Playoffs Positivity Thread

[WeThreeKings]

"In the mix" jokers are in shambles.

 

[dcyhabs]

Remember when their December streak was just because of playing weaker teams?

Wonder what the excuse is now?

Florida teams didn't play their #1 goalies?

Top teams taking it easy on us because we're a bottom feeder?

Or maybe, just maybe, MSL knew what he was talking about when he said the young group was getting closer to flipping the switch?

We will have more bad streaks this year, and a key injury or two could drive us back to the bottom 5 quickly... That's the risk with a young team with very minimal top 6/top 4 experience & depth.

But, the signs are clearly there,Habs are building something special, slowly but surely.

Future is bright

It's a good run, and it is definitely positive for the future, but I wouldn't expect consistent success yet. The team played some really good games early, and some really bad ones. I'm much happier with inconsistency than I would be with the fighting hard but losing every game that would produce a better draft pick. There is more chance to improve an inconsistent team than a consistent loser.

The habs main problems are that they lost most of their key guys for nothing after the cup run, and that the team was completely unbalanced after MB went on his lame signing binge to try to recover. Losing Price, Weber, and Danault for nothing, while making the return on KK negative really diminished the talent level. The medical team has, fortunately, been turned over, but letting Danault get to the end of his contract and walk was pure dumb.

The habs haven't replaced any of those players at the same level. No true #1 D, no established star goalie, no shutdown center. They are not likely to do any damage in the playoffs until they have those. The goalie situation should work out, Beck should be the defensive guy, D will probably have to be by committee.

The main thing that made the habs a really bad team, rather than a bubble team, is the lack of balance. A lot of young offensive D, not many defensive D, mostly lefties. Lots of secondary forwards, no one who could make up for the defense. They had a lot of forwards who needed space and no one who could open space.

Hughes' moves haven't all been perfect, but most of his moves, from taking Slaf to trading Barron for Carrier, have addressed team balance. The recent success is a very good sign, in that the team may not be as far from making the playoffs as most expected, and that it is reasonable to expect more success by bringing in 2-3 decent players, another defensive RHD, a couple of grinding bottom six players, a guy or two who can hit. Demidov and Beck should make an impact. One of the forgotten D prospects may well be more effective than Mailloux in the NHL, reducing the number of players to acquire.

Reaching the playoffs this year or next looks like an achievable goal. I worry that the team is not yet built to win playoff series. Caufield and Hutson are effective and good at staying healthy, and Caufield has shown he can score in the playoffs, but both are going to be less effective with playoff reffing, and they aren't going to wear down opposing players. Evans is fragile. Guhle is great but fragile and not very physical. I'd expect the habs to be a team that other teams would want to play in the playoffs, a team that they could wear down in a longer series, and a team that wouldn't physically batter players the way most good playoff teams do. Other than Xhekaj and Anderson most of the habs big guys, Dach, Slaf, Armia, Laine, aren't physical.

The positive aspect is that most of the players the team needs are not unicorns. They need more grinders and hitters, not highly skilled guys. The really glaring need, at least for next year, is a true #1 D. Guhle is very effective, but they need an addtional guy with more offense and more physicality. Guhle doesn't want to go the Subban route, and I see his point, but if he could add enough muscle to be a physical threat without losing effectiveness he would be exactly what the habs need.

 

[morhilane]

Habs have won 5 out of 6.... the kind of run that they haven't had since early 2022. And look where they are.... still 5 points out of a spot. How many points did they make up during this run?

It just goes to show how difficult the task is to jump so many teams.

If the Habs keep the pace of their last 10 games, they should finish at around 88-91 points from some math I saw last night (Caps mad the PO with 91 last year, it was 92-93 the year before that for WC2 in the East), but in the standing they are still catching up to their 2-10 season start.

Also, their final ranking will depends what happen at the deadline. The team is churning on all cylinders because everyone is in the right spots, remove one of the gear and it's probably going to be a lot more unstable...

 

[waitin425]

 

[Adam Michaels]

Only 1 game os consequence today:

- FLA regulation win vs. NYR: NYR reg. loss = MTL stays 2 pts ahead. Even a OT/SO loss keeps MTL ahead, but it would be by 1 pt.

 

[Frankenheimer]

I don't care if we make the playoffs or not as much as I want the team to make progress year after year. People have decided that its either playoffs or top 5 pick as if those are the only choices. Yes it sucks to just miss the playoffs and in some alternate universe it would have been better to draft top 5, but a more realistic view is that there's going to be a couple of transition seasons that are actually necessary to developping and establishing a competitive club. We're not going from bottom 5 to cup contender in one season. Improving 8-10 points from prior season would be nice progress and if we reach the playoffs all the better. Next year the expectation would be competing for playfoffs.

What fans here want is to finish bottom 5 this season and be in the playoffs next season, but if you're bottom 5 its because your team sucks and at risk of staying in that death spiral (hi buffalo!), so you're actually better off cheering for the team to make progess. Some 10-15 place finishes are part of the deal towards becoming competitive and cannot be circumvented through magical thinking. In other words, try not to get too frustrated at getting close and not making it. You'll enjoy the experience more.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Habs have won 5 out of 6.... the kind of run that they haven't had since early 2022. And look where they are.... still 5 points out of a spot. How many points did they make up during this run?

It just goes to show how difficult the task is to jump so many teams.

It’s a lot harder when you lose ten of 12 at the start of the year too.

 

[Le Tricolore]

I don't care if we make the playoffs or not as much as I want the team to make progress year after year. People have decided that its either playoffs or top 5 pick as if those are the only choices. Yes it sucks to just miss the playoffs and in some alternate universe it would have been better to draft top 5, but a more realistic view is that there's going to be a couple of transition seasons that are actually necessary to developping and establishing a competitive club. We're not going from bottom 5 to cup contender in one season. Improving 8-10 points from prior season would be nice progress and if we reach the playoffs all the better. Next year the expectation would be competing for playfoffs.

What fans here want is to finish bottom 5 this season and be in the playoffs next season, but if you're bottom 5 its because your team sucks and at risk of staying in that death spiral (hi buffalo!), so you're actually better off cheering for the team to make progess. Some 10-15 place finishes are part of the deal towards becoming competitive and cannot be circumvented through magical thinking. In other words, try not to get too frustrated at getting close and not making it. You'll enjoy the experience more.

Agreed. You can't pick bottom 5 every year. The team needs to gradually improve. Maybe they miss it this year (they absolutely will) but if they keep playing well, they can build on that and hopefully be even closer to the playoffs next year.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Agreed. You can't pick bottom 5 every year. The team needs to gradually improve. Maybe they miss it this year (they absolutely will) but if they keep playing well, they can build on that and hopefully be even closer to the playoffs next year.

And nothing stops them from getting a blue chip prospect outside of the top 5; in which we've selected 3 straight times and got a prospect that should have went just outside the top 10 (Hage) with our other first last year.

This team was never going to be bad enough to pick in the top 4 of this draft, and if it was, it was going to spell something really ugly for the future of the team.

After the top 4, I don't think we have a good idea who the next best prospect is, so wherever we select, we are likely going to be getting that next tier of prospect in the class - and maybe even two, depending on how Calgary finishes.

 

[Rapala]

We are actually closer to the bottom of our conference than a wild card.
It's going to be a wild ride all the way.
I'm actually putting more onus on the underlying numbers this season.
The thing is if we can meet the goals I set out by TDL we can't help but be in the mix with tough personnel decisions to make.
It's actually a dangerous spot to be in IMO.
I've seen two teams either pull their tent pegs and sell or simply not obtain any help when they could have and both now suck.
That would be Buffalo and Detroit and for me it's not a coincidence.

 

[Kennerback]

We are actually closer to the bottom of our conference than a wild card.
It's going to be a wild ride all the way.
I'm actually putting more onus on the underlying numbers this season.
The thing is if we can meet the goals I set out by TDL we can't help but be in the mix with tough personnel decisions to make.
It's actually a dangerous spot to be in IMO.
I've seen two teams either pull their tent pegs and sell or simply not obtain any help when they could have and both now suck.
That would be Buffalo and Detroit and for me it's not a coincidence.

« We are actually closer to the bottom of our conference than a wild card. » It’s true. But unfortunately, all the terribad teams are out West. They’re getting all the Top picks this year. The bottom of the East is a free for all of mediocre teams.

Eastern Conference’s race to the bottom is for a Stamp of Mediocrity not finishing 1OA.

 

[Rapala]

« We are actually closer to the bottom of our conference than a wild card. » It’s true. But unfortunately, all the terribad teams are out West. They’re getting all the Top picks this year. The bottom of the East is a free for all of mediocre teams.

I think the lottery is actually causing far more teams to plan slides or semi slides than ever before.
I mean there is parity but at two or three different echelons.
No mans land has become viewed as more of a fail than getting a chance at 8th 9th 10th or 11th and the lottery.

 

[Kennerback]

I think the lottery is actually causing far more teams to plan slides or semi slides than ever before.
I mean there is parity but at two or three different echelons.
No mans land has become viewed as more of a fail than getting a chance at 8th 9th 10th or 11th and the lottery.

I see us finishing either No Man’s Land or In Da Mix if this team stays the same. Between 8 and 14. No Barron and no Primeau virtually guarantees that. They would now need to deliberately torpedo the club to get to the bottom of the standings.

 

[calder candidate]

We won’t make the playoff we might be in the mix but it is so close that we will likely be just a close to the playoff to a top 3 pick…

 

[Jurivan Demidovsky]

Habs should claim Puljujarvi. Then just wave Pazetta.

 

[sampollock]

no way they make it. too many bumps in the road yet
and that is ok
need a high draft pick again

 

[Kennerback]

no way they make it. too many bumps in the road yet
and that is ok
need a high draft pick again

I agree with the bumps, but I’m not too sure what you mean by « high draft pick ». 2 to 4 OA or 8 to 9OA?

 

[sampollock]

I agree with the bumps, but I’m not too sure what you mean by « high draft pick ». 2 to 4 OA or 8 to 9OA?

in the range of 6/12
would love a 5 again

not sure we will be in the zone for a 5th, if they keep winning.

 

[Kennerback]

in the range of 6/12
would love a 5 again

Using our own pick alone it will be hard to get to that lower range, but packaging it with our Flames1stR, it makes it perhaps possible, idk.

 

[Sorinth]

Habs should claim Puljujarvi. Then just wave Pazetta.

Why, at least throwing some checks and getting punched in the face is a skill that we might find useful to have at some point. Puljujarvi brings litteraly nothing to the table, there's never a situation where we would want him in the lineup.

 

[McGees]

Only 1 game os consequence today:

- FLA regulation win vs. NYR: NYR reg. loss = MTL stays 2 pts ahead. Even a OT/SO loss keeps MTL ahead, but it would be by 1 pt.

Bro…I worry about your mental health if you start doing these points/games breakdowns already

 

[Jurivan Demidovsky]

Why, at least throwing some checks and getting punched in the face is a skill that we might find useful to have at some point. Puljujarvi brings litteraly nothing to the table, there's never a situation where we would want him in the lineup.

I see your point. But Poolparty is pretty good defensively and can be a 25-30 point 4th line player. I think he's also good on the PK. He's still only 26, maybe MSL could work some magic like he did for Josh Anderson.

 

[Boss Man Hughes]

Using our own pick alone it will be hard to get to that lower range, but packaging it with our Flames1stR, it makes it perhaps possible, idk.

Not likely. Most of the teams at the bottom of the standing don't need multiple picks. The wild card is Nashville with their clueless GM. And his moves so far only make sense if he is trying to tank for the 1st pick.

 

[Sorinth]

I see your point. But Poolparty is pretty good defensively and can be a 25-30 point 4th line player. I think he's also good on the PK. He's still only 26, maybe MSL could work some magic like he did for Josh Anderson.

I mean sure but our bottom six is basically all 30+ or more defensively responsible guys who can PK. It's why Pezzetta can't get a game, there's no one to take out.

Like who gets scratched to give Poolparty some games? I can't see anyone, so if your going to have a guy sitting in the pressbox, having a guy like Pezzetta just makes more sense.

 

[GrandBison]

Anything North of 82 pts will be a good progress. Right now, we see what we get with a full lineup but it's still a fragile team when everything goes wrong.