Confirmed Signing with Link: [MTL] Mike Hoffman signs with the Canadiens (3 years, $4.5M AAV)

[bertuzzi2bure]

So would this be an accurate portrayal of the Habs lineups for the start of the 2021-22 season.

Line 1 LW Toffoli C Suzuki RW Caufield
Line 2 LW Hoffman C Kotkaniemi RW Gallagher
Line 3 LW Drouin C Evans RW Anderson
Line 4 LW Lehkonen C Perreault RW Armia

1st Pair LD Edmundson RD Petry
2nd Pair LD Chairot RD Savard
3rd Pair LD Romanov RD Wideman

Goalies:
Starter: Price
Backup: Allen

Scratches:
C Paquette
LD Kulak
LW Byron + Hip Surgery LTIR for aboot 5-6 months
RD Weber + Ankle, Foot, Knee & Thumb LTIRetired

I like the top 6 but it will depend on if Kotkaniemi can develop. The defense is yucky.

 

[Habs Halifax]

I like the top 6 but it will depend on if Kotkaniemi can develop. The defense is yucky.

All the D has to do is force things to the outside and limit high danger shots. Price and Allen take it from there. The forwards buy into the defensive 1st strategy but score in transition when you make a mistake.

Weak point is up the middle after Suzuki. D just don't have offensive glare after Petry

 

[Kimota]

Oilers have obviously provided an environment where McDavid can play to his potential, that's what the Awards show. If your line in the sand is Cup or Bust then 30 (soon to be 31) teams "don't do shit" every year.

An environment where he can play to his potential? Bro you don't really believe that yourself.

 

[Gaud]

So would this be an accurate portrayal of the Habs lineups for the start of the 2021-22 season.

Line 1 LW Toffoli C Suzuki RW Caufield
Line 2 LW Hoffman C Kotkaniemi RW Gallagher
Line 3 LW Drouin C Evans RW Anderson
Line 4 LW Lehkonen C Perreault RW Armia

1st Pair LD Edmundson RD Petry
2nd Pair LD Chairot RD Savard
3rd Pair LD Romanov RD Wideman

Goalies:
Starter: Price
Backup: Allen

Scratches:
C Paquette
LD Kulak
LW Byron + Hip Surgery LTIR for aboot 5-6 months
RD Weber + Ankle, Foot, Knee & Thumb LTIRetired

thats a fair assessment, and probably what the lineup is going to look like on day one. It'll be interesting to see what happens with Drou, because if he starts well, he may end up switching with toffoli to put 3 snipers on each of the first 3 lines

 

[Habs Halifax]

So would this be an accurate portrayal of the Habs lineups for the start of the 2021-22 season.

Line 1 LW Toffoli C Suzuki RW Caufield
Line 2 LW Hoffman C Kotkaniemi RW Gallagher
Line 3 LW Drouin C Evans RW Anderson
Line 4 LW Lehkonen C Perreault RW Armia

1st Pair LD Edmundson RD Petry
2nd Pair LD Chairot RD Savard
3rd Pair LD Romanov RD Wideman

Goalies:
Starter: Price
Backup: Allen

Scratches:
C Paquette
LD Kulak
LW Byron + Hip Surgery LTIR for aboot 5-6 months
RD Weber + Ankle, Foot, Knee & Thumb LTIRetired

I'm willing to bet that Lehkonen and Gallagher will be playing with Evans in a defensive/200' role. My lines are slightly different but I also have Hoffman with KK. And I'm not a fan of listing them the boring and flawed way where fans think the 3rd line is the 3rd most used line all the time. It's not like that for most teams that are not top heavy. Hoffman and Toffoli would be the best two wingers KK has had so far.

Fringe #1 quality line that can play all zones:
Anderson / Suzuki / Caufield

Shutdown/200' line:
Lehkonen / Evans / Gallagher

Offensive/Neutral zone face offs:
Toffoli / Kotkaniemi / Hoffman

Above average 4th line:
Perreault / Drouin / Armia
or
Drouin or Perreault / Poehling / Armia

Go to top pairing that can play any situation:
Romanov / Petry

Defensive/Neutral zone face offs:
Chiarot / Edmundson

3rd pairing playing mostly defensive zones:
Kulak / Savard

Spares:
Paquette
Perreault or Drouin
Byron (IR)
Wideman

 

[Cenzo_]

I'm willing to bet that Lehkonen and Gallagher will be playing with Evans in a defensive/200' role. My lines are slightly different but I also have Hoffman with KK. And I'm not a fan of listing them the boring and flawed way where fans think the 3rd line is the 3rd most used line all the time. It's not like that for most teams that are not top heavy. Hoffman and Toffoli would be the best two wingers KK has had so far.

Fringe #1 quality line that can play all zones:
Anderson / Suzuki / Caufield

Shutdown/200' line:
Lehkonen / Evans / Gallagher

Offensive/Neutral zone face offs:
Toffoli / Kotkaniemi / Hoffman

Above average 4th line:
Perreault / Drouin / Armia
or
Drouin or Perreault / Poehling / Armia

Go to top pairing that can play any situation:
Romanov / Petry

Defensive/Neutral zone face offs:
Chiarot / Edmundson

3rd pairing playing mostly defensive zones:
Kulak / Savard

Spares:
Paquette
Perreault or Drouin
Byron (IR)
Wideman

This may be good for playoff hockey but playing a 30 goal scorer in Gallagher on a shutdown line is a waste. Also, Drouin is not a 4th line player. He deserves a chance to prove he is back in form and should fit nicely with Evan and Gallagher making 3 good offensive lines.

 

[Habs Halifax]

This may be good for playoff hockey but playing a 30 goal scorer in Gallagher on a shutdown line is a waste. Also, Drouin is not a 4th line player. He deserves a chance to prove he is back in form and should fit nicely with Evan and Gallagher making 3 good offensive lines.

Gallagher scores dirty goals mostly. His head is down a lot while he does his bull dog thing. I don't consider Gallagher a winger with good vision and offensive play making with others. I think Evans is a good fit for him and we need a shutdown/200' line.

I'm not on board with others who think Gallagher is this offensive skilled guy that needs to play with a skilled center. I have Gallagher playing the exact same role we have seen him with Danault but Evans takes Danault spot. Lehkonen the other winger and they take a shit load of defensive zone draws.

 

[Naslundforever]

All the D has to do is force things to the outside and limit high danger shots. Price and Allen take it from there. The forwards buy into the defensive 1st strategy but score in transition when you make a mistake.

Weak point is up the middle after Suzuki. D just don't have offensive glare after Petry

I would rather they run and gun on the wing and lose scoring 3-4 a game if they are to finish 18th or worse again.
But I can imagine how easy it must be to counter stretch passes from Defensemen who can’t skate. You are probably spot on they will have to feed off turnovers. Yawners though.

I feel a PMD can make our wingers so much better than most centers could. A guy like Anderson just needs a sharp pass on his first full stride. A guy like Hoffman here should get a couple of wins because power play but 5v5 teams can run 2 lines on Suzuki right now.

 

[Habs Halifax]

I would rather they run and gun on the wing and lose scoring 3-4 a game if they are to finish 18th or worse again.
But I can imagine how easy it must be to counter stretch passes from Defensemen who can’t skate. You are probably spot on they will have to feed off turnovers. Yawners though.

I feel a PMD can make our wingers so much better than most centers could. A guy like Anderson just needs a sharp pass on his first full stride. A guy like Hoffman here should get a couple of wins because power play but 5v5 teams can run 2 lines on Suzuki right now.

Run and gun will result in more entertainment and maybe a playoff spot but a 1st round exit. Habs are not going to win games with offense as the primary weapon. We don't have the tools to win cups like the Pens. We don't even have the tools to win games like the Leafs and Oilers who are top heavy and they have a hard time getting past the 1st round.

Strong Defense in front of Price/Allen with a strong counter attack and decent PP is the best strategy for the Habs. Don't ignore how we won playoff series against the Pens, Leafs, Jets, and Knights. It was all about defense 1st and that was not a fluke. The only lucky part is we didn't face Tampa in the 1st or 2nd round.

 

[malcb33]

Run and gun will result in more entertainment and maybe a playoff spot but a 1st round exit. Habs are not going to win games with offense as the primary weapon. We don't have the tools to win cups like the Pens. We don't even have the tools to win games like the Leafs and Oilers who are top heavy and they have a hard time getting past the 1st round.

Strong Defense in front of Price/Allen with a strong counter attack and decent PP is the best strategy for the Habs. Don't ignore how we won playoff series against the Pens, Leafs, Jets, and Knights. It was all about defense 1st and that was not a fluke. The only lucky part is we didn't face Tampa in the 1st or 2nd round.

The problem is that team has a different makeup now as they are missing two key pillars of that system in Danualt and Webber. Both of those guys played a lot of hard minutes in those series

 

[Captain97]

I want Hoffman and Gallagher together, Gallagher can make up some on the defensive end. Also Hoffman takes shots from weird angle cause he can which also should generate more rebounds for Gallagher to pounce on.

 

[Hostile Offer]

All the D has to do is force things to the outside and limit high danger shots. Price and Allen take it from there. The forwards buy into the defensive 1st strategy but score in transition when you make a mistake.

Weak point is up the middle after Suzuki. D just don't have offensive glare after Petry

This kind of thinking is the downfall of this organization.

 

[Habs Halifax]

This kind of thinking is the downfall of this organization.

Haha... it was the reason why they went on a run in the last playoffs. And you think it's a downfall?

 

[BigDaddyLurch]

Haha... it was the reason why they went on a run in the last playoffs. And you think it's a downfall?

...this is untrue...the biggest reason the Habs went to the Finals was obvious:

...and with a capable PMD on the Top Pairing, it wouldn't have been such a one-sided Finals...

 

[Habs Halifax]

...this is untrue...the biggest reason the Habs went to the Finals was obvious:

View attachment 459488


...and with a capable PMD on the Top Pairing, it wouldn't have been such a one-sided Finals...

Not true. Price can't do everything. A good goalie needs good team D and vice versa. The big 4D we rolled and the defensive 1st structure the forwards played was a big factor in front of Price. There are a lot of NHL executives and NHL players that would agree with me on this.

Teams that go on deep runs are strong in net and with team defense. That is reality and you can try to dismiss this all you want. Offense is important but only part of the equation. Trying to believe that you don't need a good team D cause you got Price and you think we should run and gun is kind of thinking we are the Oilers of the 80's. Game is not like that anymore. It's not the NBA and we don't have star offensive power. Even the Oilers and Leafs struggle as top heavy teams.

 

[BigDaddyLurch]

Not true. Price can't do everything. A good goalie needs good team D and vice versa. The big 4D we rolled and the defensive 1st structure the forwards played was a big factor in front of Price. There are a lot of NHL executives and NHL players that would agree with me on this.

Teams that go on deep runs are strong in net and with team defense. That is reality and you can try to dismiss this all you want. Offense is important but only part of the equation. Trying to believe that you don't need a good team D cause you got Price and you think we should run and gun is kind of thinking we are the Oilers of the 80's. Game is not like that anymore. It's not the NBA and we don't have star offensive power. Even the Oilers and Leafs struggle as top heavy teams.

...no one is stating that you don't need good Team Defense, so that's a complete strawman...our team spends too much time defending, I don't know how that's even debatable...we spend soo much time defending because no one can move the puck on the back end...Weber, Chiarot, and Mr. Ed can't move the puck at all; they can retrieve it in the D-zone but then can't do anything with it, which just results in icings, PoG penalties, and giveaways that keep us in the defensive zone...with a more balanced D, one that's still good on defense but can also move the puck out of the zone and up the ice, we'd be a far more dangerous team...Hell, that's how our forward group is primarily built, to score off the rush and in transition...so having a forward group that is built to play one way and a defense that is built to play another is completely counter-productive...each pairing should have a PMD and a defense-first guy on it and that's how you build a successful, well balanced group...this isn't Rocket Appliance here, Ricky; just basics...

 

[Habs Halifax]

...no one is stating that you don't need good Team Defense, so that's a complete strawman...our team spends too much time defending, I don't know how that's even debatable...we spend soo much time defending because no one can move the puck on the back end...Weber, Chiarot, and Mr. Ed can't move the puck at all; they can retrieve it in the D-zone but then can't do anything with it, which just results in icings, PoG penalties, and giveaways that keep us in the defensive zone...with a more balanced D, one that's still good on defense but can also move the puck out of the zone and up the ice, we'd be a far more dangerous team...Hell, that's how our forward group is primarily built, to score off the rush and in transition...so having a forward group that is built to play one way and a defense that is built to play another is completely counter-productive...each pairing should have a PMD and a defense-first guy on it and that's how you build a successful, well balanced group...this isn't Rocket Appliance here, Ricky; just basics...

Our team spends too much time defending is true but it's because we are not an offensive powerhouse or top heavy offensive team. Trying to convert our team into that will take a lot of time so in the meantime, stick with the plan that got us on a deep run. It's not rocket science

What's you plan to add star centers and a star on D? It's not attainable in the short span and you got to draft them. Do you think that Wideman and Hoffman are going to change that for us substantially? . Are you saying this is a coaching strategy issue vs a tools in the box issue? Come on man

Even if you were top heavy, you still need to be defensively strong and have a great goalie (or hot goalie) to go on deep runs. Leafs and Oilers are prime examples. Avs couldn't beat the Knights and the Knights beat them with inferior offensive power but better team D and goaltending. Go figure eh and the Knights are considered a contender

 

[violaswallet]

Hoff lost a lot with Covid: he probably would have signed a 6 year deal for over six million after his last Florida season

 

[BigDaddyLurch]

Our team spends too much time defending is true but it's because we are not an offensive powerhouse or top heavy offensive team. Trying to convert our team into that will take a lot of time so in the meantime, stick with the plan that got us on a deep run. It's not rocket science

What's you plan to add star centers and a star on D? It's not attainable in the short span and you got to draft them. Do you think that Wideman and Hoffman are going to change that for us substantially? . Are you saying this is a coaching strategy issue vs a tools in the box issue? Come on man

...you don't need to be an "Offensive Powerhouse" to have a more balanced team and ride that into a more successful Organization; again, a total strawman argument...we have a deep forward group that is built to score in transition and off the rush, so why not have our defense also reflect that??...and it won't take much time at all, we are simply a couple of pieces away from being a more well-balanced team...a trade for a PMD to play in the Top 4 and a stop-gap Top 9 C that can take the heat off of Kotkaniemi while he progresses (or not...at least we'll know)...you make it sound like it's a Tampa that wins the Cup every year and it's not...look at St. Louis' Cup win; a well-balanced TEAM...Hell, even those LA teams that rode stifling heavy D to multiple Cups had a D-corer that could move the puck in transition far better than our D-core does...and yes, the Team Philosophy IS part of it; we Play Not To Lose instead of Playing To Win...if our team was better balanced, we wouldn't have needed a Danault to play shut down for 20 minutes a game because we'd have the puck more instead of defending the puck all the time...

 

[Habs Halifax]

...you don't need to be an "Offensive Powerhouse" to have a more balanced team and ride that into a more successful Organization; again, a total strawman argument...we have a deep forward group that is built to score in transition and off the rush, so why not have our defense also reflect that??...and it won't take much time at all, we are simply a couple of pieces away from being a more well-balanced team...a trade for a PMD to play in the Top 4 and a stop-gap Top 9 C that can take the heat off of Kotkaniemi while he progresses (or not...at least we'll know)...you make it sound like it's a Tampa that wins the Cup every year and it's not...look at St. Louis' Cup win; a well-balanced TEAM...Hell, even those LA teams that rode stifling heavy D to multiple Cups had a D-corer that could move the puck in transition far better than our D-core does...and yes, the Team Philosophy IS part of it; we Play Not To Lose instead of Playing To Win...if our team was better balanced, we wouldn't have needed a Danault to play shut down for 20 minutes a game because we'd have the puck more instead of defending the puck all the time...

. You can continue to think that team defense and great goaltending are less important than offense and playing "loose" and a "run and gun" style. If we played that way last year, WE DO NOT REACH THE CUP FINALS.

You seem to think that we have the tools in the box to play a more offensive style and let Price be exposed? We are paying him to save us right? . In case you didn't noticed, that was Julien's system bud... it don't work cause Price gets exposed. Even AV in Tampa would not be able to save you

Something else you don't consider... the Therrien system when Price was putting up great numbers. Therrien had the boys playing a boring structure and defense first. Chipping pucks out over and over again and he didn't care about puck possession.

Price is good but he's not god

 

[BigDaddyLurch]

. You can continue to think that team defense and great goaltending are less important than offense and playing "loose" and a "run and gun" style. If we played that way last year, WE DO NOT REACH THE CUP FINALS.

...if you're just going to ignore what's posted and continue with this Strawman Fallacy you wish to create, then we're probably done here...have fun in Oz...

 

[1909]

Yes and I hope Norlinder ends up ahead of both. Habs have lots of bodies even with Byron on IR- hope guys like Poehling/Ylonen and Norlinder fight for/earn a spot

Besides Poehling, I don't see any other having the slightest chance to be in the Habs line up next season.

 

[Michoulicious]

Hoffman for Tatar, basically.

Tatar is definately better 5on5. Hoffman a lot better on the PP.

We'll see!

 

[CDN24]

Besides Poehling, I don't see any other having the slightest chance to be in the Habs line up next season.

I think if they don't add another D then Norlinder gets a 8 to 10 game look to see if he can do it. Plus I think his contract is either Mtl or back to Sweden.

 

[1909]

I think if they don't add another D then Norlinder gets a 8 to 10 game look to see if he can do it. Plus I think his contract is either Mtl or back to Sweden.

If they give Norlinder 2-3 pre-season games, that would be a good start. I don't think he is NHL ready at all.