The state of the Habs Rebuild - The Next step

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What note you give to Kent Hughes' Rebuild? ?

  • A

    Votes: 191 59.3%
  • B

    Votes: 113 35.1%
  • C

    Votes: 17 5.3%
  • D

    Votes: 1 0.3%
  • E

    Votes: 1 0.3%
  • F

    Votes: 1 0.3%

  • Total voters
    322

Scintillating10

Registered User
Jun 15, 2012
20,886
10,043
Nova Scotia
This my friends is why I always say that Houle got too much blame for the Habs fall from grace. The tail end of Savard's tenure as Habs GM, started the slide. Houle just accelerated the nosedive.
Once he became highly successful in business, Savard fell in love with money. Habs became second fiddle. Because at the start he was great.

Around this time Savard made 20 million on a race horse. His colt won The Little Brown Jug. He was on Montreal radio. Said he'd been around race tracks since hanging out with John Ferguson back in '60s. He knew his Colts. He said horses genes usually come from grand parents as much as parents. He bought the colt for $2,000. Sold breeding rights for 20 million.
 
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cphabs

The 2 stooges….
Dec 21, 2012
7,762
5,225
Kent completely understands the league he is operating in. As soon as cap limits, profit sharing, and expansions started? Or compounded? Its a fairly easy task to understand.
 

rik schau

Peeping has perks. lol
Mar 1, 2021
2,013
2,246
Rubibi
Way to premature to grade, what have they accomplished? they tanked poorly affecting their drafting power and chose questionable players and passed on others, outcome TBD. So far hey have replenished some stock. They handed out some lucrative contracts that have to work out. At some point, they have to try to ice a competitive roster which they have not attempted yet. Once they start to try to make the playoffs, can evaluate more accurately. They still have players deemed by this portion of the fan base players that are undesirable and should have been moved. Other teams are able to do so yet Montreal has not done so.
 

Beer and Chips

Registered User
Feb 5, 2018
1,452
1,086
Dvorak, Armia, Gallagher, and Anderson haven't been a problem because we haven't had anyone ready to replace them but we're quickly approaching a point where these players are blocking prospects. They have said that the future is the priority yet shown that maximizing the return on assets is a priority so I'm curious as to how they handle these players. This is my test of this management.
 

Canadienna

Registered User
Jan 27, 2015
12,453
17,294
Dvorak, Armia, Gallagher, and Anderson haven't been a problem because we haven't had anyone ready to replace them but we're quickly approaching a point where these players are blocking prospects. They have said that the future is the priority yet shown that maximizing the return on assets is a priority so I'm curious as to how they handle these players. This is my test of this management.

I think that's fair, but they've shown a level of competence that makes me confident they'll navigate it effectively.

They also aren't magicians. They have options, like waiving Armia last year, but they're obviously pretty limited in what they can do with those guys.
 
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Egresch

Registered User
Jul 10, 2022
925
1,277
Way to premature to grade, what have they accomplished? they tanked poorly affecting their drafting power and chose questionable players and passed on others, outcome TBD. So far hey have replenished some stock. They handed out some lucrative contracts that have to work out. At some point, they have to try to ice a competitive roster which they have not attempted yet. Once they start to try to make the playoffs, can evaluate more accurately. They still have players deemed by this portion of the fan base players that are undesirable and should have been moved. Other teams are able to do so yet Montreal has not done so.
You are right, it is way too early. Thats why I kept B, but I have to admit they made so many good decisions. Lot of other teams went through rebuild, but made some significant mistakes in the process:
CHI tanked for Bedard, but that Jones contract is crazy and none of their F prospects is established in NHL
TOR looked promising 7 years ago, but ruined it with those big contracts
OTT has young core, but no prospect pool because they rushed the process
DET also rushed the process by signing stupid UFA contracts
EDM Neal, Campbell and Nurse contracts are huge mistakes, no prospect pool
I do not see that with Habs.
To me, ANA and SJS seem like well started rebuilds, but they are also pretty far.
 

Lafleurs Guy

Guuuuuuuy!
Jul 20, 2007
77,129
48,057
Way to premature to grade, what have they accomplished? they tanked poorly affecting their drafting power and chose questionable players and passed on others, outcome TBD. So far hey have replenished some stock. They handed out some lucrative contracts that have to work out. At some point, they have to try to ice a competitive roster which they have not attempted yet. Once they start to try to make the playoffs, can evaluate more accurately. They still have players deemed by this portion of the fan base players that are undesirable and should have been moved. Other teams are able to do so yet Montreal has not done so.
Two ways to grade this. Actions vs results. Too early to grade the results? Okay.

But that doesn’t mean we can’t look at the moves and work that’s gone into this rebuild. Our GM has traded vets for picks and prospects, weaponized cap space for more picks, drafted top five or better in three consecutive drafts (nonsense to say they ‘tanked poorly’) and assembled a highly ranked group of young prospects. He’s done everything a rebuilding GM should do.

If we’re going to grade him, it should be based on what we know now - today. It’s absolutely correct to say that we won’t know if this team will have long term success. But right now we have several young players with tremendous upside. And it’s not homerism to say this. We have three or four potential superstars in the lineup/prospect pool. It’s one of the best young pools in the league.

Cc had his career saved by MSL. Broke records in the minors and started off with 48 goals in 82 under MSL. Shoulder injury got in the way but there’s huge potential there.

Slafkovsky has done nothing but improve at a crazy rate. First overall pick and he looks like one.

Hutson broke the NCAA scoring record for blueliners. We got him in a trade and took him in the 2nd round.

Demidov is one of the highest rated prospects outside the NHL.

And there are tons of other great prospects/players we could talk about. Suzuki had a terrific second half and is a solid two way center. Roy won a scoring title in the minors and got off to a great start in the AHL. The D looks packed with good young players from Guhle to RB to Mailloux….

It may be too soon to judge the long term results but it’s not too soon to judge what Hugo have done. They’ve taken a page of of Sam Pollock’s book and used every resource to improve the club. We don’t have to wait to be able to see that. He’s done everything I was hoping a rebuilding GM would do and I’ve said this for eons. Look at the Laine deal. Some posters here wanted us to give up real assets to get him. Instead we got paid a second. That’s how you run a team.

To me he’s a no brainer A+.
 
Last edited:

Non Player Canadiens

Registered User
Jan 25, 2012
11,253
11,092
Maplewood, NJ


Regardless it just feels great to be able to cheer for wins again!

can't just stockpile picks and rebuild forever. you have to decide to start competing at some point. i also believe the time is now. the raw talent is there, let them grow, together, in the NHL

This kid's gonna be an absolute superstar. I watched a couple games he played for you guys, and I know you all watched him too. But wow. Those freak puck skills, that slippery skating, puck distribution.

I'm actually jealous but the Sabres have 3 LHD so he wouldn't fit anyway. But damn. I wonder if we ever trade for Byram if this kid was in the Sabres system.

Left handed Erik Karlsson and maybe even better. I noticed he wasn't terrible in his own zone either. He seemed about average which is crazy good for a rookie d.

Congrats, you guys have a dynasty in the making.
And no, I'm not just fishing for likes.
I really like this player.

He'll get 45-60 points his rookie year as a d-man.

Special, special player.

Congrats!
damn, tip of the hat sir 🎩
 

montreal

Go Habs Go
Mar 21, 2002
58,374
43,144
www.youtube.com
can't just stockpile picks and rebuild forever. you have to decide to start competing at some point. i also believe the time is now. the raw talent is there, let them grow, together, in the NHL

The rebuild ends when those picks/prospects start improving enough over time. The easy part is getting said picks and prospects, the hard part is what comes after.
 
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Miller Time

Registered User
Sep 16, 2004
23,860
16,573
The prospect pool is so good.

And even then, the team is likely adding a top-15 pick next year, maybe two, and possibly three 1st round picks.

Indeed.

They are so well set up to manage the cap over the next 5-7 years... Core players locked up under 8M, bad contracts coming off the books, solid pipeline of ELC/RFA talent to re-tool as some players start pricing themselves out of the roster.

I'm telling you, with just a bit of the luck all cup winners need (to actually get that necessary ring), this rebuild is shaping up to become the gold standard.

Future is bright 😎
 
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