The state of the Habs Rebuild - The Next step

[The Gr8 Dane]

Keep Marty , bottom 5 finish , draft a 1st line C , on est en business

 

[Ieatsht4brkfst]

I have come to the realization that this may take another 5 years, not only do we have to over turn the entire roster, not everyone will hit so we gonna have to overturn it 4-5 times until we get the right mix of players and to be able to fill in the gaps with solid NHL players, also to get the players the experience needed, a lot of losses still coming

 

[Gravity]

Keep Marty , bottom 5 finish , draft a 1st line C , on est en business

Most of the draft seems to be Ws unfortunately.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Most of the draft seems to be Ws unfortunately.

Oh well , give it another 30 years for the franchise 1C I guess , then we're in business

 

[JoelWarlord]

I have come to the realization that this may take another 5 years, not only do we have to over turn the entire roster, not everyone will hit so we gonna have to overturn it 4-5 times until we get the right mix of players and to be able to fill in the gaps with solid NHL players, also to get the players the experience needed, a lot of losses still coming

Meh. Dvorak/Evans/Armia and one of Gallagher or Anderson will be gone in the offseason (probably Anderson since Gallagher is still useful as a 3rd line guy and we won't pay to dump both), turning over the bottom six slugs will be very helpful.

It's still a very young team and as much as the poor start is frustrating to sit through, I'm not really concerned for the medium/long term because of it. Slafkovsky/Suzuki/Caufield are all good core pieces, Guhle is still just 22, Slafkovsky and Hutson are 20, Demidov is on the way, Montembeault is a good goalie while we wait for Fowler to progress, Reinbacher as much as people are down on him now still has a big role to play even if he only hits a 2nd pair floor, and the other young D all still have varying degrees of ceiling to work through as they get more experience. I think Laine also makes a difference in the short term this year and over the medium/long term if we sign him, he's known as a sniper but he'll add a lot of overall puck skill and cycle ability that we're missing right now.

I think it's just going to be as simple as the team that looks terrible with a bunch of bottom six slugs and a 22 year old Guhle + 20 year old Hutson/Slafkovsky will look much better with a new bottom six and a 24 year old Guhle + 22 year old Hutson/Slafkovsky + 20 year old Demidov on the roster. It's not ideal that we aren't competitive with Suzuki at 25 but it's impossible to optimize around every player's timeline and we're at the point where the Slafkovsky/Demidov timeline is probably more important.

 

[Whitesnake]

How good the team is right now is mostly build on unknown potential. To say that we are in the mix was awfully dumb. Who is in the mix with a backend that young. But while this team has a POTENTIAL to be more than what we're seeing...it's still up in the air. It still depends of how Slaf will evolve. How Dach will evolve. How the goaltending will be. And every single d-man will reach or no their potential etc. We are so far.

the difference is that for once, it REALLY looks better than it ever did. But I'm wondering if in the end, it's really an indication to how great we are...or how bad we did in the past...

'Cause everything I just said is solely about the team. then, since we play in a league filled with 32 teams....how do we fare against them? And their upcoming kids? And their upcoming potential?

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

How good the team is right now is mostly build on unknown potential. To say that we are in the mix was awfully dumb. Who is in the mix with a backend that young. But while this team has a POTENTIAL to be more than what we're seeing...it's still up in the air. It still depends of how Slaf will evolve. How Dach will evolve. How the goaltending will be. And every single d-man will reach or no their potential etc. We are so far.

the difference is that for once, it REALLY looks better than it ever did. But I'm wondering if in the end, it's really an indication to how great we are...or how bad we did in the past...

'Cause everything I just said is solely about the team. then, since we play in a league filled with 32 teams....how do we fare against them? And their upcoming kids? And their upcoming potential?

I don't get why they came out and said they wanted to be in the mix , I get it its Montreal , la saint flanelle and what not , but they are just putting a bigger target on their back than it needs to be. Should have stayed quiet let the rebuild happen organically , now the media is on their backs , rookie move.



Also yes a full blown rebuild is music to my ears compared to any gainey or bergevin team but thats just me , alot of fans can't handle a real rebuild and its a bit of a shame

 

[JoelWarlord]

I don't get why they came out and said they wanted to be in the mix , I get it its Montreal , la saint flanelle and what not , but they are just putting a bigger target on their back than it needs to be. Should have stayed quiet let the rebuild happen organically , now the media is on their backs , rookie move.

Idk I've said this to @417 and @WeThreeKings but I think a lot of the consternation about the "in the mix" stuff is kinda like getting upset that the sequel to a movie wasn't "bigger and better than the original" or that the new Mazda CX-5 doesn't actually revolutionize the mid-size crossover segment like the marketing materials said. They probably should have chosen their words more carefully but I dunno what people realistically expected this year.

It's the same team as last year with Hutson added and 2/3 of a Monahan season subtracted. Laine would have been helpful but we know what happened there and Dach is still getting back up to speed from the injury (or at least I would like to believe that's the case). I think that statement kinda took on a life of its own and turned into an expectation that we'd be making a serious playoff push when I think they really just meant hopefully we'd be something like 8 points out of a wildcard spot in February.

In general (not directed at you obviously) I'm a bit confused by the whole we're in year X of a rebuild so we should be progressing to Y point total stuff from the offseason/early this season. I share the fan frustration about watching lost seasons and I was hopeful that this year would start differently, but I don't really understand why the team struggling with Hutson/Slaf/Guhle at age 20/20/22 means we should be so pessimistic about what the team will look like when they're 22/22/24 and we add Demidov to the roster. I know there's an expectation that teams need to make gradual progress but I don't think that's necessarily the case for the Habs given 25 year old Suzuki is the only core player over 23, Matheson is the only impact veteran, and the crown jewel of the rebuild is still in Russia.

 

[Tyson]

I still accept that they are in a rebuild and I think being in the mix is more realistic for getting a top 5 pick again.
They simply don't have enough talent on this current roster and the pain will continue.
What I find troubling is the apparent lack of preparation for when the puck drops. I have faith in the young players that were recently drafted and their development. I don't have faith in this current coaching staff as they haven't proven a whole lot to me.
The Vegas odds makers who said they would get 76 points this year may end up being correct. This team is a lottery contending team.

 

[Adriatic]

Lol at people looking to ship out every veteran on the roster and then complain our play is inconsistent.

 

[Andrei79]

I still accept that they are in a rebuild and I think being in the mix is more realistic for getting a top 5 pick again.
They simply don't have enough talent on this current roster and the pain will continue.
What I find troubling is the apparent lack of preparation for when the puck drops. I have faith in the young players that were recently drafted and their development. I don't have faith in this current coaching staff as they haven't proven a whole lot to me.
The Vegas odds makers who said they would get 76 points this year may end up being correct. This team is a lottery contending team.

The lack of progress without the puck is worrying. They're at the bottom in all defensive advanced stats from what the Twittersphere and media are showing. It shows as well, poor reads after poor reads, bad coherence, breakouts and disorganized play in their own end.

 

[Mrb1p]

I don't get why they came out and said they wanted to be in the mix , I get it its Montreal , la saint flanelle and what not , but they are just putting a bigger target on their back than it needs to be. Should have stayed quiet let the rebuild happen organically , now the media is on their backs , rookie move.



Also yes a full blown rebuild is music to my ears compared to any gainey or bergevin team but thats just me , alot of fans can't handle a real rebuild and its a bit of a shame

Its just for PR. Absolutely nothing was done to "be in the mix." Coaching still sucks, defense still sucks, still only a 1 line team.

 

[Tyson]

Lol at people looking to ship out every veteran on the roster and then complain we are not consistent.

I think most folks on here were 100% on board with the rebuild but are now growing impatient.

 

[Ieatsht4brkfst]

Meh. Dvorak/Evans/Armia and one of Gallagher or Anderson will be gone in the offseason (probably Anderson since Gallagher is still useful as a 3rd line guy and we won't pay to dump both), turning over the bottom six slugs will be very helpful.

It's still a very young team and as much as the poor start is frustrating to sit through, I'm not really concerned for the medium/long term because of it. Slafkovsky/Suzuki/Caufield are all good core pieces, Guhle is still just 22, Slafkovsky and Hutson are 20, Demidov is on the way, Montembeault is a good goalie while we wait for Fowler to progress, Reinbacher as much as people are down on him now still has a big role to play even if he only hits a 2nd pair floor, and the other young D all still have varying degrees of ceiling to work through as they get more experience. I think Laine also makes a difference in the short term this year and over the medium/long term if we sign him, he's known as a sniper but he'll add a lot of overall puck skill and cycle ability that we're missing right now.

I think it's just going to be as simple as the team that looks terrible with a bunch of bottom six slugs and a 22 year old Guhle + 20 year old Hutson/Slafkovsky will look much better with a new bottom six and a 24 year old Guhle + 22 year old Hutson/Slafkovsky + 20 year old Demidov on the roster. It's not ideal that we aren't competitive with Suzuki at 25 but it's impossible to optimize around every player's timeline and we're at the point where the Slafkovsky/Demidov timeline is probably more important.

Just think were all underestimating the time its going to take for all of this to come together and be a good team, we only have 3 proven forwards and 2 proven D on the future, theres a lot of balls up in the air that need to be solidified before I feel better about this team

 

[Tyson]

The lack of progress without the puck is worrying. They're at the bottom in all defensive advanced stats from what the Twittersphere and media are showing. It shows as well, poor reads after poor reads, bad coherence, breakouts and disorganized play in their own end.

That's on the coaches...maybe I am wrong but it isn't improving whatever they are trying to implement.

 

[overlords]

I don't get why they came out and said they wanted to be in the mix , I get it its Montreal , la saint flanelle and what not , but they are just putting a bigger target on their back than it needs to be. Should have stayed quiet let the rebuild happen organically , now the media is on their backs , rookie move.



Also yes a full blown rebuild is music to my ears compared to any gainey or bergevin team but thats just me , alot of fans can't handle a real rebuild and its a bit of a shame

I don't really see an issue with the 'in the mix' stuff. Buffalo finished 6 pts ahead of us and were 'in the mix' for a large part of the season. Besides, it was more of an intention than a prediction, or at least that's how I took it. The media will try to spin shit into content because they're bottom feeding oxygen thieves. Nothing new here.

I think management felt they had to say something because there are some impatient children on the team who want to go for it without putting in so much work that their manboobs aren't poking through their polos at the summer golf event.

 

[Mrb1p]

I think most folks on here were 100% on board with the rebuild but are now growing impatient.

Growing impatient because the Habs have been absolute ass for 680 out of the last 700 games. Impatience, or are we just the Sabres 2.0?

Were 28th in the league since 2015-2016 in the win column. Were tied with Ottawa. Were 7 wins ahead of the Sabres.

The Price induced run gave a lot of rope to Molson. Guess what though ? That run ended 40 months ago. Since then we've seen very marginal progress and almost none in the last 24 months.

 

[Sorinth]

I don't get why they came out and said they wanted to be in the mix , I get it its Montreal , la saint flanelle and what not , but they are just putting a bigger target on their back than it needs to be. Should have stayed quiet let the rebuild happen organically , now the media is on their backs , rookie move.



Also yes a full blown rebuild is music to my ears compared to any gainey or bergevin team but thats just me , alot of fans can't handle a real rebuild and its a bit of a shame

Not too pick on you specifically but questioning why they would say they want to be in the mix, something I'm pretty sure Chicago also said this year is also a sign of not being able to handle a real rebuild.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Were 28th in the league since 2015-2016 in the win column. Were tied with Ottawa. Were 7 wins ahead of the Sabres.

The Price induced run gave a lot of rope to Molson. Guess what though ? That run ended 40 months ago. Since then we've seen very marginal progress and almost none in the last 24 months.

Yes we got carried by a goalie for almost 15 years , there's work to be done , not close to being over

 

[Captain Mountain]

I don't get why they came out and said they wanted to be in the mix , I get it its Montreal , la saint flanelle and what not , but they are just putting a bigger target on their back than it needs to be. Should have stayed quiet let the rebuild happen organically , now the media is on their backs , rookie move.



Also yes a full blown rebuild is music to my ears compared to any gainey or bergevin team but thats just me , alot of fans can't handle a real rebuild and its a bit of a shame

I'll have to double check, but I'm pretty sure every single front office in the NHL has at least said they wanted to be in the mix.

It was time for the front office to set some expectations and apply pressure.

 

[Mrb1p]

Yes we got carried by a goalie for almost 15 years , there's work to be done , not close to being over

This shit can't take much longer. Teams rebuild in two years. The Hawks were good in the same time frame we were, they're coming out of it right now.

It's a failure on Molson, Gorton and Hughes if we're bad for another one. Patience is just a bullshit term thrown around because we get attached to incompetent people.

 

[Habby4Life]

This shit can't take much longer. Teams rebuild in two years. The Hawks were good in the same time frame we were, they're coming out of it right now.

It's a failure on Molson, Gorton and Hughes if we're bad for another one. Patience is just a bullshit term thrown around because we get attached to incompetent people.

Some folks are ok with just another top 1-5 pick. At some point, you have to start coming out of that phase or you’re buffalo.

For sure they are lottery pick this year, serious improvements must happen next year.

 

[Gaud]

Very reactionary post but how much rope does Marty have? If not only the team doesn't take a step and top players regress, is St Louis still here next year?

unless he gets like 50pts, i think he gets this season, and next year will be expected to be 6-10 in the east. Year after woudl be playoffs expectation

 

[Tyson]

Growing impatient because the Habs have been absolute ass for 680 out of the last 700 games. Impatience, or are we just the Sabres 2.0?

Were 28th in the league since 2015-2016 in the win column. Were tied with Ottawa. Were 7 wins ahead of the Sabres.

The Price induced run gave a lot of rope to Molson. Guess what though ? That run ended 40 months ago. Since then we've seen very marginal progress and almost none in the last 24 months.

I said it last night that we have endured mediocrity since 1993.

 

[Mrb1p]

I said it last night that we have endured mediocrity since 1993.

Even mediocrity is better than what we've had since 15-16. But yes.