The state of the Habs Rebuild - The Next step

[Tyson]

A lot of comments on Hughes directly but the rebuild is being directed by a two headed monster.
The very first thing to look at is how drastically the structure and foundation of the organization has changed.
That starts with Gorton and is by far our most significant move to date.
Get that wrong and you have little to no hope of improving on the ice.

Agreed

 

[Miller Time]

A lot of comments on Hughes directly but the rebuild is being directed by a two headed monster.
The very first thing to look at is how drastically the structure and foundation of the organization has changed.
That starts with Gorton and is by far our most significant move to date.
Get that wrong and you have little to no hope of improving on the ice.

I'd call it a 3-headed monster... It's evident that MSL is fully integrated into the decision making about the roster and direction of the team.

There's a subtle but important difference between an echo chamber org. culture and a fully aligned org. culture. We appear to have the latter. Results take a bit longer, but are much more sustainable, by default increasing the height the organization can reach.

Sooner than many believe, the on-ice results will pivot and I'd bet we see a long run of excellence ensue.

Future is bright

 

[themilosh]

I'd call it a 3-headed monster... It's evident that MSL is fully integrated into the decision making about the roster and direction of the team.

There's a subtle but important difference between an echo chamber org. culture and a fully aligned org. culture. We appear to have the latter. Results take a bit longer, but are much more sustainable, by default increasing the height the organization can reach.

Sooner than many believe, the on-ice results will pivot and I'd bet we see a long run of excellence ensue.

Future is bright

I for one would take the past 3 years every single time vs the same old spend to the cap, to make the playoffs and hope for the best. Chuck darts at the draft and hope the kids can train themselves..

Quite shocking how completely inept a $1B organization became under MB.

 

[KevSkillz4]

Gorton and Hughes A++

Not only the players they drafted, but they have new department of development. The fact they put that, that's a massive W.

The scouts in place are very very good. Bobrov and Lapointe make a wonderful job so far. They respect the culture. But they search talented, hard working players aswell.

Slafkovsky is talented, Reinbacher is talented and Demidov is talented. But first of all, they are all hard workers with amazing attitude (like the rest of players they drafted aswell).

In signings and trades, Hughes is very very good. People will say that Toffoli and Lehkonen trade maybe going become not that good, but at moment of the trade, that's really good trades.

 

[Scintillating10]

This season Habs playing out the season, finish around .500. They finding out what they have.

Often injured players like Dach, Guhle, Wifi. See if they can handle a full season. If they go down to major injury this season you know it's best to look at other alternatives. Be the third season in a row they went down long term. Odds are it's going to be a trend.

Then some youngsters not sure if they going to be full time NHLers. Barron, Primeau, etc... give them a long look. Now the time to find out.

Veterans at the end, or near end of their careers. Armia, Dvorak, Savard. Likely traded by deadline. For a bunch of draft picks. which be used next off season to move up in draft or acquire a better player.

 

[ReHabs]

Often injured players like Dach, Guhle, Wifi. See if they can handle a full season. If they go down to major injury this season you know it's best to look at other alternatives. Be the third season in a row they went down long term. Odds are it's going to be a trend.

Bit hard to do that with Guhle isn't it?

 

[conFABulator]

Let's see how this goes? Hockey fan from Toronto here and someone who enjoys looking at, contemplating, and analyzing rebuilds. This has been a good post to read with lots of balanced input.

Here is my (loaded) question? I think a lot has been done right by the Habs, after a few years of what looked like mismanagement from the outside and now in hindsight. I remember when Montreal went to the finals and some (many) members of the fanbase felt it was bittersweet, with winning being good of course, but also extending MB's tenure. The question:

Does Montreal have the high end pieces require to convert the rebuild to a success? It seems as though Slafkovsky has to build on the back half of last season and become the star that leads this team. That's possible, but also a lot of pressure on one kid.

Am I seeing this right? The surrounding group of youth seems to be solid from Suzuki to Caulfield to a stable of young D and possibly/probably a goalie good enough to not be the reason you don't start winning.

I know there were injuries to Dach and Newhook and you need them to be healthy, do you also need them to be much better than they have showed in their careers this far?

Is the best thing for this team to bottom out one more time and end up at the top end of the draft? Sell off the remaining vets and then start upward? Are they too good for this to happen? Would this hurt the development of the boatload of youth on the roster this season?

This is not a knock and maybe the more productive way to phrase the question is what things need to happen for this rebuild to become a successful one, not just a potentially successful one?

My opinion, I wouldn't start rushing it from here. Try to strike the balance of losing while developing key pieces one more year. Trade off the valuable veterans in Gallagher, Savard, Matheson, Dvorak, and Armia (retain where you have to) and try to get a few more high end bullets in the chamber. Maybe keep Beck and Demidov away from the bigs for another year? Is there a quicker way to achieve the same results we are talking about? A way to not have one more year on the way down before you start the way up?

 

[ReHabs]

Let's see how this goes? Hockey fan from Toronto here and someone who enjoys looking at, contemplating, and analyzing rebuilds. This has been a good post to read with lots of balanced input.

Here is my (loaded) question? I think a lot has been done right by the Habs, after a few years of what looked like mismanagement from the outside and now in hindsight. I remember when Montreal went to the finals and some (many) members of the fanbase felt it was bittersweet, with winning being good of course, but also extending MB's tenure. The question:

Does Montreal have the high end pieces require to convert the rebuild to a success? It seems as though Slafkovsky has to build on the back half of last season and become the star that leads this team. That's possible, but also a lot of pressure on one kid.

Am I seeing this right? The surrounding group of youth seems to be solid from Suzuki to Caulfield to a stable of young D and possibly/probably a goalie good enough to not be the reason you don't start winning.

I know there were injuries to Dach and Newhook and you need them to be healthy, do you also need them to be much better than they have showed in their careers this far?

Is the best thing for this team to bottom out one more time and end up at the top end of the draft? Sell off the remaining vets and then start upward? Are they too good for this to happen? Would this hurt the development of the boatload of youth on the roster this season?

This is not a knock and maybe the more productive way to phrase the question is what things need to happen for this rebuild to become a successful one, not just a potentially successful one?

My opinion, I wouldn't start rushing it from here. Try to strike the balance of losing while developing key pieces one more year. Trade off the valuable veterans in Gallagher, Savard, Matheson, Dvorak, and Armia (retain where you have to) and try to get a few more high end bullets in the chamber. Maybe keep Beck and Demidov away from the bigs for another year? Is there a quicker way to achieve the same results we are talking about? A way to not have one more year on the way down before you start the way up?

I'm but one person and can't speak for the fanbase. My answers below.

Does Montreal have the [sufficient number and quality] of high-end pieces to convert the rebuild to a success? First we must agree on a definition of success, I propose: winning multiple playoff series for multiple years in a row. To answer the question, YES but it's obviously contingent on other factors and aspect (ie the rest of roster) but on paper and after the 2024 Draft we have currently the potential pieces to win multiple playoff series if things work out optimally.

Putting aside as much hype as possible, our core players seem to be: Suzuki, Caufield, Slafkovsky, Demidov, Reinbacher, and Hutson + Monty (statistically good goaltender), Guhle (tracking to be a minute-eating d-man) and Dach (high-end potential, hasn't shown it yet due his fragile constitution).

The best thing for this team depends on your perspective: more high-end prospects never hurts, but do we start having diminishing returns with (1) limited opportunities and ice-time available to players and (2) losing culture and related issues? I think the (1) opportunities are not a problem but (2) is a concern. I'm afraid of a losing culture and we can never know when it'll "strike". I'm cautious against it and want to avoid it at all costs.

The veterans to which you refer are not valuable outside of Matheson. Savard, Gallagher, Dvorak, Anderson, and Armia are nothing special in the eyes of buyer-teams. Maybe Savard due to his Cup winning experience and playoff style game but he'll need a good season to fetch a return. The rest of them have bad cap hits or bad reputations (eg Armia was waived less than 12mo ago).

They definitely can't compete this year (and if they do, it'll come from catching lightning in a bottle from certain under-proven players like Dach) but over the NEXT 12mo we should see the Habs reinforce and have ambitions to win playoff series. No way to avoid that.

 

[conFABulator]

I'm but one person and can't speak for the fanbase. My answers below.

Does Montreal have the [sufficient number and quality] of high-end pieces to convert the rebuild to a success? First we must agree on a definition of success, I propose: winning multiple playoff series for multiple years in a row. To answer the question, YES but it's obviously contingent on other factors and aspect (ie the rest of roster) but on paper and after the 2024 Draft we have currently the potential pieces to win multiple playoff series if things work out optimally.

Putting aside as much hype as possible, our core players seem to be: Suzuki, Caufield, Slafkovsky, Demidov, Reinbacher, and Hutson + Monty (statistically good goaltender), Guhle (tracking to be a minute-eating d-man) and Dach (high-end potential, hasn't shown it yet due his fragile constitution).

The best thing for this team depends on your perspective: more high-end prospects never hurts, but do we start having diminishing returns with (1) limited opportunities and ice-time available to players and (2) losing culture and related issues? I think the (1) opportunities are not a problem but (2) is a concern. I'm afraid of a losing culture and we can never know when it'll "strike". I'm cautious against it and want to avoid it at all costs.

The veterans to which you refer are not valuable outside of Matheson. Savard, Gallagher, Dvorak, Anderson, and Armia are nothing special in the eyes of buyer-teams. Maybe Savard due to his Cup winning experience and playoff style game but he'll need a good season to fetch a return. The rest of them have bad cap hits or bad reputations (eg Armia was waived less than 12mo ago).

They definitely can't compete this year (and if they do, it'll come from catching lightning in a bottle from certain under-proven players like Dach) but over the NEXT 12mo we should see the Habs reinforce and have ambitions to win playoff series. No way to avoid that.

Wow, thanks for this. Thoughtful and thorough. Much appreciated.

I won't write paragraphs simply repeating what you said in agreement. However, a couple of points that really struck home were.

Defining success before answering if you can reach it. Yours seems to make a lot of sense. My initial thought was that the answer should be "Stanley Cup" there is no other definition, but there is and it is yours. All you can do and hope for is a team good enough to compete for a cup for a window of years. Them actually winning comes down to health, luck and maybe a strong trade deadline in a given year. As for you saying they are good enough; you know more than I do about this team and you supported your "yes" answer with reasoning.

The other point that resonated was the avoidance of a losing culture, never really knowing when that could set it, and avoiding it at all costs. This is reason enough to try to start the upward climb now.

I guess rbe next question is are they good enough NOW to start this NOW? Dach and Newhook, continued development of young core pieces. Is that enough for a step forward. To be honest, I might worry about that. Not a lot was done in the offseason to support this young core.

 

[Wayfarer13]

No rebuild starts from absolute 0, even expansion teams get given a top pick and an expansion draft.

Who said anything about an indefinite period of time, but not even giving the guy a chance to build a team through his own draft picks is non-sensical and means that you weren't actually on board with there being a rebuild in the first place.

As for progress, we've improved every year under Hughes so there has been progress so clearly for you having progress is not what it's all about.

It was a rebuild set of through an installation set of circumstances. We had a team decimated by Covid and record setting man games lost to injury. Take 500 man games off and they may not have done a rebuild.

 

[ReHabs]

I guess rbe next question is are they good enough NOW to start this NOW? Dach and Newhook, continued development of young core pieces. Is that enough for a step forward. To be honest, I might worry about that. Not a lot was done in the offseason to support this young core.

My conviction is not enough was done to take advantage of the momentum gained. Not throwing Hughes under the bus for it, it's just my opinion.

I think another top6 player should be added/acquired in a way that does not detract from the major elements of the roster. I was prepared to sell-high on Matheson if I was sure this would be another 'tanking' year but I'm not convinced it is the best course of action because of the Losing Culture thing... the alternative is like I said: add a piece to the bad top6 and hope they continue to improve their defensive and all-around game. Hope they play more meaningful games in the regular season. Hope they learn to close out games, learn to start games on the right foot, learn to play like expectant and confident winners. Hopefully we will be on the cusp by the end of the coming season and then comes Demidov.

 

[Vachon23]

Impossible for me to give them an A right know. They just did the easiest part of the job, getting young asset.

Now let’s see if they can make this team a contender. Let’s see if they can acquired the missing piece and if this team can really win. Let’s see if MSL is more then a development coach. Still many questions to answers

 

[Boss Man Hughes]

Impossible for me to give them an A right know. They just did the easiest part of the job, getting young asset.

Now let’s see if they can make this team a contender. Let’s see if they can acquired the missing piece and if this team can really win. Let’s see if MSL is more then a development coach. Still many questions to answers

With the mess MB left no part of the rebuild was easy. They got assets like Newhook, Hage and Hutson by moving dead meat and somehow getting draft picks in the deals. But yes there are still difficult problems to work out. Missing pieces, coaching, which assets to keep and what to do with Anderson and Gallagher.

 

[TesseractPrice]

It's hard to grade the rebuild properly when we're still in the middle of it

The dust has somewhat settled after the high perceived value of the draft and the almost-inexistant harvest of this UFA crop. We've had a lot of RFA contracts though, this is housecleaning but still very strategic for the direction of the team

I've been very optimistic with the current regime, so I figure the best would be to list my worries about the rebuild and then assess the grade of the rebuild based on how important they are in my eyes. So basically the rebuild starts at 100% and I subtract based on vibes. Here we go in no particular order:

• As things are standing, Suzuki is and will remain the best center of the rebuild. Suzuki has a 5 to 9 years age difference with Slafkovsky/Beck/Hutson to whoever will be drafted in the 2025 (top 10 I presume). Will his prime be wasted on a rebuilding roster?
• The top 9 is too small. There should be two or three talented, big, physical players to offset Caufield's lack of size. Slaf and Dach are that I guess, but I would like more premium beef in the top 9. The other forwards and top prospects are firmly in the distribution of the average top 9 forward size in the league; Newhook, Suzuki, Roy, Beck, Demidov, Hage are 5'11 to 6'1. Mesar is small, but I don't know what his future on the Habs is for that matter
• A lot hinges on two of Mailloux, Barron and Reinbacher to hit their ceiling. The RD depth in barren after them. Guhle playing on his offside is a solution I guess, but it's an ugly one, leaving the LD considerably weakened and Guhle himself less effective. I think two of them end as good NHLers, but those two would need to become top 3 defencemen for the Habs to be a contender IMO

Demidov added another dimension to the future of the team. He might be the elusive franchise forward. Guhle, Reinbacher, Hutson is a strong top 3 to build the defence with. Caufield, Dach, Newhook, Roy, Beck, Hage is a contender level middle 6. The bottom 4 should be deep enough to not be exposed in a playoff

All in all, I'd give the rebuild A B+ or A- I think. Some concerns here and there, but the amount of redundancy in several areas make the rebuild safer than a lot of other ones in the league. If the Habs manage to draft a talented big boi forward next draft, I'll give them a straight A

 

[Sorinth]

It was a rebuild set of through an installation set of circumstances. We had a team decimated by Covid and record setting man games lost to injury. Take 500 man games off and they may not have done a rebuild.

Are all rebuilds set through an installation set of circumstances, whatever that actually means.

But I actually don't think we would have gone through a rebuild had Bergevin not been fired. We would have done like other years where things went south and sold UFAs only and then signed middling guys in FA. For instance we probably don't sell Toffoli because he had an extra year remaining, and don't sell Lehkonen because he's RFA. Only Chiarot and maybe Kulak get sold at the deadline and then he goes out and spends that cap on replacement players instead of using it to get Monahan and it's easy to see how we aren't in a rebuild.

Now it's likely we would still suck and pick high because I doubt whatever FA signings he made could replace Price/Weber but there's a difference between rebuild and just sucking. Rebuilding is a choice.

 

[Vachon23]

With the mess MB left no part of the rebuild was easy. They got assets like Newhook, Hage and Hutson by moving dead meat and somehow getting draft picks in the deals. But yes there are still difficult problems to work out. Missing pieces, coaching, which assets to keep and what to do with Anderson and Gallagher.

It could have been easier, I agree but it’s still by far the easiest part of the rebuild. The most important part of the rebuild is what is gonna happen in the next 2-3 years

 

[Boss Man Hughes]

It could have been easier, I agree but it’s still by far the easiest part of the rebuild. The most important part of the rebuild is what is gonna happen in the next 2-3 years

And probably the most difficult part. They could get lucky and the type of player that appears to be the missing piece is available in quantity. If it isn't (see Leafs and Oilers and goaltenders) they have to decide when it is time to go all in and what really good assets to offer for what they need.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Let's see how this goes? Hockey fan from Toronto here and someone who enjoys looking at, contemplating, and analyzing rebuilds. This has been a good post to read with lots of balanced input.

Here is my (loaded) question? I think a lot has been done right by the Habs, after a few years of what looked like mismanagement from the outside and now in hindsight. I remember when Montreal went to the finals and some (many) members of the fanbase felt it was bittersweet, with winning being good of course, but also extending MB's tenure. The question:

Does Montreal have the high end pieces require to convert the rebuild to a success? It seems as though Slafkovsky has to build on the back half of last season and become the star that leads this team. That's possible, but also a lot of pressure on one kid.

It's impossible to say if the Canadiens have the high end pieces with certainty. But it looks pretty positive. Several players have superstar potential.

Demidov - Drafted 5th overall and thought by many to be the 2nd best offensive talent in the draft
Slafkovsky - Big talented winger who grew exponentially last season and put up great numbers for a 19 year old
Caufield - 48 goals in his first 82 games under MSL. Shoulder surgery sidelined that progress but he has a good chance to recover
Hutson - Record highest NCAA points in his first two years. All indications that he should at the very least be an excellent PP QB

None of those players are Connor Bedard. None are sure thing superstars. But all have excellent potential.

Then there are really good young players like Reinbacher, Roy, Guhle, Maillioux, Newhook, Dach. Maybe not star players but definitely solid, good players with nice upside.

Nick Suzuki provides good leadership and solid two way play. He was also one of the best players in the league from February onward last season.

It's a very promising group.

Am I seeing this right? The surrounding group of youth seems to be solid from Suzuki to Caulfield to a stable of young D and possibly/probably a goalie good enough to not be the reason you don't start winning.

I know there were injuries to Dach and Newhook and you need them to be healthy, do you also need them to be much better than they have showed in their careers this far?

Is the best thing for this team to bottom out one more time and end up at the top end of the draft? Sell off the remaining vets and then start upward? Are they too good for this to happen? Would this hurt the development of the boatload of youth on the roster this season?

I think they may add one more depth player to the scoring group. They may not though. This team could very well go into the season as is. Some on this board won't be happy with that but a good portion of the board is fine with it.

I personally expect improvement but for us to be outside the playoffs looking in. But it's a transition year and it's hard to predict. We could fall off or overperform and make it. The most important thing this year is for Kirby Dach to have a healthy season. So much depends on him. If he has another big injury, that will create a hole that HUGO will look to fill.

This is not a knock and maybe the more productive way to phrase the question is what things need to happen for this rebuild to become a successful one, not just a potentially successful one?

Health is the number one factor.

The pieces are there. There's a really good group up front and on the backend. But the Canadiens have had terrible injuries that have derailed progress. Caufield's shoulder limited his shooting ability. Dach hasn't played enough. Newhook had a great streak going and then got hurt, only to finish the season on another hot streak.

The talent is there. And the Canadiens seem to have finally figured out development. If they can just stay healthy they should have a good long run once they got all the pieces together.

My opinion, I wouldn't start rushing it from here. Try to strike the balance of losing while developing key pieces one more year. Trade off the valuable veterans in Gallagher, Savard, Matheson, Dvorak, and Armia (retain where you have to) and try to get a few more high end bullets in the chamber. Maybe keep Beck and Demidov away from the bigs for another year? Is there a quicker way to achieve the same results we are talking about? A way to not have one more year on the way down before you start the way up?

I'm fine with them going into next year as is. If we add more scoring depth? Great. We'll probably need it at some point as there will be injuries. But the club should improve if health isn't too bad. One area where I think Montreal could use some help is with another big bodied power foward. If they can add a big winger, that will improve their long term chances.

And the Canadiens have a few other things going for them as well. They've locked up most of their key players at long reasonable contracts. And they have a lot to trade with, particularly blueline talent. They have two more firsts in the next draft as well. HUGO has done a great job positioning the team going forward.

It's been a long time since anyone here could honestly say this.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Impossible for me to give them an A right know. They just did the easiest part of the job, getting young asset.

Now let’s see if they can make this team a contender. Let’s see if they can acquired the missing piece and if this team can really win. Let’s see if MSL is more then a development coach. Still many questions to answers

Hughes has done exactly what I've been arguing for us to do for years now. This should've been done in the mid to late 90s. The only time we ever really saw a club that might contend was when MB come onboard to a young promising group and MB promptly f***ed it up.

HUGO scrapped the team for picks and prospects. Exactly what you should do. He leveraged cap space into picks (two for Monahan was incredible.) And very quickly acclerated the rebuild by stockpiling young talent. No, we haven't made the playoffs and probably won't again this year. But if we're judging him on what he's done so far, I don't see how he doesn't warrant at least an A. The recent contracts are the cherry on top.

If the team can finally stay healthy, I think we'll surprise people this year. Our offense should improve a fair bit.

 

[Revansky]

I think this year will give us answers about taking the next step in the rebuilding phase or not. We have a lot of prospects with potential to be top 6 and top 4 pieces, but which one will confirm their status as top pair, top line players is still a bit up in the air ?

Wil Dach play a full season and produce like a high-end 2 C ? Suzuki is a great center but with the goal of having a Stanley Cup in mind, we need Dach to be an high end 2 C to be challenging the better Cs duo as Suzuki is a top 15-20 C, not a top 10 (at this moment unless he continues his progression). Hage is a backup plan in 2-3 years if it doesn't work, but we really need Dach to be the player he can be and healthy to be competitive.

Will one of Guhle, Reinbacher or Huston take the next step and show they can be a number 1 D in the league ? I'm unsure we've got that piece yet and as D takes a bit longer to develop, it's difficult to see if we have a franchise D in our propect pool. A lot of potential top 4 for sure, and I think Reinbacher and Guhle are number 2-3 D at some point. But we'll need to have some clarity. Guhle on his good side without an injury riddle season and a better defensive partner than Matheson could do wonder to his game.

Will Demidov continue his progression in the KHL ? Will Caufield get back to his normal shooting percentage and produce 35-40 goals and 75-80 points ? Will Slaf get hit by the sophomore slump of continue his stratospheric progression and become a 70-80 points winger this year ?

Even if we are top 10 bottom team this year, it's going to be an intriguing season. With so many prospects there's bound to be surprises and deceptions. Mailloux progression will be the one, i'm most curious about as he has tantalizing tools but warts to work on too.

At the moment, i feel like we may miss either a top line forward or top pair D or both depending on how this year goes. It's not impossible to find those guys through trades or free agency. I think finding a top RD would be more difficult, so really hoping for Reinbacher to fill that role, but we won't know for at least 2-3 years. But his play in the AHL this year can give of glimpse of what his ceiling's going to be.

Feels like we won't be in playoffs this year and our goal is to be competitive and develop our players. But this season may decide if we take more risk this offseason and really aim aggressively for the playoffs or take a more cautious approach where we wait for our D develop one more year and our bad contracts to have one less year.

We're in good shape though !

 

[salbutera]

It could have been easier, I agree but it’s still by far the easiest part of the rebuild. The most important part of the rebuild is what is gonna happen in the next 2-3 years

Ideally one of the lesser hyped prospects overshoots their development curve - if I had to guess I’ll go with one of Beck or Engstrom

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I think this year will give us answers about taking the next step in the rebuilding phase or not. We have a lot of prospects with potential to be top 6 and top 4 pieces, but which one will confirm their status as top pair, top line players is still a bit up in the air ?

Wil Dach play a full season and produce like a high-end 2 C ? Suzuki is a great center but with the goal of having a Stanley Cup in mind, we need Dach to be an high end 2 C to be challenging the better Cs duo as Suzuki is a top 15-20 C, not a top 10 (at this moment unless he continues his progression). Hage is a backup plan in 2-3 years if it doesn't work, but we really need Dach to be the player he can be and healthy to be competitive.

Will one of Guhle, Reinbacher or Huston take the next step and show they can be a number 1 D in the league ? I'm unsure we've got that piece yet and as D takes a bit longer to develop, it's difficult to see if we have a franchise D in our propect pool. A lot of potential top 4 for sure, and I think Reinbacher and Guhle are number 2-3 D at some point. But we'll need to have some clarity. Guhle on his good side without an injury riddle season and a better defensive partner than Matheson could do wonder to his game.

Will Demidov continue his progression in the KHL ? Will Caufield get back to his normal shooting percentage and produce 35-40 goals and 75-80 points ? Will Slaf get hit by the sophomore slump of continue his stratospheric progression and become a 70-80 points winger this year ?

Even if we are top 10 bottom team this year, it's going to be an intriguing season. With so many prospects there's bound to be surprises and deceptions. Mailloux progression will be the one, i'm most curious about as he has tantalizing tools but warts to work on too.

At the moment, i feel like we may miss either a top line forward or top pair D or both depending on how this year goes. It's not impossible to find those guys through trades or free agency. I think finding a top RD would be more difficult, so really hoping for Reinbacher to fill that role, but we won't know for at least 2-3 years. But his play in the AHL this year can give of glimpse of what his ceiling's going to be.

Feels like we won't be in playoffs this year and our goal is to be competitive and develop our players. But this season may decide if we take more risk this offseason and really aim aggressively for the playoffs or take a more cautious approach where we wait for our D develop one more year and our bad contracts to have one less year.

We're in good shape though !

If Dach is healthy and plays well, this team is going to have a good year. He's the key.

 

[xposbrad]

I am extremely confident in HuGO. They haven't listened to some media outlets/fans and rush the rebuild. Thankfully we didn't listen to them and got Demidov. I know it's a longshot for us to go far this year, so I am ok with not making the playoffs and getting another quality pick. We can go balls out one offseason like Nashville but with our base, we can go from a bottom 10 team to a top 10 team in 1 offseason easily.

 

[salbutera]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1820311046063608098

 

[BJCOLLINS]

I’d give HuGo an A….we had #1 OA in perhaps one of the most difficult (Covid) draft years in recent history with no clear “generational” talent. We’ll see if Mesar,Beck Fowler, Reinbacher, Hutson, Hage & Demidov ++ hit or not.