Predict where we finish if we have the normal amount of injures most teams have?

[Habs Halifax]

Curious to see where the votes fall. You can vote twice... I think this gives better data.

Click to read more...

 

[Nicko999]

Bottom 5... we overachieved last season because Montembault.
He will come back to earth this season. Habs still no depth up front. Who is gonna score goals other than Caufield and Suzuki?

 

[abo9]

I think the team is more injury prone just by default... like Monahan isn't magically gonna go on an ironman streak

But that's me being annoying, assuming all teams have an avg amount of injuries, the teams I see as clearly worst are:

Anaheim
San Jose
Chicago*
Arizona

*Depends how good Bedard is though... he could win them a few games by himself. Still assume that theyre BAD bad

I think we're in the bottom 4-6 mix, maybe 7-9 with some injury luck. I voted both options

 

[Takurcitee]

Bottom 4-8

 

[First Line]

@abo9 you forgot Philly. I would add to that another random team that we will see drop like Columbus deopped last year.
So clealy 6 worst team, so I believe we will pick around 8

 

[Naslundforever]

Not good enough to make the playoffs but not professionally tanking, which will undoubtedly trigger many on here. Let the growing pains start.

 

[abo9]

@abo9 you forgot Philly. I would add to that another random team that we will see drop like Columbus deopped last year.
So clealy 6 worst team, so I believe we will pick around 8

I don't think Philly is "clearly worst", unless they trade Hart.

But, I won't fret over 1 or 2 positions. We're solidly bottom 10, with injury-prone vets and an otherwise pretty young lineup

 

[Walrus26]

Bottom 12 but not tanky enough for the bottom 6.

 

[Habs Halifax]

I don't think Philly is "clearly worst", unless they trade Hart.

But, I won't fret over 1 or 2 positions. We're solidly bottom 10, with injury-prone vets and an otherwise pretty young lineup

Hart is holding them afloat? I like his potential but he's not that good bud. I also like Monty's improvement but someone else just said we are being held together because of Monty last year.

 

[MXD]

I think 4-6, though frankly I'd be more comfortable with a 5-8 grouping.

 

[Schooner Guy]

The only team in the East that should definitely finish below the Habs are the Flyers. Like someone suggested, 1-2 surprise teams will have some bad breaks and will bottom out. Several teams in the East that aren't that good have made signings to make a playoff push even though they aren't true contenders.

So realistically I can't see the Habs finishing any better than 13th out of 16 teams in the East even with our young players continuing to show progress. Our D is very young and green.

I think 2024-25 is the season we take our big leap in the standings.

 

[Miller Time]

All depends on who is out & how long, of course...

But I think many Habs fans underestimate just how much the injuries affected us last year.

With average injury luck, we'll be in the mix for a wildcard spot right to the end, and probably make the playoffs if 3 of Suzuki/CC/Dach/Monahan & 3 of Matheson/Guhle/Savard/Monty all play 70+ games.

Future is Bright

 

[abo9]

Hart is holding them afloat? I like his potential but he's not that good bud. I also like Monty's improvement but someone else just said we are being held together because of Monty last year.

That's quite the take. Besides the goalie stats, where Hart was much better than his backups...

The Flyers record when Hart was in net was .500 (82 pts pace), and when not in net 0.375 (61 pts pace)

So yes, I think losing Hart would be impactful for the Flyers - in a very negative way.

 

[Habs Halifax]

That's quite the take. Besides the goalie stats, where Hart was much better than his backups...

The Flyers record when Hart was in net was .500 (82 pts pace), and when not in net 0.375 (61 pts pace)

So yes, I think losing Hart would be impactful for the Flyers - in a very negative way.

Good context but I still don' think their faith rides on Hart alone. If that was true, Habs would be moving up very fast with Monty playing 60 games. It just don't work that way IMO.

 

[abo9]

Good context but I still don' think their faith rides on Hart alone. If that was true, Habs would be moving up very fast with Monty playing 60 games. It just don't work that way IMO.

Hmmm my point was that I don't see the Flyers as "clearly worse" than the Habs, unless they trade away Hart - in which case they do become "clearly worse".

I wouldn't be surprised if they finished ahead, or below Montreal in the standings.

But like, it's one team. I still think Montreal finishes bottom 10 in the league (5-10 being my more specific guess)

 

[Twisted Sinister]

Hmmm my point was that I don't see the Flyers as "clearly worse" than the Habs, unless they trade away Hart - in which case they do become "clearly worse".

I wouldn't be surprised if they finished ahead, or below Montreal in the standings.

But like, it's one team. I still think Montreal finishes bottom 10 in the league (5-10 being my more specific guess)

The Flyers are going to be terrible next year, especially if they continue trading guys away. They could compete for Celebrini/Eiserman, which would give them one of those guys and Michkov, making them immediately more successful in their rebuild than the losers afraid of their own shadow in our ownership and management.

 

[junyab]

Bottom 5 IMO
1 - Chicago
2 - Anaheim
3 - San Jose
4/5 - Montreal
4/5 - Philly

 

[JoelWarlord]

My best guess is we finish 27th under the assumption Arizona stays above us and the Flyers drop below. 28th again is a possibility if Columbus takes a step too.

We have enough youngish guys in important roles who could feasibly make big improvements and also a lot of injury prone guys who could still be constant LTIR fixtures so I wouldn't really be shocked by anything from the 31-20ish range. The only particularly surprising outcomes to me would be if the Habs fully out-tanked Chicago and finished dead last, or if absolutely everything went right and we got into the low 90s in point totals.

 

[NewDef]

The only team in the East that should definitely finish below the Habs are the Flyers. Like someone suggested, 1-2 surprise teams will have some bad breaks and will bottom out. Several teams in the East that aren't that good have made signings to make a playoff push even though they aren't true contenders.

So realistically I can't see the Habs finishing any better than 13th out of 16 teams in the East even with our young players continuing to show progress. Our D is very young and green.

I think 2024-25 is the season we take our big leap in the standings.

I also think 2024-2025 will be where the habs starts getting a more formal lineup. Gone will be Hoffman, likely Armia too.

Beck and Heineman will make the team. RHP will likely be a regular. We'll know what to expect from Newhook. Goalie situation will be sorted out. (Monty is a fine 2nd in a great team, playing 1st until it gets sorted out is good for his development). We'll probably see Mailloux on the horizon, Strubble will be ready if ever, Barron should be solid. Some D will be traded for forwards to fill the blanks.

7-10 last or so next season. The around 16 in 2024-2025?

 

[Scriptor]

I'm not expecting much from the Habs this season, but I expect, if the team remains healthy and they decide to play Dach and one of Monahan or Newhook at C, for some players to take another step up in their game, likely Suzuki, Caufield and Newhook, plus maybe RHP, depending on how the lines are set.

Is playing Monahan on a line with Caufield and Suzuki the approach that will be taken? Does each play c right off the bat or does he play wing again with Suzuki and Caufield, Monahan backstopping the 2nd line C role and sheltering the young C again to start off the season?

I see many lineup possibilities with many different possible underlying agendas:

Help Suzuki and Caufield take another step forward:

Monahan or Dach as a winger on that line.

If the agenda is to give Caufield, Suzuki and each the greatest chance to maximize their production and raise their confidence levels, Dach will be the right wing on the Suzuki line, with Caufield as the sidekick potting goal after goal...

Monahan is another but lesser option, IMO, even though he brings a similar physicality than Dach, but better double threat qualities to that line.

Help Newhook take another step forward and help Dach do as much, but at Center:

Monahan at LW, Dach at C and Newhook on his offside to exploit his speed and his shot as he cuts towards the net with better shooting angles.

If the agenda is to jump start Newhook at wing, as well as Dach at C, expect the veteran Monahan to be the LW and Dach to center this line. Newhook would be a de facto scorer on that line and he has both the speed and shot to live up to that billing. Monahan would also shield Dach's weakness in the dot as he could take defensive draws in Dach's stead as well.

You can't have both as an agenda. Either you favour Caufield and Suzuki, or you favour Newhook and Dach.

In theory, you can try to do both, but having a solid one-two punch with both lines is crucial to maximizing the return, IMO.

The best option for the top-6 is likely:

Caufield - Suzuki - Dach
Slafkovsky - Monahan - Newhook

With the kids building on last years chemistry together (Caufield - Suzuki - Dach) and Monahan rearing both youngsters in Slafkovsky and Newhook.

Monahan's task may be too great, at this stage in both youngsters' careers, so, perhaps, a second line of Slafkovsky - Monahan - Anderson could prioritize the development of Slafkovsky and his power game.

The third line would then focus on new hook and his entering skills, IMO, with a possibility of going:

RHP - Newhook - Roy as a kid line with no pressure.

The fourth line, as it stands, would assemble the remains veterans, with one slotting in as the 13th forward:

Hoffman - Dvorak - Gallagher, with Armia on the sidelines.

Of course, in an ideal world, all four veteran contracts would be moved. Don't expect it will be possible with Gallagher, though and, while the return isn't likely any good, Hughes might be able to work magic with the other three veterans' contracts...

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

If we have a normal range of injuries, but it includes losing CC and Suz for a long haul, we're still boned and finish bottom 10, if not bottom 5.

 

[BLONG7]

If the injury bug moves down the road somewhere, we should finish in the bottom 10-12
MSL fixes the PP and we surprise some teams this year. For me, fixing the PP is a huge issue, and if our PP scoring goes up, we will take another step.

Then we win win the lottery and move up to pick in the top 5-6 !!

 

[StCaufield]

It’s such a strange situation as we really haven’t seen what this team really is yet as they’re all usually in the hospital lol. I think this could be a sneaky team if even half of our young kids develop more this coming year. I feel like Monty is turning a corner here and then you add our young D core and how much potential they have. This can be a stingy team sooner than later but we do need to develop a scorer or scorers to offset. This team is basically impossible to predict but I think we all agree they won’t be top 3 or anything. I’m excited

 

[Egresch]

Bottom 7, above SJS, ANA, CHI, ARI, PHI, WSH or maybe even NSH.

 

[Paddyjack]

I still believe we will be in the PO bubble for half the season, finishing 10-12th in the Conference. I don't agree with the narrative that Monty was "out of this Earth" last season, he was also good at the WC afterward. And frankly, 3.42 and 0.901 is far from "out of this Earth"... I also think people greatly underestimate the growth of our kids, and the desire to compete to keep their place in the team. Many young players are hungry for a spot, and competition should keep players at their best.