Out of Town Thread - New Year's Edition!

[ZUKI]

They were fortunate this year to have Bergeron deciding to not retire, and Krejcy coming back from his country for another kick at the can. Without these two, a totally diffrent story.

i don't understand your explanations ???

Everyday there are some experts of this boards telling us that the players over 28 years old can't be part of a cup contender team ...

Bergeron is 37 years old, Krejci is 36 and Marchand is 34 I can't even see how their team could be in the playoffs

 

[JianYang]

Hamilton was a 9th oa
Seguin was a 2nd oa
Phil Kessel 5th oa
Joe Thornton 1st oa, Samsononv 8th oa
two other top 10 in the two years before Big Joe (one busted hard)

Boston do 2 years-ish at the bottom every 7 years or so. They sell some vets for picks, draft well post 1st round, signs some UFAs and right back into the playoffs afterwards. Rinse and Repeat since forever (I stopped checking after the 80s).

You're going back to 1997.

I'm specifically looking at about 2009 to current. They have been in the conversation of the cup for most of that duration. They slipped a bit in the mid 2010s but picked right back up without needing a tank.

 

[red devil]

 

[sandviper]

What a POS!

 

[red devil]

What a POS!

Agreed and it was against Motte who was his teammate just a couple of weeks ago.

 

[DavePeak]

Welcome to the NHL Matt... Murray???

Matt Murray Stats And News

Get all the latest stats, news, videos, and more on Matt Murray.

www.nhl.com

 

[the valiant effort]

Win or lose tonight I’d put money on Ottawa over the Bruins

Though I truly think Ottawa will get WC1

 

[the]

Man...feels weird to see Patrick Kane wearing the Rangers jersey.

 

[Kennedys]

The Bruins are 48-8-5. This is ridiculous

 

[morhilane]

The Bruins are 48-8-5. This is ridiculous

They are going for the 76'-77' Habs lost record: 60-8-12

Bruins will play two more games thought.

 

[Tyson]

They are going for the 76'-77' Habs lost record: 60-8-12

Bruins will play two more games thought.

How many of those 12 ties would the Habs have won in 76-77.
In the 70's the Habs had a reputation for getting stronger as the game went on and always seemed to take over in the 3rd period.

 

[OnTheRun]

Word is Dubas is seeking federal helps to build a massive tears bucket in Toronto.

 

[Kennedys]

Word is Dubas is seeking federal helps to build a massive tears bucket in Toronto.

Nice play by Gustafsson. He's already helping

 

[salbutera]

I just saw that Claude Giroux has 26G on the season! Damn

 

[Tyson]

Dadanov with assist on go ahead goal.

 

[Miller Time]

It's so not a seller's market. Price for Bertuzzi is dumb. Highway robbery by Boston. Just like robbery for Sens. And all this in our division. If people think we are 2-3 years away....you are BADLY mistaken.

Not sure I follow?
By 25-26, with no additions

CC - Suzuki -
Slaf - Dach -
Gally, Anderson

Plus whatever prospects make the jump from Ylonen, Farrell, Roy, Heineman, Mesar, Beck, Kidney, Kapanen, Tuch, Mysak

Matheson -
Guhle - Barron
Xhekaj - Harris

Plus Hutson, Mailloux, Norlinder, Trudeau

Plus
5x 1st round picks
3x 2nd & 3x3rd

I'd say we're 1G & 1 top-6 or top-pair skater away from having a playoff lock roster (if not strong contender) assuming we see continued progress from our under-25 players & Hughes navigates RFA extensions and ufa signings even moderately well.

Future is bright

 

[the valiant effort]

I just saw that Claude Giroux has 26G on the season! Damn

He has had a fascinating career, both overrated and underrated throughout lol

Boston won 7-1 tonight in the first home game after a road trip. They are obliterating all expectations

 

[Andrei79]

I don't get what Dallas's game plan is. The West is wide open, why trade for scraps and garbage ? They had themselves an MB like trade deadline.

 

[the valiant effort]

You can’t write Calgary off yet…though tbh I am…but holy shit what a disappointment

 

[Whitesnake]

Not sure I follow?
By 25-26, with no additions

CC - Suzuki -
Slaf - Dach -
Gally, Anderson

Plus whatever prospects make the jump from Ylonen, Farrell, Roy, Heineman, Mesar, Beck, Kidney, Kapanen, Tuch, Mysak

Matheson -
Guhle - Barron
Xhekaj - Harris

Plus Hutson, Mailloux, Norlinder, Trudeau

Plus
5x 1st round picks
3x 2nd & 3x3rd

I'd say we're 1G & 1 top-6 or top-pair skater away from having a playoff lock roster (if not strong contender) assuming we see continued progress from our under-25 players & Hughes navigates RFA extensions and ufa signings even moderately well.

Future is bright

Then you look at all the other teams in the division. MAYBE if we're lucky, when we are ready, TBay and Boston would be in rebuild mode. But Buffalo won't. Detroit won't. And they are all racking picks. The East is going to be a force to come. And if they don't change the playoffs settings....I don't see our lineup racking the top end players to compete.

 

[Miller Time]

Then you look at all the other teams in the division. MAYBE if we're lucky, when we are ready, TBay and Boston would be in rebuild mode. But Buffalo won't. Detroit won't. And they are all racking picks. The East is going to be a force to come. And if they don't change the playoffs settings....I don't see our lineup racking the top end players to compete.

what other teams do with their rosters is never in our control. How good/bad the division will be by 25-26 is as uncertain as how good/bad we will be.

I agree that I see our division continuing to be one of the tougher ones in the league for the foreseeable future, though by 25-26, I'd argue that the Sens/Sabres/Red Wings all, like us, are well positioned to be significantly better by then, whereas TB/Toronto/Boston/Florida will all be hard pressed to maintain the current quality of their rosters without very astute and opportunistic asset management given their cap commitments and lack of top prospects and picks going forward.

Will Matthews re-sign? how will TB's elite core perform into their 30's (vasi/point/cirelli) /mid-30's (kuch/stamkos/hedman)? How will Boston manage the transition away from Bergeron/Marchand?


what we can control, is optimizing development opportunity/environment for the prospects/young players we have (it's early, but Hugo/MSL/Nicolas look to me to be putting in place a top-tier quality development program), ensuring management is leading in a way that makes Mtl as a desirable place to play as it can be (also seems to be well on it's way), and being schrewd with how we navigate the increasing cap space both as MB's bad contracts start getting cleared out and as the cap ceiling rises (also seems to be on track).

We've got one of the better prospect pools in the league today (top 10), and we'll be adding at least 2 top 16 picks this year and have 6 more top-60 picks currently in the cupboard over the next 3 drafts.

Our Future is Bright

 

[BozoTheClown]

Thompson, Greenway and Tuch should be fun to watch.

 

[Deebs]

Thompson, Greenway and Tuch should be fun to watch.

Large line

 

[Boss Man Hughes]

Thompson, Greenway and Tuch should be fun to watch.

If they are ever on the same line the coach should be fired immediately

 

[BozoTheClown]

Calgary and Arizona just swapped the Ritchie brothers

If they are ever on the same line the coach should be fired immediately

It would be the new Legion of Doom line.