The state of the Habs Rebuild - The Next step

[SwiftyHab]

I think that if Dvorak, Armia, and Savard play well enough to garner substantial value at the deadline, then the Habs will likely be a bubble team at worst.

That will be an interesting situation. If those players are playing well and we’re in the race, management will not want to demoralize the team and trade them even though we’re in a rebuild and could probably get some more good picks for them.

 

[WeThreeKings]

That will be an interesting situation. If those players are playing well and we’re in the race, management will not want to demoralize the team and trade them even though we’re in a rebuild and could probably get some more good picks for them.

It will depend on a few things.. like they could afford to trade Savard if Reinbacher or Mailloux are stepping in and taking that spot right away.

But I don't think accumulating more picks is a bigger priority than experience for them now. We still have a lot of picks and we will likely get more because not every young player we have can make it and be on our roster either.

 

[Milhouse40]

That will be an interesting situation. If those players are playing well and we’re in the race, management will not want to demoralize the team and trade them even though we’re in a rebuild and could probably get some more good picks for them.

But that's one of the beauty of how KH built this team so far.

We don't need those picks.
Of course, assets are always welcome no matter how little value they have but we're already set-up with 12 picks next draft and 9 for the 2026 draft. If we didn't have those picks, there would be a need to trade them no matter what, now we can simple make the best decision without that pressure.

And although we don't need those picks, some of those players might be replaced by even better player considering our large pool of prospect, so it might make sense to trade them anyway.

Great position to be in.

 

[Supersonic]

Eventually the team needs to turn the corner and not get stuck in the mud like Buffalo, Detroit and Ottawa.

Hughes has accelerated the rebuild by trading for Dach, Newhook, Matheson and now Laine. Before yesterday, I was thinking this year would be another top-10 pick.

I think now we have boosted our secondary scoring and cleared the goalie logjam, our success will rely on the growth of our young players (Suzuki, Caufield, Slaf, Newhook, Dach, Guhle, Barron, Xhekaj and Hutson). Given that list is so long, I think it’s likely we see growth from at least a handful of them….

I think HuGo wants to say we are moving forward and fighting for the playoffs now. It would be incredible if we are a fringe and/or playoff team this year, then make a bid for Crosby.

We still have tons of picks coming up to ship out Anderson and maybe shore up holes in the lineup.

What an exciting time for us

 

[Egresch]

I assume we will be in the wildcard race this year, if we stay healthy. Organic growth and additions to the roster could bring us there:

	GF	GA	GD
Season 23-24	236​	289​	-53​
G- no 3G rotation		-5​
D- more experience of young Ds		-5​
F- Monahan missing (5on5)	-5​
F- Dach and Laine addition (5on5)	28​
PP- increase from 17,5% to 21,4%	10​
PP- decrease SHG against (12 to 7)		-5​
PK- reduce penalties (277 to 256)		-5​
Season 24-25	269​	269​	0​

I do not think any of these look unrealistic.

 

[HuGo Burner Acc]

Eventually the team needs to turn the corner and not get stuck in the mud like Buffalo, Detroit and Ottawa.

Hughes has accelerated the rebuild by trading for Dach, Newhook, Matheson and now Laine. Before yesterday, I was thinking this year would be another top-10 pick.

I think now we have boosted our secondary scoring and cleared the goalie logjam, our success will rely on the growth of our young players (Suzuki, Caufield, Slaf, Newhook, Dach, Guhle, Barron, Xhekaj and Hutson). Given that list is so long, I think it’s likely we see growth from at least a handful of them….

I think HuGo wants to say we are moving forward and fighting for the playoffs now. It would be incredible if we are a fringe and/or playoff team this year, then make a bid for Crosby.

We still have tons of picks coming up to ship out Anderson and maybe shore up holes in the lineup.

What an exciting time for us

They don't really have the cap space for Crosby while having cap flexibility. Trading one of Gallagher or Anderson just became a near necessity next offseason if you want to be able to add while having flexibility

 

[DAChampion]

They don't really have the cap space for Crosby while having cap flexibility. Trading one of Gallagher or Anderson just became a near necessity next offseason if you want to be able to add while having flexibility

They don't need cap flexibility if they add Crosby.

 

[Egresch]

They don't really have the cap space for Crosby while having cap flexibility. Trading one of Gallagher or Anderson just became a near necessity next offseason if you want to be able to add while having flexibility

We do have cap space for Crosby next offseson. Currently, we aim at apx. 75M cap which would leave a lot of cap space to negotiate someone like Crosby for 2 year deal.

 

[KevSkillz4]

If Laine put all together and stay healthy, the rebuild just take a huge step forward. (Re-sign with Habs).

Adding a player like this who can put 40 goals in this corrent group, that's amazing.

The top 6 will looks so good when Demidov will come here. Imagine a PP with Demidov, Laine and Hutson... wow!

 

[417]

Who knew 20 years ago when the Boston Bruins drafted Patrice Bergeron and their GM (Jeff Gorton) signed him to his ELC with his then agent (Kent Hughes) that it would set off a set of events and a friendship, that have led to watching two men lead the Montreal Canadiens Hockey Ops department like two bosses.

 

[HuGo Burner Acc]

They don't need cap flexibility if they add Crosby.

Yes they do for adding depth on the fourth line and bottom pair. You can't have all kids on D and the fourth line is simply not good enough imo

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Guess the tank is dead

 

[HuGo Burner Acc]

We do have cap space for Crosby next offseson. Currently, we aim at apx. 75M cap which would leave a lot of cap space to negotiate someone like Crosby for 2 year deal.

I agree but it would also mean absolutely no cap flexibility unless you trade away Anderson or Gallagher. And cap flexibility is the greatest strength for a team looking to compete

 

[Saundies]

After Laine, we're in a good spot. We're looking to compete a little and play some meaningful games. This is another year of younger guys taking steps, coming up and getting tastes, and hopefully staying on the ice and being healthy (IMO this is the number one thing, especially for guys like Dach, Laine, Cole, Guhle, etc).

We're transitioning from full blown tanking to "we're so back". If there was a rebuild meter, our needle would be directly in the middle IMO.

 

[BLONG7]

Guess the tank is dead

Dead and out of gas.
Good times ahead for sure.......................not that everything is rosey by any means, but wow moving in a terrific direction with prospects and pick in the background also................these guys have done an amazing job so far...

 

[Benstheman]

Do you guys think we are still in the bottom 10 of NHL next season?

If not, do our 1st pick becomes expendable?

 

[WeThreeKings]

Do you guys think we are still in the bottom 10 of NHL next season?

If not, do our 1st pick becomes expendable?

With the parity of the league.. you can pick bottom 10 or just outside of it and not miss the playoffs by much. So I still think we are around 10.

And no it doesn't become expendable unless a true young 1D or C becomes available like an Eichel did once upon a time.

 

[ahmedou]

The next step is to bring back the Stanley Cup to Montreal.

No others steps than that.

 

[Sorinth]

This might be the first time since our last cup that we have at least 3 players hit 30 goals, and we could easily end up with 5+ 60 point players which again is something last seen when we won the cup.

We obviously still have holes, but at least during the regular season being able to score goals can cover up a lot of a team's weaknesses and I like our odds of outscoring our lineup holes.

 

[DesmondDekker]

Guess the tank is dead

Yup. Technically we only tanked for two seasons, as 2021-22 saw MB make some moves to keep us in no man’s land (Dvorak).

Hughes and Gorton have impeccably managed their assets (players, picks and cap space) over the past two and a half years. I was ready for the team to be bottom feeders for four-five years, but the Laine trade shows they are willing to take this franchise to the next level.

Let the kids learn how to win over the next two seasons, with small adjustments we can probably contend for a few years starting in 2026-27. We will be trending up as the current top Atlantic teams should start to slow down.

 

[habbubba]

A few of us were talking during the 19th hole and suddenly this upcoming season got a heck of a lot more interesting didn't it. A season that they have the potential, if remaining healthy, to put up a lot more goals than the last few seasons. If the players in question reach their minimum expected output, potentially 50 more goals than last season and that would help in those 1 goal games lost, tank time done! More goals and a better overall team defense and the team could conceivably be competing for a playoff spot making it much more exciting and fun and worthwhile following.

 

[HuGort]

Eventually the team needs to turn the corner and not get stuck in the mud like Buffalo, Detroit and Ottawa.

Hughes has accelerated the rebuild by trading for Dach, Newhook, Matheson and now Laine. Before yesterday, I was thinking this year would be another top-10 pick.

I think now we have boosted our secondary scoring and cleared the goalie logjam, our success will rely on the growth of our young players (Suzuki, Caufield, Slaf, Newhook, Dach, Guhle, Barron, Xhekaj and Hutson). Given that list is so long, I think it’s likely we see growth from at least a handful of them….

I think HuGo wants to say we are moving forward and fighting for the playoffs now. It would be incredible if we are a fringe and/or playoff team this year, then make a bid for Crosby.

We still have tons of picks coming up to ship out Anderson and maybe shore up holes in the lineup.

What an exciting time for us

Staying healthy going to be big issue for plus .500 season. Habs have several key players with long injury history

 

[Garbageyuk]

I love the moves Hughes made this summer. His management and communication style is such a contrast from what we are used to, in a good way.

But at the same time, I have to keep the sobering thought in mind: if this doesn’t lead us to a Cup win in the next 5-8 years, none of it matters.

We’ve seen how a promising rebuild can go off the rails with one or two wrong moves - the Leafs with the Tavares signing, the Oilers with the Nurse signing. Both those teams had much better pieces than us.

Thats where I’m at as a fan. This franchise is due for a return to glory.

Just get it done, ffs. I hope Hughes is the man to get us there.

 

[Junohockeyfan]

I love the moves Hughes made this summer. His management and communication style is such a contrast from what we are used to, in a good way.

But at the same time, I have to keep the sobering thought in mind: if this doesn’t lead us to a Cup win in the next 5-8 years, none of it matters.

We’ve seen how a promising rebuild can go off the rails with one or two wrong moves - the Leafs with the Tavares signing, the Oilers with the Nurse signing. Both those teams had much better pieces than us.

Thats where I’m at as a fan. This franchise is due for a return to glory.

Just get it done, ffs. I hope Hughes is the man to get us there.

The biggest concern i had this season was Dach not having talent to play with, impacting his development. This is a crucial point in Dach's development where he needs to step into a top-6 role. Having top-line talent in Laine (assuming he and Laine are healthy) will accelerate Dach's development.

This was a good developmental move IMO. Buys time for Demidov.

 

[LaP]

But that's one of the beauty of how KH built this team so far.

We don't need those picks.
Of course, assets are always welcome no matter how little value they have but we're already set-up with 12 picks next draft and 9 for the 2026 draft. If we didn't have those picks, there would be a need to trade them no matter what, now we can simple make the best decision without that pressure.

And although we don't need those picks, some of those players might be replaced by even better player considering our large pool of prospect, so it might make sense to trade them anyway.

Great position to be in.

You always need picks. If we bundle four 2nd round picks (let's just say we get one for Savard and one for Dvorak) along with our two first round picks to move up in the first round a team in the top 10 might bite.