Nico Cauzuki
Registered User
We finished last in the Atlantic last season and all those teams got better besides us so i dont see that changing
Confirmed Signing with Link: [MTL] F Juraj Slafkovsky signs extension with the Canadiens (8 years, $7.6M AAV; begins 2025-26)
- Thread starter MMC
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TheDoldrums
Registered User
wonder how many years it's been since ottawa/buffalo thought they'd be in the mix. It's a tough division.
Habs Halifax
Loyal Habs Fan
His ELC is not done and he has one more season to go. The new contract kicks in for 25/26.
It's reasonable to assume he grows from where he is today (50 pts and 20 goals as a 19 year old). I am not sure if he will be a 80-100 pts forward but 70 pts and 30 goals is reachable for him for sure. Anything north of that is gravy with that AAV in a growing cap over those 8 years.
Habs are a little lucky here. Slaf likes our core and it's not all about money with him. He want's to build something special in Montreal and is not greedy. Usually, players put a high price tag on 8 year deals in their prime and if they don't get it, they force the bridge and end up getting their money or more.
We were 7th or 8th last in Feb... Without Dach and with Monahan. We got lucky to slip to 5th last IMO. We basically accepted our faith in Feb. Traded Monahan and implemented a tank strategy. Lets not forget about that part.
There will be other teams who slid down and have tank strategy. Habs players and management want to move up. They are a confident group and have good momentum.
I won't be surprised at all if we pass both the Sens and Sabres and/or have a pick from 10-15. I just don't see us making the playoffs. After that, it's not a massive stretch that we are in the tier group that don't make it.
Why do you think we didn’t get better? You don’t know that.
Both Ottawa and Buffalo have had terrible D and G for most of the past decade. I think Montreal is better suited than both those teams at these positions. Also, unless I don’t remember properly but Buffalo has been in the mix for the past two seasons. They came up short but they were right there
swiftwin
★SUMMER.OF.STEVE★
- Jul 26, 2005
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Because Carey Price.
Give Ottawa or Buffalo just average to above average goaltending, they make the playoffs.
MoneyManny
Registered User
- Jun 28, 2021
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Funny how everyone constantly dumped on Price and his contract, but in 2024 Bobrovsky wins the cup and Price is apparently the only reason the Habs have been overachievers.
Halak was tending when we rolled prime Ovechkin's caps and prime Crosby's pens back to back.
MXD
Partying Hard
- Oct 27, 2005
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Ottawa and Buffalo also don'T have anything close to Andrei Markov or PK Subban (let alone both).
Nico Cauzuki
Registered User
its still early maybe Hughes makes some trades and yes our young players will be better but i think we're looking more at the 2025-2026 season to be a bubble playoffs team i think we're finishing bottom 10 next season
Would love to be wrong tho i want our team to take the next step but we're simply not there yet but will see
It's true the habs didnt change much over the summer, but I think the biggest impact wont come from our youngsters gaining experience, but from Dach returning to the line up. The team will be an improvement as a result, IMO.
Nico Cauzuki
Registered User
im a big Dach fan didnt wanna trade him for Dubois last year but its hard to say he will have that big of an impact for us when he barely played the last 2 seasons we need him to stay healthy he still has alot to prove but i do like the potentiel
what i saw from him at the last training camp sold me on him, personally. I know it is a small sample, but to me there was a clear progression from the year before.
I remember it was with Dach that Slaf started to show his potential. I thought it was chemistry then i realized Dach is just good at making anyone look better.
Anyway, his camp was so good that the media were asking who is the #1C in Montreal between him and Suzuki.
Nico Cauzuki
Registered User
I agree that he looked good once again i refused to trade Dach for Dubois that i really liked i love Kirby but he needs to prove he can stay healthy from what we've seen from him the past 2 years is that he needs to drink some milk thats back to back big injuries this year at game 2 for the whole season... i dont care how he looks at camp or on a small stretch of games the season is 82 games long and he needs to atleast play most of them before we can talk about how much of an impact he can have with us
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OneSharpMarble
Registered User
This contract is not even a gamble, it's just a win. If Slaf improves then the contract is great, if he performs terribly the contract doesnt matter because the rebuild is tanked anyways.
nhlfan9191
Registered User
- Aug 4, 2010
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It doesn’t seem like they did anything that would make the team that much better next season. It looks like they’re just looking for organic growth and playing in the Atlantic isn’t going to help our chances of improving a whole lot unless a lot of our younger guys take off. One thing about this management that I like is they come across transparent with the fans with what their goals are. They told us next year that they’re expecting another year of building and they aren’t going to start getting jittery at the end of season presser. That’s a big change from the Bergevin era. I think the only time they didn’t come across very truthful is when Slafkovsky got hurt last year and they were getting pressed by the media as to why they thought it was a good idea for him to be in the NHL. But even that ended up working out brilliant for them.
No KH actually said they would like to be in the mix at the end of the season presser
ReimanSum1908
Registered User
People, even among the Habs fanbase, have no idea just how much Price did to drag an entire generation of teams into the playoffs year in and year out.
CanadienShark
Registered User
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Our young guys are going to get better. We'll have Dach for a full year. I think it's safe to say we'll improve too. How much is the question.
None of these guys are particularly good though?
Slaf has pedigree but the others aren’t a steal
When the team sucks the idea is to sign the good young players for 8 years so that when the team hopes to take the next step, those contracts will be steal at that point. Right now the contracts aren't steal but they aren't overpays either (for Suzuki and Caufield I mean).
nhlfan9191
Registered User
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That’s not how I took it. None of their moves in the off-season indicate that either. I think they’d like to take a step forward but they weren’t going to mortgage any of the future to get there. That’s why I brought up organic growth. I don’t know how much the team can possibly grow on the inside to boost us into the mix without any significant additions.
Bobrovsky winning the cup doesn't change the fact that his contract is bad and that he's not worth the money.
The Gr8 Dane
L'harceleur
Yes we do , the roster was absolute piss for 20 years but goalies are also part of the team
it can grow a lot. ask the new jersey devils. they went from 63 pts in 2022 to 112 pts in 2023 almost entiery through organic growth and better health. if everything goes right i don' see why the habs couldn't go from 76 to 85 or even 90 pts.
Nico Cauzuki
Registered User
Dach for a full year? He has more missed games then games played… every team young players will be better every team in the Atlantic is better then us its okay to hope i love my Habs too but we also gotta be realistic will obviously better then last year because of experience but so is other teams i dont see us finishing ahead of nobody in the Atlantic
Gotta cross our fingers that Dach can play more then 10 games because after our first line we have nothing else and our def is still very young and unproven will get there but not next year i say 2025-2026 season
