Quicker rebuild, Isn't possible/plannable right now? Habs / Dubois-Bedard,... Slaf,CC,Suz...

[Twisted Sinister]

Do you think there's elite talent on this roster right now?

Nope. Caulfield has the potential, as does Slaf possibly, but no one's a guaranteed elite guy. Suzuki is a 2C on a cup winning team, in my opinion. Our defense needs an elite #1, which I think is the most urgent need, and we lost our elite player at G, so we desperately need to draft early 1 or 2 more times.

 

[MoneyManny]

I don't think the Habs will get a top 5 next year.
I hope we get a top10 and draft Dalibor Dvorsky
Hopefully Panthers get a bad year and we get a mid pick and draft Cameron Allen or Maxim Strbak

Trade Dvorak/Kidney - Monahan/Dadonov (trade line) try to get a other first pick 2023 (Ethan Gauthier)
These 3 would bring our rebuild almost complete.

??-Suzuki-caufield
Slaf-Dvorski-Mesar
Heinement-Dach-Anderson
Beck-Evans-Gallagher
RHP-Ylonen-Pezzeta-Roy-Gauthier**

Matheson-Harris
Ghule-Barron
Jackeye-Allen/Strbak
Mailloux-Hutson

Primeau
?? (Mercer looked really good)

Definitely looks like a top 3 pick lineup to me.

 

[CHwest]

I get you think it's a pipedream, I really do, as they usually always are.

But not this time, this is just TOO much smoke in this case I'm sorry,
This guy actually WANTS the fire.

Part of the reasoning IS because of the rebuild tho, I think he sees what's going on over here and I truly believe he wants to be apart of it, and views himself as a great asset to the team to get us into contention again

As for the goalie stuff, yes of course you need a good one
But the "omg need a TRUE #1 goalie" stuff, in this day and age? You can get by with a top 15 goalie really, provided all your other pieces are that good tho obviously
Love what we're building down the middle

No room for a quitter on the Habs, pass.

 

[CHwest]

The Dubois hate is hilarious. Change his name to Wood and hed be revered by the same posters lol.

Hes a #3 PWF first liner, hes also too good for a 2nd line. He fits super well with the core, hes basically what the Habs need on the CC/NS line and hes insurance if Bedard/Dach/Carlson/Fantili/Yager/Dvorsky doesnt pan out.

He would be very expensive insurance.

 

[CHfan1]

Nope. Caulfield has the potential, as does Slaf possibly, but no one's a guaranteed elite guy. Suzuki is a 2C on a cup winning team, in my opinion. Our defense needs an elite #1, which I think is the most urgent need, and we lost our elite player at G, so we desperately need to draft early 1 or 2 more times.

I’m really interested to see if a prospect like Guhle can develop into that #1 defenceman. That will go a long way to speed up the rebuild. Same goes for players like Barron, Hutson, and Harris developing into key core players.

 

[smirob]

We really need a #1 RHD, but this draft we are either getting a centre or wing with our first pick (top 3-7 imo)....

The dream is we can land PLD in free agency in 2 years..and we can grab #2/3 OVR (Fantilli/Michkov) our top 6 would be set for a long time

 

[Mrb1p]

He would be very expensive insurance.

What is expensive about him?

 

[Twisted Sinister]

I’m really interested to see if a prospect like Guhle can develop into that #1 defenceman. That will go a long way to speed up the rebuild. Same goes for players like Barron, Hutson, and Harris developing into key core players.

He's great but I think he's a career number two. I just don't think he'll ever have the offense to be a number one.

 

[Mackiaveli]

They havent been saying "accelerated rebuild" all this time for nothing
Look at the pieces we have already

The biggest question marks for Montreal moving forward will be in between the pipes and behind the blue line.

The top 5 of next year's draft (Bedard, Michkov, Fantilli, Yager and Dvorsky) are all forwards, so we won't be adding guys from there.

Currently, we have some promising prospects (Guhle, Barron, Harris, Xhekaj, Mailloux) but we need at least a couple of them to 'hit'.

In net - our only hope is Primeau right now. The goaltenders available next year in free agency are going to be Jarry, Nedeljkovic, Andersen and Blackwood. I wouldn't mind if we grabbed Ned.

Why does everyone want a quick rebuild? Why is the question never ''what is the best rebuild'' but rather ''what is the quickest way to rebuild''?

I'd argue the Habs have been rebuilding since the decision was made to let Radulov walk in 2017. We got lucky to watch the team squeak through a few playoff rounds on the back of Carey Price, but this team has been perpetually bad for the last five years.

The reason why most people want quick rebuilds is to not have to suffer through years of the team being boring and mediocre to watch.

The reason why quick rebuilds are better than long ones, are for the reasons we are seeing in places like Buffalo. When you create a losing culture, you basically have to tear it down to the foundation to reset it again. They did rebuild - quite nicely, adding Eichel and Dahlin, and then trading for complimentary pieces like Skinner, and signing a player like Hall ... but, in the end, the team still sucked.

Currently - Suzuki/Caufield are a promising duo to build around. Dach is a reclamation project with a TONNE of upside. Slafkovsky is a freak of nature who has the ability to be a star if he puts it all together. We have enough "good" prospects that at least 2 or 3 of them are bound to be impactful NHLers (Roy, Xhekaj, Mysak, Mailloux, Barron, Harris, Farrell) and we have two first round picks in one of the deepest drafts in the past two decades.

A good pick this year sets the Habs up to be incredibly aggressive next year during free agency. If Dach ends up being an impactful guy who can be a high-value middle 6er, and Slafkovsky ends up being even a great 2nd liner - this team's top 6 gets very interesting. Now imagine throwing a Fantili or Bedard in there, and sliding Andy or Dach down to the 3rd line.

Let's say they let Byron, Drouin, Monahan, Allen walk, and trade Dvorak, Hoffman and Armia. They would have more than enough cap space to sign Klingberg and Ned, and trade for Dubois.

Ultimately this is not a team that needs to go through a long rebuild. If they somehow dumb-lucked their way into Bedard, they'd be a serious contender overnight with their cap space and young core. Something tells me HuGo will keep chasing down leads on Kravstov until that saga is closed, and Dubois is all but certainly going to end up in Montreal. The Habs could not only be incredibly dangerous offensively, but big and difficult to play against. The future is bright, the biggest question mark really is going to be our goaltending. We have seen in Toronto how an offensive powerhouse cannot carry a cup team.

 

[Runner77]

The top 5 of next year's draft (Bedard, Michkov, Fantilli, Yager and Dvorsky) are all forwards, so we won't be adding guys from there.

Not sure Dvorsky belongs in the top 5 and Yager may just be outside of it but regardless, we can say with a high degree of probability that the top 5 will be comprised of forwards.

On the contrary, it would be ill-advised for the Habs to draft for need, if they were fortunate enough to be picking within that bracket.

Unless I completely missed what you were saying.

 

[ReHabs]

The rebuild has already been accelerated by at least two years with the possession of Suzuki and Caufield, who would always be considered good fruits of a scorched earth or "total" rebuild. With Suzuki and Caufield + Slafkovsky we've undergone one tank year and come out with two top6 core players + the 1OA who is either the next Armia or the next Jagr (I joke, I joke).

In addition to those assets in hand, we have a glut of pro-ready defenders in Norlinder, Guhle, Harris, Barron, Xekhaj, and maybe even Leskinen. We might not lack defensive depth, it remains to be seen if they can game in the NHL... but we certainly lack defensive talent (Target 1), we probably lack attacking talent (Target 2), and we need to figure out the goaltending situation (Target 3).

If a Core is seven players: FWD1, FWD2, FWD3, D1, D2, G1 -> the Habs are on track to have the three FWDs, none of the D, and no G. But even those FWDs, they all need to produce more.

It's not the best situation to find ourselves because (1) the FWDs haven't yet proven to be PPG+, (2) we don't have even a 2D much less a 1D, and (3) Primeau might not be The Guy... we will soon see that it's hard to replace Carey Price, just how hard will be another question (I think: very very difficult).

This 2022-2023 has to be a tank season, there is no other way to deal. But we shouldn't forget that we have a lot of other question marks going on: (1) Does Dach turn good?, (2) Does Anderson show he's for real?, (3) Is Mike Matheson the next Jeff Petry?, (4) Which of the tweener prospects breaks good (Ylonen, etc)?

Imagine Dach turns out good, at least two of the defenders turn out to be at least bottom3 worthy, and Matheson becomes a poor-man's #2. That's not a bad position to find ourselves at all... and we have the next topX pick to look forward to.

Don't neglect the MSL-effect either -- maybe he will be the one to unlock Anderson's capability for more.

 

[Sherwoo9]

The decisions about next offseason cannot be taken in advance as a lot of questions we have right now might have a lot clearer answer in a few months.
Goals for this season are:
A)focusing on development for players and prospects, as well as assessing their true potential
B)Maximizing return on the abundance of forwards we got

Let’s say the defense is a shitshow and we end up last… consolation prize might be Bedard but still lots of pieces needed…

But let’s say Suz/CC continue progressing… Slaf looks more Rantanen than Armia… Dach gets it together.. Ghule-Barron and Xhekaj-Harris end up being 2 NHL-level D pairings right off the gate… rebuild WILL look like a short one.
If we have a “better than expected” year and still maximize return on Monahan-Dadonov-Drouin-Hoffman-Allen(which I might prefer to keep on a backup contract extension), we might end up with a 3rd first rounder in an incredible draft +sh*tload of other pieces that will be added to the sh*tload of prospects we already have in the pipeline. Lots of which can be used to trade for missing pieces/upgrades since we won’t have spots for all of them anyway..
I really think that unless every actual youngsters under perform, after this season we need to be aiming at progression in the standings, even if it’s not playoff spot right away… we just need to trust management to do the right moves, choose the right prospects to hang on to and the right ones to sell high.

 

[HuGort]

I think we can contend again playoffs '24. If we have good draft

 

[salbutera]

 

[jj cale]

Maybe we don't pick top five this year but pick between 8-10, there is a kid in that range named cam allen who is a helluva defense prospect and is a RHD despite the forwards getting all the buzz this year. I'd be more then happy with him as our pick in that range, he's a player with tremendous upside and we do need an impact guy on Defense still.

We are going to get another good player this year, be it Bedard, Fantilli, Allen or whoever.

 

[NewEraGM]

While I’m all for not rushing the rebuild and trading for dubois , we seem to be certainly ahead of where teams want to be in year 1 of a rebuild. Just wait the extra year and sign dubois. No point trading assets to get him one year earlier.

I hate the idea of trading for dubois and I like the player but it is so not a need right now
Anyone who is in favor of trading for him now or next year just wants to see a trade for the sake of seeing a trade

Maybe we don't pick top five this year but pick between 8-10, there is a kid in that range named cam allen who is a helluva defense prospect and is a RHD despite the forwards getting all the buzz this year. I'd be more then happy with him as our pick in that range, he's a player with tremendous upside and we do need an impact guy on Defense still.

We are going to get another good player this year, be it Bedard, Fantilli, Allen or whoever.

Allen would be great. A great consolation prize if we miss out on Bedard and Fantilli

 

[dinodebino]

This is a bottom 5 roster. The division is impenetrable right now, Habs are clearly, clearly a bottom-3 team in the Eastern Conference. On the other side, I see Chicago and Arizona being pure suckage.

 

[dcyhabs]

This is a bottom 5 roster. The division is impenetrable right now, Habs are clearly, clearly a bottom-3 team in the Eastern Conference. On the other side, I see Chicago and Arizona being pure suckage.

Not going to challenge for a playoff spot, not going to out tank the shameless teams in a good draft year. PLD could be a good addition in 2 years, but it only works if the team is competitive by then. The D should be old enough to judge by then.

 

[Tutu to]

I mean adding Dubois + another high first round pick would make our forward group sick but like others have said I worry about our defence. A lot of boom or bust type prospects like Hutson and Mailloux and we don’t have any great goaltending prospects.

More work is needed.

 

[Destopcorner]

Not going to challenge for a playoff spot, not going to out tank the shameless teams in a good draft year. PLD could be a good addition in 2 years, but it only works if the team is competitive by then. The D should be old enough to judge by then.

PLD is a good addition everyday of the week. Perfect fit, young but old enough, local... and god do we need a lefty center. No problem paying up to make sure he comes home.

 

[NORiculous]

It's pretty evident the rebuild will be quick. First of all, Bergevin left the team in much better condition than what everyone is saying. Second, Gorton and Hughes are obviously smart and making a lot of good moves.

You already have a 1st line in place with Slaf, Suzuki and Caufield. Plenty of potential Ds with Guhle, Mailloux, Harris, Xhekaj, Norlinder, Barron and others. Dozens of other prospects too all throughout the organization and tons of draft picks. Of course, there are question marks in net.

HuGo will use this year to assess the kids and get rid of the dead weight. We will draft high again in 2023, potentially a blue chip prospect. Already in 2023-24, the team should be looking to make the playoffs. They won't tank again that's for sure.

We don’t know if Slaf is a 1st line guy. He could be anything between a 1st line guy and a 3rd line guy.

Lots of questions remain for all the kids on the blue line.

Another big question is:
Can Suzuki repeat?

The only thing that looks very very probable right now is that Caufield will score a lot of goals.

 

[bringbacktheskate604]

Its already a forgone conclusion imo
ive never felt better about a player situation than i have with this

we wont even wait for him to sign , im 100% convinced Kent pulls the trigger next summer even, coupled with another top 10 (hopefully top5) pick , and yeah, the rebuild will be somewhat "finished" as early was next years training camp

They havent been saying "accelerated rebuild" all this time for nothing
Look at the pieces we have already

I think you're severely over rating the foundation you guys have. I'm a fan of Van but as someone with French roots, I was forced into following the Habs as a kid and still watch and follow to this day.

So for comparison, Vancouver started their actual rebuild after the twins retired but had Demko, Horvat, Brock and drafted Petey that summer. After that we've added Quinn, Hoglander, Podz, and hopefully a few guys recently drafted, Klimovich, Rathbone, Lekkerimaki (sp) and a few others pan out.
Guys like JT, Garland, OEL were added to be a part of the core.

Vancouver has 2, 1cs and a 2C, a 1D that at 22 is a top 10 D and a top 10 goalie, along with several top 6 wingers.

That took 5+ years to accumulate and like every team several hopeful prospects failed which happens with every team.

Looking at the Habs Suzuki is not a top end 1C, you have no 1D and I doubt Ghule will produce the type of numbers for a #1 as well as a ppqb and you have no 1G.

Caufield racked up goals in completely pressure free games against teams often looking ahead to their next game but I think he's gonna be great on the pp. I have watched a ton of Dach since JR and he was drafted way too high simply because of his size, he sucks. Slaf is a winger the least valuable position, why you're GM passed on Wright or even Nemec because of size was odd considering the needs of the team. You may very well get your 1c next draft but teams that make the playoffs almost always have their best players mostly in their peak with some high-end younger guys 22-24 knocking on the door.

So you're saying after next season the Habs will be playoff contenders with Suzuki, Caufield, Ghule, Slaf, Dach and whoever drafted next summer? PLD is not a 1c none of the vets you have will be realistically good enough to carry the team while the kids grow and learn and you still lack the tent pole pieces that every cup team needs. Sure guys can be added via trades and UFA but how often do 1Cs 1Ds and 1Gs hit the market? And forget about getting them via trade without gutting the very core your GM is trying to build.

I'm not trying to be an A-hole but teams with better pieces have been spinning their wheels for years and still suck.

Teams like Vancouver, NJ, Buffalo have 5+ years head start and of the 3 Vancouver is the only 1 that has all the main pieces 1G, 1C, 1D, etc and a legit shot at the playoffs, this year. The Devils are a 1G away but have several elite players and are gonna be a force if their new goalie can be a #1.

As of now Suzuki is the only guy who has shown he's for sure a top six guy for more than 40 games and so far he's shown to be a 60ish point player, he's like in the Horvat tier and that's not a 1C.