Should this really be called a "rebuild"?

[Hins77]

This is a rebuild. We throw away weber, toffoli, chiarot, lehkonen, kulak and cie. If Hoffman and Gallagher contracts would not have been cap dump, they would be gone already too. So, yeah this is a rebuild with a new core in Suzuki, Caufield, Barron, Guhle….

 

[26Mats]

LTIR doesn't help, with so many ELC incoming, all bonuses come off the cap the following season, and you can't accrue cap room during the season for TDL acquisitions. As well there is a huge difference between being able to play, and being able to play like a 10.5M goalie, both in quality and number of starts.

If Price is somehow able to get back to health AND play as well as he used to, I really hope we trade him with 50% retained. That's quite a trade chip given all the teams that need goaltending.

However, at this point that scenario is a pipedream.

 

[HABitual Fan]

If Price goes to LTIR permanently, though, there may be an opportunity to trade him to a team desperate for salary cap space -- similar to the Weber to Vegas deal. It will be tougher, as Price's contract is not as front-loaded as Weber's, but it shouldn't be impossible.

The difference as I understand it is that the signing bonuses are not paid by insurance so the acquiring team needs to pay real money not just cap for free

 

[BLONG7]

The last place team, with the most $$$ spent on the Cap...............
Safe to say it's called a Reconstruction for sure!
The entire organization is getting a full on face lift, on and off the ice.
The Montreal Bergevins crashed and burned, and the new sheriff in town, has a mandate to get us back to some sort of semblance of a pro sports organization, using smart people instead of playing hunches.

Reconstruction! There..........you have it.

 

[danyhabsfan]

I thought Bergevin remove rebuild from the dictionnary.

Maybe I'm wrong

 

[calder candidate]

it is a rebuild whe had a teams even when to the cup final, contender or not when still made the final. Also new management so there starting over

 

[schwang26]

it is a rebuild whe had a teams even when to the cup final, contender or not when still made the final. Also new management so there starting over

As exciting as that run was, they basically limped into the playoffs in an anomalous season that'll never happen again. The run contributed to the end of Webers career, possibly Prices, and kept Edmonson out for quite some time. Not what I'd consider a typical Stanley cup run.
Besides, the goal going forward is to build for long term sustained success. I know its not important, but I just don't feel there was anything to rebuild on. They aren't rebuilding from having a previously successful team. I don't know. I'm just bored.

 

[JoelWarlord]

I don't really see why not being a contender previously means you can't describe a deliberate process of turning over the core of a team and shifting your competitive focus from the near term to the medium/long term as a rebuild. Seems like a pretty straightforward use of the verb to me.

In terms of the other discussion that's cropped up in this thread regarding how long it's going to take for Montreal to get out of the basement, I'll just say I think people will be pleasantly surprised by how things pan out in 23-24 and onwards. Granted I'm sure there will be a lot of bellyaching about "ruining" the rebuild by daring to actually improve instead of endlessly tanking, but I think it will be clear towards the end of this year that the foundation in place is stronger than it appears at the moment.

 

[calder candidate]

As exciting as that run was, they basically limped into the playoffs in an anomalous season that'll never happen again. The run contributed to the end of Webers career, possibly Prices, and kept Edmonson out for quite some time. Not what I'd consider a typical Stanley cup run.
Besides, the goal going forward is to build for long term sustained success. I know its not important, but I just don't feel there was anything to rebuild on. They aren't rebuilding from having a previously successful team. I don't know. I'm just bored.

Even if we weren’t contenter it isn’t like MB wasn’t trying to ice a winning team, so the next guy is rebuild… if he was just adding guys that would be one thing but he is definitely shipping guys out and replacing them… you don’t need to be or have been a contender to rebuild…

 

[sandviper]

I'd call this a remodel more than a rebuild. A rebuild to me implies a tear down and redo. Chicago comes to mind, as does Arizona to an extent though I'd argue it's more of a rebuild where they keep changing contractors part way through.

While we have torn down some of the foundation, we still got too many multi-year contracts tying up the team. Some of those contracts aren't going to move, though I hope they do.

 

[MoneyManny]

I don't really see why not being a contender previously means you can't describe a deliberate process of turning over the core of a team and shifting your competitive focus from the near term to the medium/long term as a rebuild. Seems like a pretty straightforward use of the verb to me.

In terms of the other discussion that's cropped up in this thread regarding how long it's going to take for Montreal to get out of the basement, I'll just say I think people will be pleasantly surprised by how things pan out in 23-24 and onwards. Granted I'm sure there will be a lot of bellyaching about "ruining" the rebuild by daring to actually improve instead of endlessly tanking, but I think it will be clear towards the end of this year that the foundation in place is stronger than it appears at the moment.

I'm not even sure we have a clear top 4 defenseman right now, no goalie for the future, and among the worst top 6 in the league. We need a LOT of prospects to massively exceed expectations and a lot of luck in the next draft to be anywhere close to pleasantly surprised in 23-24 and onwards.

 

[JoelWarlord]

I'm not even sure we have a clear top 4 defenseman right now, no goalie for the future, and among the worst top 6 in the league. We need a LOT of prospects to massively exceed expectations and a lot of luck in the next draft to be anywhere close to pleasantly surprised in 23-24 and onwards.

I'm not talking about being a cup contender by 23-24, but I think this team will and should be out of the basement by that season. The defence is a huge problem right now, but I don't think it's massively exceeding expectations to potentially consider Guhle and Barron being serviceable 2nd pair D by 23-24 and make up a half-decent defence group alongside Matheson (I think they're going to trade Anderson or Dvorak for an actual defenceman in the next 12 months as well).

In terms of forwards, there's a lot of projection involved but there's also a pretty big cohort of guys who are a few years into their development and could be ready by October 2023 (eg. Mysak, Roy, Farrell) on top of Ylonen who I think will make the jump this year and stick around as an alright 3rd liner. It's not that I think there's going to be an instant rapid upswing in one year but I think there's a clear path to go from horrific in 22-23 to mediocre in 23-24 and continue an upswing from there. I don't think we're going to be in the basement again after this season.

 

[ZUKI]

I don't really see why not being a contender previously means you can't describe a deliberate process of turning over the core of a team and shifting your competitive focus from the near term to the medium/long term as a rebuild. Seems like a pretty straightforward use of the verb to me.

In terms of the other discussion that's cropped up in this thread regarding how long it's going to take for Montreal to get out of the basement, I'll just say I think people will be pleasantly surprised by how things pan out in 23-24 and onwards. Granted I'm sure there will be a lot of bellyaching about "ruining" the rebuild by daring to actually improve instead of endlessly tanking, but I think it will be clear towards the end of this year that the foundation in place is stronger than it appears at the moment.

I agree with you. It won't be that long.I think that the fans forget that there was a reset already made and that Bergevin has added a lot of draft selections (although they were not first rounders), and we are going to see the result very soon with few players closed to make the show.

Fans also forget that the Habs have beaten the record of the NHL's injury day list. Of course, Price/Weber were a large part of this, but i think that it also affected a lot of players that under-performed

 

[FerrisRox]

how about Shirley?

Don't call me Shirley.

 

[jaffy27]

The last place team, with the most $$$ spent on the Cap...............
Safe to say it's called a Reconstruction for sure!
The entire organization is getting a full on face lift, on and off the ice.
The Montreal Bergevins crashed and burned, and the new sheriff in town, has a mandate to get us back to some sort of semblance of a pro sports organization, using smart people instead of playing hunches.

Reconstruction! There..........you have it.

Reconstruction……Stage 1 complete

2 more to go

 

[KevSkillz4]

We're more in the building stage right now.

2019: 3rd overall + 15th overall (Dach, Caufield)
2020: 16th overall + 25th overall (Guhle, Barron)
2021: 31st overall (Mailloux)
2022: 1st overall + 26th overall (Slafkovsky, Mesar)

We have 7 players drafted in the 1st round in the last 4 years, including a 1st overall and 3rd overall.
We will most likely add another top 10 pick and bottom 10 pick next year to that list.

That should be enough to complete the rebuild in terms of prospects if we develop them properly.

We can certainly add Nick Suzuki at 13th overall in 2017. (In re-draft he worth a top 5 pick to me). So it's really good so far.

Habs have some prospect in their prospect that they actually worth a 1st round pick too. (Roy, Farrell, Hutson, Beck and Kidney).

 

[schwang26]

Reconstruction……Stage 1 complete

2 more to go

View attachment 577398

It was absolutely needed. They worried about other, less important crap and yet let the on ice product become a mess. Management and development was more or less a disaster. Im more than fine suffering through the next couple years as long as they're moving in the right direction. They still need a top pick this year though. I really hope this isn't a case of tanking in the wrong draft year. They need star power to truly compete.

 

[HuGort]

Allen often injured and only backup caliber goalie in best scenario. Monty is third string will carry load much of season. Defense is already thin and usually couple of injuries every year. Many veterans be moved out by February

Be a long year in Montreal. Habs be drafting high again.

 

[Cournoyer12]

Allen often injured and only backup caliber goalie in best scenario. Monty is third string will carry load much of season. Defense is already thin and usually couple of injuries every year. Many veterans be moved out by February

Be a long year in Montreal. Habs be drafting high again.

Agree, will be a long year scoreboard wise, but should be a very entertaining year style wise! Let ‘em go Marty, run and gun! Or as Jerry Granville coined it “Chuck and Duck “!

 

[ChesterNimitz]

This is why I don't think this can be a carbon-copy of the NYR scenario, the demolition is averted by pieces that can't be moved, so we might linger in the top 5 drafting position for 3-4 years.

There could be worse outcomes.

 

[Sherwoo9]

We can certainly add Nick Suzuki at 13th overall in 2017. (In re-draft he worth a top 5 pick to me). So it's really good so far.

Habs have some prospect in their prospect that they actually worth a 1st round pick too. (Roy, Farrell, Hutson, Beck and Kidney).

The others I may agree on the “late first-like value” but wow on Kidney and Hutson being worth a first. Kidney had an alright season but is still a long shot on having any kind of impact at the NHL level… and Hutson is 6 weeks from being drafted in the 3rd round. It’s not because Pronman rates him higher that he is suddenly “worth a first” still has to grow and bulk up just to survive pro hockey.

 

[JianYang]

I was thinking about this today, and can this really be called a rebuild? Doesn't that imply that there was something there previously? I mean, when was the last time the Habs were contenders, let alone favorites? (Please don't bring up the Stanley cup run 2 years ago, they were neither). How often have they even won their conference in the last 20 years? Even going back to 1993, they weren't considered contenders.
I think this is more of "building" rather than "rebuilding".

It's a rebuild, and it's quite simple why it is.

The mentality has shifted from trying to make the playoffs under the old regime, to basically admitting that they aren't contending for anything under the new regime.

You can't have that mindset shift without rebuilding.