What do you like/dislike from this season?

[hardcorehabs]

Caufield 1 goal in last 18 games is alarming

 

[Whalers Fan]

He's improved as a playmaker, but he's also making a lot of poor decisions. That powerplay needs to be torn down and rebuilt by someone else in charge. When Caufield and Matheson are together the self inflicted dangers multiples.

I think the Caufield's positioning on the power play is the main issue. Why they have their best sniper positioned below the goal line makes no sense to me. He's completely neutralized when down there.

 

[DAChampion]

I think that some wrote that they'd be disappointed if Caulfield didn't score 40 goals.

 

[Habs13]

I think Caufield's shoulder hasn't fully recovered yet.

 

[SlafySZN]

Caufield is scaring me a bit. He's starting to remind a lot of the beginning of Gustav Nyquist's career. I lived near Detroit and saw the hype and the way he broke into the league. It was very similar then, he just died down and never got back into his rookie/sophomore hype, until coincidentally this year as a 34 year old.

He's improved as a playmaker, but he's also making a lot of poor decisions. That powerplay needs to be torn down and rebuilt by someone else in charge. When Caufield and Matheson are together the self inflicted dangers multiples.

I think the goods from this season are pretty obvious. The bad is that basically none of the bottom 6 depth players seem like they're long-term NHLers. Roy is looking like he can be a 3rd liner with someone scoring potential, but it's looking like we wasted a lot of decently high picks on Dvorak and Newhook. This team can't stop being injured and after a decade and a half straight of it, you have to wonder how long it can continue to be bad luck and when you have to start questioning the conditioning and training process.

Caufield is a sniper, he needs to be used as such, that's the thing. We already knew he's able to create plays, he did it in the playoffs but his elite trait is shooting.

Same for the power play, if you go back and look at last year and then this year, he is not in his best spot anymore. He's on the same side but it looks like everything is happening on the left side and it doesn't let him take shots, it open up Slaf's side or Newhook in the bumper but never CC.

 

[sampollock]

CC not scoring , little bit of regression here

 

[EXPOS123]

My good: The young guys taking baby steps forward

The bad:

1) Not trading Savard ( if there was high demand for him)

2) Anderson: I knew this was a terrible contract the day Bozovin made it but his play this year is beyond pathetic. At this point i don’t even know if his career is even salvageable and the fact we are stuck with him for 2-3 more years drives me nuts

3) The draft picks and development people leftover from the Bozovin era. Don’t feel any of his picks are gonna pan out other than maybe, maybe, Beck and Mailloux.
Not the biggest fan of Roy and not sold on the AHL coaching staff

 

[BJCOLLINS]

Our kids have looked good this year both offensively and defensively.

Suzuki is a captain all Habs fans can be proud of. Slaf & CC are maturing into solid pros and like Guhle, Xhekaj, Harris & Struble are jacked full of untapped potential.

HuGo has restored The Canadien’s name to once again mean Montreal is a respected destination by NHL players. Add to that our GM is quickly becoming tops in the league. Honourable mention to MSL.

My cons are short, man games lost due to injuries and marc bergevin’s Mickey Mouse coaching staff in Laval. Houle has an absolutely terrible record as a head coach……look it up. His record is a reflection of his competence.

Cheers

 

[The Real Timo]

Likes:
1. Yoel!!
2. Slaf and Suzuki


Dislikes:
1. Neutering of Xhekaj
2. Defense
3. Offense
4. Coaches
5. Everything else not mentioned above.

 

[xX SEYF Xx]

Better than expected:

• Slaf - best thing this year, a treat
• Suzuki - not 1C confirmed
• Struble
• Roy
• Primeau
• Armia
• Evans
• Man-games lost due to injury
• Monahan trade
• PP/PK
• Compete level

As expected:

• Monty
• Gallagher
• Matheson
• Guhle
• Newhook
• Savard
• Harris
• Xhekaj
• Pezzetta
• Kovacevic
• Allen trade

Worse than expected:

• Dach injury
• Caufield - expected 35+ goals, dude had 48 goals in the first 82 games since MSL took over, check it out, that's not a small sample, that's a full season, disappointed but still a believer
• Anderson - no comments
• Barron
• RHP
• Ylonen
• Pearson
• Too many loser points

 

[Habs Halifax]

I think that some wrote that they'd be disappointed if Caulfield didn't score 40 goals.

I believe I voted 30+ goals at the start of the season. Most of us are surprised he won't hit 30. Can you blame us? He was on a tear with MSL as his coach previously to this season.

What's happening here is teams are watching him more closely. It happens.

Is he 100%? Not sure. I'm not that worried about it today. He's a perimeter player with lack of size that excels in open space. Rather have this weapon than not have it. I'm sure he will have some 40+ goals seasons with the term he has in his contract. I believe his goal scoring averages will fall in the 30-40 range when we look back at his career with Montreal down the road. It just won't be consistent year/year.

The most important thing, is when we reach the playoffs, he is producing and scoring game winners. When those days come, we will have a stronger top 9F, stronger top 4D, and more scoring threats that teams will have a difficult time targeting all of them. That's when Caufield will be even more dangerous.

No two players are alike but look at the rollercoaster ride Skinner went though in his career so far. His NHL career averages prorated to 82 games is 29 goals, but his season/season goals are all over the map.

I believe Caufield's 82 game prorated goal numbers are 31 at the moment. 73/196

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

A few things to review.

Pros:
* Slaf's Development
* Suzuki keeps getting better
* Struble Surprise
* Primeau's development
* Less man games loss?
* Games are closer. Not getting blown out as much as the last two seasons.
* Armia has had a decent rebound.

Cons:
* Caufield probably doesn't hit 30 goals.
* Dach goes down for the season very early.
* Anderson went backwards
* No rebound from Gallagher. He's a 10-15 goal guy now.
* RHP season?

Agree with all these. Gallagher was not a surprise though. The only surprise on that front was how well he started the year.

Caufield scoring twenty is flat out horrific considering the number of shots he’s had. And given that the slump has lasted almost all year I have think something is wrong with him physically.

But that bad news was offset by Slaf. Coming into this season I don’t think anyone was really sure what he was going to be but he surpassed all expectations. Tremendous development for us.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I think that some wrote that they'd be disappointed if Caulfield didn't score 40 goals.

Yep. And that’s even more true now given how many shots he’s taken. He should already have 40.

 

[dcyhabs]

Yup, heading into this season, I predicted 8-12 range pick for us and we are sitting at 6 right now? I would assume a full season of Dach would be 1-4 more wins but difficult to know.

I read something a month or so ago about how many 1 goal games lost and Habs had some of the most in the NHL this season. Anybody have an updated stat on that on where we rank in terms of 1 goal games? Regardless, we are in more games than the previous two seasons which is a move in the right direciton

Still think we got 1 or 2 more transition seasons. Curious to see how the fans and media are patient for it.



Personally, I don't see keeping Matheson as a con. He's got 2 more seasons left on his current deal and I don't see his performance/value going down. Lets face it, we are not getting a grade A or mid 1st rounder for Matheson.... for as good as his offensive numbers look. Best to keep him and he helps our PP until guys like Hutson, Mailloux, etc are ready.

I don't really disagree that we should keep Matheson, but as a player who relies way more on his skating ability than on the mental side of his game I expect his game to drastically worsen before too long. He's one of those guys who could flip from good to really bad quickly.

Additional pro:
No major media messes. St-Louis is able to face the press without losing his cool or throwing players under the bus. We'll see what happens once there is more pressure to win, but for now it looks good. I tend to ignore player and coach interviews, including the current ones, I only really notice if things go really badly or if you get some great stuff, like Danault's pizza session, but I'm glad there hasn't been negative drama. So much of the Montreal hockey media has so much air time to fill, and it's easy to fill with random yelling or blowing up some minor comment.

Additional con:
-giving up way, way too many shorthanded goals. If it's easy to fix and it's just helping the tank, then fine, but they aren't looking better or more confident as the season goes on. It looks like other teams know what they will do and how to exploit that, while the habs don't have an answer yet. Longer term they will need to vary their approach.

 

[Habs Halifax]

I don't really disagree that we should keep Matheson, but as a player who relies way more on his skating ability than on the mental side of his game I expect his game to drastically worsen before too long. He's one of those guys who could flip from good to really bad quickly.

Additional pro:
No major media messes. St-Louis is able to face the press without losing his cool or throwing players under the bus. We'll see what happens once there is more pressure to win, but for now it looks good. I tend to ignore player and coach interviews, including the current ones, I only really notice if things go really badly or if you get some great stuff, like Danault's pizza session, but I'm glad there hasn't been negative drama. So much of the Montreal hockey media has so much air time to fill, and it's easy to fill with random yelling or blowing up some minor comment.

Additional con:
-giving up way, way too many shorthanded goals. If it's easy to fix and it's just helping the tank, then fine, but they aren't looking better or more confident as the season goes on. It looks like other teams know what they will do and how to exploit that, while the habs don't have an answer yet. Longer term they will need to vary their approach.

I personally don't see Matheson going backwards with his term/age left. I see him having very good seasons like Petry from age 27-32 ish. When is the right time to move him? With me, it will depend on how fast Guhle, Reinbacher, Hutson, Mailloux can replace him... especially on the PP. Matheson is a great puck mover. We got 2 more seasons to evaluate and even if we trade him, we are looking at late 1st rounders and B+ type prospects. At some point, we have to consider retaining vs selling. When we are a playoff team or trying to get in, we will need some 30+ vets who can still play. Look no further than the Sens and Sabres who are struggling to get in the playoffs and their rebuilds started a few years before us.

I agree. MSL and our management has managed the fans/media well. Hopefully that continues because pressure to make the playoffs in the next two transition seasons will increase.

Our goals for, against, PP, & PK still need improvements. We have made gains in other areas but we got a ways to go yet. Pains of having so much youth on the ice.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Yep. And that’s even more true now given how many shots he’s taken. He should already have 40.

No way I would have bet Caufield would not even touch 30 or near it. I feel we were pumping him a bit too much but it was somewhat warranted based on his performance with MSL as his coach. I voted 30+, not 40+ for the reason of staying a bit reasonable. Very surprised it went down to 20-25 range. 9 more games to go so I doubt he gets to 25+. Possible though because goal scores are streaky.

I am not sure if he is injured. I think it's a case of being snake bit and other teams are focusing on him more. Not worried about it, the kid will score and figure it out but we need more than 1 line for the other team to be forced to spread their attention on our forward lines... I'm hoping for a strong top 9, not just the old top 6 approach.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Yep. And that’s even more true now given how many shots he’s taken. He should already have 40.

Goals/shot would be an interesting stat to compare players to. Especially the high volume shooters.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

No way I would have bet Caufield would not even touch 30 or near it. I feel we were pumping him a bit too much but it was somewhat warranted based on his performance with MSL as his coach. I voted 30+, not 40+ for the reason of staying a bit reasonable. Very surprised it went down to 20-25 range. 9 more games to go so I doubt he gets to 25+. Possible though because goal scores are streaky.

I am not sure if he is injured. I think it's a case of being snake bit and other teams are focusing on him more. Not worried about it, the kid will score and figure it out but we need more than 1 line for the other team to be forced to spread their attention on our forward lines... I'm hoping for a strong top 9, not just the old top 6 approach.

In a normal year he’d be at 40 already. He has - by far - the lowest percentage in the league right now.

He bounced back for about ten games and then missed some practices and played poorly for a couple of games. I’ve got to think he’s hurt. So probably a combination of zip missing from his shot and bad puck luck.

It can’t all just be luck though. Not at this stage. Something is wrong with him. There’s no way you go a whole season at 7 percent if you’re putting up 300 shots.

The worrisome thing is we don’t know. So is it a long term thing or is it just this year? Is he injured? For now, I’ll hope it’s just a one year thing. But for it go this long… it’s worrying.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Goals/shot would be an interesting stat to compare players to. Especially the high volume shooters.

They’ve shown the stat a few times. Players over 200 shots. I think the lowest was 9 percent.

 

[Habs Halifax]

In a normal year he’d be at 40 already. He has - by far - the lowest percentage in the league right now.

He bounced back for about ten games and then missed some practices and played poorly for a couple of games. I’ve got to think he’s hurt. So probably a combination of zip missing from his shot and bad puck luck.

It can’t all just be luck though. Not at this stage. Something is wrong with him. There’s no way you go a whole season at 7 percent if you’re putting up 300 shots.

The worrisome thing is we don’t know. So is it a long term thing or is it just this year? Is he injured? For now, I’ll hope it’s just a one year thing. But for it go this long… it’s worrying.

25 goals and 60 pts (lets say he gets there)... Underperforming or performing to his contract? That's Suzuki level production (ish) in his age 23 season last year.

I am not worried yet. I think he has 25-35 and 60-80 pts in him. My focus would be on development with Slaf, Roy, and others we feel are in our top 6/top9 future. Caufield will hit 40+ but not sure how many 40+ seasons he will have.

I rather have this problem than not have it.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

25 goals and 60 pts (lets say he gets there)... Underperforming or performing to his contract? That's Suzuki level production (ish) in his age 23 season last year.

I am not worried yet. I think he has 25-35 and 60-80 pts in him. My focus would be on development with Slaf, Roy, and others we feel are in our top 6/top9 future. Caufield will hit 40+ but not sure how many 40+ seasons he will have.

I rather have this problem than not have it.

It’s a disappointing season. He’s paid to score goals.

Doesn’t mean it’s a waste. He developed his game and in the long run will be better for it. But it’s a disappointing year.

 

[Le Tricolore]

Pros:
- Slafkovsky's development
- Suzuki taking another step
- Montembeault and Primeau being solid
- Guhle looking better and better

Cons:
- Caufield not scoring as much as we'd like
- Mike Matheson

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

The buggest disappointment this year was Dach going down so early. I truly believe that he and Slaf would’ve killed it together. I really hope Kirby can come back healthy next year. He’d be such a huge part of the rebuild.

 

[Ozmodiar]

Pro:
- development of young players (Suzuki, Slaf, d corps, Newhook, Roy, goalies)
- Monahan performed well to garner a 1st
- Armia rebound. If it continues, good TDL asset.
- Mike Matheson?

Con:
- injuries - Dach and Dvo
- CC lack of scoring.
- anderson and Gally
- Mike Matheson!

 

[CDN24]

Not in order:

Individual players

1 - Slaf developing
2 - Primeau establishing himself as a #2
3 - Caufield becoming a more complete player
4 - Xhekaj development
5 - Roy & Struble showing they belong in the NHL
6 - Newhook being an exciting player
7 - Armia becoming a consistent player

Team

1 - Team with most 1-goal losses, which means they're in the games more.
2 - Espectally lately, their defensive game is starting to show signs of progress.
3 - Their PK since the All-Star break is showing to be one of the league's best.

That 3rd one is big, he is a lot more than a one trick pony this year. Maybe he becomes a 40-50G guy and maybe he doesn't but I feel that is secondary to becoming a complete player and he has. I did not expect this to come this soon if at all.