What is the team's biggest roadblock to make the playoffs next season?

[TesseractPrice]

I went with defence. I’d say Habs had at the very least average goaltending but still finished 6th worst in goals against. This is IMO an indictment of how bad that defence was. They just cannot allow this much goals if they want to succeed. The D would need to be way better for the Habs to really have a chance at making the playoffs

Secondary scoring would help but honestly Dach + Newhook together on a line with Roy or Armia is a more than fine 2nd line for a team that finished 5th worst the year prior. The 3rd line will probably be terrible though with Anderson-Dvorak-Gallagher or something. The 4th line is not much of a priority considering everything else. The 3rd line could be upgraded; I would have liked Dakota Joshua as a UFA bottom 6 veteran with size, but with the playoffs he's having dude is going to get paid. Also Anderson is still here, Gallagher should regress and so could Armia. We really have to hope Roy will be a good top 6 player next season and that top 6 would honestly be more than enough for a basement dweller

At D, we'd have to hope for a quantic leap in D from Matheson, Xhekaj, Strubble, Harris (if he's still here), for Hutson not to be too much of a burden at 5v5 right from the start and the same with Mailloux. That or Montembault-Primeau play like Jennings tendies

 

[Sorinth]

I went with defence. I’d say Habs had at the very least average goaltending but still finished 6th worst in goals against. This is IMO an indictment of how bad that defence was. They just cannot allow this much goals if they want to succeed. The D would need to be way better for the Habs to really have a chance at making the playoffs

Secondary scoring would help but honestly Dach + Newhook together on a line with Roy or Armia is a more than fine 2nd line for a team that finished 5th worst the year prior. The 3rd line will probably be terrible though with Anderson-Dvorak-Gallagher or something. The 4th line is not much of a priority considering everything else. The 3rd line could be upgraded; I would have liked Dakota Joshua as a UFA bottom 6 veteran with size, but with the playoffs he's having dude is going to get paid. Also Anderson is still here, Gallagher should regress and so could Armia. We really have to hope Roy will be a good top 6 player next season and that top 6 would honestly be more than enough for a basement dweller

At D, we'd have to hope for a quantic leap in D from Xhekaj, Strubble, Harris (if he's still here), for Hutson not to be too much of a burden at 5v5 right from the start and the same with Mailloux. That or Montembault-Primeau play like Jennings tendies

Yeah the team needs to both score more goals and give up less. Spend more time in the offensive zone helps with both of those things and frankly could be done by adding either a F or a D. We have probably have more immediate reason for optimism on the F side, a healthy Dach, a full year of Slaf in beast mode, Caufield re-finding his goal scoring, potentially Roy as well. So defence is probably the biggest area we could improve on, but it's also an area where it probably makes sense to kind of wait and see because how Guhle, Xhekaj, Barron, Hutson, Reinbacher, Mailloux all develop will go a long way in determing if/what the holes actually are.

 

[NotProkofievian]

The fact that this team is bad at hockey.

 

[TesseractPrice]

Yeah the team needs to both score more goals and give up less. Spend more time in the offensive zone helps with both of those things and frankly could be done by adding either a F or a D. We have probably have more immediate reason for optimism on the F side, a healthy Dach, a full year of Slaf in beast mode, Caufield re-finding his goal scoring, potentially Roy as well. So defence is probably the biggest area we could improve on, but it's also an area where it probably makes sense to kind of wait and see because how Guhle, Xhekaj, Barron, Hutson, Reinbacher, Mailloux all develop will go a long way in determing if/what the holes actually are.

It's probably because of the age and draft pedigree, but I feel like the top 6 is much, much more of a sure thing than the defence when it comes to the younger players. Suzuki, Caufield, Slaf, Dach and Newhook are all already parts of a decent to pretty solid top 6 with Roy on the way to join them. Then, we'll very likely get a blue chip prospect forward (I think it'll be Lindstrom but that's another discussion) to add to this already pretty safe core at forward

When we look at the defence however... I don't know. On the plus side, Guhle is already a nice top4 LD and could even become a 1st pair dman. Reinbacher I'm pretty confident will become a 1st pair RD, just not in the next two/three seasons. While Hutson, Barron and Mailloux may display impressive offence abilities, they are not a sure bet at all to be net positives at 5v5. Strubble and Xhekaj look like they'll be good 3rd pair dmen with lot of jam which I like. It feels to me like an awful lot of the future of this team rely on Reinbacher and Hutson with no plan B

I just think that the D will be middling at best for the next 3 years while Suzuki, who very likely will be the best center on the Hughes rebuild, waste some of his prime years

The Habs path to success is for the Suzuki and Dach lines to become utterly dominant possession wise to shelter that weakish defence with some strong and stable(TM) goaltending to limit the innevitable lapses

 

[Runner77]

Staying healthy, otherwise known as Dach playing a full season.

What about the other Dach — the one on D?

Can Guhle stay healthy?

 

[Lucky Luke]

Improved primary and secondary scoring.

 

[Goalfield22]

What about the other Dach — the one on D?

Can Guhle stay healthy?

Guhle has missed 50 games the past two years. Dach has missed 104.

 

[Runner77]

Guhle has missed 50 games the past two years. Dach has missed 104.

50 is still a lot. Doesn’t have to exactly match Dach to be a cause for concern.

Plus, has concussion issues, unlike Dach.



Point stands. We need the guy to play a full season. Good to see him keep going at the Worlds, he needs the playing time after a mostly lost season.

 

[JRichard]

Losing 1 of Suzuki, Caufield, Montambeault for some games would mean another top 5 pick.

 

[Captain Mountain]

50 is still a lot. Doesn’t have to exactly match Dach to be a cause for concern.

Plus, has concussion issues, unlike Dach.



Point stands. We need the guy to play a full season. Good to see him keep going at the Worlds, he needs the playing time after a mostly lost season.

He played 70 games this season and Suzuki's pretty much the only player who hasn't had injury issues over the last 3 seasons.

Concern is fair, but I don't get the concern unless there's information that has been made public I'm not aware of.

There's a lot more I'd be more concerned about tbh

 

[Runner77]

He played 70 games this season and Suzuki's pretty much the only player who hasn't had injury issues over the last 3 seasons.

Concern is fair, but I don't get the concern unless there's information that has been made public I'm not aware of.

There's a lot more I'd be more concerned about tbh

We don’t have access to his medical records, obviously, otherwise, a different word than “concern” might be more appropriate.

There are multiple concussions but don’t know the extent of each or their exact number — missed games is the only unquestionable number and there are a lot for such a young player. Saving grace is how most of those missed games came in his first year.

 

[sampollock]

scoring on the 2nd and 3rd lines

 

[Habs Halifax]

Biggest road block is the other teams in the Atlantic combined with our age/development/transition challenges.

scoring on the 2nd and 3rd lines

A healthy Dach should help the 2nd line. Not sure who's going to be our 3rd line center this coming season. One of Evans or Dvorak but hard to know if we move Dvorak or not.

Not sure I like the idea of Newhook as a full time center.

 

[Sorinth]

It's probably because of the age and draft pedigree, but I feel like the top 6 is much, much more of a sure thing than the defence when it comes to the younger players. Suzuki, Caufield, Slaf, Dach and Newhook are all already parts of a decent to pretty solid top 6 with Roy on the way to join them. Then, we'll very likely get a blue chip prospect forward (I think it'll be Lindstrom but that's another discussion) to add to this already pretty safe core at forward

When we look at the defence however... I don't know. On the plus side, Guhle is already a nice top4 LD and could even become a 1st pair dman. Reinbacher I'm pretty confident will become a 1st pair RD, just not in the next two/three seasons. While Hutson, Barron and Mailloux may display impressive offence abilities, they are not a sure bet at all to be net positives at 5v5. Strubble and Xhekaj look like they'll be good 3rd pair dmen with lot of jam which I like. It feels to me like an awful lot of the future of this team rely on Reinbacher and Hutson with no plan B

I just think that the D will be middling at best for the next 3 years while Suzuki, who very likely will be the best center on the Hughes rebuild, waste some of his prime years

The Habs path to success is for the Suzuki and Dach lines to become utterly dominant possession wise to shelter that weakish defence with some strong and stable(TM) goaltending to limit the innevitable lapses

Mostly agree though I think I'm overall more optimistic about the D then you. The real conundrum is what to do about it?

Like I can agree that the D will probably remain a weak point over the next few years because integrating Hutson, Reinbacher, and Mailloux is going to lead to defensive lapses and breakdowns which is a normal/expected part of adjusting to the NHL. But I'm not sure trying to fix that right away by getting an established D or upgrading Savard is the right thing to do either. Plan B probably should be give it some time and then once you get a better idea of how everyone looks with 100-200 games and then decide on a vet D to sign/trade for that becomes a good fit.

 

[TesseractPrice]

Mostly agree though I think I'm overall more optimistic about the D then you. The real conundrum is what to do about it?

Like I can agree that the D will probably remain a weak point over the next few years because integrating Hutson, Reinbacher, and Mailloux is going to lead to defensive lapses and breakdowns which is a normal/expected part of adjusting to the NHL. But I'm not sure trying to fix that right away by getting an established D or upgrading Savard is the right thing to do either. Plan B probably should be give it some time and then once you get a better idea of how everyone looks with 100-200 games and then decide on a vet D to sign/trade for that becomes a good fit.

Yeah I agree on the last part, no need to rush to get a veteran D or something. I just think that if the rebuild fails, it will probably because of the defence. A good defence is a team whole thing and can be pretty volatile though. Look at the Canucks who revamped their D in a year

I agree with focusing on the offence with the pick and a potential trade of the Winnipeg 1st + Colorado 2nd to get another young forward

 

[Habs Icing]

You forgot the obvious answer the rest of the league.

 

[JianYang]

You forgot the obvious answer the rest of the league.

If next year shapes up the way this year did with teams like Philly, Washington, and Pittsburgh in the mix, I think montreal has a chance next year with better health and a little step.

This year, the east didn't present roadblocks at the lower end of the playoffs, but rather it was giving playoff spots to whoever wanted them.

Even this year, yhe Habs were right in the thick of it until about January despite the loss of dach early on. I would not count on a playoff spot this year, but it's not out of the realm of possibility.

 

[CHarlie]

I want one more year of a bottom 5 pick.....I say go into next year as is. Remove Armia, Savard and Dvorak at the deadline, try to move Anderson if possible, let Reinbacher and Hutson play in the AHL, and build the future team for 2025/26 and beyond.

 

[slybel]

I want one more year of a bottom 5 pick.....I say go into next year as is. Remove Armia, Savard and Dvorak at the deadline, try to move Anderson if possible, let Reinbacher and Hutson play in the AHL, and build the future team for 2025/26 and beyond.

I've been saying this too. Remove the dead wood and let the kids play. We aren't making the playoffs next season.

 

[WeThreeKings]

If the Habs finish bottom 5 again next year, the question is whether we can make the playoffs in the near future, it's if we have to start it all over again.

 

[CHarlie]

If the Habs finish bottom 5 again next year, the question is whether we can make the playoffs in the near future, it's if we have to start it all over again.

I guess that depends on who we bring in via free agency.....we will have a ton of cap space in 25/26

 

[StCaufield]

The fact that this team is bad at hockey.

They’re in pretty much every game with all of the 1 goal games. I wouldn’t say they’re good but I wouldn’t say awful. If they can maybe sign a good penalty killer and better energy for the 4th line it’s a start. More scoring goes without saying. Not much you can do with the D other than trade someone like Harris or Struble or both and let the kids develop.

 

[NotProkofievian]

They’re in pretty much every game with all of the 1 goal games. I wouldn’t say they’re good but I wouldn’t say awful. If they can maybe sign a good penalty killer and better energy for the 4th line it’s a start. More scoring goes without saying

It's true that this team fought like hell. Pointlessly and for a 5th worst finish. In terms of counting stats there's nothing that this team does well. Bottom 10 in PK, PP, GF, GA, SA, SF. Maybe fancy stats say we're just extremely unlucky.

 

[StCaufield]

It's true that this team fought like hell. Pointlessly and for a 5th worst finish. In terms of counting stats there's nothing that this team does well. Bottom 10 in PK, PP, GF, GA, SA, SF. Maybe fancy stats say we're just extremely unlucky.

You’re right but I don’t think it was pointless. The leaders on the team set a bar at least for effort. When it wasn’t a 1 goal game they’d get blown out so you can look at it with a grain of salt or you can say that it’s a good start to success effort wise. Technically this team needs a 30 goal scorer minimum along with bottom 6 depth that can play D and kill penalties. I feel like the PP will be better as they were on the right track at the end and should build off of that. Other than the top line and our top D prospects I’d be open trading anybody to accomplish this

 

[Captain Mountain]

They’re in pretty much every game with all of the 1 goal games. I wouldn’t say they’re good but I wouldn’t say awful. If they can maybe sign a good penalty killer and better energy for the 4th line it’s a start. More scoring goes without saying. Not much you can do with the D other than trade someone like Harris or Struble or both and let the kids develop.

It's true that this team fought like hell. Pointlessly and for a 5th worst finish. In terms of counting stats there's nothing that this team does well. Bottom 10 in PK, PP, GF, GA, SA, SF. Maybe fancy stats say we're just extremely unlucky.

The "fancy" stat argument is that they very slightly improved in the second half of the season, but the counting stats may be more flattering than newer stats.

The unrealistic, unreasonable and mostly naive argument that they could compete for the playoffs next season is that they've actually generally gotten above average to good goaltending the last couple of seasons and unlike 2021-2022 and 2022-2023, Montreal had lines and pairs that were effective to actually quite good playing higher than bottom pair/bottom line:

Caufield-Suzuki-Slafkovsky
Armia-Newhook-Gallagher (Roy also looked really good with Newhook)

Xhekaj-Savard

There's actually something there, and if Dach gets back healthy and mostly everyone 25 and under takes big steps forward, then the team could be in a Senators-type situation.

Realistically, the goal is still building the team up through picks, prospects and development while avoiding a culture that gets too comfortable with losing.