaways/60: 13.25 (10th)
* Faceoffs %: 44.9% (29th)