HF Habs: The official 2023-2024 tank thread

[Adam Michaels]

Only 3 games tonight. Desired results:

- CBJ vs. BUF in OT/SO: Ideally this game goes to OT/SO. If BUF wins, they move 4 pts ahead of MTL. If CBJ wins, they move 4 pts behind MTL with 1 game in hand.
- MIN win vs. EDM: MIN win moves them 8 pts ahead of MTL.

The other game is WIN vs. CHI. CHI is 19 pts behind MTL, so not even worth checking. And WIN is currently safe in a Top-3 division spot. They are 11 pts ahead of the next two division teams, STL and NSH, and they have 2-3 games in hand on them. So even if we want the WIN 1st to be a better pick, it won't.

 

[MTL Dirty Birdy]

If the Flames pick ends up higher than expected, any chance they give it to us this year?

It’s available at 20 I think? If so, I’d take and package it with Winnipegs to move up. Top 10-15 has some really interesting prospects. OR trade them
For a solid top 6 prospect

 

[Nedved]

Only 3 games tonight. Desired results:

- CBJ vs. BUF in OT/SO: Ideally this game goes to OT/SO. If BUF wins, they move 4 pts ahead of MTL. If CBJ wins, they move 4 pts behind MTL with 1 game in hand.
- MIN win vs. EDM: MIN win moves them 8 pts ahead of MTL.

The other game is WIN vs. CHI. CHI is 19 pts behind MTL, so not even worth checking. And WIN is currently safe in a Top-3 division spot. They are 11 pts ahead of the next two division teams, STL and NSH, and they have 2-3 games in hand on them. So even if we want the WIN 1st to be a better pick, it won't.

if they win their division it'll make a huge difference. We want the hawks to win because right now they're on pace to win the division.

 

[rahad]

That is the general vibe around the organization.

This is it for being at the bottom (now they could still end up picking high next year) but they aren't going to be looking at things from an asset accumulation perspective, it will be how to trim the fat and bring in more pieces, support that is geared toward winning hockey games.

I know they had a certain expectation this year to do better than last year and in many respects they have, but they are still down at the bottom of the league.. but when you lose Dach in period 4, it put a lot of things out of whack, for a team that had been gutted for a rebuild, there was no one to properly and adequately make up for that loss.

This will be a lot of fun next year though, we'll have a top 8 pick on offense in the system.. Hutson, Reinbacher, Mesar, Beck and Engstrom will all be in the AHL/NHL. Dach will be back. It will be year 3 for Slafkovsky. The defenseman like Guhle and Xhekaj will take another step.

I hope Baron and Harris also take the next step. With Reinbacher. Hutson and Mailloux in the AHL next year. They are on a time clock. In the season of 2025-2026, we could see 3 new D with the Habs.

 

[salbutera]

5th spot pre lotto is a sexy spot, you're right there for Demidov or Lindstrom.

Assuming 4-teams above prefer D over F. Hiatorically teams prefer drafting F in top-4 over D unless said Dman is tagged generational / clear cut top player in draft cuvée (Hedman, Dahlin, Power etc)

 

[Habs 4 Life]

Jackets in OT tonight against Buffalo would be a fantastic result IMO

 

[Adam Michaels]

if they win their division it'll make a huge difference. We want the hawks to win because right now they're on pace to win the division.

Yea, that's fine.

But personally, I don't think that will make much of a difference whether they win the division or not. That pick will be between 23-28 if they don't go to the Conference Finals or Finals.

Division winners pick between 25 and 28. And if Winnipeg doesn't win the division and they aren't in the final four, they will most likely pick 22-24. Sure, having the 22nd pick is better than the 28th or later, I won't argue with that one, but I don't think it's enough of a difference for me to desire a win or a loss for their games.

Only time I will desire a loss is if they're facing teams that are around Habs in the standings.

 

[JeffreyLFC]

5th spot pre lotto is a sexy spot, you're right there for Demidov or Lindstrom.

Or Dickinson!

 

[WeThreeKings]

Or Dickinson!

Very unlikely they would do that.. not much has changed since they would have gone Leonard if Reinbacher shot left.

 

[JeffreyLFC]

Very unlikely they would do that.. not much has changed since they would have gone Leonard if Reinbacher shot left.

The habs do not have a franchise defenseman like Dahlin/Heskainen that can takeover offensively while being dominant defensively. He is exactly that. The ripple effect would also be great (trading away lesser defenseman for help offensively). I do not care if left handed or right handed. He is a clear notch above all.

 

[WeThreeKings]

The habs do not have a franchise defenseman like Dahlin/Heskainen that can takeover offensively while being dominant defensively. He is exactly that. The ripple effect would also be great.

I like Dickinson but takeover offensively, I don't see that.. I think his offensive potential is higher than Guhle, mainly due to the shot, but outside of that, he's not a creative playmaker or puck mover.

This is the last very valuable pick in the chamber of the rebuild, I don't think pushing Guhle down to pairing 2, Xhekaj to 3, and basically banishing Hutson, Engstrom and Struble from the future of the team makes the most sense.

There's a hole up front and Lindstrom or Demidov fill that and can be part of the core growing in D+2.

 

[LaP]

They will sell, and they are close to us in the standing, we must distance them before they s*** even more

Even after selling on paper their team will be better than us. People need to stop panicking like with Boston this summer, take a breath, go on capfriendly and look at the lineups.

This is Calgary lineup after selling expiring contracts :

Huberdeau-Kadri-Kuzmenko
Magiapane-Sharangovich-Coleman
Pelletier-Backlund-Zary

Kylington-Weegar
Anderson

Markstrom

I don't think teams will be interested in Kylington with his out of ice problems. Calgary will probably try to extend him for a year like we did with Monahan. Markstrom will likely be traded next summer with his 6 millions cap hit don't think this is happening this deadline.

This is a better lineup than us with more experience. Obviously i prefer our lineup since it's made of kids with potential but atm Calgary on paper has a better team even after selling. Tanev is overrated.

 

[Gustave]

The habs do not have a franchise defenseman like Dahlin/Heskainen that can takeover offensively while being dominant defensively. He is exactly that. The ripple effect would also be great (trading away lesser defenseman for help offensively). I do not care if left handed or right handed. He is a clear notch above all.

At SOME point we'll have to pick up a high end forward... Something has to give. We cannot go forward with our team build without another F piece, it's glaring. It's evident when you watch our 3 other lines on the ice in the current make up of the team; nothing happens.

We don't have another piece to play with Dach (hoping he can stay healthy btw), we are lacking in that department.

 

[WeThreeKings]

At SOME point we'll have to pick up a high end forward... Something has to give. We cannot go forward with our team build without another F piece, it's glaring. It's evident when you watch our 3 other lines on the ice in the current make up of the team; nothing happens.

We don't have another piece to play with Dach (hoping he can stay healthy btw), we are lacking in that department.

And it's not like you can just snap your fingers and turn a defenceman into a top forward.

I'm a huge fan of Dickinson and Parekh, in a normal year I'd be banging the table about those guys, but neither of them make sense.

It'd be like me banging the drum for the Packers to target Odunze in this years draft when the wide receiver room is very good and very deep already, while there are multiple great CBs/S available.

 

[Tyson]

Hughes will have to do something significant before next season to improve this team.
I know his hands are tied with the asinine contracts Bergevin handed out but you have to work around that. Packaging up a young D prospect with some picks to grab a good young forward has to happen.

 

[Supersonic]

Nothing - Habs beat writers have made it pretty clear that the interest in Dvorak around the league is basically nothing.

I think we have no choice but to try to squeeze a good season out of him, let Beck simmer in the AHL, and go from there.

f***ing Bergevin man, it is truly amazing how many turds he left.

I’m not sure what’s worse - what Bergevin himself did to this team- or the fact there are posters to this day who call him the maestro lmao

 

[LaP]

I think Logan Mailloux has the potential to be a top 10 offensive dman in the league. Paired with a guy like Guhle it will work just fine. We should draft a forward if an elite talented one is available.

 

[Gustave]

And it's not like you can just snap your fingers and turn a defenceman into a top forward.

I'm a huge fan of Dickinson and Parekh, in a normal year I'd be banging the table about those guys, but neither of them make sense.

It'd be like me banging the drum for the Packers to target Odunze in this years draft when the wide receiver room is very good and very deep already, while there are multiple great CBs/S available.

Football analogy fits with how we are currently built, we have pieces everywhere except on F. WE won't get another chance at a high end F if I see what HUGO is doing correctly. This is it.

Hughes will have to do something significant before next season to improve this team.
I know his hands are tied with the asinine contracts Bergevin handed out but you have to work around that. Packaging up a young D prospect with some picks to grab a good young forward has to happen.

Not a Newhook type that can take a shift on a second but is destined to be a 3rd line W that takes advantage of weak match ups, with say a Beck and a Roy.

A real game changer.

 

[LaP]

Football analogy fits with how we are currently built, we have pieces everywhere except on F. WE won't get another chance at a high end F if I see what HUGO is doing correctly. This is it.

Amen. Defense will be just fine.

Guhle-Mailloux
Hutson-Reinbacher
Struble-Baron
Xhekaj-Konyushkov
Engstrom-Harris
The man, the myth, the legend Kieran Ruscheinski (not to be confused with the lesser Kevin Korchinski)

Obviously some of those guys will miss but there's enough depth and enough of a little bit of everything to build a strong defense capable of winning a champ. We can also add to that in the 2nd round or at the end of the first round this year and next.

Our 1st overall pick should ideally not be traded and should be used to draft a forward with clear elite potential.

 

[Nicko999]

Jackets in OT tonight against Buffalo would be a fantastic result IMO

Of course that would be the ideal scenario.
Second best scenario would be a Jackets regulation win. We aren't catching Buffalo.

 

[KevSkillz4]

Finish bottom 6 will be perfect this year.

Without the Dach injurie, I don't think Habs finish bottom 6, for sure. So we are lucky to be in that spot at this moment. After Reinbacher pick, Mailloux progression, it's obvious that the best pick should be a forward for Habs. The prospect pool at D is depth, good with great potential.

If Habs don't W Celebrini in lottery day, I certainly see one of Lindstrom, Eiserman, Demidov, Catton, Helenius or Iginla, become a Montreal Canadiens, that would be huge for the future adding one of that type of forward. They all have great potential.

 

[WeThreeKings]

I’m not sure what’s worse - what Bergevin himself did to this team- or the fact there are posters to this day who call him the maestro lmao

The ones who have turned on this regime and Marty very quickly.. how fast we forget how bad things were.

 

[rik schau]

Things are going as planned when the so called 4th line looked the best. lol

 

[WeThreeKings]

Hughes will have to do something significant before next season to improve this team.
I know his hands are tied with the asinine contracts Bergevin handed out but you have to work around that. Packaging up a young D prospect with some picks to grab a good young forward has to happen.

If we draft Lindstrom/Celebrini/Demidov.. does that still have to happen?

 

[Nicko999]

Things are going as planned when the so called 4th line looked the best. lol

And a lot of people want to draft the injured player. Nothing against the kid, he is a hell of a hockey player but why ask for trouble? Durability should be in the top 5 quality we are looking for in a prospect.