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Habs 2025 Offseason

GEEMAN said:
Eye test was more important than the fancy stats , top line didn't produce enough and a -15 won't cut it in any series
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You don't just add up their numbers and say the line was -15. It wasn't, which I just showed you.

But if that's how it worked, -12 of that was on empty net goals against.

We can agree they didn't produce enough, but they played well... the problem is that no one else did anything.
 
hairnova said:
You don't just add up their numbers and say the line was -15. It wasn't, which I just showed you.

But if that's how it worked, -12 of that was on empty net goals against.

We can agree they didn't produce enough, but they played well... the problem is that no one else did anything.
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They didn't score enough 5/5 and the bottom 6 who played out of their minds this year was never filling the gap.
 
GEEMAN said:
This year please....best year in decades watching a true rebuild with proper building blocks with a regime with a functional brain .
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I feel much more optimistic going forward today, based on what I saw this season, than I was coming off our run to the finals, which was always just fool's gold that we knew was unsustainable. In 2022 we went from a Cup final appearance to dead last and we knew it was coming. Nothing short of an upset win in the finals would have cushioned that blow.

But today, we can see that we have a great, sustainable future and that our front office is no longer being run by a mental midget who's primary qualification for getting the job was having the right linguistic pedigree.
 
Krustchev said:
I expect some regression next season - might not make the playoffs - but very good team in two years (like contending for the Atlantic and the East).
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That is my thinking as well.

A few keys for next year.
Slaf will need to progress
Cole and Suzuki need to maintian
Guhle. Health and improvement
Hutson. Improvement
Demidov. How good can he be?
Fowler. Can he force himself into a bunch of starts
Dach. Anything there?


But with Armia, Dvorak, Savard leaving we will probably have some growing pains.

Beck, Davidson, wifi 2 replacing the depth guys.

Can some of the other young D improve? Engstrom, wifi, Struble, etc
 
I'd like to see Beck and Florian X make the bottom 6 next season. I'd also like to see Reinbacher play at least part time with the big club.

There are others in Laval who I honestly don't know about, like Tuch, Mailloux, and Engstrom.

Then there's Kapanen. Is there a "there" there? Everything I've ever heard about him says he will be a good offensive player but I heard the same things about Roy, and he is never going to be anything as an NHLer.
 
Krustchev said:
I expect some regression next season - might not make the playoffs - but very good team in two years (like contending for the Atlantic and the East).
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As currently constructed I agree however we will need to wait to see what HuGo do to fill the 2C hole and D. Good moves could see them back in the playoffs.
 
hairnova said:
You don't just add up their numbers and say the line was -15. It wasn't, which I just showed you.

But if that's how it worked, -12 of that was on empty net goals against.

We can agree they didn't produce enough, but they played well... the problem is that no one else did anything.
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I agree, that is why it is so important to get a good+ 2C to take the heat off the Suzuki line. to win the Cup you need your 3rd and 4th line to chip in and get big goals.
 
Habsy said:
You also need your bottom two lines to tire out the opponent through relentless forechecking and hits on their D. Crucial part of a seven game serious. War of attrition that we clearly lost this playoff.
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Anthony Beauvillier said the Caps plan was to hit the Habs into submission. It sort of worked.
 
I'm not sure that worked as much as us not finishing the chances we had.

Don't get me wrong, I want the Habs to get bigger but I don't feel we got pushed around as much as I feared. Certainly not as much as playoffs past.
 
Sal_Butera said:
Meant to post last night ….

It’s been easy lifting until now for HuGo, now the real hard work begins …

TBay showed tremendous promise in 2013, couldn’t take it to the next level for another 7 years.

Make Beliefs were in this exact spot with more top end talent in 2018…

HuGo need to add 3-important assets, all w size for this team to take the next step:
- 2 legit top-6 players including 2C
- top-4 RDman

So…..HuGo essentially need to replicate Bill Zito’s 2021 off-season:

- (Reinhart + Bennett) for 1st round pick + 2nd round pick + Heineken

- (Forsling) for FREE (waivers)

Will find out this summer if players (UFA & those w NTC / NMC clauses) perception about Mtl as a favorable destination given this seasons success / young talent / MSL etc. or if it’s the same old taxes / fan & media glare etc driving unwillingness to sign / waive trade clauses

Good luck to HuGo…
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Panthers were further along. Team is not yet at the stage where we need to go broke.

I'd probably keep and use our two first round picks, keep the pipeline healthy. Try to sign a 2C as UFA. RD would be nice for the right price, but I wouldn't sell the farm.
 
So should we overpay for Duchene (better offence, less commitment) or overpay for Bennett (younger, more physical)?
 
Hoiles said:
So should we overpay for Duchene (better offence, less commitment) or overpay for Bennett (younger, more physical)?
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I'd rather have Barzal and, in a utopian fantasy, I'd rather have Crosby.

I'd lean toward Bennett simply because he is, as mentioned, younger and more physical. Not so sure he'll be cheaper or demand less term than Duchene, though.
 
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