Poll: Based on the first 14 games, Where do you think we finish now?

[sheed36]

I was hoping for another bottom 5 finish for this upcoming draft but they've played better than what I was expecting due to getting very good early goaltending and currently being carried by a top line offensively so I went with 6-10 in this poll right now.

Weaker teams usually seem to surprise early in the season and normally at around the 30-40 game mark the better and more competitive teams usually start to up their games more and the weaker teams then start to fall off, which I think will happen with the Habs.

I don't expect and would be surprised if Allen and Monty keep this current level of goaltending up all season and I expect their play to fall off eventually and the Habs will start falling back in the standings after but we'll see.

 

[Apoplectic Habs Fan]

I think MTL D will struggle as the yr progresses. They are logging heavy minutes and almost none are use to an NHL sked.

Eddy is breaking down physically a lot lately, Savard hasnt shown able to sustain the level a play he has had this yr playing 20+ a night.

Matheson though could be an x factor

We will see though, they have exceeded any and all expectations so far so maybe it just continues

 

[Bombshell11]

This is a weird one, Suzuki and Caulefield are very young players who are producing at a really good pace. I think they'll continue on this path until the end. I'm worried about Caulefield though, i hope the hype doesn't get into his head and starts partying a little too much like we have seen with every young players here in mtl.

We have a good young core who have sc finals experience, i think they'll only going to get better. If we make the playoffs this year there's high chances we go back to the SC finals again.

 

[417]

They'll finish wherever their record shows it will...I really try not to get caught up in trying to position ourselves for a specific draft pick, there's no way of doing it.

The Habs could finish middle of the pack and end up in the top 3 like the Rangers or Hurricanes a few years ago.

Who knows.

But if the Habs continue to be competitive being led by their young players, to me, that's way more important than anyone they could potentially draft.

 

[Kimota]

Hughes is gonna have to play his cards right. If we are lower than 50% after 30 games, trade Allen for a good prospect to a goalie-starved team. Montambeaultt would have to carry the load and get exausted which would be an ideal situation.

 

[Tonneau]

Montembeault is on a hot streak, but that won't last forever. Man isn't anywhere close to to .930 goalie.

 

[Team_Spirit]

6-10

These teams are simply terrible and impossible to out-tank;

Ducks
Nucks
Sharks
Yotes
Hawks

And then the surprise bag of;

Blues, Jackets and Senators dead last right now even if they are better on paper.

 

[Twisted Sinister]

Maybe Gorton/Hughes/MSL bring in a different type of energy/luck. Regardless of what anybody says, luck is a factor.

I'm hoping the Panthers finish 12th last (win the 2nd lottery) and the Habs finish 7th or 8th last and win the 1st lottery. Dreaming yeah but it's possible.

All I will say is it would not feel very good to get obsessed with a bottom 5 finish as fans and someone wins the lottery from the 7/8/9 spot where we finished 5th last.

Always best to put ourselves in the best position to suck. I think they should have traded Allen

 

[JianYang]

I doubt he sells if we're in a playoff race. But I hope I'm wrong - and I hope we're not in a playoff race to begin with.

Well, if the Habs are somehow miraculously fighting for a playoff spot, Hughes' hand are tied.

He's going to kill that relationship with the players if he tries to sabotage what the players would have worked hard in building for themselves.

Anyways, I'm still of the opinion the Habs won't be that close to a spot by the time the deadline will be looming.... So moot point.

 

[sandviper]

 

[LaP]

I guess it's a matter of do you believe in Montemblownotmore. Our record with Allen puts us in the bottom 8 where i was expecting us to be. Our record with Montombeau puts us top 5 in the league (700 p%). It's not like we got a .700 p% with him because of luck stats wise he is on pace for a vezina hasek like year. I don't think he'll keep the pace personally but well like i said it depends if you're a believer or not.

 

[SupRocket]

Our offense is pretty much where I thought it would be, although I was anticipating it to me more balanced. I see no reason why we couldn't keep scoring at this rate.

Defense is miles ahead of any prediction. Eddy is still getting into a rhythm, and Mattheson has yet to play. I don't see why they would regress, if anything, they should improve.

Now goalkeeping is the obvious thing that seems unsustainable and might fall back onto earth, but with a better defense on front of them, it should be better than last year. Especially as Monty looks improved in general.

So where does this team ranks? It's not an easy answer as the team overachieved in our finals run, and underachieved last year. I think our projections for this year were too low and biased by a terrible last season. Even if we are expected to sell some veterans, it's not like they are the one carrying us, it's the young improving players.

it's unfortunate as it seems the draft is loaded this year and Slaf feels like an average consolation prize for a #1 pick, but to me this team seems too good to pick in the bottom 5 again. Bottom 8-14 seems like the range to me.

 

[LaP]

They'll finish wherever their record shows it will...I really try not to get caught up in trying to position ourselves for a specific draft pick, there's no way of doing it.
The Habs could finish middle of the pack and end up in the top 3 like the Rangers or Hurricanes a few years ago.
Who knows.
But if the Habs continue to be competitive being led by their young players, to me, that's way more important than anyone they could potentially draft.

I think you can't jump more than 10 positions now so if you're middle of the pack i don't think you can draft at the top now.

 

[expy]

Still bottom 6-10.

 

[417]

I think you can't jump more than 10 positions now so if you're middle of the pack i don't think you can draft at the top now.

True but let's say the Habs finish 12th last and jump up 10 spots.

It happens.

I don't think you can plan an entire season by positioning your team to draft in a specific spot.

The Habs finished in last place last year and picking #1 was still far from a guarantee. They still had to "win" a lottery.

Yes, it would be great to draft Bedard or Fantili or whoever is the latest flavour of the month.

But more importantly, is that you hit wherever you do end up drafting.

Adding another legit NHL prospect to the group of prospects/young veterans we already have, still puts the Habs in a great position moving forward.

 

[GrandBison]

6-10

These teams are simply terrible and impossible to out-tank;

Ducks
Nucks
Sharks
Yotes
Hawks

And then the surprise bag of;

Blues, Jackets and Senators dead last right now even if they are better on paper.

Gaudreau with Bedard... maybe they will want Anderson back

 

[Hins77]

If you had 8th to 12th it would have been my selection haha. This team is young and improving a lot.

 

[Saundies]

I've still got 6-10 for a couple of reasons.

- We're essentially a 1 line team as of right now. Shut them down, I feel like goals will be hard to come by.

- Thin goaltending. If Allen gets hurt and Monty has to carry the load again, this becomes another bottom 5 prediction.

- Young af D. Right now they're okay but can they hold up over 82 NHL games as the rest of the league settles in?

 

[McGees]

10-15

 

[Garbageyuk]

Don’t underestimate the grind of 82 games, especially with this many rookies and young players on the team. The roster also lacks depth from top to bottom. The first injury to a core player will be catastrophic, and it’s inevitable. Bottom 5.

 

[GrandBison]

If you had 8th to 12th it would have been my selection haha. This team is young and improving a lot.

You mean in conference or league?

 

[OnceWasNot]

Bottom 5, at most the low range of 6-10. Easy schedule and unsustainable goaltending have them over performing so far.

 

[jaffy27]

I put 6-10

The league will catch up, our goalies will come back to earth, the youth will hit a wall at some point, injuries will occur and we will be sellers at the deadline

 

[Xirik]

probably the 6-10 range but sometimes the Hockey Gods give the team that actually played but still sucked for some reason the ability to win a lottery pick.

 

[WickedPegJets]

Now that we have seen the first 14 games, does the Habs play on the ice change your prediction on where we will finish? Took us 33 games to get our 7th win last year.

A few areas of context:

* Record from Oct to Dec 31 last season was 7-22-4 (33 games)
* Record after 14 games last season was 3-10-1
* Record so far this season after 14 games is 7-6-1

* PP% from Oct to Dec 31 last season: 11.3%
* PP% after 14 games last season: 12.8%
* PP% after 14 games this season: 15.8%

* PK% from Oct to Dec 31 last season: 71.2%
* PK% after 14 games last season: 68.6%
* PK% after 14 games this season: 81.6%

* 70 goals for and 118 goals against (Oct to Dec 31)
* 28 goals for and 48 goals against (first 14 games last season)
* 41 goals for and 44 goals against (first 14 games this season)

I honestly believe this St. Louis coached Habs team will fight tooth and nail for a playoff spot.

I doubt he sells if we're in a playoff race. But I hope I'm wrong - and I hope we're not in a playoff race to begin with.

Sadly, we won’t be in the bottom rung of the ladder with a high percentage probability of drafting either Connor Bedard or that Russian phenom.